Wall Street ends slightly down, S&P positive for seventh week

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 dipped in a late decline on Friday as Wal-Mart dropped following a report of a weak start to February sales, though the index just barely extended its streak of weekly gains to seven. Equities were little changed for much of the session, with investors finding few reasons to make big bets following an extended rally on Wall Street, but stocks turned...

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Vowing Reform, China’s Leader, Xi Jinping, Airs Other Message in Private

HONG KONG — When China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, visited the country’s south to promote himself before the public as an audacious reformer following in the footsteps of Deng Xiaoping, he had another message to deliver to Communist Party officials behind closed doors. Feng Li/Getty ImagesXi Jinping has came to power at a time when the pressure of public expectations for greater official...

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Why Melissa Joan Hart Is Resisting Valentine's Day This Year

Age is more than just a number for mom-of-three Melissa Joan Hart.The actress, who welcomed her second child, Brady, now 4½, two years after the birth of her first son, Mason, now 7, says waiting until both boys were older to expand her family further was ideal.“It’s definitely easier to have an infant when the other two boys are potty trained and can dress themselves,” Hart, 36, told PEOPLE at Wednesday’s...

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

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Wall Street ends slightly higher, helped by acquisitions

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 eked out a small gain for a third straight session on Thursday, helped by a flurry of merger activity, though investors see no catalysts to lift the market further with major averages near multi-year highs. The market's slowed advance took the S&P 500 to its highest intraday level since November 2007 on Wednesday. While the index notched its third...

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Kerry Says He Is Preparing Proposals on Syria Crisis

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that he had ideas about how to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to agree to a political transition in Syria and planned to raise them on his first foreign trip this month. “We need to address the question of President Assad’s calculation currently,” Mr. Kerry said after a meeting with Jordan’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh. “I...

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Clues to why most survived China melamine scandal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists wondering why some children and not others survived one of China's worst food safety scandals have uncovered a suspect: germs that live in the gut.In 2008, at least six babies died and 300,000 became sick after being fed infant formula that had been deliberately and illegally tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. There were some lingering puzzles: How did it cause...

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Wall Street pauses after rally to five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks drifted in light volume on Wednesday, ending little changed, as investors remained cautious after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007. The S&P 500 was buoyed by General Electric after cable company Comcast Corp said it will buy from GE the the part of NBCUniversal it didn't already own for $16.7 billion. ...

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News Analysis: As North Korea’s Nuclear Ability Grows, China Faces Dilemma

BEIJING — In the aftermath of Tuesday’s nuclear test by North Korea, China will almost certainly join the United States in supporting tougher sanctions at the United Nations, accompanied by sterner reprimands from Beijing against its recalcitrant ally in Pyongyang. But as impatient as China might be with North Korea, there is little chance that the new Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, will move...

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Biggest Loser's Alison Sweeney Blogs About Valentine's Day Temptation

TV Watch The Biggest Loser By Alison Sweeney 02/12/2013 at 05:30 PM EST Alison Sweeney hosts NBC's The Biggest Loser and is the award-winning star of Days of Our Lives, in addition to being an author, director, producer, wife and mom. Like she has for the past two seasons, Alison will blog each week about the...

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