It News: 2012-10-14

October 18, 2012

Google’s Search for a Second Act

By Jeff Macke | Breakout 2012/10/18

Google (GOOG) reports third quarter results after the bell today in one of the most highly anticipated events of this earnings season. According to Yahoo Finance the Street is expecting Google to have earned $10.65 per share on revenues of $11.9 billion. As usual, the numbers mean less than the guidance and updates on the company's growing stable of business lines.
With GOOG stock up 30% in the 3 months since their last report, traders have a lot riding on the name. In the attached clip IronFire Capital founder Eric Jackson tells Breakout what he wants to hear from the company tonight.

5 dividend stocks that insiders like

By Meena Krishnamsetty | MarketWatch 2012/10/18

Sometimes, dividend yields can look attractive because the company's stock price has dropped; this can be a concern if the lower stock price is tied to poorer business performance, which could in turn lead to dividend cuts. It's also generally a good idea to review a history of insider purchases and sales — particularly purchases, as they tend to be more predictive of future performance — when looking at stocks. Here are five stocks which pay high dividend yields, are at least flat year to date, and have seen at least one insider purchase in the last three months:
Aldo Zucaro, CEO of Old Republic International Corporation(ORI), bought about 10,000 shares of the company in August 2012. Old Republic is an insurer whose products include asset insurance (auto, marine, etc.) and specialty coverage. It is unprofitable when looking at the last four quarters, but grew its revenue slightly in the second quarter of 2012 and sell-side analyst consensus is for positive

A Daily Multivitamin Reduces Cancer Risk in Older Men

By Olivia B. Waxman October 18, 2012

There hasn’t been strong evidence to support the idea that vitamins can combat cancer—until now.

In the first rigorous, long-term study of multivitamins and their effect on cancer, older men who took daily vitamins lowered their risk of cancer by 8% compared to men who skipped the supplements over an average of 11 years of follow up.

Participants included 14,641 male U.S. male physicians ages 50 and over for 11 years enrolled in the Physicians’ Health Study. The men were randomly assigned to take a multivitamin —Centrum Silver — or a placebo, and neither they nor the scientists were aware of their status. Overall, they were healthy; two-thirds exercised on a regular basis and only 4% were current smokers. The doctors’ mean age was 64. Nine percent (1,312) reported a history of cancer (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer).

(MORE: Vitamins and Supplements Linked to a Higher Risk of Death)

Bank of America says housing has ‘begun to turn,’ but mortgages still bring banks headaches

Associated Press, Published: October 17

NEW YORK — For banks, mortgage-making kept profits humming before the financial crisis, then blackened reputations and stamped out earnings when the crisis hit.

Now, the business of mortgage lending is more of a mixed bag.
Bank of America, the country’s second-biggest bank, reported Wednesday that mortgage originations jumped over a year ago — up 18 percent to $21 billion. But the mortgage unit still lost money as the bank worked through problem mortgages issued before the crisis.

Federal Reserve bombing plot foiled in NYC

FBI says man tried to blow up Federal Reserve Bank in NYC

Atlanta Business Chronicle by Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012

Federal prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man with conspiring to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The man, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, tried to remotely detonate what he believed was a 1,000-pound bomb in a van he parked outside the building in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, reports the New York Times.
Nafis, who came to the United States in January on a student visa, worked to make contacts and recruit people to form a terrorist cell to help him carry out an attack, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

The Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Travel Taxes

How Much of Your Vacation Dollar Goes to Levies on Hotel Rooms, Rental Cars and Flights by Municipalities
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

17, 2012
In Chicago, the tax on a case of Miller Lite beer runs about 9%. That pales in comparison with the 16.4% tax on a hotel room and the 23% tax on car rentals at O'Hare International Airport.

Travel is one of the most heavily taxed activities in the U.S., even though most cities and towns try hard to encourage visitors and tourism. Travelers don't vote where they travel, so cash-strapped cities and states continue to push fees and taxes onto hotel rooms, rental cars and airports. Cigarettes are about the only thing taxed more heavily among consumer purchases.

Is The Idea Of 'Gay Travel' Counterproductive?

10/16/2012
Form huffingtonpost.com

During my recent visit to the all-but-destroyed island of Bali, a local friend convinced me to stay someplace I wouldn't have chosen on my own: Spartacvs, an all-male, clothing-optional resort.

Now, I love naked men as much as the next gay dude with a travel blog. But my sexuality is never among my first considerations when choosing a destination.

Ironically, since Bali's scenery and culture, which are always among my first considerations when choosing a destination, have been badly mutilated by decades of excessive tourism, Spartacvs became something of a refuge for me.

Amazon to hire more than 50,000 for holiday season

2012/10/16

A box from Amazon.com is pictured on the porch of a house in Golden

(Reuters) - Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc said it will hire more than 50,000 seasonal employees at its fulfillment centers across the United States, as the company and its rivals gear up for the winter holiday season.
Retailers typically add seasonal staff in the weeks leading up to the holiday shopping season to work in stores and help in other areas, such as in distribution and fulfilling online orders.
"Temporary associates play a critical role in meeting increased customer demand during the holiday

Vikram Pandit to Step Down as Citigroup CEO

By CNBC | CNBC
2012/10/16

File photograph of Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit giving an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Vikram Pandit announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as CEO of Citigroup. The board of directors named Michael Corbat its new chief executive.
President and Chief Operating Officer John Havens also resigned.
After finishing 5.5 percent higher Monday, shares of Citigroup (C) were lower in pre-market trading following the announcement. (Click here to get the latest quotes for Citigroup.)

10 Money Mistakes That Can Ruin a Marriage

By Renee Morad | Money Talks News – Fri, Oct 12, 2012

Couples who reported disagreeing about finances once a week were 30 percent more likely to get divorced than couples who reported disagreeing about them once a month.

As anyone who’s been there knows, there’s no such thing as a friction-free marriage. But arguing can be ominous when the topic is money.
Couples who reported disagreeing about finances once a week were 30 percent more likely to get divorced than couples who reported disagreeing about them once a month, according to a Utah State University study.
In another survey, published in the Forum for Family and Consumer Issues, finances proved to be the leading cause of conflict in marriage, with 39 percent of respondents listing it as their primary issue and 54 percent as their secondary issue.
Here are 10 of the most common mistakes couples make when dealing with money.

1. Not talking enough about finances

Citigroup profit drops as it writes down brokerage unit

2012/10/15
(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said quarterly profit plunged on a $4.7 billion write-down of its stake in a brokerage operated by Morgan Stanley, but North American mortgage lending revenue increased and capital markets results rebounded.
The New York-based global bank on Monday said third-quarter net income was $468 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with $3.77 billion, or $1.23 a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings, excluding the previously announced write-down and an accounting charge for the change in the value its debt, was $3.27 billion, or $1.06 cents a share, compared with $2.57 billion, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier.

Cramer's Earnings Preview for Next Week

By Drew Sandholm | CNBC

What follows is "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer's "Game Plan" for the week of Monday, Oct. 15.
MONDAY, OCT. 15
Citigroup (C) will report earnings before Monday's opening bell. Although earnings results from rivals JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) failed to excite Wall Street Friday, Cramer thinks the banking sector is still worth a look.
(Related: Big Opportunity in Banks: Pro.)
"The group is cheap. The companies are making tons of money and they will soon be returning billions of dollars to shareholders," Cramer said. "They're making gobs of cash thanks to the robust mortgage market."
Unfortunately for Citi, though, Cramer doubts it will have enough mortgage business to offset its weakness in emerging markets.
"I'd stick with JPMorgan and buy more Wells Fargo before I'd venture into the world of Citigroup, though," he added.
(Read More: Are JPMorgan's Revenue Springs Drying Up?)
TUESDAY, OCT. 16
Coca-Cola (KO) is scheduled to deliver earnings Tuesday morning.
"KO shot the lights out last quarter and I bet it's even better this time because the dollar has gotten weaker versus where it was the last time they reported," Cramer said. "That's going to make for a

Former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk Dies

Ron Corben
October 14, 2012

BANGKOK — Chinese state media reports that Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, one of Southeast Asia's defining leaders, has died in Beijing. He was 89. King Sihanouk led Cambodia to independence, but war and his role in the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge marred his life and times.

Traveling The World Brings Andrew McCarthy Home

by NPR STAFF

October 14, 2012

In actor Andrew McCarthy's parallel career as a travel writer, he serves as an editor at large at National Geographic Traveler.

He's an 80s teen heartthrob who turned to travel writing — and now soul searching. A few years ago, Andrew McCarthy decided to confront the fears that had followed him his whole life. As he prepared to marry the women he loved, he headed out around the world to find the part inside of himself that just kept saying "no" to everything good in his life.

Growth of business travel spending is slowing, study finds

Firms are expected to spend 2.6% more this year than in 2011, when spending climbed 7.2% compared with the previous year.

By Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2012
After a dramatic slump during the economic recession, spending on business travel in the U.S. climbed in 2010 and 2011.

But business travel spending is slowing down, perhaps a sign of anxiety in corporate America over the still-shaky economy, turmoil in Europe and slower growth in China, said a report by the Global Business Travel Assn., the trade group for the world's travel managers.

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