A Florida jury on Thursday ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

A former smoker who just won a $300 million verdict in Florida against Philip Morris USA has pulled out of a news conference about the case.

Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company, said Thursday it has filed federal lawsuits accusing 10 New York and New Jersey retailers of selling counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes.

In her biggest gambit yet for Kraft Foods, Irene Rosenfeld just won't blink. Rosenfeld took her offer for British chocolatier Cadbury hostile on Monday, submitting to its shareholders a $16.4 billion cash and stock bid rejected as "derisory" by the company's leadership.

As the US economic recovery looms larger, the gray cloud that has hung over the stock market for so long is finally starting to fade. Here's four sectors likely to outperform in the months and year ahead.

After a stunning and broad rebound, major indices many be range bound for awhile and the right managers could thrive with judicious stockpicking.

Stocks finished lower after well-known banking analyst Dick Bove downgraded his rating on Wells Fargo.

Stocks advanced Wednesday as investors were encouraged by a few earnings reports, including Morgan Stanley, Yahoo and SanDisk. The VIX, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, dropped to just above 20.

Stocks opened lower Wednesday as a raft of companies beating earning estimates but failed to impress investors.

Earnings season continues in earnest Wednesday, as we roll on with a week that will ultimately see 25 percent of the S&P 500 report their quarterly numbers. 

Especially in volatile times, dividends can be a way for investors to more effectively safeguard returns.  Many publicly held corporations pay out a portion of their  earnings to shareholders, giving investors a payback whether the stock price goes up or down.  Cramer's Rule Number Four in his "15 Rules for Playing Defense" calls these "buffers." Calculated as a percentage of share price, dividends have the potential to be cut or changed and yields vary as share prices fluctuate. For the purposes of this report, dividend yield calculations are based on trailing dividends, so dividend cuts yet to occur have not been taken into account. In fact, the #1 company on this list announced a cut in its dividend earlier this year, from $1 to $0.75, but in all likelihood it would remain in the top spot, given its current share price. 

Two of the three largest U.S. tobacco companies filed suit to block marketing restrictions in a new law, claiming the provisions violate their right to free speech.

The Dow and S&P snapped their winning streaks Wednesday as disappointing earnings from two of Wall Street's biggest names overshadowed another round of earnings beats.

Stocks wobbled Wednesday as a slew of earnings beats, including one from Pfizer, were encouraging but disappointing reports from two of Wall Street's biggest names dragged on the market.

Stocks wobbled Wednesday as a slew of earnings beats, including one from Pfizer, were encouraging but disappointing reports from two of Wall Street's biggest names dragged on the market.