CDC: Death toll rises to 23 in meningitis outbreak

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Ally Financial latest U.S. bank to face cyber attack

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Asian shares ease, EU strikes bank reform deal

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares eased on Friday as markets consolidated gains from a three-day rally, while the euro remained underpinned after European Union leaders took a big step towards deeper integration with a deal to set up a single banking supervisor.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> dropped 0.5 percent, having risen 1 percent to reach a seven-month high on Thursday, its biggest daily gain in three weeks. The index looked set for a weekly gain of 1.4 percent, the most since mid-September.

South Korean shares <.ks11> led the decline with a 0.9 percent fall as worries about corporate earnings due out next week returned to the fore. Hong Kong <.hsi>, though, beat its peers with a 0.2 percent rise.

Shares in Australia <.axjo> inched down 0.1 percent, off Thursday's 15-month high, while its currency, which serves as a gauge for risk appetite, steadied around $1.0370, after touching a near three-week high of $1.0412 overnight.

Japan's Nikkei average <.n225> lost 0.1 percent, after jumping 2 percent to a three-week high on Thursday after China reported third quarter economic growth in line with forecasts. <.t/>

"Investors have confirmed the lows for markets and while caution remains, optimism has emerged," said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research and consulting firm Market Risk Advisory.

European Union leaders advanced towards establishing a single banking supervisor for the euro zone, agreeing it would enter into force next year, opening the way for the bloc's rescue fund to inject capital directly into ailing banks.

French and EU officials said all 6,000 banks in the single currency area would gradually come under European Central Central Bank supervision by 2014, starting with banks receiving state aid, then large cross-border institutions.

Creating an effective banking union, for which this deal was a first step, is regarded by the International Monetary Fund and market economists as a key component in overcoming the euro zone's three-year-old debt crisis.

EASING EUROPEAN RISKS

The euro was resilient, trading at $1.3073 near a one-month high of $1.3140 hit on Wednesday. The single currency edged 0.1 percent higher against the yen to 103.72 yen, having touched a five-month high of 104.13 overnight.

"The downside risk for the euro is looking weaker near-term and while it will likely remain in a recent broad range, momentum is gaining for the market to want to test its upside," said Hiroshi Maeba, head of FX trading Japan for UBS in Tokyo.

The EU summit continues through Friday, and currency traders said they will keep an eye on the event although no surprises were expected.

The euro has also been supported by hopes highly-indebted Spain will ask for aid in coming weeks, triggering the ECB to start buying Spanish bonds to relieve Madrid's borrowing costs.

Ten-year Spanish bonds yields fell to a 6-1/2 month low of 5.35 percent on Thursday after a successful bond sale which mirrored improving investor appetite towards the country after Moody's kept its investment grade credit rating.

Italy, also mired in piles of debts, broke records with a bumper sale of its retail bonds and said it will reduce the amount of debt it issues from now to until the end of the year.

Diminishing risk aversion kept upward pressures on benchmark 10-year Treasury yields, which rose to 1.83 percent on Thursday from 1.66 percent last Friday and were set for the biggest four-day gain since mid-March.

The dollar rose 0.1 percent against the yen to 79.35, below a two-month high of 79.47 yen hit on Thursday.

Asian credit markets were only marginally softer, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index widening by 1 basis point.

Spot gold was sluggish, slipping 0.2 percent to $1,737.59 an ounce, as rising U.S. Treasury yields on the back of recent positive data supported the dollar and reduced appetite for bullion, which serves as a safe-haven just like the dollar but also an alternative to the dollar.

U.S. crude inched down 0.1 percent to $92.01 a barrel while Brent steadied at $112.42.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-ease-eu-strikes-bank-reform-deal-035041748--finance.html

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Eugene&#39;s Site - whiteheads Site - fichtnerkill: Shopping and Product ...

A bouncer rental is the fact is a toy, which just happens to become substantially bigger than the kids, or even the adults who love the bouncy, tumbling feel that it offers. A very typical bouncer that is definitely hired for theme parties or get-togethers is an inflatable castle. The medieval look on the castle [...]

Source: http://www.drmmp-aqaba.com/shopping-and-product-reviews/10/06/08/

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LG Optimus G comes to Japan's KDDI in blue, white November 2nd

Today in Japan KDDI announced a full lineup of new devices and other than the first smartphone with a 1080p 5-inch display and a tablet with all-new IGZO display tech, it's also home to its own variant of LG's quad-core CPU powered Optimus G. The second Japanese carrier to offer the phone after NTT DoCoMo, it launches on KDDI's LTE network November 2nd, and will be available in either Astro Blue or White Prism colors. Labeled the LGL21, it features similar specs to other worldwide variants, hit the source link for more details or doublecheck US Optimus G launch info on AT&T and Sprint.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

LG Optimus G comes to Japan's KDDI in blue, white November 2nd originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  KDDI  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RRADvvcM_bc/

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Pa., Mich., Catholic hospital chains mull merger

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Two Catholic health systems are mulling a merger.

Catholic Health East of Newtown Square, and Trinity Health of Novi, Mich., announced Wednesday that they have signed a non-binding letter of intent to consolidate.

They said the merger would create a health system of more than 87,000 employees in 21 states with 82 hospitals, 89 continuing care facilities and home health and hospice programs. The new system would have annual operating revenues of about $13 billion and assets of about $19 billion, and would return almost $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other programs, the organizations said in a joint written statement.

Joseph Swedish, president and CEO of Trinity Health, would become president and CEO of the post-merger organization and Judith Persichilli, president and CEO of Catholic Health East, would become executive vice president.

"To serve people best in today's health care environment, health systems must have ready access to resources and ideas across the broad spectrum of care, and this consolidation would help us achieve that goal with an exceptional national network," Swedish said.

A merger "will enhance our ability to create innovative models of care and advance clinical quality across the continuum," Persichilli said.

The boards and management of Catholic Health East and Trinity Health said they hope to reach an official agreement in the spring. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Trinity Health operates 47 acute care hospitals in 10 states and has annual revenue of $9 billion.

Catholic Health East has 35 hospitals in 11 states with annual revenue of $4.3 billion.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-mich-catholic-hospital-chains-143149352.html

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Analysts, PC industry cool on Windows 8

9 hrs.

AP staff , AP

While Microsoft?is touting next week's launch of Windows 8 as the savior of the computer industry, PC makers and analysts are increasingly skeptical that the new operating system will lure consumers away from tablets and smartphones.

Even Intel, which makes the processors at the heart of 80 percent of personal computers, doubts that Windows 8 will have a big impact on sales. CEO Paul Otellini said this week that he's "very excited" about the new operating system but expects the usual holiday bounce in PC sales to be half of what it usually is. Clearly, PC makers are being cautious about building big stocks of Windows 8 PCs.

"We haven't had a chance to really judge how consumers will embrace this in the PC space or not," Otellini said on a conference call with reporters and analysts.

Research firm IHS iSuppli expects the industry to ship 349 million PCs this year, down 1 percent from last year's all-time high. Although small, the decline would be the first since 2001.

In the U.S., a mature market where consumers are gobbling up tablets, PC sales have already been declining for two years.

Meanwhile, Apple has been doubling sales of iPad tablets every year since the first model was introduced in 2010. In the April to June period, Apple shipped 17 million iPads, while Hewlett-Packard, then the world's largest maker of PCs, shipped 13.6 million PCs, according to Gartner analysts.

Smartphones, which were a niche market before the 2007 launch of the iPhone, outsold PCs last year, even though PC sales were at a record high.

The PC market is still big, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the Seattle Times last month, "and Windows 8 will propel that volume."

The software is a response to the popularity of tablets. It tosses out many Windows conventions in favor of a radical new look that's designed to be easy to use on a touch screen. With Windows 8, PC makers are releasing a slew of laptops that double as tablets, either with detachable screens or with screens that fold down over the keyboard.

But Citigroup analyst Joe Yoo is even more pessimistic than Intel that Windows 8 will spur a turnaround in sales of desktop and laptop computers. It could turn out to be a "non-event" in terms of getting people to buy PCs, he said.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, the company reports results for the quarter that ended in September, and executives will likely talk about prospects for the rest of the year.

Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said Taiwanese PC component suppliers aren't seeing any pickup in orders ahead of the Oct. 26 launch of Windows 8.

"The sentiment around Windows 8 was overwhelmingly negative," he said after meetings with suppliers. "We believe the PC industry is headed for a muted December quarter and well below the ramp expected with new products."

Analyst Mary Jo Foley at UBS is "leery" of Windows 8, noting that it has an entirely new look and feel. It could either be a big success, she said, or it could confuse customers and turn them off. She noted that Microsoft is set to support the launch with its $1 billion in advertising, the most it has ever spent on a campaign. That support will be critical for overcoming resistance to the new user interface and reinvigorate interest in PCs, she wrote.

PC makers began the year with the hope that a new wave of lightweight laptops called ultrabooks would provide a sales lift. But ultrabooks are still expensive, with most models around $1,000, and they haven't been compelling enough to overcome the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets.

Now, PC makers are in a tough spot when it comes to taking advantage of Windows 8, said Patrick Moorhead, a former chip executive who now runs research firm Moor Insight. Adding a touchscreen into a PC is expensive, and they're competing with tablets that are much cheaper. Meanwhile, Microsoft hasn't made much effort to add new features for mouse-and-keyboard PCs to Windows 8.

"If you're a user, you're asking yourself: 'Why do I need to buy this new notebook, if my old notebook can still do what I need it to do? Instead, I'll buy a new phone or a tablet,'" Moorhead said.?

This story was reported by?Peter Svensson.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/analysts-pc-industry-cool-windows-8-1C6522851

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