Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word federal. 8 news.

Shares of Sunnyvale-based Pharmacyclics plunged more than 26 percent Monday - the fourth biggest drop in its history - after federal regulators refused to approve its drug Xcytrin to treat patients whose lung cancer has spread to their brain.

Maxjet Airways Inc., facing financial losses because of rising fuel prices, has ceased operations and is filing for federal bankruptcy protection. (CAL)

Maxjet Airways Inc., facing financial losses because of rising fuel prices, has ceased operations and is filing for federal bankruptcy protection. (CAL)

Federal courts have ruled in favor of iRobot in its dispute with Robotic FX, according to iRobot.

The Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is disputing Democratic assertions that a new rule loosening restrictions on media ownership is full of loopholes and will lead to a wave of mergers and fewer choices for consumers.

Switzerland’s banking regulator will investigate how UBS ran up losses in the credit crisis requiring billions of dollars of writedowns, a spokesman for the body was quoted as saying on Sunday. Federal Banking Commission spokesman Alain Bichsel told Swiss weekly Sonntag that the regulator was putting pressure on the world’s biggest wealth manager to overcome the [...]

The Interactive Advertising Bureau weighed in on the Federal Trade Commission's new proposed privacy principles, stating that it endorses the idea of industry self-regulation, but wants to help refine them. IAB also said it would propose its own new privacy principles for the industry early next year.

The year 1984 is more than just a George Orwell novel. It's also when the federal government packed in its geothermal energy program, more or less taking one of Canada's best renewable resources off the radar screen of the public and investors.