Three approaches for managing pre-Obamacare healthcare costs

(This is part of a six-story package on household finance. Lou Carlozo is a Reuters contributor and the opinions are his own.)New York (Reuters) - Having just earned his master's degree in written communication, Eric Kaplan should feel triumphant. But his academic success has been tempered by a failure outside the classroom: He can't find health insurance he can afford on his earnings as a freelance...

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Markets cautious ahead of US corporate earnings

LONDON (AP) — Global stock markets mostly fell on Tuesday as investors prepared for the start of the U.S. corporate earnings season and digested a mixed batch of European economic indicators.The markets will get a feel for the health of corporate America as earnings reports start coming in. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. will be the first major company to release results for the fourth quarter of 2012...

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Oil down slightly, natural gas continues to drop

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices ended a little lower on Tuesday, as traders took their cue from U.S. stock markets and investors awaited the start of the earnings season.Natural gas prices fell again following a report showing production is at record levels and mild early winter weather.Benchmark oil fell 4 cents to finish at $93.15 a barrel in New York. The price was close to $94 a barrel earlier, but...

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RIM shares jump in Toronto, rebound from sharp decline

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd jumped nearly 10 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, following similar gains in New York on Wednesday, in a rebound from last week's sharp decline.Last Friday, the volatile stock plunged more than 20 percent after the company said on an earnings conference call that it was rolling out a new fee structure for its services segment,...

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A surprisingly good vintage as market logs gains

If you'd told investors what was going to happen in 2012 — U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth — and asked how the stock market would perform, few would have predicted a good year.But that's just what they got.The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's...

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Eli Lilly banks on cost controls for higher 2013 profit

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.Lilly, whose shares were up nearly 4 percent on Friday, said 2013 sales will be flat to a bit higher, despite the loss of patent on its $5 billion-a-year antidepressant, Cymbalta, in December.The Indianapolis-based...

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FedEx says it can grow by cutting costs

NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx may be pessimistic about the U.S. economy, but it's confident about growing its earnings.The world's second-largest package delivery company, a bellwether for economic health because of the vast number and kinds of shipments it handles, lowered its economic forecast for the U.S., saying there remains a lot of uncertainty for the country.FedEx maintained its earnings forecast...

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Burundi tea earnings rise 27 pct in November on high prices

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's tea export revenues rose 27 percent in November from the same month last year thanks to a stronger regional market, a tea board official said on Thursday.The state-run tea board (OTB) said it collected $1.80 million from the sale of 589,907 kg, up from $1.42 million earned in November 2011 from the export of 563,140 kg."Supplies of the commodity in the region were...

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Discover Financial Services 4Q net income rises

 Discover Financial Services on Thursday reported higher earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as users of its namesake credit card stepped up purchases and the company wrote off fewer unpaid balances.Even so, the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and investors sent its shares down over 3 percent Thursday.Discover, the nation's sixth-largest credit...

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Macy's key revenue figure rises in December

 Macy's said Thursday that revenue in stores open at least one year rose 4.1 in December, edging past Wall Street estimates.But the figure grew less than the company expected during the combined two-month November and December period, the key holiday shopping months, and Macy's lowered its fourth-quarter guidance.The department store chain also said it will close six underperforming stores.Analysts...

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Stocks sink as Congress heads for another showdown

 The stock market pulled back slightly Thursday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average posted its strongest gain in more than a year.Retailers reported mixed sales and the prospect of a new budget battle in Congress helped nudge stocks lower.The Dow Jones industrial average was down 25 points to 13,387 an hour after the opening bell. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower, sinking $1.65...

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Stocks pause on Wall Street after a two-day rally

Stocks are little changed on Wall Street as the market pauses following a huge two-day rally.The Dow Jones industrial average was off four points at 13,408 at midday Thursday. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower after analysts at Deutsche Bank and other firms cut their ratings on the insurer's stock.The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up a point to 1,463 and the Nasdaq composite rose three...

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World stocks put relief rally on pause

 Enthusiasm faded on Wall Street and in European markets Thursday over U.S. legislators' deal to stave off the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have hurt the world's largest economy.While the deal passed by Congress this week avoids the near-term risk of a major blow to businesses and households, it left unsolved several budget measures,...

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Stocks tread water as next fiscal showdown looms

The stock market crept higher in midday trading Thursday, one day after the Dow Jones industrial average posted its biggest gain in more than a year.Retailers reported mixed sales and the prospect of a new budget battle in Congress loomed.The Standard & Poor's 500 index inched up one point to 1,463 and the Nasdaq composite rose four points to 3,116.UnitedHealth Group held back the Dow, sinking...

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A look back at memorable days on Wall Street

2012 had its fair share of big days on the stock market. Here's a look back at what set off the biggest moves in the Dow Jones industrial average.The Biggest Drops:— Nov. 7: Down 313 points. On the day after the presidential election, investors worried that a divided government wouldn't reach deal on the budget in time to avoid across-the-board government spending cuts and tax increases Jan. 1.— June...

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Stocks shoot up as investors bet on 'cliff' deal

 The stock market shot higher on Monday even as the "fiscal cliff" neared. By the time trading ended, Republicans and Democrats still hadn't reached a budget compromise — but investors were betting that they would.It was a dramatic day on what turned out to be a strong year for stocks. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13.4 percent for the year, after finishing flat in 2011. It was the...

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A surprisingly good vintage as market logs gains

 If you'd told investors what was going to happen in 2012 — U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth — and asked how the stock market would perform, few would have predicted a good year.But that's just what they got.The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's...

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Housing and jobs key to lifting S&P toward record

It may be a big if, but assuming Washington lawmakers can get past the "fiscal cliff," many analysts say that the outlook for stocks next year is good, as a recovering housing market and an improving jobs outlook helps the economy maintain a slow, but steady recovery.An advance of 10 percent in 2013 would send the S&P 500 toward, and possibly past, its record close of 1,565 reached in October...

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TEXT-S&P summary: Bharti Airtel Ltd.

We assess Bharti's financial risk profile as "significant" because of thecompany's high debt. For the six months ended Sept. 30, 2012, Bharti'sdebt-to-capital ratio remained high at about 61.6%, and its ratios ofannualized funds from operations (FFO) to total debt and debt to EBITDA wereat 23% and 3.5x, respectively. The company's financial ratios were marginallyweaker than in the previous year. This...

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Decline of listed firms on London's junior market slows

A decline in the number of companies listed on London's junior stock market eased this year and around half the companies that did leave were bought up or transferred to bigger exchanges, a Deloitte report shows.It said the number of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) had fallen every year since 2007, but the fall in 2012 was just 4 percent, compared...

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