Wall Street's happy new year: Dow up almost 180 (AP)

NEW YORK ? The stock market got a big jump on a better year.

Stocks rose sharply Tuesday in the first trading of 2012 after investors returned from the holiday and found encouraging economic reports from the United States and around the world.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 179.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,397.38, its highest close in more than five months.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index, a broader gauge of the overall market than the Dow, finished up almost 20 points at 1,277. The S&P finished 2011 almost exactly where it started ? down a sliver, 0.04 of a point.

The market may have gotten an extra boost from what's known as the January effect: Investors sell stocks at the end of the year to lock in losses for tax purposes, then come back in January and buy stocks again.

The effect could be more pronounced this year because the stock market was so volatile in 2011 and more investors were forced to take losses, said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at Standard & Poor's Capital IQ.

Money managers also usually get a fresh infusion of cash at the beginning of the year because workers who maxed out their contributions to retirement accounts well before the previous year ended start contributing again.

These investors are back hunting for bargains, he said: "Investors are a lot like dieters and look to January as a new beginning."

January is a fairly good predictor of the year to come for U.S. stocks. Only seven times since 1950 has January turned out to be a "major error" in predicting the year to come, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

In other words, whichever direction the market has gone in January, the rest of the year has usually followed.

The "major errors" are usually extraordinary events, the almanac points out. In 2001, for example, the S&P 500 rose 3.5 percent in January, but the market was rocked by the Sept. 11 attacks and finished the year down 13 percent.

The first day of the year is less useful for fortunetelling than the first month. If you were to bet on whether the market would finish the year up or down based on how it performed the first day, you would be right only about half the time.

And there's no special power to January. A strong market in any single month makes it more likely that the market will be higher over the 12 months to come, Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG, pointed out in a note to clients.

"As goes any month, so goes any 12-month period," he said. "This is not the exclusive province of January."

Predictive ability aside, Tuesday was the fourth time a row the market rose on opening day. On Jan. 3, 2011, on its way to flat-lining for the year, the S&P rose 14 points.

Bank stocks and materials and industrial companies posted the largest gains. Alcoa, which produces aluminum, rose 6.7 percent, JPMorgan Chase rose 5.2 percent, and Bank of America rose 4.3 percent, the biggest winners among the 30 stocks in the Dow.

The market's gains were broad. All but four of the Dow 30 finished higher. Of the 10 major categories of stocks in the S&P 500 index, one, utilities, finished lower. Utilities are traditionally conservative stocks to own.

Investors seized on the latest signs of strength in the U.S. economy: Manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest rate in six months, and construction spending rose in November as builders spent more on single-family homes, apartments and remodeling projects.

There was also hope from Europe's largest economy, Germany, which reported that the average number of people unemployed there last year was the lowest in two decades. Germany has an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent, compared with 8.6 percent in the United States.

And a Chinese manufacturing index rose in December, reversing a November slide and raising hopes that China's economic slowdown is under control.

The economic reports overshadowed, at least for a day, concerns in the global markets about the European debt crisis, which will probably be the main catalyst for markets in the weeks ahead.

Earlier Tuesday, the government of debt-crippled Greece warned that it would have to ditch the euro currency if the details of a second international bailout worth $169 billion can't be worked out.

Investors have been afraid that a Greek exit from the euro currency union would further disrupt the Greek economy and cause heavy losses for European banks that hold Greek government debt, perhaps triggering a global financial crisis.

The second Greek bailout was approved last October, but Greece still has to persuade its creditors, including banks and investment firms, to take steep losses on their holdings of Greek debt.

Greece also says more tax increases and spending cuts may be required. A spokesman for the Greek government, Pantelis Kapsis, said negotiations in the next three or four months with international debt monitors will "determine everything."

The price of oil rose $4.13 to $102.96 per barrel in its first trading of 2012. Tensions grew over key Persian Gulf oil shipments after Iran warned the United States to stay out of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz waterway.

The dollar and Treasury prices fell as investors shed low-risk assets. Gold rose 2.2 percent. In other stock trading, the Nasdaq closed up 43.57, or 1.7 percent, at 2,648.72.

U.S. investors were also reacting to news they had missed out on during the holidays:

? On Dec. 30, a federal court delayed the implementation of new air-pollution regulations. Coal stocks did well Tuesday: Peabody Energy Corp. rose over 9 percent and James River Coal Co. soared close to 11 percent, while Alpha Natural Resources Inc. gained 8 percent.

? Last week, a JPMorgan analyst told clients that two wireless companies, Leap Wireless International Inc. and MetroPCS Communications Inc., could be targeted by AT&T or T-Mobile for takeovers. MetroPCS rose 8 percent Tuesday, and Leap rose over 6 percent.

In other corporate news:

? Chesapeake Energy Corp. rose almost 6 percent after the energy company sold a part of its Ohio oil and gas business to a unit of French energy company Total SA for $2.32 billion.

? Rambus Inc. jumped 7 percent after the technology licensing company raised its fourth-quarter revenue forecast to $83 million from an earlier range of $66 million to $71 million.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120103/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

michigan football michigan football sugar bowl presidential candidates mild kidney failure nick cannon jeff fisher

Soldier denies knowing of explosives in plane bag

This undated photo provided by the Midland County Sheriff's Office via The Odessa American shows U.S. Army Sgt. Trey Scott Atwater. Atwater 30, who is charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in federal court. Atwater was stopped by airport security at Midland International Airport Saturday when they discovered explosives in military-grade wrapping in a carry-on bag in his possession. (AP Photo/Midland County Sheriff's Office via The Odessa American)

This undated photo provided by the Midland County Sheriff's Office via The Odessa American shows U.S. Army Sgt. Trey Scott Atwater. Atwater 30, who is charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in federal court. Atwater was stopped by airport security at Midland International Airport Saturday when they discovered explosives in military-grade wrapping in a carry-on bag in his possession. (AP Photo/Midland County Sheriff's Office via The Odessa American)

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) ? A soldier charged with trying to bring explosives on an airplane in Texas told investigators he used them in Afghanistan but didn't realize any were in a bag he brought back to the U.S. and apparently carried on a flight from North Carolina to Texas.

Trey Scott Atwater, of Hope Mills, North Carolina, was arrested Saturday while trying to go through security at an airport in Texas where he was planning to fly back home. Authorities say the 30-year-old had a carry-on bag containing C4, a powerful explosive used in Iraq and Afghanistan to blow the hinges off doors or destroy unexploded ordinance.

According to court documents, Atwater told the FBI he is a demolitions expert who returned from his third deployment to Afghanistan in April. He said his Army special forces team always carried at least two blocks of C4, but he didn't know any explosives were in his bag when he returned to his post at Fort Bragg, N.C.

He said the bag had been in his garage since then and he didn't see any explosives in the main compartment when he packed for his trip to Texas.

Atwater was detained at the Fayetteville, North Carolina, airport on Dec. 24 when security agents found a military smoke grenade in his carry-on bag. Court documents don't specify ? and transportation officials wouldn't say Tuesday ? whether investigators now suspect C4 was in Atwater's bag then or whether he acquired it later.

Atwater did not say where he got the C4, although his comments in court documents indicate he could have brought it from Afghanistan.

After the smoke grenade was confiscated, Atwater was "admonished" and allowed to fly to Texas, court documents said. Typically, bags are thoroughly searched and placed on X-ray machines for a second time after a suspicious item is found, although court documents don't say whether that was done in Atwater's case.

He and his family were returning home when he was stopped at Midland International Airport. A Transportation Security Administration agent spotted a suspicious item in his carry-on during screening, and a police bomb squad identified it as C4.

C4 looks like a block of clay and requires a blasting cap or detonator to explode. Combat troops have ready access to the explosive, which can also be used as fuel for heating water or rations. The U.S. military forbids troops from taking C4 out of combat zones, but the screening process for troops heading home is not as stringent as for people flying on commercial airlines.

Documents do not say how much C4 was in Atwater's bag or whether there were blasting caps.

Atwater has been charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane, which carries a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence. He waived his initial court appearance Tuesday, and his attorney, Jason Leach, declined to comment on the case.

The FBI didn't find out about the smoke grenade until after Atwater's arrest in Midland.

"When I asked him about the December 24 Fayetteville incident after TSA informed me of it, Atwater acknowledged that it had occurred, but said he had forgotten to mention it to us during our initial interview," the FBI agent wrote in the affidavit filed in the case.

TSA spokesman Greg Soule declined to comment Tuesday.

___

Brown reported from Fort Worth. Associated Press writer Chris Tomlinson in Austin also contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-03-Airport-Explosives/id-ba3a61e6ee0b40749deeef340165dfa0

appetizer recipes torrie wilson lesnar vs overeem ufc 141 insight bowl deep impact julia child

Eamonn_Forde: All kinds of creepy. A Steve Jobs "action figure": http://t.co/K1aKpAx2

  • Passer la navigation
  • Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
  • Passer cette ?tape
  • Connexion
Loader Twitter.com
  • Connexion
All kinds of creepy. A Steve Jobs "action figure": gizmodo.com/5872483/this-n? Eamonn_Forde

Eamonn Forde

Pied de page

Source:

icam patrice o neal. joran van der sloot osteopathy osteopathy diphtheria diphtheria

India conveys unhappiness over Kashmir reference

India conveys unhappiness over Kashmir reference Istanbul: Conveying its "unhappiness" over Turkey raking up the Kashmir issue in the UN General Assembly, India on Sunday told it that the state is "part and parcel" of the country.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on the sidelines of Istanbul conference during which Krishna conveyed the country's "surprise and unhappiness."

India conveys unhappiness over Kashmir reference

"India conveys its surprise and unhappiness on the UN General Assembly speech of the Prime Minister of Turkey wherein Kashmir was refereed to.

"India conveys that Kashmir is part and parcel of India and has a democratically-elected state government," official sources told PTI.

India conveys unhappiness over Kashmir reference

During his speech in UNGA on September 22 this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that "the illegitimate invasion of Azerbaijani territories, which has been going on for many years now, must end. It is unacceptable to let the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remain unresolved as such. Finding solutions to international problems before they become acute is a political and moral responsibility for all of us.

"In this respect, more effective efforts have to be exerted to resolve the Kashmir issue and many other frozen disputes which I can?t name here."

PTI

First Published: Monday, January 02, 2012, 08:11

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/india-conveys-unhappiness-over-kashmir-reference_749875.html

ambition dorothy rodham rick hendrick plane crash marco rubio marco rubio no shave november

India airs edgier TV shows _ but cuts out the edge

(AP) ? Would the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll fueled TV show "Californication" be worth watching without the sex, drugs and rock-n- roll? What about serial killer series "Dexter" without the gore?

In an effort to attract younger viewers without offending the older ones, Indian TV is now showing some of America's edgiest shows ? but cutting out the edge.

As India urbanizes and its middle class grows, a delicate dilemma has hit a media culture long dominated by local TV shows aimed at rural audiences, such as the soap opera "Baalika Vadhu" or "Child Bride," about a girl married off at age 10. While the young and hip audiences that attract advertising dollars want foreign imports, no broadcaster wants to upset conservative viewers or attract government ire.

"This is a very sensitive time for the media in India," said TV critic Shailaja Bajpai. "Many stations are afraid of government banning orders," but at the same time, output needs refreshing to bring in audiences."

So TV channels resort to inconsistent and clumsy self-censorship, snipping scenes that are central to a show's plot with abandon. While they bleep out profanities, they will also cut a reference to the drug "crack" from one part of a show, while letting it slide a few minutes later.

Even more absurd are the imports that have English subtitles to assist those with a shaky grasp of the language. Censors often let the spoken word slide through, but change it or strike it completely from the subtitles. So while a character on "The Big Bang Theory" is allowed to say the word "intimate," the subtitles only showed "int ------."

One incident turned an episode of "Friends" into a legend of unwatchable TV. The show hinged on the gag that two pages in a cookbook got stuck together and the character Rachel mistakenly made a fruit pastry with beef. The station bleeped out the word "beef," a show of sensitivity for Hindus' reverence for cows, leaving viewers to guess why her diners were so disgusted.

It's just as perplexing for the suddenly chaste vampires of HBO's lusty "True Blood" and for the serial killer star of "Dexter," who is constantly changing blood-splattered clothes for no apparent reason on Indian TV. Or for David Duchovny's "Californication" lech Hank Moody, who disappears into a bedroom with a beautiful women and then suddenly appears in a disjointed scene from later in the episode.

Nevertheless, young Indians, who have embraced Levis, McDonalds and MTV, are hungering for Western television.

"I no longer want to watch the stupid shows I watched with my family growing up, I want entertainment and there is very little on Hindi-language television," said Abhinav Mohan, a 22-year-old mass-communication student, who watches the disjointed imports instead. "Though heavily censored, I can still follow them."

Broadcasting the shows, while editing them into confusion, underscores the fine line entertainment companies like the NewsCorp-owned Star and FX are trying to walk to attract urban youth while not angering their more traditional parents.

Bollywood actors only began kissing onscreen in the last decade. As recently as 2007, an arrest warrant was briefly issued for Hollywood star Richard Gere after he kissed the cheek of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS awareness rally.

"Indian produced movies and TV are very formulaic, you always know what you are going to get," said Rahul Gupta, a media company owner in New Delhi. "Today's youth are more likely to get what they want from Hollywood than Bollywood and TV companies are starting to realize it and hope to cash in."

In an effort to head off government interference, the industry created its own regulatory body in June to deal with complaints. Now, in addition to the odd censoring, viewers must also suffer a banner that repeatedly scrolls across the screen, advising viewers how to complain to the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council. More than 3,000 have.

The complaints range from "scantily and vulgarly dressed women" on MTV's "Grind" to a scene "misguiding children to kill," on the southern Indian family melodrama "Muddu Bidda," or "Cute Girl."

So far, only six channels have been called in for a hearing. Their apologies have been enough to satisfy the council and prevent it from referring the cases to the government, which has the power to ban shows.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-02-AS-India-Soft-Core-Censoring/id-1e22ccc5154a426db24d7ba9d943ddf7

drew brees nfl draft 2012 rose bowl 2012 nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture ryan seacrest sat cheating scandal

Ron Paul?s pitch to Iowa social conservatives ? Washington Examiner (blog)


Washington Examiner (blog)
Ron Paul's pitch to Iowa social conservatives
Washington Examiner (blog)
Ron Paul is most associated with his economic and foreign policy views, but one of the secrets to his success is the appeal he's making to Iowa's socially conservative electorate, something that may come as a surprise to those who know him as a gadfly ?
Bachmann Iowa chair: Ron Paul is most conservative top-tier candidateDaily Caller
Is Ron Paul the new 'anti-Romney?'Examiner.com
Ron Paul Doesn't Appeal To Evangelicals? Polls Say OtherwiseTPM
The Associated Press
all 3,429 news articles??

conservative ? Google News

Post to Twitter

Previous Topic
U.S. Seals $3.48B Missiles, Technology Sale to U.A.E.Next Topic
Republican campaign hinges less on issues this year ? Nashua Telegraph

Leave a Reply


?

Source: http://www.conservativesforamerica.com/conservative-news/ron-pauls-pitch-to-iowa-social-conservatives-washington-examiner-blog

david arquette lionfish lionfish conjoined twins justin bieber paternity justin bieber paternity denver news

Business Insider Editor Joe Weisenthal Named 'Business Journalist ...

Image: Daniel Goodman / Business Insider.com

Joe Weisenthal in action.

I'm pleased and proud to announce that Business Insider Deputy Editor Joe Weisenthal has been named "Business Journalist Of The Year," by Talking Biz News.

Joe joined BI three years ago. From the get-go, we have been blown away by his talent, mastery of the medium, and extraordinary work ethic.

As Deputy Editor, in addition to writing prolifically, Joe oversees our economics, markets, politics, and general business coverage. His newsroom leadership has played a big role in the success of Business Insider as a whole.

It is great to see Joe's work recognized outside the company. And the honor is especially impressive given some of the other excellent journalists at The New York Times, CNBC, NPR, and elsewhere who were considered for the award.

Please join me in congratulating Joe and thanking Talking Biz News.

And, on behalf of all of us, let me also take this opportunity to thank all of you, our readers and community, for an amazing 2011. We wish you all the best for 2012!

Here's an excerpt of the write-up at Talking Biz News:

[Joe Weisenthal's] impact has been dramatic for the evolving future of business journalism.

Weisenthal, who represents a new wave of how business journalism is presented, is a multi-platform user who pays close attention to the stock market and the economic data that is impacting its ups and downs. The sheer volume of the news and information he produces each day for his readers is amazing.

He posts on Business Insider at least a dozen times a day, and he is a major user of Twitter using the handle ?The Stalwart.? He has more than 14,000 followers on Twitter and has tweeted nearly 50,000 times. Earlier this year, The New York Observer wrote, ?Joe?s a one-man news wire who can sell a story like no other. It?s a freak talent and a rare find.?

Joe Weisenthal

Josh Brown, a New York investment banker who writes the Reformed Broker blog, wrote Wednesday that Weisenthal is ?the most unlikely blogger to be going toe to toe with Fed watchers, Krugman haters, derivatives experts and currency wonks is doing exactly that.? And there?s no need to search the web when news breaks or data is released ? because Joe always has it first, even when the government?s servers have crashed from the traffic. Watching The Stalwart?s evolution this past year has been pretty special.?

He?s also revered by his readers for admitting when he is wrong and for providing news in a way that explains its significance. In July, dozens of them came to his defense when someone posted on Business Insider that he should be fired.

Weisenthal begins each morning between 4 a.m. and 5 p.m., announcing to the world that he?s on the prowl with a tweet that simply states, ?What did I miss?? And he typically announces when the major market news of the day has come and gone with a tweet that says, ?Day?s over.?

One of his co-workers told Talking Biz News about how excited Weisenthal gets covering news. For example, before economic data comes out he starts drumming on his desk and does this countdown thing (?60 seconds?.30 seconds?15 seconds??) followed by silence while he posts the story and then a delayed sound effect such as ?KaBoom!?

Read the whole thing >

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-editor-joe-weisenthal-business-journalist-of-the-year-2011-12

miguel cotto cotto ncaa bowl games bowls honey badger brooke mueller herman cain

LTE Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 receives update, brings TouchWiz and other fixes with it

 

Android Central

If you have been patiently waiting for your Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE model to receive the TouchWiz update you will be pleased to know the update is now rolling out. The update brings a mini apps tray, a quick panel for easy access to things like screen brightness, wifi, auto rotation and more. In addition to adding TouchWiz to the device they have also enhanced the wifi connectivity, fixed issues with emails not marking themselves as read, added a photo editor, memo application and much more. For full details be sure to hit the source, and if you take the upgrade be sure to let us know in the forums how it works out for you!

Source: Verizon

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/dhYetXAdYz8/story01.htm

chili recipe chili recipe grimm tashard choice tashard choice amityville horror puss in boots

Gaming in 2011: a two-minute video roundup | Joystiq

Yeah, I was expecting a little more variety. I mean, I love Uncharted and Assassin's Creed as much as the next guy, but there were a lot of other good games that were led out (Skyward Sword and LBP2 come to mind).

Still, not a bad summary, regardless. Got most of the major games in there.

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/29/gaming-in-2011-a-two-minute-video-roundup/

traffic report opensky dia frampton dia frampton zook john elway john elway