Stocks mixed; S&P 500 eases below 5-year high

Stocks were mixed on Wall Street Friday, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 index below a five-year high reached the day before, as investors waited for a clearer picture on the outlook for corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 fell two points to 1,470 as of 1:18 p.m. Eastern. It closed at 1,472 Thursday, its highest level since December 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average rose fell a point to 13,470. The Nasdaq composite index dropped two points to 3,119.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports started coming in this week, but investors don't yet have a clear picture on the outlook for U.S. companies. While Wells Fargo disappointed the markets, aluminum company Alcoa gave stocks a lift earlier in the week after it matched analysts' expectations and said that demand was increasing.

Currently, analysts expect fourth quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to grow at a rate of 3.2 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ. That compares with a growth rate of 8.4 percent for the same period last year.

“You've been hearing comments that earnings season is going to show a continued contraction in the rate of growth,” said Robert Pavlik of Banyan Partners. “People are conflicted, they are worried, but at the same time they don't want to be missing out on the action in the overall market.”

Wells Fargo, the first major bank to report earnings, dropped even after the bank reported a 25 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings, as analysts questioned the sustainability of the banks' profits and fretted about slower mortgage lending. The bank's stock fell 44 cents to $34.95.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup and Bank of America are among financial companies that are reporting fourth-quarter earnings next week. Financial stocks were the best performing industry group in the S&P 500 last year, gaining 26 percent. Other companies reporting earnings next week include eBay and Intel.

Boeing fell $1.99 to $75.10 after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it is launching a comprehensive review of the critical systems of Boeing's 787, the aircraft maker's newest and most technologically advanced plane, after a fire and a fuel leak earlier this week.

The stock market got a boost Thursday from reports suggesting the outlook for economic growth may be improving both in Europe and China.

Stocks are on track to end the week higher and are up on the year after lawmakers came up with a last-minute deal to prevent the U.S. from going over the “fiscal cliff,” averting the threat of a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that economists say would almost certainly have pushed the U.S. economy into recession.

Avoiding the “cliff” will likely have boosted consumer confidence, said Chris Kichurchak, vice president at Strategic Wealth Partners. That improving sentiment, combined with a strengthening housing market, should prove favorable to so-called cyclical companies that move in line with the economy.

“There are a lot of people who were holding out on spending,” before a budget deal was struck, said Kichurchak.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite to the security's price, fell 1 basis point to 1.89 percent.

Other stocks making big moves;

— American Express rose 38 cents to $61.18 after the company said that spending by cardholders jumped 8 percent in the fourth quarter, even after Superstorm Sandy crimped some buying.

— Best Buy jumped $1.48 to $13.69 after the struggling consumer electronics chain reported holiday sales. The company's U.S. performance was flat and, while this was a hair below the 0.3 percent increase Best Buy reported in the prior-year period, it was an improvement over the past several quarters.

— Ford rose 13 cents to $13.69. The company said demand for new vehicles is accelerating in the U.S. Ford plans to hire 2,200 engineers, computer programmers and other white-collar workers this year. The automaker said Thursday it was raising its dividend.

— Corning fell 37 cents to $12.28 after Goldman Sachs removed cut its rating on the specialty glass manufacturer to “neutral” from “buy,” saying that it expected first quarter sales to decline more than previously expected.

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Irvine City Council overhauls oversight, spending on Great Park

Capping a raucous eight-hour-plus meeting, the Irvine City Council early Wednesday voted to overhaul the oversight and spending on the beleaguered Orange County Great Park while authorizing an audit of the more than $220 million that so far has been spent on the ambitious project.

A newly elected City Council majority voted 3 to 2 to terminate contracts with two firms that had been paid a combined $1.1 million a year for consulting, lobbying, marketing and public relations. One of those firms — Forde & Mollrich public relations — has been paid $12.4 million since county voters approved the Great Park plan in 2002.

"We need to stop talking about building a Great Park and actually start building a Great Park," council member Jeff Lalloway said.

The council, by the same split vote, also changed the composition of the Great Park's board of directors, shedding four non-elected members and handing control to Irvine's five council members.

The actions mark a significant turning point in the decade-long effort to turn the former El Toro Marine base into a 1,447-acre municipal park with man-made canyons, rivers, forests and gardens that planners hoped would rival New York's Central Park.

The city hoped to finish and maintain the park for years to come with $1.4 billion in state redevelopment funds. But that money vanished last year as part of the cutbacks to deal with California's massive budget deficit.

"We've gone through $220 million, but where has it gone?" council member Christina Shea said of the project's initial funding from developers in exchange for the right to build around the site. "The fact of the matter is the money is almost gone. It can't be business as usual."

The council majority said the changes will bring accountability and efficiencies to a project that critics say has been larded with wasteful spending and no-bid contracts. For all that has been spent, only about 200 acres of the park has been developed and half of that is leased to farmers.

But council members Larry Agran and Beth Krom, who have steered the course of the project since its inception, voted against reconfiguring the Great Park's board of directors and canceling the contracts with the two firms.

Krom has called the move a "witch hunt" against her and Agran. Feuding between liberal and conservative factions on the council has long shaped Irvine politics.

"This is a power play," she said. "There's a new sheriff in town."

The council meeting stretched long into the night, with the final vote coming Wednesday at 1:34 a.m. Tensions were high in the packed chambers with cheering, clapping and heckling coming from the crowd.

At one point council member Lalloway lamented that he "couldn't hear himself think."

During public comments, newly elected Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer chastised the council for "fighting like schoolchildren." Earlier this week he said that if the Irvine's new council majority can't make progress on the Great Park, he would seek a ballot initiative to have the county take over.

And Spitzer angrily told Agran that his stewardship of the project had been a failure.

"You know what?" he said. "It's their vision now. You're in the minority."

mike.anton@latimes.com

rhea.mahbubani@latimes.com

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Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight?

At the start of the New Year, when weight loss is often a priority, building a support team to help keep us on track can be extremely helpful. This might typically consist of family members, friends, co-workers, or perhaps even a nutritionist or registered dietitian. But today, support can also be found online. Plenty of Web sites focus on losing weight, and include communities that provide support and encouragement. Since many of us spend a lot of time on social media sites–maybe too much if you ask my husband!–why not use these platforms as another tool for support? In fact, one study suggests employees participating in a workplace wellness program who also joined the company’s Facebook page, run by a registered dietitian, stayed with the program longer than those who didn’t.

[See Already Struggling With Your New Year's Resolution?]

Could it actually make sense that gluing ourselves to our mobile device or computer could help us shed pounds? It sounds like quite the oxymoron, since increased screen time doesn’t usually equate to weight loss. But here’s how to make social media sites work for you:

Facebook

Facebook is a place where you can share what’s going on in your life with friends, but you may not feel comfortable announcing what you weigh or that you’re trying to lose weight. On the other hand, you may enjoy posting fitness milestones, such as training for and completing your first marathon, or a bike ride for your favorite charity. Sharing your fitness goals with the Facebook universe may be helpful, because the more people who know about it, the more likely you are to stay committed.

[See Small Steps, Big Change: How to Lose 50 Pounds Without Really Trying]

Rather than simply connecting with friends on the site, you can also connect with health and fitness professionals, such as registered dietitians, or pages for diet books, like mine, The Small Change Diet. You can also “like” the pages of health and fitness magazines and your favorite brands. The folks who run these pages may post articles that provide you with helpful weight-loss tips, and many organize regular Facebook chats, allowing you to ask an expert your questions. The more that healthy information is “in your face,” the more likely you are to stick to it.

Most importantly, you may discover a weight-loss community on Facebook, where like-minded individuals share their weight losses (or gains) and offer support. Daily accountability could be just what you need, and knowing others are rooting for you can make a world of difference. If you can’t find a Facebook community you like, start your own.

Twitter

So many of my patients don’t have Twitter accounts, because they think they have nothing clever or witty to say. My advice to them is always the same: You don’t have to “say” anything; you can just follow, at least at the beginning. Registered dietitians (I’m @kerigans) have great tips and, if they’re like me, are more than happy to answer questions via Twitter. I’ve had followers tweet a picture of their dinner and ask what my dietitian colleagues and I thought of it–priceless information for free.

[See Best Plant-Based Diets]

Just as you do on Facebook, follow fitness professionals, health magazines, and other sources that provide weight-loss motivation. Once you feel comfortable, you may decide to join in the conversation, since that’s what social media is all about. Perfect example of how it can benefit you: One morning, I tweeted that I felt more like staying in my pajamas than going to yoga. Some of my followers chimed in that they were feeling the same way, BUT stressed that we should all still exercise. And so we all did. And trust me, none of us regretted going–rather, we were thankful for each other.

[See Are Mobile Health Apps Helpful?]

Seek out people on Twitter and Facebook who you find inspirational, and hopefully a little of what they do will rub off on you. Since nothing is etched in stone, you can unfollow, unlike, or unfriend them if they aren’t helping you. And please keep in mind that while social media can be another tool in your pursuit of weight loss, it’s not the end all. Healthy eating, fitness, and plenty of sleep actually need to happen away from a screen.

Hungry for more? Write to [email protected] with your questions, concerns, and feedback

Keri Gans, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian, media personality, spokesperson, and author of The Small Change Diet. Gans’s expert nutrition advice has been featured in Glamour, Fitness, Health, Self and Shape, and on national television and radio, including The Dr. Oz Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, Primetime, and Sirius/XM Dr. Radio.

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Source: Britney Spears out of 'X Factor'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A person familiar with plans for Fox's "The X Factor" says Britney Spears is out of the show.

Spears was a mentor on the singing contest for one season, reportedly drawing a $15 million paycheck but failing to pull reviews to match. The person who confirmed reports of her departure wasn't authorized to comment publicly, speaking Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The person said that over the holidays, producers discussed replacements for Spears and for another "X Factor" panelist, record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid. Reid previously announced he would leave the show after two seasons.

It's yet another shake-up for "The X Factor," Simon Cowell's attempt to strike magic with a U.S. version of his successful U.K. series. Cowell replaced panelists Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger after a disappointing first season.

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City Room: How Are You Warding Off the Flu?

Sure, you could go out and get a flu shot like everyone keeps telling you to do. It’s relatively cheap, and available just about everywhere.

But the shot is not 100 percent effective. And it takes two weeks to kick in. Although influenza can be deadly, some have been making light of the virus’s symptoms.

On the bright side, having the flu was a great start to my spring break diet.. eating nothing and still managing to puke

— Allison (@Ally_YM) 6 Jan 13

Turns out I don’t have the flu, I just really like NyQuil and hate wearing pants.

— NYC Blonde (@NYC_Blonde) 10 Jan 13

If you’re holding out, or procrastinating, or have decided against getting vaccinated altogether, what alternative means are you using to keep those bad bugs away? Comment in the box below.

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CES 2013: Samsung shows off flexible, unbreakable smartphone screens

Samsung has been rumored to be readying flexible, high-resolution displays for its smartphones, and this week at CES the South Korean tech giant somewhat confirmed those rumors by showing off several prototypes.

At its keynote the company announced Youm, a new line of flexible OLED displays. OLED technology allows companies to create thinner and lighter displays that also provide even more vivid images than other HD technologies.

Brian Berkeley, senior vice president of Samsung's San Jose Display Lab, said that with Youm the company can make displays on ultra-thin and unbreakable plastic.

PHOTOS: CES 2013 in Las Vegas

"It won't break even if it's dropped, and we can actually bend the screen," Berkeley said, at which point he grabbed the edge of a prototype screen and started bending it forward and backward without anything happening to the display or the image quality. 

Berkeley then pulled out a prototype phone that used a Youm display. The part of the device's screen curved around onto one of its edges.

"Content can now flow along the sides of the device," Berkeley said.

He then covered the phone with a case that left the curved part of the screen visible and showed how he could still read a message without having to use the entire display.

"This kind of display is going to allow our partners to create a whole new ecosystem of devices," he said. "Devices with bended, foldable and rollable screens."

Samsung then ran a video in which two guys have devices that use the Youm displays. One has a tablet that then folds up and has a second screen on the outside so it can be used as a phone. On the other man's device, the screen slides out of a box after he presses a button.

"Imagine the products you could design with this," Berkeley said. 

But the company did not say if or when its smartphones would be made with these flexible screens.

You can check out the keynote on YouTube. The Youm presentation begins around the 40 minute mark.

ALSO:

Lumia smartphone sales boost Nokia's fourth quarter

50 Cent talks about his SMS Audio headphones at CES

CES 2013: How tablets are changing desktop computers

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Baseball Hall of Fame: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza shut out

Steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have been denied entry to baseball's Hall of Fame with voters failing to elect any candidates for only the second time in four decades. (Jan. 9)

No players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year in a polarizing vote that reopened the wounds of the steroid era.

Home run king Barry Bonds, owner of baseball’s most cherished record, was resoundingly rejected. So was pitcher Roger Clemens, who risked prison time by challenging allegations that he used steroids and successfully defended himself against perjury charges.

Craig Biggio came closest to election, getting 68.2% of the vote and falling 39 votes short. With 569 members of the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America returning ballots, 427 votes were required to meet the 75% standard for election.

This is only the eighth time since 1936 that no player has been elected by the baseball writers.

Former Detroit Tigers ace Jack Morris was second in the balloting with 67.7%. Jeff Bagwell got 59.6%, followed by Mike Piazza at 57.8% and Tim Raines at 52.2%.

For the first time since 1960, the Hall of Fame -- located in Cooperstown, N.Y. -- will host a ceremony with no living inductees. The July 28 ceremony will honor the three inductees selected by a committee on baseball’s pre-integration era, but all of those inductees have been dead for at least 74 years.

Bonds, who holds the career and single-season home-run records, is the only seven-time most valuable player. Clemens is the only seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

Yet their links to alleged steroid use turned each player from a first-ballot lock into an also-ran, with voters sharply divided among those who deny induction to any player with ties to performance-enhancing drugs, those who prefer to wait and see what further information might emerge about those players, and those who vote for the most dominant players whatever their era.

Clemens was named on 37.6% of the ballots; Bonds on 36.2%. Sammy Sosa received only 12.5%.

Players remain on the ballot for 15 years, provided they receive at least 5% of the vote.

Dale Murphy, a two-time National League MVP, got 18.6% in his 15^th and final year on the ballot. Morris will be on the ballot for the final time next year.

Mark McGwire, who had gotten no more than 23.7% in six previous appearances on the ballot, got 16.9% this time. McGwire is about to start his first season as hitting coach for the Dodgers.

McGwire and Sosa were credited with reviving the sport in 1998 when the two players staged a fabled battle for the single-season home-run record. McGwire won with 70, and Sosa finished with 66.

In 2001, Bonds hit 73 home runs, a record that stands.

McGwire has since admitted to steroid use. Sosa has not, although the New York Times reported he failed a steroid test in 2003, the year before baseball started identifying and penalizing offenders.

Bonds leads the all-time home-run list at 762, with Sosa eighth at 609 and McGwire 10^th at 583. The trio are the only men to hit more than 62 home runs in a season – Bonds did it once, McGwire twice and Sosa three times.

ALSO:

Suspicious minds could keep Mike Piazza out of the Hall

What if they gave a Hall of Fame ceremony and no one came?

Dodger Stadium remodel to include wider concourses, new scoreboard

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Nintendo president describes Wii U sales as ‘not bad’

Nintendo’s (NTDOY) new Wii U gaming console came out of the gate strong and saw first-week sales reach 400,000 units in the U.S., however sales have since stalled and the system has been labeled a flop by some. While consumer interest in the company’s new console has slowed right out of the gate, Nintendo’s president recently said that he isn’t worried even though sales aren’t where he hoped they would be.

[More from BGR: Smooth sailing is over for Apple]

“At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn’t as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in an interview with Reuters. “But sales are not bad, and I feel it’s selling steadily.”

[More from BGR: New ‘higher-end’ iPhone reportedly launching by June, low-end model could be coming as well]

The executive declined to give specific details on sales or forecasts, although he did say that Nintendo plans to focus on developing attractive software for its 3DS handheld to appeal to new users, and will seek new ways to increase Wii U sales in a changing market.

Nintendo previously announced that it hopes to sell 5.5 million Wii U devices by the end of March and more than 24 million Wii U games in the same timeframe.

This article was originally published by BGR

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Dark Horse, Wood start new 'Star Wars' comic

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — There's excitement brewing for fans of the original "Star Wars" trilogy.

Writer Brian Wood and Dark Horse Comics began a new monthly series Wednesday that focuses on Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo and Chewbacca, along with R2D2 and C3P0, as they seek to establish a foothold for the rebellion in the aftermath of the Death Star's destruction.

Wood, whose previous comics include the acclaimed "DMZ" and "Northlanders" at Vertigo and the ongoing "The Massive" at Dark Horse, called the new series about the classic "Star Wars" characters the only such series he could write.

"I know the original trilogy best," he explained, noting that George Lucas' creation has spawned its own universe of expanded characters, books, comics and more.

Disney has already announced plans to revive the "Star Wars" franchise after the events of "Return of the Jedi" in 2015. Milwaukie, Ore.-based Dark Horse has been publishing "Star Wars" comics for more than 20 years.

Woods called the new series — illustrated by Carlos D'Anda — a way to examine the events that transpired between the end of the first film, "Star Wars: A New Hope" and the second film, "The Empire Strikes Back," by detailing the next, furtive steps for the rebellion and the Empire's efforts to stop it from spreading.

"The basic approach is sort of how everybody, including the Empire, is kind of reeling from that battle in various different ways," Wood said. "The rebellion is in need of a home base, Darth Vader is dealing with serious disapproval from the Emperor for having failed to stop the Death Star's destruction — he's actually been demoted!"

Leia has lost her home world. Luke lost his family. Han and Chewie have seen their smuggling business hurt by their association with the rebels.

"Everyone has suffered enormous losses," Wood said.

Wood said the challenge for the series is keeping track of all the story possibilities, given the established mythology of the "Star Wars" universe and the sheer number of characters.

"It's a big cast! The droids, Ben Kenobi is there, all of the Empire, too. It's a very large cast so that's kind of a tricky thing," he said.

And most readers already know what happened to the characters, good and bad.

"It's writing the story knowing what the audience knows but what the characters don't. Obviously, Luke and Leia don't know they're related — I can't ignore that," Wood said.

"It's a very enjoyable challenge walking that line," he said.

___

Matt Moore can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap

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Pap Test May Prove Useful at Detecting More Types of Cancer, Study Suggests

The Pap test, which has prevented countless deaths from cervical cancer, may eventually help to detect cancers of the uterus and ovaries as well, a new study suggests.

For the first time, researchers have found genetic material from uterine or ovarian cancers in Pap smears, meaning that it may become possible to detect three diseases with just one routine test.

But the research is early, years away from being used in medical practice, and there are caveats. The women studied were already known to have cancer, and while the Pap test found 100 percent of the uterine cancers, it detected only 41 percent of the ovarian cancers. And the approach has not yet been tried in women who appear healthy, to determine whether it can find early signs of uterine or ovarian cancer.

On the other hand, even a 41 percent detection rate would be better than the status quo in ovarian cancer, particularly if the detection extends to early stages. The disease is usually advanced by the time it is found, and survival is poor. About 22,280 new cases were expected in the United States in 2012, and 15,500 deaths. Improved tests are urgently needed.

Uterine cancer has a better prognosis, but still kills around 8,000 women a year in the United States.

These innovative applications of the Pap test are part of a new era in which advances in genetics are being applied to the detection of a wide variety of cancers or precancerous conditions. Scientists are learning to find minute bits of mutant DNA in tissue samples or bodily fluids that may signal the presence of hidden or incipient cancers. Ideally, the new techniques would find the abnormalities early enough to cure the disease or even prevent it entirely. But it is too soon to tell.

“Is this the harbinger of things to come? I would answer yes,” said Dr. Bert Vogelstein, director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University, and a senior author of a report on the Pap test study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. He said the genomes of more than 50 types of tumors had been sequenced, and researchers were trying to take advantage of the information.

Similar studies are under way or are being considered to look for mutant DNA in blood, stool, urine and sputum, both to detect cancer and also to monitor the response to treatment in people who already have the disease.

But researchers warn that such tests, used for screening, can be a double-edged sword if they give false positive results that send patients down a rabbit hole of invasive tests and needless treatments. Even a test that finds only real cancers may be unable to tell aggressive, dangerous ones apart from indolent ones that might never do any harm, leaving patients to decide whether to watch and wait or to go through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation with all the associated risks and side effects.

“Will they start recovering mutations that are not cancer-related?” asked Dr. Christopher P. Crum, a professor at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the research.

But he also called the study a “great proof of principle,” and said, “Any whisper of hope to women who suffer from endometrial or ovarian cancer would be most welcome.”

DNA testing is already performed on samples from Pap tests, to look for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Dr. Vogelstein and his team decided to try DNA testing for cancer. They theorized that cells or DNA shed from cancers of the ovaries and the uterine lining, or endometrium, might reach the cervix and turn up in Pap smears.

The team picked common mutations found in these cancers, and looked for them in tumor samples from 24 women with endometrial cancer and 22 with ovarian cancer. All the cancers had one or more of the common mutations.

Then, the researchers performed Pap tests on the same women, and looked for the same DNA mutations in the Pap specimens. They found the mutations in 100 percent of the women with endometrial cancer, but in only 9 of the 22 with ovarian cancer. The test identified two of the four ovarian cancers that had been diagnosed at an early stage.

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