Stocks down again as Merkel rules out ECB role (AP)

LONDON ? Europe's major stock markets resumed their long losing streak Thursday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in resolving the debt crisis that's threatening the 17-country eurozone.

Though she managed to get French President Nicolas Sarkozy to back changes to current EU treaties in order to get the eurozone more unified, she explicitly said there would be no new provision involving the ECB.

"In the treaty changes we are dealing with the question of a fiscal union, a deeper political cooperation ... there will be proposals on this, but they have nothing to do with the ECB," Merkel said.

Many think the ECB is the only institution capable of calming frayed market nerves and Merkel's continued dismissal of a greater ECB role knocked market sentiment.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money. However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing.

Merkel also maintained her opposition to the European Commission's new drive for eurobonds.

Germany has opposed the use of eurobonds and has long called on fiscally wayward member states to clean up their own houses with as little outside intervention as possible. A big worry for Germany is that its low borrowing costs would get diluted if eurobonds came into issue and it would then be forced to pay higher rates to tap bond markets.

The outcome of the meeting in Strasbourg, France, between Merkel, Sarkozy and Italy's new Premier Mario Monti soured the mood ? after all, treaty changes are more often than not a notoriously laborious endeavor.

"While stock markets don't feel like they are about to go into the nosedive we witnessed in August, there is no sign of any positive news to suggest a compelling reason why we will see notable gains for shares in the months to come," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.

Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.2 percent to 5,127.57 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 5,428.11. The CAC-40 in France ended less than a point lower at 2,822.55.

The euro meanwhile ended 0.2 percent lower at $1.3330.

Trading though was fairly light as U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Earlier, stocks had been trading noticeably higher as they looked to end their poor run, helped along by a better than expected survey of German business confidence from the Ifo Institute. The unexpected rise in its monthly confidence index for the continent's biggest economy to 106.6 in November from 106.4 the previous month helped ease frayed nerves following Wednesday's failed German bond auction, which stoked fears that no one was immune from the crippling debt crisis.

Europe's debt crisis remains the main focus in the markets and is likely to remain so Friday when U.S. traders ? by no means all ? return to their desks.

Fitch's decision Thursday to downgrade Portugal to junk bond status was another reminder ? if one indeed were needed ? that Europe's debt crisis is a long way from being solved.

Fitch, citing Portugal's large fiscal imbalances, its high indebtedness across all sectors and an adverse macroeconomic outlook, reduced Portugal's credit rating to BB+. That means Portugal is considered non-investment grade by Fitch, making it even more difficult for the bailed-out country to return to the bond markets.

Earlier in Asia, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo, reopening after a one-day public holiday in Japan, fell 1.8 percent to close at 8,165.18. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng reversed an early loss to post a 0.4 percent gain to 17,935.10. South Korea's Kospi closed 0.7 percent higher at 1,795.06.

Mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended a six-session losing streak, but just barely, gaining 0.1 percent to 2,397.55. Speculation that China's central bank is preparing to ease its tight monetary policy in favor of a pro-growth one helped spur a wave of buying in Hong Kong, analysts said.

Oil prices traded higher amid light trading volume because of the Thanksgiving holiday ? benchmark crude for January delivery was up 76 cents at $96.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Nintendo gives thanks to gamers with special edition Zelda 3DS bundle

Looking to match your Black Friday with a similarly noir games console? You're in luck. Nintendo has confirmed what we saw on promo literature last week, with a 3DS bundle that includes a special edition (possibly Hyrulean-crafted) console and a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. Nintendo says the bundle, arriving alongside a similar Flame Red iteration with Super Mario 3D Land, can be snapped up for $200. However, bargain hunters should be able to sniff out some cheaper deals come Friday.

Continue reading Nintendo gives thanks to gamers with special edition Zelda 3DS bundle

Nintendo gives thanks to gamers with special edition Zelda 3DS bundle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaga launches holiday workshop at Barney's (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Move over, Santa, there's a new colorful dresser in town.

Barneys has gone gaga, as in Lady Gaga, this holiday season with an in-store boutique, a website and several of its famous store windows all given over to the pop star phenomenon.

The tony retailer launched a "12 Days of Gaga" promotion, with different limited-edition items ranging from jewelry to candy to toys available each day on gagasworkshop.com, in advance of this week's opening of its in-store boutique.

A set of acrylic Gaga rings is priced at $18, while $285 will get you a pair of spiked leather moto fingerless gloves. For those in a seasonal mood, there's a 21-inch stiletto boot-style holiday stocking for $65.

Shoppers who would rather browse in an actual building can go to Barneys' Madison Ave. men's store has devoted its entire 5th floor, more than 5,000 square feet, to "Gaga's Workshop," offering gifts, clothing and art and running through January 2.

Shoppers will have to navigate a gigantic Lady Gaga mouth erected around the store's entrance to get in.

The diva turned up clad in custom Chanel and brandishing giant scissors to cut the opening-night ribbon.

Barneys' holiday windows have been a huge draw for decades, and the store upped the ante this year with its Gaga-inspired designs such as "Gaga's boudoir," a posh study in white, ivory and soft gold. The entire thing is made of hair.

Twenty-five percent of sales generated by "Gaga's Workshop" will go toward the singer's "Born This Way" foundation, which focuses on youth issues such as self-esteem and anti-bullying.

The pop powerhouse will have her own ABC special on Thanksgiving night, "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving," which she also directed.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111123/music_nm/us_ladygaga_barneys

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Gates testifies in $1B lawsuit against Microsoft (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY ? Microsoft's Windows 95 rollout presented the most challenges in the company's history, leading to several last-minute changes to technical features that would no longer support a rival software maker's word processor, Bill Gates testified Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit filed by the former owner of WordPerfect.

"We worked super hard," the Microsoft co-founder said. "It was the most challenging, trying project we had ever done."

Gates was the first witness to testify Monday as Microsoft lawyers presented their case in the trial that's been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month. He is set to resume testimony Tuesday morning.

Utah-based Novell Inc. sued Microsoft Corp. in 2004, claiming the Redmond, Wash., company violated U.S. antitrust laws through its arrangements with other software makers when it launched Windows 95. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss. Novell is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group, the result of a merger that was completed earlier this year.

Gates said Novell just couldn't deliver a Windows 95 compatible WordPerfect program in time for its rollout, and its own Word program was actually better. He said that by 1994, Microsoft's Word writing program was ranked No. 1 in the market above WordPerfect.

Gates called it an "important win."

He testified later that Microsoft had to dump a technical feature that would have supported WordPerfect because he feared it would crash the operating system.

"We were making trade-offs," he said.

Novell argues that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 word processing application because he feared it was too good.

WordPerfect once had nearly 50 percent of the market for computer writing programs, but its share quickly plummeted to less than 10 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.

Microsoft lawyers say Novell's loss of market share was its own doing because the company didn't develop a Windows compatible WordPerfect program until months after the operating system's rollout.

Novell attorney Jeff Johnson has conceded that Microsoft was under no legal obligation to provide advance access to Windows 95 so Novell could prepare a compatible version. Microsoft, however, enticed Novell to work on a version, only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 hit the market, he said.

Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin said Gates decided against installing WordPerfect because it couldn't be made compatible in time for the rollout. He argued that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, and that Microsoft had no obligation to give a competitor a leg up.

"Novell never complained to Microsoft," Tulchin said during arguments Friday. "There's nothing in the evidence, no documents."

Johnson maintains Novell was tricked in violation of federal antitrust laws so Microsoft could monopolize the market.

"We got stabbed in the back," he said.

U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz on Monday denied a motion from Microsoft attorneys to dismiss the case as groundless.

Gates, a billionaire, began by testifying about Microsoft's history. He was just 19 when he helped found the company. Today, Microsoft is one of the world's largest software makers, with a market value of more than $210 billion.

"We thought everybody would have a personal computer on every desk and in every home," Gates said. "We wanted to be there and be the first."

___

Associated Press writer Jennifer Dobner contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_hi_te/us_antitrust_lawsuit_microsoft

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[OOC] A Tale of Camelot

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HP's Envy Notebooks Finally Look Great [Laptops]

HP's Envy line of serious fun notebooks (as opposed to serious business, bleh!) have always been a bit on the tacky side. I hate to say it, but they looked like expensive toys. Now they're grown up, in and out. More »


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This Impossible to Destroy Hardshell Backpack Is Perfect for a Modern Day Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle [Backpacks]

This super slick hard shell backpack, called Solid Gray and made in the Netherlands, is cut and shaped from a single sheet of polypropene block copolymer. It's supposedly so strong that even if you bend it a million times it will never break or tear. More »


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Mexico loss of 2nd in charge won't change drug war (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? He was the face of Mexico's federal government, the chief public servant carrying a message to stay tough and bringing new offensives to states beleaguered by drug violence.

The death of Mexico's No. 2 official, Interior Secretary Francisco Blake Mora, in a helicopter crash Friday was a stunning mishap too odd for some Mexicans to accept as an accident. But just like the loss of another interior minister three years ago in a plane crash, Blake Mora's death won't change the course of the deadly assault on organized crime.

Even as President Felipe Calderon choked back emotion in announcing the loss of "a great patriot ... a dear friend" in a crash that may have been caused by weather, he reiterated his resolve to pursue the war against cartels. It has cost more than 40,000 lives by many estimates, though the government has given no official figures since 35,000 deaths nearly a year ago.

"I am convinced that the best way to honor his generosity and loyalty ... is to intensify the struggle," Calderon said in a national address announcing Blake Mora's death along with seven others outside the capital. "We will continue with renewed vigor and zeal."

Though the secretary of the interior is considered the government's second-in-charge, other Cabinet members are more central to carrying out the drug war: the secretaries of defense, navy, public security and the attorney general. The people currently in those positions have been with Calderon through most of his term. Blake Mora, 45, who was appointed in June 2010, was the fourth interior secretary since Calderon was elected five years ago.

Mexico's interior secretary coordinates domestic policies such as security, human rights, migration and the president's relations with the legislature and opposition parties. The post has diminished in power over time. Under Mexico's old one-party system that ruled for 71 years, the secretary of the interior often went on to be president, but that changed when the autocratic Institutional Revolutionary Party lost the presidency in 2000.

In his short time in the job, Blake Mora embodied the government's get-tough attitude toward drug cartels and other gangs, publicly pledging not to back down.

"Organized crime, in its desperation, resorts to committing atrocities that we can't and shouldn't tolerate as a government and as a society," he had said.

He was heading to a meeting of prosecutors in central Morelos state, which has been hit heavily by violence among warring cartels, when the Super Puma helicopter crashed in a hilly area southeast of Mexico City.

The political impact of Blake Mora's death is "relatively minor," said historian Lorenzo Meyer of the College of Mexico, adding that the position of interior secretary "is not remotely what it was ... it lost power in the new system."

Still, the crash adds to the public sense of tragedy the drug war has brought.

"Polls have been showing that insecurity now tops poverty as the No. 1 concern among Mexicans," said George W. Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. "An event like this ... is going to increase the sense of uncertainty and insecurity."

The crash of the Super Puma helicopter, part of the presidential fleet, also killed the undersecretary for legal affairs and human rights, Felipe Zamora, two other interior officials, the chief of Blake Mora's security detail and three crew members, all air force officers who served in the equivalent of Mexico's Secret Service.

The helicopter left from a military base in Mexico City at 8:45 a.m. and 10 minutes later disappeared from radar, Transportation Secretary Dionisio Perez Jacome said at a news conference late Friday.

Perez Jacome, who read a statement and didn't take questions, said the government has asked U.S. and French aviation crash experts to help in the investigation.

"The federal government should open the investigation well beyond the secretary of communications and transport," said organized crime analyst Edgardo Buscaglia. "Three Cabinet secretaries falling from the sky is too much of a challenge to the laws of probability."

In 2005, during President Vicente Fox's administration, a helicopter crash blamed on poor weather conditions killed Mexico's top police official, public safety secretary Ramon Martin Huerta.

Despite tendencies to suspect a deliberate hit on a top Mexican official, initial indications are that Friday's crash was an accident, Calderon said.

He seemed to try to quell any suggestions of sabotage, saying that Blake Mora's helicopter "was always under guard" in the Secret Service hangar and that it had recently undergone maintenance. He said it was traveling in bad weather, something local residents confirmed.

"In the morning, there was a whole lot of fog," said homemaker Marisol Palacios, who lives on the lower slopes of the hill where the helicopter went down.

She said she didn't hear the crash and wasn't aware anything had happened until helicopters carrying rescue teams arrived. Video of the wreckage suggested the helicopter plowed into the hillside and broke in half, but did not explode or burn.

In what many Mexicans find hard to believe was an odd coincidence, a Learjet slammed into a Mexico City street in 2008, killing former Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino and 15 others. That was blamed on pilot error, with the government issuing a detailed report on that accident in the face of even more persistent rumors that it was a drug-cartel hit.

One of Blake Mora's last postings on his Twitter account commemorated the loss of Mourino. "Today we remember Juan Camilo Mourino three years after his death, a person who was working to build a better Mexico," he tweeted on Nov. 4.

Blake Mora's funeral was scheduled for Saturday.

___

Associated Press writers Mark Stevenson, Michael Weissenstein and Isaac Garrido contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111112/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_blake_mora

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