The Other Side of Life 24/7: Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street ends flat as bargain...

Friday, October 26, 2012

Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street ends flat as bargain...

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10/26/2012

Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between

Wall Street ends flat as bargain hunters curb losses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks finished flat on Friday, recovering from moderate declines as bargain hunters lifted Apple off its lows and bought other stocks recently battered by disappointing results.

Consumers boost growth despite business caution

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic growth accelerated in the third quarter as stepped-up purchases by consumers and a surprise turnaround in government spending offset the first cutback in business investment in more than a year.

Rajaratnam friend agrees to settle SEC insider trading case

(Reuters) - A former chief financial officer at Xilinx Inc on Friday became the latest executive to settle civil charges of being part of now-imprisoned hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam's insider trading network.

Consumer sentiment at highest in five years in October

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in five years in October as Americans were more upbeat about prospects for the economy and their own finances, a survey released on Friday showed.

Tax gains lift Merck profits, but sales disappoint

(Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as one-time tax gains helped offset plunging sales of its former flagship product, Singulair, an asthma drug that began facing cheaper generics in August.

Exclusive: Massachusetts' regulator eyes other firms on research

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts' top securities regulator said on Friday that his office is looking into whether top Wall Street investment banks in addition to Citigroup have leaked research in violation of state law on how to share this kind of information.

McDonald's has no plans for U.S. sales of packaged coffee

(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp , which next month will start selling packaged coffee in some of its restaurants in Canada, has no current plans to sell bagged coffee in the United States, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

Analysis: Arms makers' margins solid despite some strain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Weapons makers reported surprisingly strong profit margins this week, even as budget cuts are starting to weigh on revenues. That has prompted a big question: how long can the defense industry sustain good margins?

Exclusive: Shell seeks Iran sanctions workaround via Cargill grain barter

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch/Shell is seeking to work around international sanctions by repaying a $1.4 billion oil debt to Iran with a grain barter deal via U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill , industry sources said.

"Rogue trader" weeps as tells court he acted for good of UBS

LONDON (Reuters) - Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli wept on Friday as he told a jury that his "off-book" trading was done for the benefit of the bank that meant everything to him.