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| U.S. demand for trucks, other vehicles drives strong GM profit Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit as the U.S. automaker's new lineup of pickup trucks and other revamped models boosted North American results. While GM's China operations remained stable, profit margins in the core North American market hit a two-year high on the strength of vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Impala sedan which allowed GM to boost pricing by $400 million. , GM also offered a more optimistic picture of Europe, where the company's revenue rose for the first time in two years. GM's shares rose as much as 4.1 percent, the largest one-day percentage gain in nearly two months. Full Story | Top |
| Tech startups bring jobs to low-tax Ireland Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:32 PM PDT By Paul Sandle and Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Small tech firms are set to create up to 2,000 jobs in Ireland, following the lead of web giants like Google and Facebook, the country's investment agency said on Wednesday as nine firms announced hundreds of new positions. The companies said they were basing their regional headquarters in Ireland because of the quality of the workforce rather than its low tax rate, which has led to criticism of the country from the U.S. Senate. Nine firms in software development, online security and digital media announced a total of 330 jobs at a reception hosted by Prime Minister Enda Kenny. "We are probably going to build up to about 2,000 jobs over a period of two to three years," said Barry O'Dowd, who manages a team of 12 people based in cities around the United States and Europe to attract start-ups to Ireland for the country's investment agency, the IDA. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil court confirms oil company OGX filed bankruptcy petition Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:23 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian oil company OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA filed a petition for bankruptcy protection in a Rio de Janeiro court on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the court's press office said. Reuters had earlier reported the filing by Rio de Janeiro-based OGX citing a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The case will be heard in the 4th Corporate Section of the Justice Tribunal of Rio de Janeiro State, the spokeswoman said. The case number is 0377620-56.2013.8.19.0001. (Reporting by Jeb Blount) Full Story | Top |
| Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, sounding a bit less optimistic about growth and saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. In announcing the widely expected decision, Fed officials nodded to weaker economic prospects due in part to a fiscal fight in Washington that shuttered much of the government for 16 days earlier this month. The central bank noted that the recovery in the housing market had lost some steam and suggested some frustration at how slowly the labor market was healing. "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth." The Fed's statement differed only slightly from the economic assessment it delivered after it last meeting in September, and the reaction in financial markets was relatively subdued. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's OGX files for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:20 PM PDT  By Sabrina Lorenzi and Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA, the Brazilian oil company controlled by former billionaire Eike Batista, sought court protection from creditors on Wednesday in Latin America's largest-ever corporate bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy protection request, which was confirmed by the court in Rio de Janeiro, came after OGX failed to reach an agreement with creditors to renegotiate part of its $5.1 billion debt load. It also is another chapter in the unraveling of Batista's once high-flying industrial empire, which he has been dismantling in recent months after disappointing output from offshore OGX wells set off a crisis of investor confidence. If the court approves the request, OGX will have 60 days to come up with a corporate restructuring plan. Full Story | Top |
| David Beckham tells fans he's 'very interested' in Miami team Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:20 PM PDT  By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Retired England soccer star David Beckham told a live online Facebook event in London on Wednesday that he is "very interested" in launching a Major League Soccer team in Miami, appearing to confirm media reports he had chosen the Florida city over other destinations. Asked about the reports, Beckham did not deny the news, saying that he was "passionate" about becoming a team owner. Beckham, who has 30 million Facebook followers, was speaking during a live Q&A with fans in Indian, New York, and Sao Paulo, as part of a "digital stadium" and digital book signing for his autobiography "David Beckham," to be available on Thursday. His MLS player contract included a clause giving him the option to create a team for $25 million. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. private hiring slows, inflation stays muted Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  The slowdown in private job growth was the latest signal that the labor market has taken a step back in recent months and the clearest indication yet that a 16-day federal government shutdown weighed on economic activity. FED TO STAY THE COURSE FOR A WHILE The weak labor market picture and benign inflation environment should allow the Fed to stay the course on its monthly bond purchases for a while as it tries to stimulate the economy through low interest rates. Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street sags after steady Fed sees less growth ahead Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track to snap a four-day streak of gains after the Federal Reserve said it had a weaker growth outlook for the economy, even as it held steady with its stimulus program for the time being. Almost three-fourths of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange declined, while all 10 S&P 500 sector indexes fell. While it had been widely expected that the U.S. central bank wouldn't announce any adjustments to its bond-buying program, the statement wasn't enough to extend a rally that has taken both the Dow and S&P 500 to repeated record highs. Full Story | Top |
| Kenya crackdown on militants troubles Muslims Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:08 PM PDT By Drazen Jorgic MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A Kenyan police crackdown on Islamists is fuelling Muslim resentment and moderate preachers say it undermines their efforts to counter recruiting by al Qaeda militants with links across the border in Somalia. Smashing Islamist recruitment networks among its Muslim minority has become a priority for Kenya, however, as it tries to end attacks by Somali militants bent on punishing it for sending troops over the frontier to fight al Shabaab rebels. The cost of failure was laid bare in September when al Shabaab gunmen, one of whom police say is a Kenyan from the port of Mombasa, raided the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Police say their tough approach, taken before Westgate but stepped up since, has limited the flow of would-be jihadists in and out of Somalia, citing a drop in the number of suspected militants they have tracked and arrested in the past year. Full Story | Top |
| Sprint demonstrates 1 gigabit wireless data speeds Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  said on Wednesday it has demonstrated ultra-fast wireless data speeds of 1 gigabits per second, about 16 times faster than its current peak speeds and rivaling the fastest wireline speeds. Sprint says the fastest speed on its existing network is 60 megabits per second under a service called Sprint Spark, which is currently available in five cities. Sprint, which announced its plans to investors and reporters at its research laboratory outside San Francisco, said it plans to use the latest technology and airwaves from its buyout of Clearwire Corp to boost its network capacity. The company said it plans to deploy Sprint Spark in about 100 of America's largest cities during the next three years. Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch editors must have known of phone hacking, court hears Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Rebekah Brooks, a former top editor, and Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief, oversaw a system of phone-hacking and illegal payments when they ran Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids, a London court heard at the start of their trial on Wednesday. Setting out the prosecution case, Andrew Edis said Brooks was linked to both phone-hacking that ruined the tabloid News of the World and the practice of paying public officials for stories at its sister newspaper, the Sun. Brooks, 45, later ran Murdoch's British newspaper division from 2009 to 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Instant View: Fed says financial conditions looser than September Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:50 AM PDT (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. KEY POINTS: * In announcing the widely expected decision, Fed officials nodded to a weaker growth outlook due in part to a fiscal fight in Washington that shuttered much of the government for 16 days earlier this month. * "Available data suggest that household spending and business fixed investment advanced, while the recovery in the housing sector slowed somewhat in recent months," the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said. "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth." COMMENTS: DAVE RODA, REGIONAL CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER FOR WELLS FARGO PRIVATE BANK IN MIAMI: "It was not outside expectations. Full Story | Top |
| NSA intercepts Google, Yahoo traffic overseas: report Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:46 AM PDT  The National Security Agency has tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move huge amounts of email and other user information among overseas data centers, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. It was unclear how the NSA accessed the links. The report, based on secret NSA documents leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden, appears to show that the agency has used weak restrictions on its overseas activities to exploit even major U.S. companies' data to a far greater extent than previously realized. Previously reported programs included those that allowed easy searches of Google's, Yahoo's and other Internet giants' material based on court orders. Full Story | Top |
| Boeing to place much of 777X design work outside Seattle Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:37 AM PDT  has decided to place a significant amount of design work for its coming 777X jetliner in cities outside the Seattle area, where the current 777 was designed and is being built, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters and confirmed by Boeing on Wednesday. "It has been decided that much of the detailed design will be carried out by Boeing engineering teams in Charleston (South Carolina), Huntsville (Alabama), Long Beach (California), Philadelphia and St. Louis," the memo said. The Boeing Design Center in Moscow will also support the design activity. "However, at this time, no decisions have been made about 777X design or build in Puget Sound," the memo said. Full Story | Top |
| White House: president has 'complete confidence' in HHS's Sebelius Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:26 AM PDT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has full confidence in embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who told Congress on Thursday that she is responsible for the "debacle" of the roll out of the health care web site. "The president has complete confidence in Secretary Sebelius," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with the president. (Reporting By Roberta Rampton and Mark Felsenthal; editing by Jackie Frank) Full Story | Top |
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