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...

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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...

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Wanted: Mars Colonists to Explore Red Planet

If you think you have the right stuff to help colonize Mars, you’ll soon get your chance to prove it.The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which hopes to put the first boots on the Red Planet in 2023, released its basic astronaut requirements today (Jan. 8), setting the stage for a televised global selection process that will begin later this year.Mars One isn’t zeroing in on scientists or...

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Case of Wall Street greed gone too far

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was one of the executives whose stock award was accelerated to beat higher tax rate.STORY HIGHLIGHTSGoldman Sachs granted $65 million in stock to execs before new tax rates beganSusan Antilla says the firm's CEO had endorsed higher rates, called for entitlement cuts She says Goldman benefits from the implicit promise that U.S. will bail it outAntilla: It was unseemly...

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Medical examiner seeks to exhume body of poisoned lottery winner

Urooj Khan won the $1 million in the lottery just weeks before he died suddenly of a heart attack in his West Rogers Park...

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Venezuela postpones inauguration for cancer-stricken Chavez

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will postpone the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez for a new term due to health problems, the government said on Tuesday, another sign the socialist leader's cancer may be bringing an end to his 14 years in power. The 58-year-old former soldier who has dominated the South American OPEC nation since 1999 has not been heard from since surgery on December...

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Wall Street edges off five-year high, awaits earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks lost ground on Monday, as investors drew back from recent gains that lifted the S&P 500 to a five-year high, in anticipation of sluggish growth in corporate profits. Shares of financial companies dipped after a group of major U.S. banks agreed to pay a total of $8.5 billion to end a government inquiry into faulty mortgage foreclosures. The KBW bank index...

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Bama starts with bang at BCS championship game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — One of the most anticipated BCS championship games began with Alabama getting the ball and driving it down the field for a touchdown against No. 1 Notre Dame's vaunted defense.Sun Life Stadium was packed and raucous for the kickoff Monday night.The Fighting Irish won the coin toss, decided to kickoff and the Crimson Tide marched down the field with ease, driving 82 yards...

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NASA’s Kepler telescope finds 461 potential new planets

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – NASA’s Kepler space telescope has uncovered another 461 potential new planets, most of which are the size of Earth or a few times larger, scientists said on Monday.The announcement brings Kepler’s head count to 2,740 candidate new worlds, 105 of which have been confirmed.“Two years ago we had around 1,200 candidate planet objects. A year later, we added a significant...

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Why Al Jazeera deal doesn't seem right

STORY HIGHLIGHTSAl Gore sold Current to al Jazeera and could net an estimated $70 millionHoward Kurtz: Gore's Current network failed to gain an identity or viewers He says it's odd that the former vice president is selling to an oil-rich potentateKurtz: Al Jazeera may have a tough time getting traction with U.S. viewersEditor's note: Howard Kurtz is the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and is Newsweek's...

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