Wall St Week Ahead: "Cliff" worries may drive tax selling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors typically sell stocks to cut their losses at year end. But worries about the "fiscal cliff" - and the possibility of higher taxes in 2013 - may act as the greatest incentive to sell both winners and losers by December 31. The $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for the beginning of next year includes higher rates for capital...

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Karzai Implicates Pakistan in Attack on Afghan Spy Chief

KABUL, Afghanistan — The suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Afghanistan’s powerful new intelligence chief came from Pakistan and the attack was organized with the help of a sophisticated foreign intelligence service, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday. Mr. Karzai said he would ask for clarification from Pakistan’s president, when the two men meet later this month, on whether Pakistan’s...

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Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business.The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the...

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Kate's Severe Morning Sickness Could Be Hereditary

By Michelle Tauber 12/08/2012 at 11:15 AM EST Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Ben Pruchnie/Getty Even duchesses can get the monster of all morning sicknesses.Known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), the condition – for which Kate was hospitalized for four days – is characterized by debilitating...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: "Cliff" worries may drive tax selling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors typically sell stocks to cut their losses at year end. But worries about the "fiscal cliff" - and the possibility of higher taxes in 2013 - may act as the greatest incentive to sell both winners and losers by December 31. The $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for the beginning of next year includes higher rates for capital...

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It's a Boy for Jennifer Nettles!

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/07/2012 at 12:00 PM ET Jason Kempin/GettyHow sweet!Sugarland‘s Jennifer Nettles welcomed son Magnus Hamilton Miller on Thursday, Dec. 6, her rep confirms to PEOPLE.Baby Magnus is the first child for the Grammy-winning singer, 38, and her husband, entrepreneur...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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S&P, Nasdaq drop as consumer sentiment offsets jobs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slipped on Friday after consumer sentiment unexpectedly dipped, dampening early enthusiasm from a better-than-expected employment report. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index plunged to 74.5 in early December, the lowest level since August. Wall Street opened higher after U.S....

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3 Charged With Plotting to Export Carbon Fiber to Iran

Three people have been charged with conspiring to illegally export to Iran and China a superstrong material called carbon fiber that can be used to make machines that can enrich uranium, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said on Wednesday. Iran has been pursuing carbon-fiber technology for years, and has had difficulty in obtaining the material. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear...

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