Are the big pharmaceutical giants in for a fall within the next few years? It seems that the U.S. public and the media have a love-hate relationship with the drug companies. Those drugs are "needed" to treat various ailments and conditions, but the drug companies (and their sales forces) take marketing a step further and try to have customers use their drugs in ways the FDA did not approve.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris had had enough of all this. She recently resided in yet another case of a pharmaceutical company marketing its drugs for uses that had not been FDA-approved. When Judge Saris told the drug company (Schering Sales Corp. of Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) fame) that "You can't thumb your nose at the FDA," she meant it and slapped it with a $435 million fine to settle allegations it lied to the government about drug prices and illegally promoted the drugs Temodar and Intron A for the treatment of cancers for which they were not approved.

Are drug companies shenanigans like this going to hurt the chances for other drug companies? A U.S. Senate bill that just passed this week and gives more powers to the FDA, allowing it much more scrutiny of pharmaceutical drugs, may open the drug companies up to more exposure. Something that's desperately needed by consumers and investors alike.

Main market news here.

So much Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) this morning (from serious to lighthearted):

• J.P. Morgan Securities adjusted its estimates on Apple, raising second quarter earnings per share estimate to $0.66 a share on revenue of $5.23 billion. Its prior view was $0.62 per share and revenue of $5.16 billion. It raised iPod unit sales estimate and margin, but cut Mac shipments. J.P. Morgan maintained its "neutral" rating on the stock.
• Spurring hopes that the Fab Four would indeed be soon available on Apple's iTunes, the Beatles' commercial guardian Apple Corps has settled a royalties dispute with record label EMI. In February it settled a long-running trademark dispute with Apple Inc. over the distinctive apple logo and name.
• Apple added two new Get-a-Mac commercials. Go see, they're funny! Here are some spoofs, if you're interested.
• And in case you missed from yesterday, MGM has become the latest studio to now show its films on iTunes.

Deutsche Bank started coverage of investment banks. Several received a "Buy" rating, as the analyst believes they are poised to gain from private equity interest and superior growth rates abroad. Here's a partial list:

• Buy: Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, E*Trade and Charles Schwab.
• Hold: Bear Stearns, Bank of America, Ameritrade, City National, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is set to report tomorrow. From AP's earnings preview: Analysts are anticipating earnings of 44 cents per share for the quarter ended in March on sales of $39.8 billion, according to a poll conducted by Thomson Financial.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) same-store sales rose 4%, beating analyst expectations of a 1.6% rise. Total sales for the five weeks ended April 6 rose 11.7% to $34.26 billion. The company expects April same-store sales in the U.S. to be flat to down 2%. Earnings per share from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 were forecast to be 68-71 cents.

For the first time, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) named a non-Japanese to its board of directors, appointing American James Press, the automaker's president of North American operations. A shrewd political move?

According to independent market research firm Datamonitor, AIDS drugs sales seen topping $10 billion by 2015. Companies like Merck & Co Inc., Pfizer Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc. and Johnson & Johnson stand to benefit.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) expects more lawsuits in Japan from Japanese anti-monopoly authorities and the Fair Trade Commission.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is set to report today. Here's BloggingStocks' earnings preview.