This episode of The Motley Fool's Market Checkup drills down on the days hottest headlines and plays a game of investing chicken with the world's biggest biotech. Market Checkup gives a full examination of the recent regulatory action around potential new generic threat to a big-time blockbuster drug and looks at a study questioning the benefits of robotic surgery.

In this video, health-care analysts David Williamson and Max Macaluso play the always popular game of investing chicken with Gilead Sciences. The rules of the game are simple: What would have to go wrong with Gilead before it became a bad investment? Watch and find out how competitive threats and product launches can alter a bullish investor's perception of a stock.

Towers Watson will no longer be active in the reinsurance brokering sphere. The company announced that it will sell that part of its business to U.K.-based insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group for $250 million in cash.

A joint press release issued by the two companies stated that Jardine will merge Towers Watson's unit with its own reinsurance operations to form the provisionally named JLT Towers Re. Combined, the two components brought in $266 million in revenue over the one-year period ending June 30, while employing roughly 700 people in 35 locations across 17 countries.

Towers Watson's current head of reinsurance brokerage, Ross Howard, will become executive chairman of JLT Towers Re. Alastair Speare-Cole, the CEO of Jardin's reinsurance arm, will also be CEO of the merged unit.

The deal is subject to approval from the relevant regulatory bodies. It is expected to close by the end of this calendar year.

Towers Watson shares closed up by nearly 3% to $102.99 on the day the deal was announced.

Whiting Petroleum's latest acquisition is now one for the history books. The company announced that it has closed a $260 million deal, first made public in August, to acquire 17,282 net acres along with production assets in the Williston Basin. Whiting had secured the properties from a private party that it did not name.

The land is located in Williams and McKenzie counties in North Dakota, and in Montana's Roosevelt and Richland counties. Oil and gas production from the company's new properties was estimated to average 2,420 barrels of oil equivalent per day this past August. Whiting Petroleum believes proven reserves there amounted to 17.1 million BOE as of Aug. 1.

Diagnostic testing specialist SurModics announced on Friday that board Chairman Robert C. Buhrmaster, who joined the board of directors in 2008, will retire after the company's annual shareholder meeting, scheduled for February. He will be replaced by current board member Scott R. Ward, who will have his position filled in due course.

In thanking Buhrmaster for his service to the company and welcoming Ward into his new role, SurModics President and CEO Gary Maharaj said, "As we pursue our business strategy to grow SurModics' core businesses and expand beyond the core, Scott's extensive medical device and business experience will be invaluable."

Ward has more than 30 years of experience in the health-care industry, including 15 years as a senior operating business leader, most recently at Medtronic, where he served as senior VP and president of its cardiovascular business. Ward has been a director of SurModics since 2010 and serves as managing director at SightLine Partners and is the founder of Raymond Holdings. 

Burhmaster also offered up a vote of confidence for his successor, saying: "I am confident that this is the right time to pass the baton to a new board chair. I believe that Scott is the right person to guide SurModics to new levels of growth in its medical device and in vitro diagnostics businesses."

Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn., SurModics specializes in surface modification, drug delivery, and in vitro diagnostic technologies for the health-care industry.

In a bit of musical chairs, Sesa Goa has changed its name to Sesa Sterlite following approval by the regulatory authorities in India, now that its acquisition of a number of companies creates a huge mining operation on the order of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

In a process that began in February 2012, Vedanta Resources companies Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, Madras Aluminum, Sterlite Energy, and Vedanta Aluminum will join together under one roof, now called Sesa Sterlite. The only thing not transferred is Vedanta's Konkola copper mines in Zambia. 

The newly christened Sesa Sterlite announced on Friday that Goa's registrar of companies had approved the name chance on Sept. 18.

On Aug. 28, Sterlite shareholders got three shares of Sesa Goa for every five shares held while Madras Aluminum shareholders got seven shares for every 10 shares at two rupees each. A number of iron and metals mines have now become subsidiaries of Sesa Sterlite after the restructuring.

The new company had total assets worth $36 billion, cash and liquid investments of $7.7 billion, and profits of $1.9 billion as of the end of March. It also took on 87% of Vedanta's debt, which totals almost $16.6 billion at the end of the first calendar quarter. Sesa Sterlite now trades under the ticker symbol SSLT.

Market research analyst Nielsen Holdings announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the FTC regarding its acquisition of rival researcher Arbitron . With that hurdle cleared, and pending completion of customary closing conditions, Nielsen expected the deal to close on Sept. 30.

Nielsen announced last Dec. 17 that it wanted to buy Arbitron for $48 a share, or $1.3 billion, cash, plus some minor debt financing. It expects the merger will add $0.26 to adjusted net income per share in the first full year of operations, and $0.32 of accretion to adjusted net income per share after the second year, reflecting an incremental $0.06 in the second year.

Saying the company was glad to have the regulatory approval process behind it and that the agreement reached with the agency is "highly acceptable," Nielsen CEO David Calhoun said, "We are looking forward to providing all of the benefits of the combined company to our new clients in the radio industry and their advertisers, driving incremental value for them as well as our shareholders."

The consent decree issued by the FTC says the agreement Arbitron had reached with ESPN and comScore last September to measure TV, radio, PC, mobile, and tablet engagement can remain in place, but if a third-party vendor comes along and agrees to a licensing deal, Nielsen would give them access to Arbitron PPM and related data, as well as software and technology currently being used in the ESPN project solely to measure the cross-platform data. This agreement will remain in place for eight years. 

Nielsen believes adding Arbitron to its stable will allow it to more broadly measure what consumers are watching and listening to around the world, as well as to delve deeper into the preferences of multicultural audiences in the United States.

The combined company will expand advertising effectiveness for radio clients and be better able to solve for unmeasured areas of media consumption, such as streaming audio and out-of-home. Because cross-platform measurement is still in its infancy, Nielsen will now have the opportunity to put its stamp on what the outcome will be.

Right now, Tesla's impressive Model S is the only serious all-electric luxury car. But there are more and more signs that legit competition for Tesla is on the horizon. Photo credit: Tesla Motors.

Tesla Motors has wowed the world with its first mass-produced model, the all-electric Model S luxury sedan. It's a superb product. But the Model S is expensive: Even the most basic versions cost more than $60,000. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his company will have a more affordable model in a few years -- but will that model be playing catch-up from the start?

It's looking possible. From the start, sophisticated investors have viewed Tesla's prospects warily, worried about competition from the world's automotive giants. Tesla has brains, guts, and momentum, no doubt -- but the big automakers have resources that Tesla won't be able to match for years, if ever.

So far, that competition has yet to materialize, but there are more and more signs that it's coming. The latest: General Motors said this past week that it's working on an electric car that will have 200 miles of range -- and cost just $30,000, a price that will challenge (and might even undercut) the upcoming "affordable" Tesla.

Of course, it's one thing for any company to claim that it's "working on" a breakthrough product, and another thing entirely to deliver it. Tesla's track record to date inspires some confidence. How seriously should we take GM? In this video, Fool contributor John Rosevear takes a deeper look at what could be coming from GM -- and at the likelihood that the Rust Belt giant could really trump Silicon Valley's auto darling.

In this segment from The Motley Fool's everything-financials show, Where the Money Is, financials analysts Matt Koppenheffer reviews his investment process and tells fellow analyst David Hanson and viewers why he's adding AIG to the real-money portfolio he manages on behalf of The Motley Fool.

Commercial and industrial loans for banks have often been a great source of revenue for banks. Often the loans are simpler and less complex products than those dreamed up in investment banks, and are made to small- and medium-sized companies that are generally the stalwarts of the American economic engine.

The Federal Reserve reported that total outstanding commercial and industrial loans in August stood at $1.57 trillion, nearly eclipsing the peak of $1.61 trillion seen in October 2008. This comes after outstanding loans fell 25% to $1.2 trillion in October 2010.

1 Bank Aggressively Lending to Businesses from The Motley Fool.

Internet-based consumer products and services provider United Online announced on Fridday that it's extending for one month its previously announced separation of its FTD subsidiary. The online retailer had previously said it was targeting Oct. 1 as the spinoff date for the floral delivery service, but it has now pushed the date back to Nov. 1.

Saying the company is still committed to the spinoff, United Online Chairman, President, and CEO Mark R. Goldston said: "We continue to believe that the tax-free spinoff of FTD will unlock value for the benefit of our stockholders and provide significant operational and strategic flexibility for both FTD and United Online, better position them to capitalize on their well-recognized brands, and enhance long-term stockholder value."

Under the terms of the separation previously announced, for every five shares of United Online stock that's held on the record date of the spinoff, the shareholder will received one share of FTD's common stock. The record date is still to be determined.

In addition, United Online expects to implement a 1-for-7 reverse stock split of shares of its own common stock immediately before the spinoff of FTD. It offers the example that for every 35 shares of United Online common stock owned, the shareholder would hold seven shares of FTD stock and five shares of United Online stock immediately after the spinoff and reverse stock split are completed.

While the spinoff is expected to be tax-free, a letter from the IRS still needs to be received acknowledging as much before the deal can be completed, along with the usual and customary requirements to which the spinoff is subject.

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust announced on Friday its October monthly distribution of $0.094625 per unit, based principally upon production during July.

The board of directors said the dividend is payable on Oct. 15 to the holders of record at the close of business on Sept. 30. The trust reported that gas production for the properties from which the royalty was carved totaled approximately 2,949,189 million cubic feet, or 3,255,683 million BTUs.

Dividing revenues by production volume yielded an average gas price for July of $3.45 per Mcf ($3.12 per MMBtu) as compared with $3.72 per Mcf ($3.37 per MMBtu) for June. The distribution to the trust in any given month may include significant volume adjustments for sales in prior months that reflect pricing for those prior months.

The latest payment would equate to an approximately $1.14-per-unit annual dividend, yielding 6.9% based on the closing price of San Juan Realty Trust's stock on Sept. 20.

Statutory trust Enduro Royalty Trust announced on Friday its October monthly distribution of $0.127255 per unit; it has paid a monthly dividend since November 2011. 

The board of directors said the monthly distribution is payable on Oct. 15 to the holders of record at the close of business on Sept. 30. The trust was formed by Enduro Resource Partners for the purpose of receiving 80% of the net profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from certain properties in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.

Enduro noted that there was significant decrease in natural gas production because of approximately 258,000 Mcf that was paid by an operator during the previous calculation period for 23 months of production from a well in north Louisiana, resulting in $780,000 in additional natural gas revenues during the prior month's calculation period. Excluding the adjustment, realized natural gas prices for the prior month were $4.03 per Mcf.

The regular dividend payment would equate to approximately a $1.53-per-unit annual dividend, which would yield 10.1% based on the closing price of Enduro Royalty Trust's stock on Sept. 20.

Medical-device makers have gotten hurt under Obamacare, with tax provisions hitting their bottom lines in an already tough economic environment. What will the future bring for the industry?

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning and author of the special free report "Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare," talks with Motley Fool health-care bureau chief Max Macaluso about the state of the medical-device industry and the impact that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will have on it. Dan notes that diversified companies Medtronic and Stryker have largely avoided the negative impact of a 2.3% excise tax that Obamacare imposed on their revenue, posting gains of around 25% over the past year. But smaller players Intuitive Surgical and MAKO Surgical haven't fared as well, with losses of 10% to 25% since this time last year.

Max and Dan discuss a number of factors explaining the disparity, only some of which have to do with the Obamacare tax. Controversy about Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci robotic surgical systems have weighed on the stock and also caused some collateral damage to MAKO as well, but another big problem has come from hospitals and doctors that are less willing to make major capital expenditures on medical equipment. Dan suggests that broadening your exposure beyond specialists such as Medtronic and Stryker to look at more diversified health-care giant Johnson & Johnson might help you dampen any negative impact from the Obamacare tax.

Vodafone will soon expand outside the wireless space in continental Europe with the purchase of a big asset in Germany. The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, has approved the company's purchase of cable provider Kabel Deutschland Holding.

Vodafone launched a public takeover attempt for the German concern at the end of July, offering 84.50 euros ($114.25) per share in cash. The company also promised to follow through with the 2.50 euros ($3.38)-per-share dividend KDH pledged to its stockholders. All told, the telecom will spend an estimated 7.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion) to acquire its target.

In the press release announcing its decision, the EC said it found that "in markets where the parties' activities overlap, the increase in market share resulting from the proposed transaction is insignificant and will therefore not appreciably alter competition." 

According to an SEC document it filed on Sept. 17, Vodafone had secured more than 76% of KDH's outstanding shares. It has extended its deadline for existing stockholders to tender their shares to Sept. 30, more than two weeks past the original cutoff date of Sept. 11.

In the latest of a series of dividend cuts in the REIT space, Apollo Residential Mortgage has reduced its common stock distribution. The company declared a disbursement of $0.40 per share for its Q3, to be handed out on Oct. 31 to holders of record as of Sept. 30. That amount is $0.30, or 43%, below each of the firm's three preceding payouts of $0.70 apiece, the most recent of which was dispensed at the end of July.

The REIT also declared a dividend on its series A preferred stock of $0.50 per share, with the same payment and record dates as those of the common shares.

The just-declared common stock dividend annualizes to $1.60 per share. That yields 10.3% at Apollo Residential Mortgage's most recent closing stock price of $15.60.

With Apple's iPad mini with Retina display reported hitting physical and virtual store shelves, it makes sense to look at what this product could mean for the company. When the first iPad mini was introduced at a price of $329, many believed this was Apple beginning to realize that it had to lower prices to keep its tablet market share. However, with the latest mini priced at $399, the company seems to have reversed course and that may spell trouble for the iPad division.

Why small tablets?
It's well known that tablets are cannibalizing PC sales and that consumers are finding more and more reasons to own this type of device. Whether it's Apple showing a customer using FaceTime or Google featuring its Google Now service on an Android device, there are many reasons a tablet may be better than a traditional PC.

If you like reading, Amazon.com hopes that you'll consider its Kindle Fire lineup to get your digital page turning fix. Of course, Samsung isn't going to cede market share to anyone, and the company is pushing the smartphone and tablet combination with the Galaxy Note III and also offers the Galaxy Note 8 if you want a true tablet experience.

According to IDC research, in the first quarter of this year one in every two tablets shipped was below eight inches in screen size. In addition, IDC expects smaller tablets to continue to grow in 2013 and beyond.

What customers wanted, and what they got
Going into the iPad lineup refresh, most expected a thinner, lighter, and better full-sized iPad, and that's pretty much what they got with the iPad Air. Apple kept to its practice of staying at the same price point and at $499 the iPad Air is without question the best full-sized iPad.

However, when it comes to the mini, Apple's magic of delivering the same price with better specs got left by the wayside. While the mini does sport the Retina display, a better processor, and other improvements, the price jumped from $329 to $399. While it's true the first generation mini dropped to $299, this hardly makes the first generation device a bargain.

In fact, you could make the argument that the first generation mini is one of the worst combinations of price and display quality.

Given that display quality is a key factor in selecting a tablet, the iPad mini first generation seems to lag most of its peers. Given that this device also uses a dual-core processor whereas most of its competition uses quad-core processors or better, the difference is even starker.

The data above suggests that consumers shouldn't choose the iPad mini first generation, but what about the iPad mini with Retina display? The truth is, Apple is almost begging customers to just spend the extra $100 and get the iPad Air. The iPad mini with Retina display is priced higher than any of the devices we've mentioned by as much as 70%.

In addition, the weight and size difference between the full-sized and iPad mini has narrowed. The previous generation of full-sized iPad used to weigh about 1.3 lbs. When you compared that to the 0.68 lbs. of the first generation mini, there was a significant reason to choose the smaller device. Today the difference is one lb. for the iPad Air and 0.74 lbs. for the mini. Given that Apple gave the iPad Air a smaller bezel, the difference in width has shrunk from two inches to 1.3.

A small device causes a big problem
The bottom line is, unless the consumer is heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem, the iPad mini is hard to recommend. If you are going to spend $399, you may as well spend $499 and get the extra screen real estate of the iPad Air. Apple did so well making the Air they may have unintentionally made the mini obsolete.

That being said, with most applications being available on either iOS or Android, it's hard to ignore the value that the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7" offer at just $229 each. Given the huge difference in price, it seems likely that Apple will continue losing tablet market share.

Apple had a chance to sell a premium small tablet that customers wanted at a reasonable price. Instead, the company decided to raise the price by more than 20%. With its current price structure, Apple may have alienated the small tablet market. Given the company's growth aspirations, that is a problem that is too big to ignore.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Major market benchmarks hit two new key milestones, with the Dow poking above 16,000 and the S&P 500 climbing through the 1,800 mark briefly before falling back toward the end of the day. In the end, the broader stock market dropped slightly, but JinkoSolar Holding , Kirkland's , and Lumos Networks all held on to their double-digit percentage gains on the day. Let's look more closely at these stocks to see why they soared today.

JinkoSolar gained 13%, hitting another multiyear high as the Chinese solar stock announced that its sales rose 11% in the third quarter on a 6% jump in shipment volume. With a huge bottom-line beat as well, JinkoSolar solidified its status as one of the healthier players among China's many solar companies. As the shakeout in Chinese solar continues, JinkoSolar stands to become one of the survivors, putting itself in a strong position to thrive if demand for solar products continues to rise worldwide.

Retailer Kirkland's climbed 15%, adding to its 7% gain on Friday. Several other home-furnishing retailers were down on the day, although as Fool contributor Sean Williams noted earlier today, The Container Store also posted double-digit percentage gains on a relative lack of company-specific news. As the retail industry enters the key holiday season, abrupt moves from smaller players will become more frequent as channel checks reveal early trends in shopping behavior that could add up to huge gains for Kirkland's if they continue.

Lumos Networks climbed 10% as it rebounded following a secondary offering of shares last week. The stock had traded at its current level just two weeks ago before falling after private-equity investor Quadrangle Capital Partners filed to sell about $50 million in Lumos stock last week. The move won't dilute existing shareholders because Lumos isn't offering any stock of its own, but investors apparently concluded that after the market absorbed the sudden hit, Quadrangle's departure won't hurt the company's long-term prospects going forward.