Wet & Cold Weekend for North Texas – Wintry Weather Possible Next Week

BRIEF WARM UP TOMORROW…

Clouds will decrease overnight and temperatures will drop into the 40s overnight.  So it will be a chilly start to our Friday, but temps will warm close to 70 degrees by the afternoon with some sunshine and breezy SW winds.

TONIGHT’S LOW TEMPERATURES

TOMORROW’S HIGH TEMPERATURES

COLD AND RAINY WEEKEND…

A strong cold front will get here in the morning on Saturday.  Temperatures will start in the 50s than fall into the 40s during the day.  Showers and a few isolated thunderstorms will be possible thru the day on Saturday with north winds gusting to 20 mph.

Sunday will be cloudy and cold with temperatures staying in the 30s all day.  There could be some left over rain for south eastern sections of North Texas.

FREEZING RAIN CHANCES…

On Monday, there will still be a chance for some rain.  But temperatures may be below freezing at the surface to create a freezing rain threat.  The issue we will face is a shallow layer of cold air at the surface.  Warm air will overrun this cold air and generate some light rain.  If this cold layer at the surface is below freezing we could see freezing rain.  This is not a certainty but the possibility is there for freezing rain and temperature trends will have to be monitored as we get closer to Monday.

SNOW CHANCES LATE NEXT WEEK…

Next Thursday looks like another wintry weather event will be possible.  A strong upper level disturbance will be passing over Texas.  The atmosphere would be cold enough to support snow.  The latest EUROPEAN forecast model is showing 3″ to 5″ of snow for areas along the Red River Thursday.  But the GFS model is not as aggressive with this snow, keeping the storm system well to the north.  But as I mentioned yesterday, next week will be a very cold week with threat of wintry weather.  So please stay tuned to the forecast.

Here is a look at the European model precipitation forecast for next Thursday.  The pink line is the 32 degree temperature line.

Here’s a look at the European Snowfall Forecast for next Thursday.

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1 dead, 1 wounded in South Side attack

Chicago police work at the scene of a fatal shooting at 71st an Jeffrey on Chicago's southeast side. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune / January 10, 2013)

Staff report

7:18 p.m. CST, January 10, 2013

Two men were wounded, one fatally, in a shooting in the South Shore neighborhood this evening, police said.

The shooting took place about 6:13 p.m. in the 2000  block of East 71st Street — near Jeffery Boulevard —said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

One man was shot and died on the scene, the other suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Zala. A condition was not available.

News Affairs had no immediate information on any of the circumstances of the shooting.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking

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String of bombings kill 101, injure 200 in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 101 people were killed in bombings in two Pakistani cities on Thursday in one of the country's bloodiest days in recent years, officials said, with most casualties caused by sectarian attacks in Quetta.

The bombings underscored the myriad threats Pakistani security forces face from homegrown Sunni extremist groups, the Taliban insurgency in the northwest and the less well-known Baloch insurgency in the southwest.

On Thursday evening, two coordinated explosions killed at least 69 people and injured more than 100 in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, said Deputy Inspector of Police Hamid Shakil.

The first attack, in a crowded snooker hall, was a suicide bombing, local residents said. About ten minutes later, a car bomb exploded, they said. Five policemen and a cameraman were among the dead from that blast.

The attacks happened in a predominately Shia neighborhood and banned sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility. The extremist Sunni group targets Shias, who make up about 20 percent of Pakistani's population.

Targeted killings and bombings of Shia communities are common in Pakistan, and rights groups say hundreds of Shia were killed last year. Militant groups in Balochistan frequently bomb or shoot Shia passengers on buses travelling to neighboring Iran.

The killers are rarely caught and some Shia activists say militants work alongside elements of Pakistan's security forces, who see them as a potential bulwark against neighboring India.

Many Pakistanis fear their nation could become the site of a regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia, source of funding for Sunni extremist groups, and Iran, which is largely Shia.

But sectarian tensions are not the only source of violence.

The United Baloch Army claimed responsibility for a blast in Quetta's market earlier in the day. It killed 11 people and injured more than 40, mostly vegetable sellers and secondhand clothes dealers, police officer Zubair Mehmood said. A child was also killed.

The group is one of several fighting for independence for Balochistan, an arid, impoverished region with substantial gas, copper and gold reserves, which constitutes just under half of Pakistan's territory and is home to about 8 million of the country's population of 180 million.

SWAT BOMBING

In another incident Thursday, 21 were killed and more than 60 injured in a bombing when people gathered to hear a religious leader speak in Mingora, the largest city in the northwestern province of Swat, police and officials at the Saidu Sharif hospital said.

"The death toll may rise as some of the injured are in critical condition and we are receiving more and more injured people," said Dr. Niaz Mohammad.

It has been more than two years since a militant attack has claimed that many lives in Swat.

The mountainous region, formerly a tourist destination, has been administered by the Pakistani army since their 2009 offensive drove out Taliban militants who had taken control.

But Talibans retain the ability to attack in Swat and shot schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousufzai in Mingora last October.

A Taliban spokesman said they were not responsible for Thursday's bombing.

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, Pakistan; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Jason Webb)

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Wall Street rises after Alcoa reports earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, rebounding from two days of losses, as investors turned their focus to the first prominent results of the earnings season.

Stocks had retreated at the start of the week from the S&P 500's highest point in five years, hit last Friday, on worries about possible earnings weakness.

Shares of Alcoa Inc were down 0.5 percent to $9.08 after early gains, following the company's earnings release after the bell on Tuesday. The largest U.S. aluminum producer said it expects global demand for aluminum to grow in 2013.

Herbalife Ltd stock rose 4.2 percent to $39.95 in its most active day of trading in the company's history after hedge fund manager Dan Loeb took a large stake in the nutritional supplements seller. Prominent short-seller Bill Ackman had previously accused the company of being a "pyramid scheme," which Herbalife has denied.

Traders have been cautious as the current quarter shaped up like the previous one, with companies recently lowering expectations, said James Dailey, portfolio manager of Team Asset Strategy Fund in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lower expectations leave room for companies to surprise investors even if their results are not particularly strong.

"The big question and focus is on revenue, and Alcoa had better-than-expected revenue," which calmed the market a little, Dailey said.

Overall, corporate profits were expected to beat the previous quarter's meager 0.1 percent rise. Both earnings and revenues in the fourth quarter are expected to have grown by 1.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 61.66 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,390.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 3.87 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 14.00 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,105.81.

Facebook Inc shares rose above $30 for the first time since July 2012, trading up 5.3 percent at $30.59. Facebook, which has been tight-lipped about its plans after its botched IPO in May, invited the media to its headquarters next week.

Clearwire Corp shares jumped 7.2 percent to $3.13 after Dish Network bid $2.28 billion for the company, beating out a previous Sprint offer and setting the stage for a takeover battle for the wireless service provider that owns crucial mobile spectrum.

Apollo Group Inc slid after heavier early losses, a day after it reported lower student sign-ups for the third straight quarter and cut its operating profit outlook for 2013. Apollo's shares were last off 7.8 percent at $19.32.

Volume was below the 2012 average of 6.42 billion shares traded per day, as 6.10 billion were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,014 to 963, while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners 1,603 to 859.

(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Can You Lead on the Environment if You Bypass Climate Change?

Climate change didn’t even match Andy Warhol’s famous-for-15-minutes standard this week at a gathering devoted to reviving conservative leadership on the environment. It got five minutes at the 1 hour, 40 minute mark of a two-hour program, and what was said about it amounted to “We will deal with that some other time, maybe.”

To be fair, the Conservation Leadership Council is an admirable if risk-averse effort by concerned Republicans to reclaim a mantle that has faded since Teddy Roosevelt went on a conservationist tear creating national forests, parks, and monuments, and Richard Nixon decided (to the retroactive dismay of his party) that the country needed an Environmental Protection Agency. The council has its own mission: identifying ways to solve environmental problems that don’t require embracing big government.

“Conservatives who don’t like big government often don’t like environmental proposals because they are all about big government. We’re looking for some ways of getting out of that box,” said former Interior Secretary Gale Norton. “It’s about creating proposals that can find broad support.”

By definition, that excludes climate change.

It’s not that there isn’t a national consensus on the topic, particularly since superstorm Sandy. Several recent polls suggest three-quarters of the country believes that the climate has been getting warmer and that the federal government should take at least some steps to combat global warming—even if that means more regulation of harmful emissions and higher taxes or electricity rates.

But there is no consensus within the GOP. Nowhere were the rifts more pronounced than in the party’s presidential nomination race, which produced this classic tweet from then-candidate Jon Huntsman: “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

The party’s hostility to climate science will be showcased anew this year in the Virginia governor’s race, the marquee political contest of 2013. Republicans appear set to nominate Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a conservative firebrand who tried to ruin a climate researcher at the University of Virginia.

There are some Republicans who don’t shy from global warming, notably former Sen. John Warner of Virginia. But the conservation leadership group is focusing on far less inflammatory issues and aims to make its mark in cities and state capitals. Its first compilation of case studies highlights public-private management partnerships in state parks and the Blackfoot Watershed of eastern Montana; market and incentive approaches to preserving endangered species and restoring a Florida reef; and new sources of capital for making buildings more energy-efficient. “We can be a clearinghouse of good ideas,” said Ed Schafer, the former Agriculture secretary and North Dakota governor.

This is a wonky group, given to talk of carcass pickups and total maximum daily loads. There’s no question its adherents have sensible ideas—for instance, gathering hikers, bicyclists, mountain bikers, and horseback riders in a room to work out together how to manage a wilderness area they all want to use, or paying a farmer to make his irrigation system more efficient, thereby freeing up water for the nearby city that badly needs it while (it’s hoped) bypassing conflict and litigation.

Norton and former Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett, the moderator of the session, said that policies to cope with water shortages and make buildings more energy-efficient are related to climate change. And that is as far as they will take it. “That’s not really something that our council has addressed directly. It may be something that we look at down the road,” Norton said.

What the Conservation Leadership Council is doing now is a start, but it won’t do much to improve the national GOP brand or transform the national climate debate. By coincidence, the group held its inaugural Washington event on the same day the federal government announced that 2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States. Talk about the elephant in the room.

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Terror group fills Syria rebels' space

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.S. declared a key opposition group in Syria a terrorist organization


• New report says it is the most effective group in the opposition, with 5,000 fighters


• Nada Bakos: The group has ties to al Qaeda but also seeks to provide social services


• She says the chances are slim that it could be persuaded to give up radical goals

Editor's note: Nada Bakos is a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst.

(CNN) -- In the midst of the struggle against Bashar al-Assad's government stands Jabhat al-Nusra, recently designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

A new report by the Quilliam Foundation in London says the organization is the most effective arm of the Syrian insurgency and now fields about 5,000 fighters against the Assad regime.

Practically speaking, the terrorist designation means little that is new for the immediate struggle in Syria. Shortly after al-Nusra claimed credit for one of its early suicide bombings in January 2012, the Obama administration made known al-Nusra's connection to al Qaeda in Iraq, a group with which I was intimately familiar in my capacity as an analyst and targeting officer at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Nada Bakos

The administration's position was reinforced when Director of National Intelligence James Clapper one month later testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee that "...we believe al-Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria."

Analysis: Study shows rise of al Qaeda affiliate in Syria

Al-Nusra is filling a power vacuum through charitable efforts to galvanize local support and generating influence among Syrians. In light of al-Nusra's influence in Syria, the real question is not so much about the scope and scale of al-Nusra currently, but rather how should the United States respond to its rise, particularly after al-Assad's eventual exit?

Historically, the U.S. government seemed to believe that as soon as people are given the chance, they will choose and then create a Jeffersonian democracy. Then we are surprised, if not outraged, that people turn to organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood in electoral contests. These organizations often provide the basic necessities that people need to survive: food, water, medical care, education and security.

As ideologically distasteful as we might find them, they are often doing things corrupt, weak or failing governments do not: providing the basic necessities that people need to survive (let alone create the conditions that enable people to aspire to thrive).

Why does al-Nusra keep quiet about its ties to al Qaeda in Iraq? The documents pulled from the Abottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden shed light on his awareness that the al Qaeda brand had been deteriorating.

Bin Laden urged regional groups, "If asked, it would be better to say there is a relationship with al Qaeda, which is simply a brotherly Islamic connection, and nothing more," according to CNN. Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri had criticized the Jordanian-born founder and leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for his killing of civilians and lack of political acumen to win public support.

Talk about al Qaeda seems distant. It was a bogeyman made real in 1993 when it unsuccessfully attacked the World Trade Center and terrifyingly tangible in 2001 when its operatives succeeded in destroying the twin towers and expanded their attacks to the Pentagon and the air over Pennsylvania. Its looming shadow has since faded from the public eye, particularly with the death of bin Laden. Its vision and ideology, however, continue to have a strong appeal.

Now that al Qaeda central has a less visible role, what makes players like al-Nusra and al Qaeda in Iraq threats? Even today, after Zarqawi's death, al Qaeda in Iraq has managed to continue to wreak havoc in Iraq and in the region through an autonomous, adaptable structure.

Al-Nusra has declared itself a player in the fight for a global jihad, a bold statement for what is today a localized group . Even small groups, however, have the potential to disrupt regional stability and complicate America's pursuit of its national security objectives—a fact I learned firsthand tracking and trying to stem the rise, influence and efficacy of al Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Zarqawi, until his death in 2006, was able to confound U.S. forces and attack Jordan by attracting recruits from North Africa (including Libya), Central Europe, Jordan and Syria.

Some of Zarqawi's earliest recruits were veterans of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that lashed out against the Syrian government during the 1980s. Captured records from a raid near the city of Sinjar, Iraq, indicated that during the 2006-2007 time frame, 8% of al Qaeda in Iraq operatives were Syrians. The percentage likely ebbed and flowed as the group formed, became influential and waned, but it suggests that there was no shortage of recruits amenable to engage in religious conflict in Syria as recently as 5-10 years ago.

The most striking thing about the captured records, however, is that it appears almost every foreign fighter entering Iraq to join al Qaeda in Iraq came through Syria. As a targeter, I can tell you that facilitation networks are key: they are the means by which groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq are funded, supplied and sustained. During the Iraq war, Zarqawi's top aides in Syria played a critical role in recruiting, funding and operational planning outside Iraq.

One of the things U.S. officials and the international media should watch for is how al-Nusra uses its terrorist designation: If it seeks to use the declaration to burnish its jihadist credentials, it might be able to bolster the image of the organization in the eyes of the extremist community and parlay that recognition into larger, or steadier, streams of funding—a development that will make the group more viable over the long-term or allow it to expand its operations or influence in the short- to mid-term.

An important differentiator between al Qaeda in Iraq and al-Nusra is one of its tactics: Zarqawi made a practice of indiscriminately killing Iraqi civilians, effectively terrorizing the Iraqi population, especially the Shiite minority. Zarqawi, despite identifying with al Qaeda, had a much thinner theological basis than al Qaeda central.

Key figures at al Qaeda central such as bin Laden and Zawahiri argued with Zarqawi over his tactics, complaining that alienating mainstream Muslims would not help achieve the over-arching goal of instilling Sharia law.

Al-Nusra is using some of the same tactics as al Qaeda in Iraq (e.g., suicide bombings, kidnappings and car bombs), but it appears to be trying to strike a balance Zarqawi was unwilling to make: Not only does it seem to be avoiding alienating—if not antagonizing—the larger population, but it also is providing the people of Syria with a range of goods and services such as food, water and medical care—basic necessities that people need to survive in the best of times, let alone when their country is in the throes of a civil war.

If this becomes a trend, it might signal that al-Nusra aspires to be more like Hezbollah or Hamas, organizations that defy neat categorization based on the range of social, political and military activities they engage in and the resultant legitimacy they have in the eyes of their constituencies.

In the Syrian uprising, the opportunity for meaningful U.S. intervention might have passed: Exhaustion from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll on the U.S. military, have taxed the national treasury, and sapped political will, especially as the state of the economy remains at the center of the debate in Washington.

Our absence from the fight is going to cost us if the al-Assad regime fails, leaving rebel groups like al-Nusra dictating the direction, pace and scope of a new Syria.

Given that managing affairs in the Middle East has never been one of our strong suits, the question at this point should be how can the United States, particularly the Department of State, best engage groups that might be inimical to U.S. values but necessary to our interests in the Middle East? For that, I am not sure there is a clear or simple answer.

One opportunity would be if the United States uses its designation of al-Nusra as both a stick and carrot, cajoling and encouraging it to enter into mainstream politics when (or if) the Assad regime falls.

My read of al-Nusra, however, is that, like Zarqawi, it does not aspire to be a political player and is unlikely to settle for a political role in the new government. Instead, it may aim to play the spoiler for any transitional government and use its resources and political violence to empower and encourage other like-minded extremists. With time and opportunity, al-Nusra could not only add to regional instability in the Middle East, but also rekindle global jihad.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nada Bakos.

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Exhumation of poisoned lottery winner proceeds

Cook County authorities continue to move toward exhuming the body of a Chicago man who died of cyanide poisoning weeks after winning a $1 million lottery jackpot.
 
Cook County prosecutors are drafting court papers and expect a judge to hear the matter on Friday at the Daley Center courthouse, Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, said today.

Chief Medical Examiner Stephen J. Cina sent a sworn statement to prosecutors on Tuesday explaining why an autopsy was needed in order to ensure a complete investigation.
 
The exhumation could take place as soon as next week, according to sources familiar with the process.
 
The mystery surrounding Urooj Khan's death has sparked international media interest.

As first reported by the Tribune in a front-page story on Monday, Khan died suddenly last July just weeks after winning a million-dollar prize.

Finding no trauma to his body and no unusual substances in his blood, the medical examiner's office declared his death to be from natural causes and he was buried at Rosehill Cemetery without an autopsy.

About a week later, a relative told the medical examiner’s office to take a closer look at the 46-year-old’s death. By early December, comprehensive toxicology tests showed that Khan had died of a lethal amount of cyanide, prompting Chicago police and county prosecutors to investigate his homicide.

While a motive has not been determined yet, police haven't ruled out that Khan was killed because of his lottery win, a law enforcement source has told the Tribune.

Khan, the owner of three dry cleaners on the North Side, died before he could collect the lump-sum winnings – about $425,000 after taxes.

The Tribune reported in Wednesday’s newspaper that authorities investigating the homicide executed a search warrant at the home he had shared with his wife, Shabana Ansari.

She later was interviewed by detectives for more than four hours, answering all their questions, according to her attorney, Steven Kozicki.
 
jmeisner@tribune.com

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Venezuela's top court endorses Chavez inauguration delay

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's top court endorsed the postponement of Hugo Chavez's inauguration this week and ruled on Wednesday that the cancer-stricken president and his deputy would continue in their roles, despite a cacophony of opposition complaints.

Critics had argued the 58-year-old's absence from his own swearing-in ceremony on January 10 meant a caretaker president must be appointed. Chavez has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost a month following surgery in Cuba.

"Right now we cannot say when, how or where the president will be sworn in," Supreme Court Chief Judge Luisa Morales told a news conference.

"As president re-elect there is no interruption of performance of duties ... The inauguration can be carried out at a later date before the Supreme Court."

The decision opens the door in theory for Chavez to remain in office for weeks or months more from a Cuban hospital bed - though there is no evidence he is even conscious.

It leaves the South American country in the hands of Vice President Nicolas Maduro, as de facto leader of the government.

The opposition say that is a brazen violation of the constitution, and that Maduro should leave office on Thursday when the current presidential term had been due to expire.

They say National Assembly boss Diosdado Cabello, another powerful Chavez ally, should take over the running of the country while new elections would be organized within 30 days.

Maduro would be the ruling Socialist Party's candidate.

Government leaders insist Chavez, 58, is fulfilling his duties as head of state, even though official medical bulletins say he suffered complications after the surgery, including a severe lung infection, and has had trouble breathing.

His resignation or death would transform politics in the OPEC nation, where he is revered by poor supporters thankful for his social largesse, but denounced by opponents as a dictator.

RALLY PLANNED FOR THURSDAY

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost a presidential election to Chavez in October, said the Supreme Court had become politicized under the socialist leader's administration.

"The tribunal gave an interpretation (of the constitution) in order to solve a problem that the government has," Capriles told a news conference.

Moody's Investors Service warned on Wednesday that Venezuela's sovereign credit rating, already at junk status, faces short-term risks over any political transition.

Prices of Venezuela's widely traded bonds have soared lately on Chavez's health woes, but dipped this week as investors' expectations of a quick government change apparently faded.

The president has undergone four operations, as well as weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, since being diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer in his pelvic area in June 2011.

He looked to have staged a remarkable recovery from the illness last year, winning a new six-year term at a hard-fought election in October. But within weeks of his victory he had to return to Havana for more treatment.

The government has called for a huge rally outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Thursday, and allied leaders such as Uruguay's Jose Mujica, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega have said they will visit - despite Chavez's absence.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, a close friend, has announced plans to visit Chavez in Cuba on Friday.

The unprecedented silence by Chavez, who is well known for his hours-long rambling speeches, has convinced many Venezuelans that his 14 years in power may be coming to an end.

Unlike after his previous operations in Cuba, no photographs have been published of him recuperating, and social media in Venezuela is buzzing with rumors he is on life support.

Cabello, the pugnacious head of the National Assembly, has repeatedly ruled out taking over as caretaker president to order a new presidential election, saying Chavez remains in charge.

"Tomorrow we will all go to the Miraflores palace," he told a televised Socialist Party meeting on Wednesday. "The people will be invested as president. We are all Chavez!"

(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga, Diego Ore and Enrique Andres Pretel; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Eric Walsh)

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Wall Street slips as earnings season gets under way

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday, retreating from last week's rally on the "fiscal cliff" deal in Washington, as companies started to report results for the fourth quarter.

After a 4.3 percent jump in the two sessions around the close of the fiscal cliff negotiations, the S&P has declined a bit, with investors finding few catalysts to extend the rally that took the benchmark to five-year highs.

"We had a brief respite, courtesy of what happened on the fiscal cliff deal and the flip of the calendar with new money coming into the market," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

Shares of AT&T Inc dropped 1.7 percent to $34.35, making it one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500, after the company said it sold more than 10 million smartphones in the quarter.

This figure beat the same quarter in 2011, but also means increased costs for the wireless service provider. Providers like AT&T pay hefty subsidies to handset makers so that they can offer discounts to customers who commit to two-year contracts.

Fourth-quarter profits are expected to beat the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analyst estimates are down sharply from October. Quarterly earnings are expected to grow by 2.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Dow component Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported results after the closing bell.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 55.44 points, or 0.41 percent, to 13,328.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> fell 4.74 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,457.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> lost 7.01 points, or 0.23 percent, to 3,091.81.

"The stark reality of uncertainty with regard to earnings, plus the negotiations on the debt ceiling, are there and that doesn't give investors a lot of reason to take bets on the long side," Hellwig said.

With AT&T's fall, the S&P telecom services index <.gspl> was the worst performer of the 10 major S&P sectors, down 2.7 percent.

Sears Holdings shares dropped 6.4 percent to $40.16 a day after the company said Chairman Edward Lampert would take over as CEO from Louis D'Ambrosio, who is stepping down due to a family member's health issue. The U.S. retailer also reported a 1.8 percent decline in quarter-to-date sales at stores open at least a year.

Markets went lower as some of the first reported earnings were weak.

"It doesn't seem to be bouncing back, it might stay here or sell off a little further," said Stephen Carl, head of U.S. equity trading at The Williams Capital Group in New York.

Shares of restaurant-chain operator Yum Brands Inc fell 4.2 percent to $65.04 a day after the KFC parent warned sales in China, its largest market, shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter.

GameStop was one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 as shares slumped 6.3 percent to $23.19 after the video game retailer reported low customer traffic for the holiday season and cut its guidance.

Shares of Monsanto Co gained 2.5 percent to $98.42 after reaching a more than four-year high at $99.99. The world's largest seed company raised its earnings outlook for fiscal year 2013 and posted strong first-quarter results.

Volume was below the 2012 average of 6.42 billion shares traded per day, as 6.19 billion were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,495 to 1,458, while on the Nasdaq decliners beat advancers 1,305 to 1,158.

(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)

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Bucks coach Scott Skiles out, Boylan to fill in

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Once again, an NBA team has parted ways with head coach Scott Skiles. Once again, veteran assistant Jim Boylan is being asked to pick up the pieces.

One day after Milwaukee and Skiles agreed it was time for a change, the Bucks said Tuesday that Boylan will coach the team for the rest of the season. General manager John Hammond downplayed the notion that Skiles had lost control of the locker room or otherwise felt friction with management.

"Scott and I did not have a frosty relationship. Scott did not hate this team," said Hammond, who noted that more than half the season remains. "We're not a team in dire straits ... we're expecting good things to happen."

Boylan met with reporters before Tuesday night's home game against Phoenix.

"We'll do what we've been doing as far as being professional, getting ourselves ready for every game and getting out there and competing," Boylan said. "That's my job right now, to get us back on the right track, move us in the right direction and I think the guys we have on the team right now are quality people and committed to that task. That'll be our ultimate goal."

If this change sounds familiar, it should: Skiles was fired as head coach in Chicago on Christmas Eve in 2007 after the Bulls started 9-16. Boylan, an assistant in Chicago, took over and went 24-32. He was fired at the end of the season.

In an interview Tuesday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Skiles disputed the notion that he didn't like his team.

"There's always the normal coach-player friction that goes on," Skiles said in the Journal Sentinel interview. "Guys at this level are great players. This is, as NBA teams go, this is a good group of guys."

Hammond said he and Skiles had been having a number of conversations recently about the future of the team. He said there was no single factor in Skiles' departure, and that no other assistant coaches were leaving.

"It was a mutual decision. We both agreed to make this decision," he said.

Skiles had a 162-182 record in four-plus seasons with Milwaukee, with one playoff appearance — a first-round loss to Atlanta in seven games during the 2009-10 season. He was a hard-nosed, defensive-minded coach who sometimes seemed to have difficulty meshing with a roster built around volume shooters Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis.

Jennings said he heard about the change in a phone call Monday night from Skiles and not from anyone within the organization.

"I think that's why I was a little bit frustrated at first," he said. "Just the fact that I had to hear it from my own coach and not the team. If I'm supposed to be their franchise player, why don't I hear the news first?"

Jennings said he was shocked but not upset about the change. He said he spoke with Skiles for about 20 minutes.

"We had our ups and downs, we had great times here," he said. "I have nothing but respect for him because as a rookie he did put the ball in my hands first."

Luc Mbah a Moute said he was shocked and had a great experience playing for Skiles, but coaching changes simply were part of the business of the NBA.

"I kind of had an idea of hearing that the team wasn't really happy with the way everything was going, and not just this year, you know the last couple of years with Skiles," he said. "This year we were kind of like started a good start and then went through a patch where we didn't play so great."

Boylan said the initial change he would make was to insert forward Ersan Ilyasova into the starting lineup for Ekpe Udoh.

Ilyasova re-signed with the Bucks during the summer, but saw his minutes decrease to 22 per game this year after playing 27 in the 2011-12 season. He said he was looking forward to playing for Boylan.

"For me, it's not a big deal you know, if you start or not, my concern has been about the minutes," Ilyasova said. "When you come from the season I had last year, I didn't expect to play less than last year."

Skiles' agent, Keith Glass, said it was hard to pinpoint when Skiles began thinking of stepping aside, but all parties agreed the timing was right.

"There was no blowup. There was no animosity going on. I think everybody made the right decision for their own respective sides," he said.

Two other coaches, the Lakers' Mike Brown and Brooklyn's Avery Johnson, are also out of work in this young season. Brown was fired after five games and Johnson late last month, about three weeks after being named Eastern Conference coach of the month.

The 57-year-old Boylan has been the lead assistant for the Bucks the past four seasons. In a 20-year NBA coaching career, he has also been an assistant in Cleveland, Vancouver, Phoenix, Atlanta and Chicago.

Boylan said he was too worried about keeping the job when he succeeded Skiles in Chicago.

"Last time, from a personal standpoint, I was too worried about trying to keep the job and it kind of restricted me as time went on," he said. "I made the determination when this happened last night, that I was going to try and enjoy this and just do what I like to do which is coach these guys, being around these guys and the coaching staff and the organization and just enjoy it.

"Have a good time with it and get the guys to play hard and compete and let the chips fall where they may at the end," he said.

Milwaukee, losers of four straight when the coaching change was announced, started out a surprising 6-2, only to lose seven of its next nine. The Bucks followed that with a four-game winning streak, the kind of wild swings that didn't sit well with a coach who values consistency — both in play and preparation.

"Considering like a week ago we were 16-12 and beat Miami, you probably wouldn't have guessed this would have happened a week later," forward Mike Dunleavy said.

Skiles did help coax a breakout season out of Larry Sanders, who has emerged as a rebounding and shot-blocking monster over the last few weeks. The demanding coach pushed Sanders to be more consistent, and the lanky forward/center has responded. He grabbed 20 rebounds against Boston on Dec. 21 to start a string of double-digit rebound nights in five of his last eight games and leads the league with 3.07 blocks per game.

Skiles' focus on defense was always going to be tested by a roster revolving around Jennings and Ellis, two flashy scorers who prefer to get up and down the court and lure opposing teams into shootouts.

Jennings and Ellis have been giving plenty of effort, but the Bucks were in the middle of the pack in points allowed per game (15th) and field goal percentage defense (18th), below Skiles' lofty expectations.

Still, the Bucks are only a few games behind Indiana in the Central Division, despite injuries to Beno Udrih and top defender Mbah a Moute, and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Skiles' departure could be the first in a series of big shake-ups for the Bucks. Hammond is in the final year of his deal, while Jennings and Ellis can both become restricted free agents after this season.

Hammond said he and team owner Herb Kohl are in discussions about an extension, but he declined to elaborate on the progress of their conversations.

As for Skiles, he is now 443-433 as an NBA head coach in 12-plus seasons, which also includes stints with Chicago and Phoenix. He started this season with a host of new players, though the biggest trade during his tenure was the deal that sent former No. 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut to Golden State for Ellis.

"I never heard Scott say a negative thing to me about that trade or anything else," Glass said. "Everybody has their own opinions on the way things are done, but Scott was always on board with — in terms of support — whatever move was made. ... And I think he liked Monta. I never heard him say a word about that at all in a negative sense."

Glass said it was too early to say whether Skiles was looking to stay in coaching.

"Today is not the day for that ... but I'm sure we will discuss that in the next month or so," he said. "But he's not burning right now."

AP Sports Writers Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis and Andrew Seligman in Chicago and AP Freelancer DiGiovanni in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

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