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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Rebels Declare Damascus Airport a ‘Fair Target,’ Reports Say

Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesA rebel fighter carrying his son after Friday Prayers in Aleppo. BEIRUT, Lebanon — As fighting raged in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, and gunfire could be heard from the city center, rebels seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad were reported on Friday to have declared the capital’s main airport a “fair target,” warning travelers...

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Crowdfunding websites clamor for clearer regulation

LONDON (Reuters) – A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it.The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to fund lending and investment. Regulators, however, have proved resistant to pleas for adjustments to rules that...

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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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Demi Moore Dances Up a Storm at Miami Party

By Becky Randel 12/06/2012 at 12:30 PM EST Lenny Kravitz, Demi Moore and Stacy Keibler CelebrityVibe/Splash News Online Demi Moore has officially arrived in Miami for Art Basel week – and from the looks of it, she's ready to party!The actress, who may be in town...

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

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Wall Street gains as Apple rebounds; fiscal talks eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks managed slight gains by midday on Thursday as Broadcom's upbeat guidance and a turnaround in Apple shares helped lift technology stocks, while investors monitored news from Washington for signs of progress on the "fiscal cliff" negotiations. Apple erased initial losses of as much as 3.7 percent at the open, which briefly brought the market capitalization of...

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