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US stocks flat on earnings reports Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:05 PM PDT NEW YORK: US stocks finished flat on Friday under the shadow of earnings disappointments but tempered by a slightly better-than-expected estimate of economic growth in the third quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 3.53 points (0.03 percent) at 13,107.21. The broad-based S&P 500 lost 1.03 (0.07 percent) at 1,411.94, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.83 (0.06 percent) to 2,987.95. The first government estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product growth came in at 2.0 percent, a healthy rebound from 1.3 percent in the prior quarter but still too slow to build much optimism. IHS Global Insight US economists Nigel Gault and Paul Edelstein said the low-gear economy would remain a drag on profits. "We don't think that growth is accelerating. In fact, the details confirm our view that the economy will further experience modest but subpar growth," they said in an analysis. Earnings set the pace of the markets, with Apple losing 0.9 percent after missing expectations in its quarterly report, while Amazon bounced 6.9 percent higher despite its loss and cautious outlook for the holiday shopping season. Banks were mostly lower: Citigroup fell 2.2 percent, Bank of America 1.3 percent and JPMorgan Chase, with Bank of America now reportedly in a new group of banks that have been subpoenaed in the investigation over rigging the Libor benchmark interest rate. Netflix recovered 13.1 percent two days after investors dumped the shares on reports that Apple would push ahead with its own streaming video service. Some fresh rumors circulated over Microsoft's interest in the company. Arch Coal, which reported a strong third quarter on cost cutting and forecast a rebound in coal prices, jumped 10.7 percent. Cable operator Comcast added 3.3 percent as it topped earnings forecasts and spoke of strong momentum in all parts of the business. Merck fell 0.3 percent on its report of slower sales than expected, though it turned in a 22 percent rise in profits, and 95 cents earnings per share which beat forecasts by three cents. -- AFP

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Three storms, dark forecast: 'Frankenstorm' a three-headed monster - Los Angeles Times Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:02 AM PDT Hurricane Sandy raged through the Bahamas early Friday after leaving 22 people dead across the Caribbean and was following a path that could see it blend with two other storms to hit the U.S. East Coast with a "Frankenstorm" next week. The eastern half of the United States is bracing for a trio of powerful storms, including Hurricane Sandy, to hit in the coming days, bringing fierce winds, pounding rains and the potential for widespread damage, flooding and power outages. As of Friday morning, Hurricane Sandy was over the Bahamas, traveling northwest at about 10 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was packing winds of at least 80 mph as it moved through the Caribbean, where more than 20 deaths were reported. The hurricane was expected to turn northeast, the National Weather Service said, and strike the U.S. mainland somewhere along the East Coast -- anywhere from the Carolinas to New Jersey to New England -- probably late Sunday or early Monday. There is also a chance it could go back out to sea. But the storm is expected to wallop the entire region and emergency officials are advising coastal areas especially to begin preparing for the worst. Complicating the situation is the fact that Sandy is just one part of what is expected to become a merged storm system, dubbed "Frankenstorm" by meteorologists in a nod to Halloween on Wednesday night. A system known as a mid-latitude trough is expected to come in from the west to merge with Sandy and unite with a cold-weather system moving south from Canada. Coastal areas of the United States from Florida to North Carolina were under a tropical storm watch with the approach of Sandy on Friday morning, with portions of North Carolina expected to get as much as eight inches of rain, according to the weather service. The combined storm system is expected to be far worse, bringing heavy rains and strong winds from the Carolinas to Boston and from Ohio to the Atlantic. The hardest hit areas are predicted to be in New Jersey and New York City, where five inches of rain and 40-mph winds are forecast. Eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and western Virginia could get snow, according to the weather service. Already some insurance companies are estimating that the physical damage could pass $1 billion in sections of the country with some of the largest populations and most expensive real estate. This type of weather is not unheard of in the Northeast, though the three merged storms is predicted to stir especially severe conditions. Last year, a freak Halloween storm caused power outages that lasted days in the Northeast; Hurricane Irene hit the region in August 2011, posing similar problems. Government emergency managers have taken the usual precautions, warning people to put aside fresh water and emergency equipment such as flashlights and batteries. Utilities have canceled many vacations and have made arrangements for added workers from other regions. Officials have activated emergency centers in many states and cities to monitor the meteorological procession that is expected to last most of next week, beyond Halloween in some of the northern regions. "What we are doing is we are taking the kind of precautions you should expect us to do, and I don't think anyone should panic," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference Thursday. The city has opened an emergency situation room and activated its coastal storm plan. ALSO: Colorado man: 'Kill Obama' message on home was vandalism Nanny suspect in stabbings: Mom finds a kitchen knife, 2 kids dead New York police officer arrested in plot to kidnap, cook, eat 100 women

In echoes of Obama, Romney seeks to adopt mantle of change - Reuters Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:59 AM PDT By Sam Youngman AMES, Iowa | Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:50pm EDT (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attempted to adopt the mantle of change on Friday in an economic speech in which he vowed to bring a fresh start to Washington to generate stronger job growth. Romney's address in the swing state of Iowa was an effort to take on the role that President Barack Obama played in 2008, that of an outsider who would represent an abrupt change if he wins the tight 2012 presidential race. In excerpts of the speech released by his campaign, Romney dismissed Obama as a shadow of his former self, one who wants to protect the status quo and has no plan for the weak U.S. economy. "This election is a choice between the status quo - going forward with the same policies of the last four years - or instead, choosing real change, change that offers promise, promise that the future will be better than the past," he will say. Billed by his campaign as a major speech, Romney's address looked like a summing up of his economic argument aimed at voters who have yet to make up their minds with the November 6 election only 11 days away. Romney has frequently dropped the words "change" or "big change" into campaign speeches in recent days, although he has not made the theme as central to his argument as Obama did in the 2008 election. ECONOMIC GROWTH U.S. gross domestic product growth for the third quarter of this year was reported at 2 percent, a figure that both campaigns seized on to support their arguments. The Obama camp said it was proof that economic growth is taking place, albeit slowly. "While we have more work to do, today's GDP growth report, showing the 13th straight quarter of growth, is more evidence that our economy continues to come back from the worst recession since the Great Depression under President Obama's leadership," the Obama campaign said. Romney, on the other hand, said the report was discouraging. "Slow economic growth means slow job growth and declining take-home pay. This is what four years of President Obama's policies have produced," he said. His speech excerpts lacked specifics on what exactly Romney would do to boost the economy. Instead, it focused on the big picture, the challenges that await the next president, and stressed he would not replicate Obama's 2009 job stimulus package. "This is not the time to double down on the trickle-down government policies that have failed us. It is time for new, bold changes that measure up to the moment, that can bring America's families the certainty that the future will be better than the past," he will say. Polls show a race that is too close to call. Romney, the underdog all year, made up ground during three presidential debates with Obama this month and vaulted into an even position with the Democratic incumbent. An ABC News/Washington Post poll showed him up 3 percentage points nationally, by 50 percent to 47 percent for Obama. In battleground states where the election will be decided, a dogfight was still unfolding. An NBC/Marist poll had Obama up 3 points in Nevada, 50 percent to 47 percent, while in Colorado - which Obama won in 2008 - the two men were tied at 48 percent apiece. Romney sought to reassure those who fear he would simply cut the federal budget regardless of the consequences. He said he and his vice presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, would tackle intractable problems like overhauling Medicare and Social Security, but would do so in a way that protects the programs for current and near retirees. He said he would "reform healthcare to tame the growth in its cost," a reference to the overhaul Obama conducted of the U.S. healthcare system that Romney wants to repeal and replace. But he insisted he would preserve popular parts of the Obama healthcare law such as ensuring consumers with pre-existing medical conditions cannot lose their insurance. (Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell and Doina Chiacu)

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