Wall Street Week Ahead: Attention turns to financial earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After over a month of watching Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue, Wall Street can get back to what it knows best: Wall Street.

The first full week of earnings season is dominated by the financial sector - big investment banks and commercial banks - just as retail investors, free from the "fiscal cliff" worries, have started to get back into the markets.

Equities have risen in the new year, rallying after the initial resolution of the fiscal cliff in Washington on January 2. The S&P 500 on Friday closed its second straight week of gains, leaving it just fractionally off a five-year closing high hit on Thursday.

An array of financial companies - including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase - will report on Wednesday. Bank of America and Citigroup will join on Thursday.

"The banks have a read on the economy, on the health of consumers, on the health of demand," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

"What we're looking for is demand. Demand from small business owners, from consumers."

EARNINGS AND ECONOMIC EXPECTATIONS

Investors were greeted with a slightly better-than-anticipated first week of earnings, but expectations were low and just a few companies reported results.

Fourth quarter earnings and revenues for S&P 500 companies are both expected to have grown by 1.9 percent in the past quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Few large corporations have reported, with Wells Fargo the first bank out of the gate on Friday, posting a record profit. The bank, however, made fewer mortgage loans than in the third quarter and its shares were down 0.8 percent for the day.

The KBW bank index <.bkx>, a gauge of U.S. bank stocks, is up about 30 percent from a low hit in June, rising in six of the last eight months, including January.

Investors will continue to watch earnings on Friday, as General Electric will round out the week after Intel's report on Thursday.

HOUSING, INDUSTRIAL DATA ON TAP

Next week will also feature the release of a wide range of economic data.

Tuesday will see the release of retail sales numbers and the Empire State manufacturing index, followed by CPI data on Wednesday.

Investors and analysts will also focus on the housing starts numbers and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve factory activity index on Thursday. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment numbers are due on Friday.

Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis, said he expected to see housing numbers continue to climb.

"They won't be that surprising if they're good, they'll be rather eye-catching if they're not good," he said. "The underlying drive of the markets, I think, is economic data. That's been the catalyst."

POLITICAL ANXIETY

Worries about the protracted fiscal cliff negotiations drove the markets in the weeks before the ultimate January 2 resolution, but fear of the debt ceiling fight has yet to command investors' attention to the same extent.

The agreement was likely part of the reason for a rebound in flows to stocks. U.S.-based stock mutual funds gained $7.53 billion after the cliff resolution in the week ending January 9, the most in a week since May 2001, according to Thomson Reuters' Lipper.

Markets are unlikely to move on debt ceiling news unless prominent lawmakers signal that they are taking a surprising position in the debate.

The deal in Washington to avert the cliff set up another debt battle, which will play out in coming months alongside spending debates. But this alarm has been sounded before.

"The market will turn the corner on it when the debate heats up," Prudential Financial's Krosby said.

The CBOE Volatility index <.vix> a gauge of traders' anxiety, is off more than 25 percent so far this month and it recently hit its lowest since June 2007, before the recession began.

"The market doesn't react to the same news twice. It will have to be more brutal than the fiscal cliff," Krosby said. "The market has been conditioned that, at the end, they come up with an agreement."

(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; editing by Rodrigo Campos)

Read More..

At War Blog: Highlights From Karzai, Obama News Conference

President Obama, after meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, said Friday that the United States would be able to accelerate the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in coming months because of gains made by Afghan security forces.

As the Times’s Mark Landler reported, Mr. Obama also made it clear that he contemplated leaving relatively few troops in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, saying that the mission will be focused on advising and supporting Afghan troops and targeting the remnants of Al Qaeda.

You can watch the full video here:

You can also find the joint statement, released by President Obama and President Karzai here.

Read More..

Video game retail sales continued to slide in December, down 22% from 2011

Title Post: Video game retail sales continued to slide in December, down 22% from 2011
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/video-game-retail-sales-continued-to-slide-in-december-down-22-from-2011/
Link To Post : Video game retail sales continued to slide in December, down 22% from 2011
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Britney Spears: The X Factor Made Me Miss Performing

TV Watch

The X Factor

By Marisa Laudadio and Aaron Parsley

01/11/2013 at 03:50 PM EST

It's official: Britney Spears is moving on after one season as a judge on The X Factor.

"I've made the very difficult decision not to return for another season," Spears, who mentored the show's youngest contestants, said in a statement on Friday.

Her rep confirms that Fox, which airs the singing competition, has been informed of her decision.

A source told PEOPLE Thursday that the pop superstar intends to focus on her music now that she's done with the hit show.

"I had an incredible time doing the show and I love the other judges and I am so proud of my teens but it's time for me to get back in the studio," Spears said Friday.

And she hints that she may also be back on tour in 2013.

"Watching [the contestants] all do their thing up on that stage every week made me miss performing so much!" she said. "I can't wait to get back out there and do what I love most."

TMZ reports that Spears is "in talks" to do a longterm Las Vegas show.

Read More..

Flu more widespread in US; eases off in some areas

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is more widespread across the nation, but the number of hard-hit states has declined, health officials said Friday.

Flu season started early this winter, and includes a strain that tends to make people sicker. Health officials have forecast a potentially bad flu season, following last year's unusually mild one. The latest numbers, however, hint that the flu season may already have peaked in some spots.

Flu was widespread in 47 states last week, up from 41 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. Many cases may be mild. The only states without widespread flu are California, Mississippi and Hawaii.

The hardest hit states fell to 24 from 29, with large numbers of people getting treated for flu-like illness. Dropped off that list were Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina in the South, the first region hit this flu season.

Recent flu reports have included the holidays when some doctor's offices were closed, so it will probably take a couple more weeks to know if the flu has peaked in some places or grown stronger in others, CDC officials said Friday.

"Only time will tell how moderate or severe this flu season will be," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a teleconference with reporters.

Nationally, 20 children have died from the flu. There is no running tally of adult deaths, but the CDC estimates that the flu kills about 24,000 people in an average year.

Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older, and health officials say it is not too late to get vaccinated. flu reports.

Nearly 130 million doses of flu vaccine were distributed this year, and at least 112 million have been used. Vaccine is still available, but supplies may have run low in some locations, health officials say.

Hyrmete Sciuto, of Edgewater, N.J., got a flu shot Friday at a New York City drugstore. She hadn't got one in years, but news reports on the flu this week made her concerned.

As a commuter by ferry and bus, "I have people coughing in my face," she said. "I didn't want to risk it this year."

The flu vaccine isn't foolproof; people who get vaccinated can still get sick.

On Friday, CDC officials said a recent study of more than 1,100 people has concluded the current flu vaccine is 62 percent effective. That means the average vaccinated person is 62 percent less likely to get a case of flu that's bad enough to require a trip to the doctor, compared to people who don't get the vaccine.

That's in line with how effective the vaccine has been in other years.

The flu vaccine is reformulated annually, and officials say this year's version is a good match to the viruses going around.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

Most people with flu have a mild illness. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.

Some shortages have been reported for children's liquid Tamiflu, a prescription medicine used to treat flu. But health officials say adult Tamiflu pills are available, and pharmacists can convert those to doses for children.

___

AP Science Writer Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

Read More..

Wall Street flat, pressured by Wells Fargo, banks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Friday after Wells Fargo & Co reported a decline in net interest margin despite a record profit in the latest quarter, weighing on bank stocks.

Dow component Boeing also weighed on the market after a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan added to problems with some of its Dreamliner jets earlier in the week, compounding safety concerns about the new aircraft.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said the jet would be subject to a review of its critical systems by regulators. Boeing was the biggest loser on the Dow, falling 3.1 percent to $74.73.

Wells Fargo was the first major bank to report results and said its fourth-quarter net interest margin - a key measure of how much money banks make from loans - fell, even as profit jumped 24 percent. The bank also made fewer mortgage loans than in the third quarter.

"It (Wells Fargo results) is weighing on the sector. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this won't be a sector thing and more confined to Wells Fargo, but it's definitely playing a factor today," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC in Boston.

The bank's shares fell 1.4 percent to $34.91. The S&P 500 financial sector index <.gspf> fell 0.7 percent after rallying more than 1 percent on Thursday and the KBW Banks index <.bkx> fell 1.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was off 3.24 points, or 0.02 percent, to 13,467.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> fell 2.50 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,469.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> dipped 0.64 points, or 0.02 percent, to 3,121.13.

Bank of America Corp , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc are due to report results next week.

Overall earnings were expected to grow by 1.9 percent in this earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters data. But analysts say that with the bar so low, there's room for companies to beat expectations, even if their results are not stellar.

"People are going to be looking for a slowdown in Europe to hit revenues for companies in the U.S. that are exposed to that. I don't think the market is going to react to that, that's already built in," said Troy Logan, managing director and senior economist at Warren Financial Service, in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Best Buy shares rallied after its results showed a small turnaround in its U.S. stores, though same-store sales were flat during the key holiday season. Shares jumped 13.4 percent to $13.85, making it the best performer on the S&P 500.

Basic materials shares were pressured after China's annual consumer inflation rate picked up to a seven-month high, narrowing the scope for the central bank to boost the economy by easing monetary policy. The S&P basic materials sector <.gspm> slipped 0.4 percent.

Dendreon Corp shares surged 17.4 percent to $5.99 after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the drugmaker's stock to "outperform" from "market-perform" and said it could be one of the best performers in 2013.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Read More..

Blasts in Pakistan Kill at Least 88 and Raise Fears Over Elections

Waheed Khan/European Pressphoto Agency

The worst violence was concentrated in the southwestern city of Quetta, where two explosions killed at least 57 people and wounded more than 110, the police said.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Bomb blasts in two Pakistani cities killed at least 88 people on Thursday and wounded more than 270, offering harrowing evidence of how the country’s myriad internal conflicts may destabilize it as elections approach.

The worst violence was concentrated in the southwestern city of Quetta, where two explosions a few minutes apart in the evening ripped through a billiards hall in a neighborhood dominated by ethnic Hazara Shiites, killing at least 57 people and wounding more than 110, the police said.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside the hall, and a second attacker then blew up his vehicle outside the club as police officers and journalists arrived, a senior police officer, Mir Zubair Mehmood, told reporters. The television channel Samaa said one of its camera operators was killed by the second explosion after rushing to the scene. Hospitals were overwhelmed as casualties arrived through the evening.

Quetta is no stranger to sectarian, nationalist and Islamist violence. Most violence against Shiites there has been directed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group with strong ties to the Pakistani Taliban. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the billiard hall attack.

An ethnic Baluch separatist group claimed responsibility for another bombing earlier on Thursday, aimed at paramilitary soldiers in a commercial part of Quetta, which killed 12 people.

The Hazara, minority Shiites who migrated from Afghanistan more than a century ago, have been the target of dozens of attacks from sectarian death squads led by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Quetta over the past year, but the billiard hall attack was by far the bloodiest.

Human rights activists said the police and the security forces failed to protect the vulnerable community. “The callousness and indifference of authorities offers a damning indictment of the state, its military and security agencies,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch.

The other focus of violence on Thursday was the Swat Valley, in the Hindu Kush mountains in northwestern Pakistan, where an explosion in the basement of a religious seminary killed at least 22 people and wounded an additional 60. It was not clear why the seminary, run by the Islamic missionary group Tableeghi Jamaat, was a target.

Initial reports said a gas leak had caused the explosion, but police and hospital officials later said that there was clear evidence of a bomb.

Doctors at a hospital in Saidu Sharif, near the site, said blast victims were being treated for wounds caused by ball bearings, which are sometimes packed into suicide bombs to make them more deadly.

“There was a smell of explosives,” Muhammad Iqbal, a senior doctor, said by telephone.

The violence underscores the fragility of state authority in parts of Pakistan as the country prepares for a general election that analysts say is likely to take place before June. Many Pakistanis worry that increasing instability could cause the elections to be postponed.

Islamist violence in Swat drew international condemnation in October after Taliban gunmen shot a teenage schoolgirl and education activist, Malala Yousafzai. The episode highlighted how Islamist fighters were slowly returning to the valley three years after a Pakistani military operation drove them away.

Ismail Khan contributed reporting from Peshawar, Pakistan.

Read More..

Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight?

At the start of the New Year, when weight loss is often a priority, building a support team to help keep us on track can be extremely helpful. This might typically consist of family members, friends, co-workers, or perhaps even a nutritionist or registered dietitian. But today, support can also be found online. Plenty of Web sites focus on losing weight, and include communities that provide support and encouragement. Since many of us spend a lot of time on social media sites–maybe too much if you ask my husband!–why not use these platforms as another tool for support? In fact, one study suggests employees participating in a workplace wellness program who also joined the company’s Facebook page, run by a registered dietitian, stayed with the program longer than those who didn’t.

[See Already Struggling With Your New Year's Resolution?]

Could it actually make sense that gluing ourselves to our mobile device or computer could help us shed pounds? It sounds like quite the oxymoron, since increased screen time doesn’t usually equate to weight loss. But here’s how to make social media sites work for you:

Facebook

Facebook is a place where you can share what’s going on in your life with friends, but you may not feel comfortable announcing what you weigh or that you’re trying to lose weight. On the other hand, you may enjoy posting fitness milestones, such as training for and completing your first marathon, or a bike ride for your favorite charity. Sharing your fitness goals with the Facebook universe may be helpful, because the more people who know about it, the more likely you are to stay committed.

[See Small Steps, Big Change: How to Lose 50 Pounds Without Really Trying]

Rather than simply connecting with friends on the site, you can also connect with health and fitness professionals, such as registered dietitians, or pages for diet books, like mine, The Small Change Diet. You can also “like” the pages of health and fitness magazines and your favorite brands. The folks who run these pages may post articles that provide you with helpful weight-loss tips, and many organize regular Facebook chats, allowing you to ask an expert your questions. The more that healthy information is “in your face,” the more likely you are to stick to it.

Most importantly, you may discover a weight-loss community on Facebook, where like-minded individuals share their weight losses (or gains) and offer support. Daily accountability could be just what you need, and knowing others are rooting for you can make a world of difference. If you can’t find a Facebook community you like, start your own.

Twitter

So many of my patients don’t have Twitter accounts, because they think they have nothing clever or witty to say. My advice to them is always the same: You don’t have to “say” anything; you can just follow, at least at the beginning. Registered dietitians (I’m @kerigans) have great tips and, if they’re like me, are more than happy to answer questions via Twitter. I’ve had followers tweet a picture of their dinner and ask what my dietitian colleagues and I thought of it–priceless information for free.

[See Best Plant-Based Diets]

Just as you do on Facebook, follow fitness professionals, health magazines, and other sources that provide weight-loss motivation. Once you feel comfortable, you may decide to join in the conversation, since that’s what social media is all about. Perfect example of how it can benefit you: One morning, I tweeted that I felt more like staying in my pajamas than going to yoga. Some of my followers chimed in that they were feeling the same way, BUT stressed that we should all still exercise. And so we all did. And trust me, none of us regretted going–rather, we were thankful for each other.

[See Are Mobile Health Apps Helpful?]

Seek out people on Twitter and Facebook who you find inspirational, and hopefully a little of what they do will rub off on you. Since nothing is etched in stone, you can unfollow, unlike, or unfriend them if they aren’t helping you. And please keep in mind that while social media can be another tool in your pursuit of weight loss, it’s not the end all. Healthy eating, fitness, and plenty of sleep actually need to happen away from a screen.

Hungry for more? Write to [email protected] with your questions, concerns, and feedback

Keri Gans, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian, media personality, spokesperson, and author of The Small Change Diet. Gans’s expert nutrition advice has been featured in Glamour, Fitness, Health, Self and Shape, and on national television and radio, including The Dr. Oz Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, Primetime, and Sirius/XM Dr. Radio.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight?
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/can-social-media-help-you-lose-weight/
Link To Post : Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight?
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

William & Kate's Future Home: Anmer Hall?

By Simon Perry

01/10/2013 at 04:00 PM EST

Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham estate

REX USA

It's a house fit for a (future) king.

That's the speculation in Britain, where the magnificent Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate, Queen Elizabeth's retreat in Norfolk, has been mentioned as a possible family home for William and Kate when they leave Wales.

A report in the Sunday Telegraph suggested the house, in the tiny village of Anmer, 120 miles north of London, is being earmarked for the couple. But it is believed the current tenants may stay for a few more years.

Still, royal preparations could already be in the works. The estate reportedly applied in December for a series of planning measures for the home. Details are not being made public, for security reasons, but PEOPLE has confirmed they include rerouting the driveway into the property, extending a garage block and converting woods stores for accommodation.

Building a new "garden room" is also in the plans.

William knows the house well, as his close friends the van Cutsem family rented it for many years. Emilie van Cutsem, the mother of four sons who are close to Princes William and Harry, was seen by some as a surrogate mother to the princes in their teen years, after they lost their mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Buckingham Palace had no comment, saying the house is a private home on a private estate.

Read More..

Flu season hits early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers have limited visitors, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to handle the feverish patients.

Flu season in the U.S. has hit early and, in some places, hard. But whether this will be considered a bad season by the time it has run its course in the spring remains to be seen.

"Those of us with gray hair have seen worse," said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

The evidence so far is pointing to a moderate season, Schaffner and others believe. It just looks bad compared with last year — an unusually mild one.

Flu usually doesn't blanket the country until late January or February, but it is already widespread in more than 40 states.

What's probably complicating the situation: The main influenza virus this year tends to make people sicker. And there are other bugs out there causing flu-like illnesses. So what people are calling the flu may, in fact, be something else.

"There may be more of an overlap than we normally see," said Dr. Joseph Bresee, who tracks the flu for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The flu's early arrival in the U.S. coincided with spikes in a variety of other viruses, including a childhood malady that mimics flu and a new norovirus that causes what some people call "stomach flu."

Most people don't undergo lab tests to confirm flu, and the symptoms are so similar that it's sometimes hard to distinguish flu from other viruses, or even a cold. Over the holidays, 250 people were sickened at a Mormon missionary training center in Utah, but the culprit turned out to be a norovirus, not the flu.

Flu is a major contributor, though, to what's going on.

"I'd say 75 percent," said Dr. Dan Surdam, head of the emergency department at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Wyoming's largest hospital. The 17-bed ER saw its busiest day ever last week, with 166 visitors.

The early onslaught has resulted in a spike in hospitalizations, prompting hospitals to take steps to deal with the influx and protect other patients from getting sick, including restricting visits from children, requiring family members to wear masks, and banning anyone with flu symptoms from maternity wards.

One hospital in Allentown, Pa., this week set up a tent for a steady stream of patients with flu symptoms.

But so far, "what we're seeing is a typical flu season," said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

On Wednesday, Boston declared a public health emergency, and all the flu activity has caused some to question whether this year's flu shot is working.

There's a new flu vaccine each year, based on the best guess of what flu viruses will be strongest that year. This year's vaccine is well-matched to what's going around. The government estimates that between a third and a half of Americans have gotten the vaccine.

But the vaccine isn't foolproof, and even those who were vaccinated can still get sick. At best, the vaccine may be only 75 percent effective in younger people and even less so in the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

Health officials are analyzing the vaccine's effectiveness, but early indications are that about 60 percent of all vaccinated people have been protected from the flu. That's in line with how effective flu vaccines have been in other years.

In New York City, 57-year-old Judith Quinones suffered her worst case of flu-like illness in years, laid up for nearly a month with fever and body aches. "I just couldn't function," she said.

She decided to skip getting a flu shot last fall. But her daughter got the shot. "And she got sick twice," Quinones said.

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

Most people with flu have a mild illness and can help themselves and protect others by staying home and resting. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.

The last bad flu season involved a swine flu that hit in two waves in the spring and fall of 2009. But that was considered a unique strain, different from the regular winter flu.

___

Online:

CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

Read More..