Yahoo! News: Business

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• Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher
• Analysis: Apple earnings need to overcome technical malaise
• Caterpillar writes off most of China deal after fraud
• Fed official alleges Geithner may have alerted banks to rate cut
• Thai tycoon trumps Overseas Union bid for F&N, setting up showdown
• Boeing probe focuses on battery, 787 deliveries halted
• As GE profits rise, investors wonder about cash plans
• Emergency meeting ends strike at Italy's troubled ILVA plant
• Blockbuster UK administrators to shut 129 stores, cut 760 jobs
• Aviation technology advances, FAA tries to keep up
• Algeria: 32 militants killed, with 23 hostages
• More than 140 nations adopt treaty to cut mercury
• Explorer's rare Scotch returned to Antarctic stash
• Flu season 'bad one for the elderly,' CDC says
• Spain's ruling party to probe alleged corruption
• Overcharging batteries eyed in Boeing 787 mishaps
• Government again delays proposed 'fracking' rule

Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher Posted: 18 Jan 2013 05:25 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal. The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations. Sector indexes in transportation , banks and housing this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well. ...

Analysis: Apple earnings need to overcome technical malaise Posted: 19 Jan 2013 05:11 AM PST NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - To those who study technical stock charts, Apple Inc looks broken. Even though it is widely viewed to be undervalued after hitting an 11-month low this week and nine out of 10 brokerages recommend that investors buy or hold the stock, Apple shareholders could still be in for more rough times if technical strategists are right. They note that trading charts show few price points where investors can expect clusters of buying to support Apple's shares. ...

Caterpillar writes off most of China deal after fraud Posted: 19 Jan 2013 02:06 AM PST (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc uncovered "deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct" at a subsidiary of a Chinese company it acquired last summer, leading it to write off most of the value of the deal and wiping out more than half its expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012. Shares of Caterpillar fell 1.5 percent in afterhours trading following news of the fraud, which was discovered after problems were found with the Chinese company's inventory. ...

Fed official alleges Geithner may have alerted banks to rate cut Posted: 18 Jan 2013 10:28 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the summer of 2007, as storm clouds gathered over the world's financial system, then-New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner allegedly informed the Bank of America and other banks about the possibility the U.S. central bank would lower one of its critical interest rates, according to a senior Fed official. Jeffrey Lacker, the head of the Richmond Fed, originally raised the allegation during a Fed conference call in August 2007, and he stuck to his 5-year-old claim against the current U.S. treasury secretary in a statement provided to Reuters on Friday. ...

Thai tycoon trumps Overseas Union bid for F&N, setting up showdown Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:21 PM PST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Thailand's third richest man has raised his takeover offer for Singapore's Fraser and Neave Ltd , valuing the property and drinks conglomerate at nearly $11.3 billion, a move to fend off a rival bid from a group run by Indonesian tycoon Stephen Riady. Thailand's TCC Assets Ltd, headed by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, increased his offer to S$9.55 a share, above the S$9.08 made by a consortium led by Riady's Singapore-listed property company Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd . ...

Boeing probe focuses on battery, 787 deliveries halted Posted: 18 Jan 2013 05:02 PM PST SEATTLE/TAKAMATSU, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. and Japanese aviation safety officials finished an initial investigation of a badly damaged battery from a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet on Friday as Boeing said it was halting deliveries until the battery concerns were resolved. Boeing said it would continue building the carbon-composite 787, but deliveries were on hold until the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved and implemented a plan to ensure the safety of potentially flammable lithium-ion batteries that prompted a widespread grounding of the new airplane this week. ...

As GE profits rise, investors wonder about cash plans Posted: 18 Jan 2013 04:07 PM PST (Reuters) - What's Jeff Immelt going to do with the money? General Electric Co shareholders are wondering what the company's chief executive plans to do with a cash windfall that could total tens of billions of dollars over several years as the company sells its remaining stake in NBC Universal and recoups more of the profits earned by finance unit GE Capital. Last year GE Capital sent $6.4 billion back to the company's headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. Analysts estimate that the unit could generate a similar amount of cash this year. ...

Emergency meeting ends strike at Italy's troubled ILVA plant Posted: 19 Jan 2013 04:50 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italian metal workers called off a strike at Europe's biggest steel plant on Saturday after an emergency meeting between government, unions and company management to save the ILVA factory from closure. The battle over the future of ILVA, owned by the Riva Group, has been one of the biggest challenges faced by the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti and a symbol of the struggle to preserve heavy manufacturing in Italy. ...

Blockbuster UK administrators to shut 129 stores, cut 760 jobs Posted: 19 Jan 2013 04:50 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Entertainment retailer Blockbuster UK will shut 129 of its 528 stores and make 760 out of its 4,190 employees redundant, the firm's administrators said on Saturday in the latest bad news for Britain's gloomy high streets. Blockbuster, which is owned by U.S. satellite TV company Dish Network , went into administration on Wednesday, days after music and DVD retailer HMV did the same. ...

Aviation technology advances, FAA tries to keep up Posted: 19 Jan 2013 12:50 PM PST DALLAS (AP) — After two separate and serious battery problems aboard Boeing 787s, it wasn't U.S. authorities who acted first to ground the plane. It was Japanese airlines.

Algeria: 32 militants killed, with 23 hostages Posted: 19 Jan 2013 03:13 PM PST ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — In a bloody finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert on Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.

More than 140 nations adopt treaty to cut mercury Posted: 19 Jan 2013 07:55 AM PST GENEVA (AP) — A new and legally binding international treaty to reduce harmful emissions of mercury was adopted Saturday by more than 140 nations, capping four years of difficult negotiations but stopping short of some of the tougher measures that proponents had envisioned.

Explorer's rare Scotch returned to Antarctic stash Posted: 19 Jan 2013 04:35 AM PST SCOTTBASE, Antarctica (AP) — Talk about whisky on ice: Three bottles of rare, 19th century Scotch found beneath the floor boards of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton's abandoned expedition base were returned to the polar continent Saturday after a distiller flew them to Scotland to recreate the long-lost recipe.

Flu season 'bad one for the elderly,' CDC says Posted: 18 Jan 2013 05:21 PM PST The number of older people hospitalized with the flu has risen sharply, prompting federal officials to take unusual steps to make more flu medicines available and to urge wider use of them as soon as symptoms appear.

Spain's ruling party to probe alleged corruption Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:51 AM PST MADRID (AP) — Spain's governing Popular Party announced Saturday that it will investigate the financial activities of a former treasurer whom a court said had amassed an unexplained €22 million ($29 million) in Swiss bank accounts.

Overcharging batteries eyed in Boeing 787 mishaps Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:57 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — It's likely that burning lithium ion batteries on two Boeing 787 Dreamliners were caused by overcharging, aviation safety and battery experts said Friday, pointing to developments in the investigation of the Boeing incidents as well as a battery fire in a business jet more than a year ago.

Government again delays proposed 'fracking' rule Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department is again delaying a proposed rule that would require companies drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.

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