Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

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...

Read More..

Baseball reflects on HOF pair Weaver, Musial

One was born in St. Louis, the other became a star there.Aside from that, Earl Weaver and Stan Musial were about as different as two Hall of Famers could be."Talk about your odd couple," said George Vecsey, the longtime sports columnist for The New York Times who wrote a recent biography of Musial.Weaver was a 5-foot-6 rabble rouser whose penchant for quarreling with umpires belied a cerebral approach...

Read More..

Latest Inaugural Forecast: Bit Warmer Than in 2009

Consider it the first fact check of a Barack Obama campaign pledge for his second term: Will he, or Mother Nature, deliver on promised warmer Inauguration Day weather?It’s shaping up as a close call.In September, while campaigning in Colorado, Obama was talking to a potential voter who mentioned he had been one of the hundreds of thousands of people outdoors at Obama‘s bone-chilling first inaugural...

Read More..

Why conservatives call MLK their hero

A growing number of conservatives say MLK was a conservative. Many cite five words from King's "I Have a Dream" speech.STORY HIGHLIGHTSConservatives claim that MLK's conservative legacy is ignoredMLK opposed affirmative action, they sayHis self-help message was conservative, one historian saysMLK aide: They are trying to "hoodwink" people(CNN) -- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was called a communist,...

Read More..

Local volunteers answer call for National Day of Service

Lillie Council and Leah Gipson sat at a small table at Navy Pier's USO office Saturday with stacks of blank postcards and stationery...

Read More..

Algeria ends desert siege with 23 hostages dead

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian troops ended a siege by Islamist militants at a gas plant in the Sahara desert where 23 hostages died, with a final assault which killed all the remaining hostage-takers. Believed to be among the 32 dead militants was their leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, a Nigerien close to al Qaeda-linked commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar, presumed mastermind...

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

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...

Read More..

Armstrong turns emotional in 2nd part of interview

CHICAGO (AP) — Lance Armstrong finally cracked.Not while expressing deep remorse or regrets, though there was plenty of that in Friday night's second part of Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey.It wasn't over the $75 million in sponsorship deals that evaporated over the course of two days, or having to walk away from the Livestrong cancer charity he founded and called his "sixth child." It wasn't...

Read More..

Wheat gains on concern dry weather will harm crops

NEW YORK (AP) — Wheat prices advanced on concern that dry weather conditions in the plains region will harm this year’s crop. The grain recorded its biggest weekly advance since last year’s drought.The price of wheat has been recovering this week following a sell-off that began in early December. This year’s crop in the U.S. may be hurt by a lack of rain in the Great Plains region and dry weather...

Read More..

Why Africa backs French in Mali

French-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensiveFrench-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensive French-led Mali offensiveFrench-led...

Read More..

Notre Dame's Te'o: 'There is no way that I could be part of this'

Manti Te'o broke his silence late Friday and denied any involvement in the dead girlfriend hoax that has consumed the former...

Read More..

Foreigners still trapped in Sahara hostage crisis

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - More than 20 foreigners were captive or missing inside a desert gas plant on Saturday, nearly two days after the Algerian army launched an assault to free them that saw many hostages killed. The standoff between the Algerian army and al Qaeda-linked gunmen - one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades - entered its fourth day, having...

Read More..

Housing, job data push S&P to five-year high; Intel down late

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stronger-than-expected data on housing starts and jobless claims lit a fire under stocks on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to a five-year high and its third day of gains. A pair of economic reports lifted investors' sentiment. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a five-year low last week and housing starts jumped last month...

Read More..

Armstrong admits doping: 'I'm a flawed character'

CHICAGO (AP) — He did it. He finally admitted it. Lance Armstrong doped.He was light on the details and didn't name names. He mused that he might not have been caught if not for his comeback in 2009. And he was certain his "fate was sealed" when longtime friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie, who was along for the ride on all seven of Armstrong's Tour de France wins from...

Read More..