Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

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Azarenka secures back-to-back Australian titles

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka won her second consecutive Australian Open title, beating Li Na 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a dramatic final that contained a break for fireworks, two medical timeouts and a nasty fall to the court by Li.The Chinese star first tumbled to the court after twisting her left ankle in the fifth game of the second set and had it taped.On the first point after a 10-minute...

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Supergiant Star Betelgeuse to Crash Into Cosmic ‘Wall’

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse in the famed constellation Orion is on a collision course with a strange wall of interstellar dust, with the clock ticking down to a cataclysmic cosmic smashup in 5,000 years, scientists say.A new image of Betelgeuse by the European Space Agency’s infrared Herschel space observatory, shows that the star will crash headlong into a trail of space dust while speeding...

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Can sanctions deter North Korea?

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3 dead, 2 wounded in pair of early morning shootings

Photo: Three men were shot outside of a diner in the Bridgeport neighborhood ...

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At least 22 die in Egyptian clashes over death sentences

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 22 people died on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, adding to bloody street turmoil confronting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said after the violence. The state news agency quoted a general...

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S&P 500 eyes best winning streak in eight years

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures climbed on Friday and the S&P 500 was poised for an eighth day of gains, its longest winning streak in eight years, buoyed by rosy earnings from Procter & Gamble amid a backdrop of sturdy corporate results. The equity market was also boosted by agreement in Washington to extend the government's borrowing power through mid-May, encouraging signs...

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Murray advances to Australian Open men's final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andy Murray has finally beaten Roger Federer at a Grand Slam.The U.S. Open champion stayed in the hunt for a second consecutive major title with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 win over the 17-time Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open on Friday.Murray will play defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who was rarely troubled while beating David Ferrer...

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Cantor CEO: 'Off the fiscal cliff we go'

.cnn_stryspcvh4 { position:static; }.cnn_stryspccvh6 { position:static; float:left; width:172px; font-size:10px; margin-left:130px; top:0; }.cnn_stryspccvrgebot { font-size:3px; overflow:hidden;}Part of complete coverage onBy Ramy Inocencio, for CNNJanuary 25, 2013 -- Updated 1120 GMT (1920 HKT)STORY HIGHLIGHTS'U.S. fiscal cliff still coming' in form of failure to raise debt ceiling, Cantor Fitzgerald...

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Light snow makes for slick morning commute

Chicago's morning weather forecast ...

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North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration...

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Apple revenue miss to challenge stocks rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to fall Thursday as Apple slid nearly 10 percent following a revenue miss, and analysts said equities may be due for a pullback after a six-day rally. Apple Inc missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter after iPhone sales came in below expectations, fanning fears its dominance of consumer electronics...

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NCAA announces problems with Miami investigation

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The NCAA's probe of Miami's athletic compliance practices is ramping up yet again.Only this time, the Hurricanes aren't exactly the subject of the inquiry.In a bizarre twist, it's college sports' governing body itself that is being investigated after NCAA President Mark Emmert acknowledged on Wednesday "a very severe issue of improper conduct" by former investigators working...

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NASA’s Opportunity Rover Begins Year 10 on Mars

The older, smaller cousin of NASA‘s huge Mars rover Curiosity is quietly celebrating a big milestone today (Jan. 24) — nine years on the surface of the Red Planet.NASA‘s Opportunity rover landed on Mars the night of Jan. 24, 2004 PST (just after midnight EST on Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. Spirit stopped operating in 2010, but Opportunity is still going strong, helping...

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Meet today's most ambitious women

STORY HIGHLIGHTSReport: Women in Brazil, Russia, India and China more ambitious than U.S. counterpartsExtended families, affordable childcare makes it easier for mothers to work, says authorEldercare and "daughterly guilt" are a more significant barrier than in Western worldWomen report: Assertiveness not considered feminine in China and India Editor's note: Sylvia Ann Hewlett is an economist and...

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