Just Explain It: Why the Fiscal Cliff May Trigger a Recession

Lawmakers in Washington appear to be making little to no progress in avoiding the impending so-called fiscal cliff.  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Friday the negotiations are "almost nowhere." On Thursday Boehner rejected a proposal from the Obama administration saying that the Democrats need to "get serious about real spending cuts."President Obama's offer continues to call for higher...

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Decent jobs report despite slowdown in hiring pace

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pace of U.S. job growth slowed a bit in December, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 7.8 percent, but details of the Labor Department's U.S. employment report were fairly encouraging.* Nonfarm payrolls increased 155,000, but job gains for the previous month were revised up to show 15,0000 more positions created than previously reported.* Construction employment rebounded...

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Bank of America, other banks move closer to ending mortgage mess

CHARLOTTE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp announced more than $14 billion of legal settlements over bad mortgages it sold to investors and flaws in its foreclosure process, taking the bank a step closer to ending the home loan problems that have dogged it for years.About $3 billion of Bank of America's Monday's settlements were part of a larger $8.5 billion deal between 10 big mortgage...

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UPDATE 1-NHL-League owners approve new labor deal

* Players expected to ratify labor agreement on the weekend* Bettman says he has no plans to step down as comissioner (Adds quotes, detail)Jan 9 (Reuters) - The National Hockey League's (NHL) board of governors ratified the tentative labor deal on Wednesday, followed by Commissioner Gary Bettman's apology for dragging fans and sponsors through a four-month lockout.Requiring a simple majority to pass,...

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League owners approve new labor deal

(Reuters) - The National Hockey League's (NHL) board of governors ratified the tentative labor deal on Wednesday, followed by Commissioner Gary Bettman's apology for dragging fans and sponsors through a four-month lockout.Requiring a simple majority to pass, the 30 league owners voted unanimously to approve the 10-year deal that was agreed to early on Sunday after a marathon 16-hour bargaining session.The...

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NHL owners approve new labor deal; players to vote

NEW YORK (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman secured unanimous ownership support for the pending labor deal, then apologized to everyone hurt by the long lockout and said he isn't going anywhere.The league's board of governors met in a Manhattan hotel Wednesday and overwhelmingly approved the agreement that was reached early Sunday on the 113th day of the lockout.Bettman felt the full brunt of anger,...

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What Happened to the 2012 Tech Bubble That Never Was

Turns out Facebook's fizzled IPO was a pretty good microcosm for 2012 in startup land: it was all one big fizzle. The final numbers for last year in venture-capital IPOs and acquisitions are in, and while there was no dot-com-era type of explosion, the much hyped new tech bubble appears to have just... petered out. There remains hope, as always, for the unpredictable year ahead. Here are some key...

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Patent hints Apple may bring its own unique stylus to iOS devices

Many people had a good laugh when Samsung (005930) unveiled the Galaxy Note last year and made a big deal out of the device’s Palm Pilot-like stylus. But once the Galaxy Note became a hit, people stopped snickering and began to take the stylus seriously as an accessory once again. Apple (AAPL) is apparently considering hopping on the stylus bandwagon, as HotHardware reports that the company has filed...

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Quick fix for Boot Camp brings Windows 8 to new iMac computers

Early adopters of Apple’s (AAPL) new iMac computers who chose the 3TB Fusion Drive model have been unable to use Boot Camp Assistant. The program, which allows OS X users to install a Windows partition on their computers, is limited to drives of up to 2.2TB. Apple has hinted that the software may be updated in the future to support larger drives, however no set time frame has been given. Despite...

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Is Iran's presence in Latin America a threat? The White House says yes.

When the United states government signed into law the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act, the US was quickly criticized for being stuck in the past.The law was the White House’s most public strategy to date to counter Iran’s influence in the Americas, and gives the State Department 180 days to draw up a plan to “address Iran’s growing hostile presence and activity.” The US received prompt...

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In Egypt a new cabinet, but same old IMF problem

A senior International Monetary Fund official visited Cairo to discuss the type of concessions Egypt would be willing to make in exchange for a $4.8 billion loan that the government hopes will stem the precipitous decline of the Egyptian pound.The conversation included the new and politically untested Finance Minister al-Mursi al-Sayed Hegazy, a professor of Islamic Finance with no track record in...

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Good Reads: Boomtown slum, democracy in progress, and 'rewilding' in the Netherlands

The image of an African shantytown does not usually conjure up hope for economic prosperity. But Kibera, one of Nairobi’s slums and arguably Africa’s largest slum, is exactly that for the Kenyans who call it home. In The Economist, a writer chronicled a day in Kibera, describing the slum’s ebbs and flows, capturing its entrepreneurial spirit. People from all over Kenya leave their towns and villages...

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Soccer-Pro Patria given one-game fan ban over Boateng incident

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Italian fourth-tier side Pro Patria must play their next home league match behind closed doors after fans racially abused AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng, the league said on Tuesday. Boateng walked off the pitch in last week's friendly because of monkey chants and his team mates followed him, drawing widespread praise across the game. An Italian...

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UPDATE 2-Soccer-Bulgaria and Hungary told to play behind closed doors

BERNE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Bulgaria and Hungary were ordered to play their next home World Cup qualifiers behind closed doors after their fans were found guilty of racist and anti-Semitic behaviour in recent games, FIFA said Tuesday.Bulgaria were sanctioned after a group of supporters racially abused Denmark substitute Patrick Mtiliga every time he touched the ball after entering the field in the second...

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Soccer-Galatasaray say open talks to sign Sneijder

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Galatasaray have opened talks to try to sign Inter Milan's out-of-favour Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder, the Turkish league leaders said on Tuesday.The 28-year-old has not played for the Italian side since negotiations aimed at getting him to accept a cut in wages broke down in November."Galatasaray have begun talks with Inter for the transfer of Wesley Sneijder," a statement from...

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Disney On Ice: Rockin’ Ever After Tickets Skate to Top of Most Popular List on BuyAnySeat.com

Disney on Ice: Rockin’ Ever After is performing to packed houses at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia all this week, before gliding on to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio from January 11 – 21, 2013. The show, resplendent with its classic Disney characters and musical hits, skated to the top of the Most Popular Theatre Tickets list last week, said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace...

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Larson Electronics Releases a 277 Volt AC A19 LED Bulb for the Industrial Marketplace

In an ongoing effort to meet the needs of the industrial marketplace, Larson Electronics announced the addition of their LED-A19-10-E26 A19 LED bulb. The unique feature of the Larson Electronics A19 LED bulb, which is a replacement for the standard 100 watt incandescent light bulb, is that it operates on voltages ranging from 120 to 277 VAC.Kemp, TX (PRWEB) January 04, 2013Larson Electronics announced...

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HealthCompare Remains Confident about Business-as-Usual in Light of New States Being Added to the New Insurance Exchanges

HealthCompare remains confident as state health exchanges are being formed across the country.Orange, CA (PRWEB) January 04, 2013HealthCompare remains confident as state health exchanges are being formed across the country."In 10 months, consumers in all 50 states will have access to a new marketplace where they will be able to easily purchase affordable, high quality health insurance plans,” said...

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Serena offers ominous warning for Australian Open rivals

BRISBANE (Reuters) - Serena Williams felt she was close to accessing the sporting "zone" during her emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the Brisbane International on Saturday.Williams needed only 51 minutes to beat the Russian in an ominous warm-up for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 14."I've been in the zone a few times," Williams told...

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Hussey finishes on a high with Australia sweep

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Michael Hussey ended his test career on a high on Sunday when Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets with a day to spare in the third test to sweep the series 3-0.The 37-year-old was deprived of the ultimate fairytale ending when his batting partner Mitchell Johnson scored the winning run but Hussey, ever the team man, was not remotely concerned."It couldn't have ended any better,"...

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Penguins' Private Lives Recorded in Antarctica

MCMURDO SOUND, Antarctica — Suppose someone monitors your whole life, from the moment you were born through childhood, puberty, adolescence and your midlife crisis, all the way to your ultimate death — recording what you eat, where you go, who you make love to, when you raise children and how your body ages. Pretty scary, right?But that's exactly what biologist David Ainley is doing. Not with humans,...

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NHL players respond to lawsuit in labor dispute

 As the National Hockey League and the players' union sought to negotiate the end to a long labor dispute that has jeopardized the season, proceedings in a lawsuit pitting the two sides against each other moved forward.In a court filing on Thursday, the players asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the league that sought a declaration confirming the legality of the player lockout.The...

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NHL-Labor talks at near standstill as season deadline looms

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Negotiations on a labor deal between the National Hockey League (NHL) and locked out players ground to a near standstill on Thursday, with time running out on salvaging even a partial season.The optimism that surrounded talks on Wednesday vanished quickly as the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) dialed up the pressure, calling on the membership to vote again to give their executive...

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DISCOVER YAHOO! WITH YOUR FRIENDS close Labor talks at near standstill as season deadline looms

Negotiations on a labor deal between the National Hockey League (NHL) and locked out players ground to a near standstill on Thursday, with time running out on salvaging even a partial season.The optimism that surrounded talks on Wednesday vanished quickly as the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) dialed up the pressure, calling on the membership to vote again to give their executive board the power to...

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Poll: Obesity's a crisis but we want our junk food

WASHINGTON (AP) — We know obesity is a health crisis, or every new year wouldn't start with resolutions to eat better and get off the couch. But don't try taking away our junk food.Americans blame too much screen time and cheap fast food for fueling the nation's fat epidemic, a poll finds, but they're split on how much the government should do to help.Most draw the line at policies that would try...

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High School Basketball Star Must Tan to Treat Rare Disease

When the Shawnee High School basketball team is down on the scoreboard, players know to throw the ball to Josh Borelli. Borelli is not only the team's star player, but also the player most adept at overcoming adversity. Borrelli, a senior at the Medford, N.J., school, has a condition called Mucha-Habermann, an extremely rare skin disorder that causes lesions to develop all over the body. Borrelli...

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Racial gaps in access to robotic prostate surgery

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Minority and Medicaid cancer patients are less likely to have their prostates removed at hospitals that use robot-assisted surgery, according to a new study that stops short of suggesting the robotic technique represents better care."People who are poor - frequently Hispanic, African American or black, and Medicaid patients - tend to get what is considered to be less high-quality...

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Eli Lilly banks on cost controls for higher 2013 profit

Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.Lilly, whose shares were up nearly 4 percent on Friday, said 2013 sales will be flat to a bit higher, despite the loss of patent on its $5 billion-a-year antidepressant, Cymbalta, in December.The Indianapolis-based drugmaker is...

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