Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

Read More..

Armstrong meeting with USADA appears unlikely

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lance Armstrong's lawyers say the cyclist will talk more about drug use in the sport, just likely not to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that led the effort to strip him of his Tour de France titles.In a testy exchange of letters and statements revealing the gulf between the two sides, USADA urged Armstrong to testify under oath to help "clean up cycling."Armstrong's attorneys responded...

Read More..

Exxon Mobil dethrones Apple as world’s most valuable company

Apple (AAPL) has lost its title as the word’s most valuable company to Exxon Mobil (XOM) only a year after it reached the milestone. Despite reporting strong earnings this week, expectations are high for the company and its guidance has Wall Street investors worried. Shares of Apple have been hit hard in recent weeks and have continued to fall to a 12-month low. On Friday, the company’s market...

Read More..

Police and protesters clash in Egypt, army sent to Suez

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters scuffled with police in Cairo on Saturday and troops were deployed in Suez after nine people were shot dead in nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi, exposing deep rifts two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted. After a day of clashes on Friday, tension remained high with a court expected to rule later on Saturday in a case against suspects...

Read More..

Euro jumps ahead of ECB loan repayments

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit an 11-month high and European shares dipped on Friday as markets braced for news on how much banks will repay of the one trillion euros in European Central Bank crisis funds that have been keeping them afloat. Data due showing whether Britain is heading for its third recession since the financial crisis began and on German business sentiment was also in...

Read More..

Voice of Te'o prankster? Couric plays voicemails

NEW YORK (AP) — The person Manti Te'o says was pretending to be his online girlfriend told the Notre Dame linebacker "I love you" in voicemails that were played during his interview with Katie Couric.Taped earlier this week and broadcast Thursday, the hour-long talk show featured three voicemails that Te'o claims were left for him last year. Te'o said they were from the person he believed to be Lennay...

Read More..

Soccer coach suspended in Maine West hazing case

Another soccer coach linked to hazing allegations on athletic teams at Maine West High School has been suspended without pay...

Read More..

North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration...

Read More..

Shares dip as investors brace for euro zone data

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares weakened on Thursday as investors braced for the year's first reading on euro zone business activity for 2013 after data showed that France, the region's second-biggest economy, may be in recession. Markets are hoping for a modest improvement in the estimates for manufacturing and service sector activity across the euro area for January, due later, to...

Read More..

Defending champ Azarenka into final against Li

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka overcame some anxiety, a sore left knee, and a slew of frustrating forehand errors before fending off American teenager Sloane Stephens to reach the Australian Open final against Li Na.For the second time in two days, 19-year-old Stephens sat patiently in a courtside chair late in the second set while an experienced, older player took a medical timeout.On...

Read More..

Deep freeze grips northern U.S. from Minnesota to Maine

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Frigid arctic air held the U.S. Midwest and Northeast in its icy grip on Wednesday, with the cold so dangerous that municipal emergency warming centers opened up and ski resorts shut down.The National Weather Service warned the wind chill could make the temperature feel like 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit(minus 40 degrees Celsius) in parts of Northern Minnesota until noon...

Read More..

Benghazi blame-game is useless

Hillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary Clinton through the yearsHillary...

Read More..

Bulls rally to beat Pistons 85-82

As the United Center rocked and the Bulls celebrated Marco Belinelli's go-ahead, three-point play with 7.5 seconds left, Joakim...

Read More..

North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North...

Read More..

European shares edge up as economic sentiment improves

LONDON (Reuters) - European stocks edged toward 22 month highs on Wednesday, driven by upbeat corporate earnings, an easing in fears about the U.S. hitting its debt ceiling and a better outlook for the global economy. Strong investor confidence data from Germany, Japan's plans to shore up the world's third largest economy, and improving economic numbers this month from the world's top...

Read More..

Callahan denies allegations of Super Bowl sabotage

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Former Oakland coach Bill Callahan has denied allegations made by two of his former players that he "sabotaged" the Raiders in their Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay 10 years ago.Former Raiders receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice both said in recent interviews they believe Callahan undermined his own team in the Super Bowl in 2003 because of his close friendship with Tampa Bay coach...

Read More..

Democratic Senators Pass Torch to EPA on Climate Change

After years of trying—and failing—to get climate-change legislation through Congress, top Senate Democrats are publicly ready to hand over the power to President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency.“A lot of people don’t recognize that EPA has huge authority to reduce carbon in the air,” Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said at a briefing...

Read More..

2013 could be 'climate game-changer'

An ice sculpture entitled 'Minimum Monument' by Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo outside Berlin's Concert Hall, September 2, 2009.STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe "neglected" risk of climate change seems to be rising to the top of leaders' agendasExtreme weather events are costing the global economy billions of dollars each yearGas can be an important bridge to a lower carbon future but it's not the answerMore investment...

Read More..