company that createshigh paying good jobs for Americans

"Not withstanding the lower profits, Pfizer is a verystrong company with a lot of cash socked away. The banks havebeen criticized for making bad loans in the past, so you can'tfault them for making a seemingly safer bet," Scheff said. Of course, not every would-be suitor has Pfizer's strongcredit rating, hefty cash flow and marquee name. In a sign of how fragile the deals market remains, DowChemical Co (DOW.N) said on Monday it will not close theacquisition of rival Rohm and Haas Co ROH.N by Jan. 27,breaking a key condition of the merger pact and sparkingspeculation the deal might collapse. Rohm & Haas sued Dow Chemical in Delaware Chancery Court onMonday to try to enforce the deal.

Pfizer's ability to get funding may initially seem like agood omen for other suitors looking to do deals, but each dealis competing against every other transaction being shoppedaround to banks, investment bankers said. Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX), for example, is looking forfunding as it aims to raise its bid for the 44 percent ofGenentech Inc DNA.N it does not already own, sourcespreviously told Reuters. Bankers have said said Roche is now waiting for the rightmoment to tap the difficult, expensive and illiquid creditmarkets before raising its bid. "Though there do seem to be banks willing to lend and thecorporate debt market appears to be receptive to deals of thissort, the issues faced by Roche in its attempt to get financingto purchase Genentech ... should give some investors at leastsome pause," Les Funtleyder, analyst with Miller Tabak & Co. MERGERS OF WEAKNESS "Deals will be tough and bloody," said one merger lawyer. "It's all about either surviving or coming out of this as adominant player in their sector," the lawyer.

Pfizer bought Wyeth in a move to diversify its revenuestream ahead of its key Lipitor cholesterol drug facing U.S.generic competition in 2011. In announcing the Wyeth deal, Pfizer said it would halveits dividend to help fund the acquisition and would cut 15percent of the combined company's workforce of about 130,000employees. Together, the combined companies will save about $4billion as they consolidate overlapping operations. PROPER USE OF TARP FUNDS The fact that Pfizer was advised by and received fundingfrom some banks that got billions of taxpayer dollars from theTARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) also raised questionsamong some analysts. That is a sign of the scrutiny banks will face goingforward as they finance deals, oversight that could also serveas a deterrent to similar transactions going forward."We also wonder whether some of the banks who appear tohave taken money under the TARP will than turn around and loanthat money to finance a deal that will obviously to us lead to job losses something we assume the authors of thelegislation would be vehemently against." said Funtleyder. Scheff agreed, saying that, although the combination ofPfizer and Wyeth may be beneficial for the healthcare sectorand economy over the long-term, the short-term effects mayraise criticism. "If you listen to everything the government has said abouttrying to get money back into the economy and help smallbusinesses survive and expand at the end of this day thisdeal isn't going to put people back to work soon This can't bewhat government intended," Scheff said.

Pfizer's Chief Executive Officer Jeff Kindler, however,took a different view. "It's good to see banks doing what they're supposed to bedoing to lend money to advance the American economy," he saidat a news conference "Pfizer is a U.S. company that createshigh paying good jobs for Americans." (Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf and Megan Davies inNew York; Editing by Andre Grenon) Stocks Mergers & Acquisitions Bonds. (Updates with details) Stocks CHICAGO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Electronic trading of severalfutures contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, includinglive cattle and hogs, was halted for nearly two hours on Mondaydue to technical problems, but trade has since resumed. Trading of live cattle and dry whey futures on the CMEGroup's (CME.O) Globex platform at the world's largestderivatives exchange in downtown Chicago came to a standstillat 9:09 a.m. CST (1509 GMT), within minutes after businessopened for the week.