Antitrust and Trade Regulation laws aim to promote free competition in the marketplace. Agreements or cooperative efforts by two or more entities that affects or restrains competitors is illegal under these laws. The Sherman Act makes illegal any contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce and makes monopolies and attempts, combinations, or conspiracies to monopolize illegal. The Clayton Act regulate price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing contracts, stock acquisition and interlocking directorates.
Pearl is a village in Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 187 at the 2000 census. The village, settled in the late 1800s, is named after pearl buttons drilled from the large supply of native mussels that once lived in the nearby Illinois River.