Google shares slide but analysts stay upbeat (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Shares of Google Inc fell 8 percent after the Internet giant posted a rare quarterly earnings miss and said money paid by marketers for its search ads decreased for the first time in two years.

The search giant underperformed on both revenue and earnings, despite record U.S. online commerce during the holiday season, prompting several brokerages to cut their price targets on the stock.

Google shares were down $50.77 at $588.80 in late morning trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $584.81. It was the stock's biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

About 5.2 million shares changes hands by 1120 ET, more than their daily average volume.

The broader Nasdaq composite index was down 0.25 percent.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising -- which has lower rates -- played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost per click (CPC) had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid click growth and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Google's heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives -- to stave off competition from rivals Apple Inc and Facebook -- and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings have also raised investors' concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as CEO in April, said in July that the company was moving to put "more wood behind fewer arrows."

Analysts said the company has seen growth in display advertising, its Android mobile platform and Google+.

Google+ -- its recently-launched social network -- has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago.

SOLID CORE

Wall Street analysts called the selloff an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The company's core results were solid as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JP Morgan said, adding Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said, "We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth-quarter of 2012."

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its "buy" rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JP Morgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting by Aditi Sharma and Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Tenzin Pema, Don Sebastian, Unnikrishnan Nair)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_google_research

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Student dies after tweeting, 'Thank you God'

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.?? A student at Gardner-Webb University has died after she collapsed in class on her 21st birthday.

A spokesman says Ariane Noelle Patterson was in a religion class at the Boiling Springs school when she collapsed Tuesday afternoon.

Patterson tweeted that day, ?Thank you God for another year of life.?

Spokesman Noel Manning says Patterson's cause of death is under investigation. He says the school is investigating whether Patterson had previous health problems.

Manning says an emergency medical technician who is a student in the class and nurses helped with CPR until an ambulance arrived.

Patterson died at Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby.

She was a senior majoring in religious studies and went to high school in Rutherford County.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46054377/ns/local_news-charlotte_nc/

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LL Cool J to host Grammys; first host in 7 years (AP)

NEW YORK ? After seven years with a no-host format, the Grammys will have an emcee ? LL Cool J.

The Grammy-winning rapper and actor says the Feb. 12 broadcast is "gonna be a great night" and says his hosting duties are a dream come true.

The Recording Academy has already named some performers ? the Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Jason Aldean.

While it will be LL Cool J's first time hosting the Grammys. He has hosted the live Grammy nominations concert since it began in 2008.

The Grammys will be broadcast on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The rap legend is a star on the network's "NCIS: Los Angeles."

The Recording Academy seems to have a thing for rappers-turned-actors. The last host of the Grammys was Queen Latifah.

___

Online:

http://www.grammy.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_en_tv/us_music_grammys

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NYC City Opera reaches tentative deal with union (AP)

NEW YORK ? The New York City Opera and the union representing its orchestra have reached a tentative contract agreement.

A union spokesman said orchestra players would be casting votes until 4 p.m. Thursday.

He did not release details. Management didn't immediately return a call for comment.

Negotiations are continuing with another union, the American Guild of Musical Artists. It represents the chorus, principal singers, stage managers and assistant directors.

The bitter contract dispute has resulted in cancellation of rehearsals for a Feb. 12 opening production of Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

City Opera moved out of its longtime home at Lincoln Center last year, citing financial troubles. It cut back its usual schedule of 12 to 16 operas per season, with a peak of about 130 performances.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_en_mu/us_city_opera_lockout

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UK scraps inquiry into abuse of terrorism suspects (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's government-commissioned inquiry into the possible abuse of terrorism suspects during the so-called "war on terror" was scrapped Wednesday, days after police announced a new investigation into the country's spy agencies.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke told the House of Commons that the inquiry ? which had already been delayed since 2010 ? would no longer take place, but would issue a report on any findings it had made during its preparatory work.

Shortly after winning office, Prime Minister David Cameron asked retired appeal court judge Peter Gibson to carry out a sweeping examination of Britain's conduct in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the investigation was necessary to "clear the stain from our reputation as a country."

Clarke, however, said it was now no longer practical to hold the reckoning, after police last week announced they will investigate claims British intelligence played a role in the alleged torture and rendition of two Libyan men, including Tripoli's military council commander Abdel-Hakim Belhaj.

"There now appears no prospect of the Gibson inquiry being able to start in the foreseeable future," Clarke told lawmakers. "We have decided to bring the work of this inquiry to a conclusion."

Gibson's inquiry had already been prevented from beginning a planned series of hearings with ministers and spy chiefs so as not to prejudice an earlier police inquiry into the actions of two British intelligence officers ? accused of wrongdoing at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, and in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors announced last week that neither spy would face charges, but said they now planned to investigate the Libyan cases.

Government officials said that would have meant Gibson's hearings would likely be delayed until at least 2014, because any hearings could potentially prejudice the new police investigation which is expected to take several years.

Clarke said that Britain remained "committed to drawing a line under these issues" and hoped to launch a new inquiry in the future.

"The government fully intends to hold a judge-led inquiry into these issues once it is possible to do so and all related police investigations have been concluded," Clarke said.

In 2010, Britain paid millions of pounds (dollars) in settlements to 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees who alleged U.K. complicity in their harsh treatment overseas, though the government did not admit any liability.

Several of the ex-detainees, and Belhaj, had already confirmed that they did not plan to cooperate with Gibson because of concern his inquiry lacked teeth.

Rights groups and lawyers had repeatedly complained about Gibson's powers, and that the government, and not the inquiry, would have had the final say on what evidence was made public.

Clare Algar, executive director of civil liberties group Reprieve, said Gibson's inquiry "simply did not have the powers or the independence to get to the truth."

"The inquiry, as established, would not have achieved the government's stated aim of removing the stain on Britain's international reputation. For that reason, it is welcome that the ministers have decided to think again," she said, following Clarke's announcement.

Carla Ferstmann, of the REDRESS campaign group said it was vital a full inquiry is held in the future. "The public has a right to know how these incidents were allowed to happen and what role the government played," she said.

British police are examining allegations made by Belhaj, a former fighter in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militant organization that long opposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, that both British and U.S. intelligence may have played a role in his 2004 detention in Bangkok and transfer to Tripoli.

Their investigation will also consider claims by Sami al-Saadi, another Libyan who had been opposed to Gadhafi, that Britain's overseas spy agency played a role in his rendition.

Both men allege they were detained, along with their families, as they attempted to fly to Britain.

Documents uncovered during the fall of Tripoli disclosed the cozy working ties between Gadhafi's spies and Western intelligence officials.

Gibson said that his panel had examined hundreds of documents from Britain's spy agencies and would now offer the government an initial assessment on the country's pursuit of terrorism suspects.

A report would highlight "themes which might be subject to further examination," Gibson said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_torture_inquiry

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Puerto Rico installing tsunami sirens in capital (AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ? Puerto Rico is setting up a tsunami alert system in densely populated San Juan.

San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini says experts warn that the island faces a very real threat from a tsunami though the last one occurred in 1918. Santini says the network of sirens and a public education campaign are critical in case of an evacuation. San Juan received about $800,000 from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to set up the alert system.

Puerto Rico is in a seismically active zone. The island's official seismic tracking center says one of the most powerful earthquakes in Puerto Rico history triggered the 1918 tsunami on the west coast. About 40 people were killed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_puerto_rico_tsunami_sirens

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Oil prices rise on China economic report

NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil prices are climbing on signs that China's economy may avoid a sharp slowdown and keep global demand strong.

Benchmark crude rose $1.60 to $100.30 per barrel in Tuesday morning trading in New York. Brent crude fell 3 cents to $111.131 a barrel in London.

China said Tuesday that its economy grew by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter. Retail sales and factory production improved in December. Although China's economy slowed slightly, growth was still robust, pointing to improving demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Crude's gains also followed increases on stock markets as successful bond auctions by France and Spain eased jitters over Europe's debt crisis and suggested Standard and Poor's downgrades of the countries is having little effect on investor confidence.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-17-Oil%20Prices/id-830bb534b5da40ca9d8c625392397169

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