Asian shares rise as earnings eyed

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Wednesday as investors resumed buying after taking profits from a sharp rally at the start of the year while warily bracing for corporate earnings season to kick off in full force.European shares were seen following Asia's lead with a modest rise, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open as much...

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UK stocks stage recovery on positive U.S. earnings

* FTSE 100 up 0.4 percent* Miners gain after Alcoa says sees brighter 2013* Lloyds Banking shines after UBS upgrade* J Sainsbury drops after trading updateLONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose onWednesday, boosted by banking stocks and miners as a reassuringstart to the U.S. earnings season boosted investors' appetitefor riskier assets.The FTSE 100 was up 24.33 points, or 0.4 percent,...

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Global shares buoyed by Alcoa earnings, dollar gains on yen

012. REUTERS/Issei KatoRELATED CONTENT   Enlarge PhotoTraders work in front of a trading …Enlarge PhotoTraders are pictured at their desks …LONDON (Reuters) - World shares staged a modest recovery from two days of losses on Wednesday after aluminum giant Alcoa opened the U.S. earnings season with an optimistic outlook for world demand.However, with European and British central banks due...

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Stocks open lower, pushing S&P 500 down from high

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street Monday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index down from the five-year high it reached Friday.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 55 points to 13,379 as of 10:30 a.m. EST Monday. The S&P 500 dropped six points to 1,460. The Nasdaq composite fell eight points to 3,093.Bank of America bucked the downward trend. The stock rose after...

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U.S. stocks slip before earnings; oil dips

 U.S. stock prices fell on Monday on worries about disappointing company results while world oil prices dipped on profit-taking, but signs of improvement in the global economy capped the losses.The dollar fell against the yen after rallying to a 2-1/2- year high last week, which some traders reckoned was overdone. But it strengthened against the euro on speculation over whether the European...

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Stocks slip, pulling S&P 500 below its 5-year high

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are lower in midday trading on Wall Street, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 index down from a five-year high it reached Friday.Nine of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 were lower. Only health care stocks rose.At midday Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 61 points at 13,374.The S&P 500 was down six at 1,460. The Nasdaq composite was off seven...

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S&P 500 index closes at a five-year high

NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard & Poor's 500 index is closing at its highest level in five years as the stock market extends a New Year's rally.The S&P 500 closed at 1,466 Friday, the highest since Dec. 31, 2007, before the financial crisis.That's a gain of seven points on the day. The index is up 4.6 percent over the past week after lawmakers passed a last-minute budget agreement that avoided...

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S&P 500 finishes at 5-year high on economic data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index ended at a five-year high on Friday, lifted by reports showing employers kept up a steady pace of hiring workers and the vast services sector expanded at a brisk rate.The gains on the S&P 500 pushed the index to its highest close since December 2007 and its biggest weekly gain since December 2011.Most of the gains came early in...

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Stocks gain, pushing the S&P 500 to 5-year high

The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at its highest level in five years Friday after a report showed that hiring held up in December, giving stocks an early lift.The S&P 500 finished up 7.10 points at 1,466.47, its highest close since December 2007.The index began its descent from a record close of 1,565.15 in October 2007, as the early signs of the financial crisis began to emerge. The index...

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Earnings from McDonald's, Microsoft sink stocks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Poor earnings reports from three companies in the Dow Jones industrial average — Microsoft, General Electric and McDonalds — sent indexes down sharply Friday, marking a sour end to an otherwise strong week in the stock market.McDonald's led a broad drop in the Dow, falling 3 percent. The Dow was down 151 points at 13,397 shortly after noon."I'm concerned about corporate earnings,...

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McDonald's Canada Reveals How They Make Famous Fries

McDonald's Canada is at it again, demystifying their french fry recipe "from the farm to all the way to the fryer."In their new behind-the-scenes video, Scott Gibson, manager of the company's supply chain, takes customer questions on their world-famous fries.Gibson addresses the first question asking whether or not the potatoes used by the fast food restaurant are real. Standing in the middle of the...

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Apple’s New iPad Mini Is Pricey but That Won’t Deter Fans: TechCrunch’s John Biggs

It's officially here: The iPad mini, the subject of endless speculation and rumors over the past year, made its debut Tuesday at the California Theater in San Jose, Calif. The iPad mini starts at $329 and hits store shelves Nov. 2. Pre-sales begin Oct. 26. It boasts a 7.9-inch display, weighs 0.68 pounds and is 7.2mm thick. The design closely resembles the iPod Touch and comes in both black and white.Related:...

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US economic growth improves to 2 pct. rate in Q3

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending.Growth improved from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.The pickup in growth may help President Barack Obama's message that the economy is improving. Still, growth...

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Disney buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind "Star Wars," from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It's also making a seventh movie in the "Star Wars" series called "Episode 7," set for release in 2015, with plans to follow it with Episodes 8 and 9 and then one new movie every two or three years.The Walt Disney Co. announced the blockbuster...

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Apple’s New iPad Mini Is Pricey but That Won’t Deter Fans: TechCrunch’s John Biggs

It's officially here: The iPad mini, the subject of endless speculation and rumors over the past year, made its debut Tuesday at the California Theater in San Jose, Calif. The iPad mini starts at $329 and hits store shelves Nov. 2. Pre-sales begin Oct. 26. It boasts a 7.9-inch display, weighs 0.68 pounds and is 7.2mm thick. The design closely resembles the iPod Touch and comes in both black and white.Related:...

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US economic growth improves to 2 pct. rate in Q3

The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending.Growth improved from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.The pickup in growth may help President Barack Obama's message that the economy is improving. Still, growth remains too weak...

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Disney buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind "Star Wars," from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It's also making a seventh movie in the "Star Wars" series called "Episode 7," set for release in 2015, with plans to follow it with Episodes 8 and 9 and then one new movie every two or three years.The Walt Disney Co. announced the blockbuster...

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Has Obama Been Good for Millionaires?

The question of whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago depends, of course, on the American.For the 12 million unemployed, the answer is most certainly no.But for many of America's millionaires, the answer may be more affirmative.A new study from WealthInsight, the London-based wealth-research and data firm (and yes, they are non-partisan), showed that the United States added...

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Obama Wins 2012 Election: Why Your Taxes Are Going Up

When President Obama and the new Congress begin to tackle important legislation and federal policy in January, one of the key issues will be how to reform America's byzantine tax code.Obama campaigned on a platform to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, declaring that millionaires and billionaires need to "pay their fair share." The president proposed the highly controversial "Buffett Rule,"...

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Apple’s New iPad Mini Is Pricey but That Won’t Deter Fans: TechCrunch’s John Biggs

t's officially here: The iPad mini, the subject of endless speculation and rumors over the past year, made its debut Tuesday at the California Theater in San Jose, Calif. The iPad mini starts at $329 and hits store shelves Nov. 2. Pre-sales begin Oct. 26. It boasts a 7.9-inch display, weighs 0.68 pounds and is 7.2mm thick. The design closely resembles the iPod Touch and comes in both black and white.Related:...

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