AIG, HP, Abercrombie, Zynga are big movers

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:NYSEAmerican International Group Inc., up $ 1.17 at $ 38.45The insurer posted a $ 4 billion loss at the end of 2012 on costs from Sandy, but its operating profit topped Wall Street expectations.Hewlett-Packard Co., up $ 2.10 at $ 19.20The latest quarter showed some...

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Jessica Biel's Style Is 'More Confident' as a Married Woman, Says Her Stylist

Stylewatch Style News Now 02/22/2013 at 03:00 PM ET Gregory Pace/BEImagesJustin Timberlake has been getting lots of notice for his “Suit and Tie” style lately, but his new wife Jessica Biel has been making quite a fashionable impact herself these past few months.And her longtime stylist and friend Estee...

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent...

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Investors face another Washington deadline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large. Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling. Talks on the U.S. budget...

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Abe vows to revive Japanese economy, sees no escalation with China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Americans on Friday "I am back and so is Japan" and vowed to get the world's third biggest economy growing again and to do more to bolster security and the rule of law in an Asia roiled by territorial disputes. Abe had firm words for China in a policy speech to a top Washington think-tank, but also tempered his remarks by...

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Nokia to sell cheaper phones to counter low-end rivals – sources

PARIS (Reuters) – Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is set to launch cheaper handset models in an attempt to fend off growing competition from Chinese rivals in the low-end market, company sources said on Friday.The new models, due to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress industry convention in Barcelona next week, show Nokia is expanding its focus after concentrating in the past two years on catching...

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Josh Brolin & Diane Lane: Inside Their Up-and-Down Marriage

By Dahvi Shira 02/22/2013 at 07:30 AM EST Diane Lane and Josh Brolin Steve Granitz/Wireimage Josh Brolin and Diane Lane's eight-year marriage is ending in divorce, but the road wasn't always rocky for the occasionally tumultuous pair."We're very similar in that...

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Flu shot doing poor job of protecting older people

ATLANTA (AP) — It turns out this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group.The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.Health officials are baffled as to why this is so. But the...

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Stock futures rise after HP earnings, German data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Friday, indicating the S&P 500 may halt a two-day losing skid, boosted by positive economic data from Europe and better-than-expected earnings from Hewlett-Packard. The S&P 500 <.spx> has dropped 1.9 percent over the past two sessions, its worst two-day drop since early November, putting the index on pace for its first weekly...

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Iran appears to advance in construction of Arak nuclear plant

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran appears to be advancing in its construction of a research reactor Western experts say could offer the Islamic state a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb, if it decided to embark on such a course, a U.N. report showed. Iran has almost completed installation of cooling and moderator circuit piping in the heavy water plant near the town of Arak, the...

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On Twitter, a peanut gallery mocks the Oscars

NEW YORK (AP) — You can simply tune into the Oscars. Or you can watch them with the peanut gallery on Twitter.While Hollywood parades in tuxedos and gowns, grandly celebrating itself, a freewheeling cacophony of quips and sarcasm — something like a digital, million-times multiplied version of those balcony Muppet onlookers, Statler and Waldorf — will provide a welcome and riotous counter-narrative...

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Dean Cain 'Not Surprised' By Mindy McCready's Death

By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall 02/21/2013 at 08:00 AM EST Mindy McCready and Dean Cain at the Scream 2 premiere Fred Prouser/Reuters/Landov Speaking out for the first time about his former fiancée's suicide, actor and writer-producer Dean Cain tells PEOPLE that Mindy...

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Adults get 11 percent of calories from fast food

ATLANTA (AP) — On an average day, U.S. adults get roughly 11 percent of their calories from fast food, a government study shows.That's down slightly from the 13 percent reported the last time the government tried to pin down how much of the American diet is coming from fast food. Eating fast food too frequently has been seen as a driver of America's obesity problem.For the research, about 11,000 adults...

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Wal-Mart holiday profit rises despite lackluster sales

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc posted a larger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, as a lower-than-anticipated tax rate helped to overcome some weakness in sales at its major Walmart U.S. unit that persisted into the beginning of February. The world's largest retailer also raised its dividend payout. Its shares fell 1 percent in premarket trading. Wal-Mart...

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Cameroon, Nigeria officials deny French hostages freed

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - The fate of seven French tourists seized in Cameroon by suspected Nigerian Islamist militants was unclear on Thursday after government officials denied French media reports that they had been freed. The hostages, four children and three adults, were captured this week while on an excursion to the Waza national park near Cameroon's border with Nigeria. ...

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Sony set to make pre-emptive strike on Microsoft with PS4

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp is expected to showcase a new PlayStation console on Wednesday in a pre-emptive strike against Microsoft Corp’s bid to make its Xbox the world’s leading hub for household entertainment.The rare PlayStation event in New York comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360, which beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3′s online...

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Robin Roberts Welcomed Back to GMA by the Obamas

By Stephen M. Silverman 02/20/2013 at 07:50 AM EST From left: Josh Elliott, Sam Champion, Robin Roberts, Lara Spencer, and George Stephanopoulos Heidi Gutman/ABC A standing ovation from her crew greeted Robin Roberts at the door of the ABC Times Square studio...

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Drug overdose deaths up for 11th consecutive year

CHICAGO (AP) — Drug overdose deaths rose for the 11th straight year, federal data show, and most of them were accidents involving addictive painkillers despite growing attention to risks from these medicines."The big picture is that this is a big problem that has gotten much worse quickly," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathered and analyzed...

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Stock futures flat with data, Fed minutes on tap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, ahead of data on the housing market and inflation, as well as minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting. Housing starts and permits for January along with the January producer price index are due at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast the housing starts...

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Bulgarian government resigns amid growing protests

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government resigned on Wednesday after violent nationwide protests against high power prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during Europe's debt crisis. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, a former bodyguard who swept to power in 2009 on pledges to root out corruption and raise living standards in the European Union's poorest...

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Fergie Pregnant: Singer & Husband Josh Duhamel Confirm News On Twitter

Fergie and Josh Duhamel are expecting their first child together.The pair both confirmed the news on their Twitter accounts on Monday afternoon.PLAY IT NOW: Josh Duhamel & Julianne Hough’s Double Date Night At Safe Haven PremiereFergie, 37, wrote, “Josh & Me & BABY makes three!!! #mylovelybabybump.”Josh, 40, Tweeted, “Fergie and Me and BABY makes three. #MyLovelyBabyBump.”VIEW THE PHOTOS:...

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Reeva Steenkamp Laid to Rest

By Tim Nudd 02/19/2013 at 07:45 AM EST With her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius in court 600 miles away, slain model Reeva Steenkamp was laid to rest in her south-coast hometown of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on Tuesday – cremated at a service attended by devastated friends and family. "There's a space missing inside...

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Hip implants a bit more likely to fail in women

CHICAGO (AP) — Hip replacements are slightly more likely to fail in women than in men, according to one of the largest studies of its kind in U.S. patients. The risk of the implants failing is low, but women were 29 percent more likely than men to need a repeat surgery within the first three years.The message for women considering hip replacement surgery remains unclear. It's not known which models...

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Stock futures edge higher after seven-week rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures edged higher on Tuesday, indicating the S&P 500 will build on its seven-week winning streak ahead of data on the housing market. * The S&P 500 <.spx> has risen for seven straight weeks, its longest streak since January 2011, and is up 6.6 percent for the year. * The strong start to the year was fueled by legislators in...

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Chavez back in Venezuela, on Twitter with 4 million followers

CARACAS (Reuters) - After Hugo Chavez spent two months out of the public eye for cancer surgery in Cuba, the Venezuelan government hailed his homecoming on Monday and said the president had achieved another milestone - four million followers on Twitter. The 58-year-old flew back from Havana before dawn and was taken to a military hospital. No new details were given on his health, and...

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Sony cuts price of Vita handheld games console in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp on Monday slashed the price of its struggling Vita handheld games console in Japan in a bid to spur sales of the device as gamers switch to free or cheap games played on tablet computers and smartphones.The maker of Playstation consoles trimmed the price of its 3G Wifi version by 10,000 yen ($ 110) to 19,980 yen, with all other models also reduced, it said in a statement.Tablets...

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Photo Fun at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon

Jessica Chastain, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington and more pull their best poses at PEOPLE's exclusive photo shoot Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty for People.com Updated: Tuesday Feb 05, 2013 | 01:30 PM EST By: Alison Schwartz Subscribe Now ...

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Study: Better TV might improve kids' behavior

SEATTLE (AP) — Teaching parents to switch channels from violent shows to educational TV can improve preschoolers' behavior, even without getting them to watch less, a study found.The results were modest and faded over time, but may hold promise for finding ways to help young children avoid aggressive, violent behavior, the study authors and other doctors said."It's not just about turning off the television....

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