Small Talk: BofA executive says small business is coming back | The ...

In this Friday, June 14, 2013 photo, Robb Hilson, small business executive for Bank of America, poses for photos in his Coral Gables, Fla., office. Hilson?s job is to convince small business owners that Bank of America does want to do business with them. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Robb Hilson?s job as head of small business banking at Bank of America is to convince small business owners that the bank wants to do business with them.

That?s not easy when small businesses have consistently said in surveys that they find it hard to get loans from banks, and when banks have become more cautious about lending to small companies following the recession. But in the 18 months Hilson has been on the job at the nation?s second-largest bank it has had some success with its 3.2 million small business customers. Last year, Bank of America made $8.7 billion in new loans to small businesses, up 28 percent from 2011.

"I feel really good about the momentum. There?s obviously more work to do, but we?ve made a lot of progress," Hilson says.

Hilson, 54, took the job as small business executive in November 2011 soon after Bank of America started placing 1,000 bankers in cities and communities around the country to serve small companies. Bank of America and other big banks began bolstering their small business outreach after they were criticized by company owners and lawmakers for stringent lending standards that prevented many companies from getting loans. Bank of America was also one of the banks that pledged to the Small Business Administration that it would increase its loans to small business.

Hilson previously served larger companies during more than two decades at the bank. This job is very different from anything he has done before.

"It?s a bigger challenge because we?re building a business," Hilson says. "It?s a different conversation with small business owners. So many of these folks are wearing a bunch of hats. It?s just a different environment than meeting with the CEO."

Hilson?s role puts him in a position to hear about, and gain understanding, of the problems small business owners face. He recently spoke with The Associated Press about his work and small businesses. Here are excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity:

Q. How do you size up the state of small business today?

A. This most recent downturn by almost any account, if not all accounts, was the steepest, the most dramatic, severe, however you want to characterize it, since the Great Depression. I think it?s also fair to say that small businesses relative to other businesses were particularly hard hit. I think it really speaks to the remarkable resilience of American small business owners that they have come back as far as they have. The economy isn?t perfect, but it continues to slowly but surely get better. We saw small business owners doing a great job of rightsizing their businesses when sales dropped off so dramatically in 2008 and 2009, and they?ve come back. Surveys have told us that despite all the challenges and the recession that they endured, very few of them have second thoughts about getting into business for themselves. They are very confident and optimistic about their own capabilities, less so about things that they don?t have as much control over.

Q. What will it take for small business owners to be more confident?

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A. You probably see a little more confidence today than what you saw in November or even last May. I think there were things leading up to the election and all that (that contributed to some pessimism).

I think they?re dealing with this new reality of sluggish growth, very low interest rates and not taking as much risk as they were in 2005. What is it going to take to go back to 2005? I don?t know if we?re going to see that, maybe ever. Certainly not in the near term.

I think we?ll see more optimism than what we?ve seen today. In our survey, we did a subset around the millennials (people age 18-34). The numbers were off the chart versus any other age groups we looked at. They were very optimistic, more likely to hire, more optimistic about where the economy is going and prospects for the near term. As that group becomes a bigger part of the small business owner population, maybe you?ll see some lift there as well.

Q. Suppose a business owner doesn?t qualify for a loan at Bank of America? What do you do?

A. We would give them a pretty good sense of what it would need for them to look like for them to qualify. But we also work with some nonprofit organizations in the community that might be able to work with them. Community development financial institutions ? these are by and large nonprofit financial institutions, and we?ve been one of the biggest supporters of these. They?re smaller organizations that aren?t subject to the same regulations as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. banks. We extended a $110 million grant a couple of years ago to some CDFIs that turned around and leveraged that to the tune of more than 10 times. So they were able to leverage that to more than $100 million that they could then invest or lend directly to small businesses.

If we?re not able to help a client today from a credit standpoint, our goal would be to give them a pretty good sense of, what were the gaps, and what they would need to work on to make the answer a positive one the next time around.

There are other opportunities for us to help them, not just with credit. There are opportunities for us to help improve their cash flow by helping them collect payments, for instance.

Q. What results are you seeing from the 1,000 bankers you?ve placed around the country?

A. We have a lot of nice charts with impressive trend lines. Let?s talk business lending. I think it?s safe to say that small business owners, their health continues to improve, so balance sheets and cash flows are getting stronger, interest rates are at an all-time low. So it?s a good environment to borrow in. The economy, while not robust, continues to grow. Translated, that equals greater loan demand, and our bankers have a lot to do with that. We?re excited that we were up 28 percent in new loan originations in 2012 over 2011. And through the first four months of this year, we?re ahead of that pace. I feel really good about how we?re delivering credit. But we know we can do more.

We know that the bankers are focused on credit but they?re also focusing on delivering all of our capabilities, not just meeting the needs of the business. They?re also working with other experts, pairing up with financial solutions advisers who will work with small businesses on the personal side ? investing solutions, preparing small business owners for retirement or for taking care of their children?s education.

Q. But small business owners are known for plowing every penny they can into their companies. How do you convince them that their personal finances should be more of a priority?

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56521434-79/business-bank-owners-america.html.csp

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Now It's Fungus--Hawaii's Threatened Coral Reefs Take another Hit

Along with invasive cyanobacterial fungus and algae, poisonous runoff, rising ocean levels, acidic waters and overfishing are taking their toll on the reefs and the marine life they support

REEF BADNESS: Biologists are working hard to stem the problem but must now deal with invasive fungus and algae that are compromising the whole reef system. Image: iStockPhoto

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Dear EarthTalk: What?s the prognosis for Hawaii?s coral reefs in the face of global warming, invasive algae and other environmental threats??Bill Weston, San Francisco

Despite sweeping protections put in place near the end of George W. Bush?s presidency for large swaths of marine ecosystems around the Hawaiian Islands, things are not looking good for Hawaii?s coral reefs. Poisonous runoff, rising ocean levels, increasingly acidic waters and overfishing are taking their toll on the reefs and the marine life they support. Biologists are trying to remain optimistic that there is still time to turn things around, but new threats to Hawaii?s corals are only aggravating the situation.

To wit, a previously undocumented cyanobacterial fungus that grows through photosynthesis is spreading by as much as three inches per week on corals along the otherwise pristine North Shore of Kauai. ?There is nowhere we know of in the entire world where an entire reef system for 60 miles has been compromised in one fell swoop,? biologist Terry Lilley told The Los Angeles Times. ?This bacteria has been killing some of these 50- to 100-year-old corals in less than eight weeks.? He adds that the strange green fungus affects upwards of five percent of the corals in famed Hanalei Bay and up to 40 percent of the coral in nearby Anini Bay, with neighboring areas ?just as bad, if not worse.? Lilly worries that the entire reef system surrounding Kauai may be losing its ability to fend off pathogens.

Meanwhile, some 60 miles to the east across the blue Pacific, an invasive algae introduced for aquaculture three decades ago in Oahu's K?ne?ohe Bay is also spreading quickly. Biologists are concerned because it forms thick tangled mats that soak up oxygen in the water needed by other plants and animals, in turn converting coral reefs there into smothering wastelands.

?This and other invasive algal species...don?t belong in Hawai?i,? says Eric Conklin, Hawaii director of marine services for The Nature Conservancy, which works to protect ecologically important lands and waters worldwide. He adds that there are not enough plant-eating fish to keep them under control.

Biologists are working hard to battle the algae in and around K?ne?ohe Bay. Conklin and his colleagues from the Conservancy have joined forces with researchers from the state of Hawaii to develop an inexpensive new technology, dubbed the Super Sucker, which uses barge-based hoses and pumps to vacuum the invasive algae away without disturbing the underlying coral. Once divers clear a given reef of algae, they then stock it with native sea urchins raised in the state?s marine lab that can help keep new algal outbreaks in check. The system has been so successful at reducing invasive algae at K?ne?ohe Bay that the state has begun producing tens of thousands of sea urchins for similar ?outplanting? projects on other coral reefs around Oahu and beyond that are threatened by invasive algae.

Fast-growing algae and pathogens are only part of the problem. Decades of overfishing have reduced the biodiversity on and around coral reefs, reducing their ecological integrity and making them more vulnerable to climate change. Higher water temperatures and rising sea levels, two of the more dramatic symptoms of global warming, are hastening the bleaching of some particularly vulnerable reefs that have evolved over thousands of years.

CONTACT: The Nature Conservancy, www.nature.org.

EarthTalk? is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/chemistry/~3/DJGLizwExA8/article.cfm

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Fed's Stein puts focus on September as time to assess QE3

By Jonathan Spicer and Alister Bull

NEW YORK/WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, West Virginia (Reuters) - September could be an opportune time for the Federal Reserve to consider scaling back its assets purchase, an influential official of the U.S. central bank said on Friday, as he stressed that the Fed must take a long view of economic progress and not be blinded by the most recent data.

The remarks by Fed Governor Jeremy Stein drew the attention of economists and investors after he ticked off several examples of improvement in the labor market since the Fed launched its bond-buying program last September.

Stein's speech, and a separate one on Friday by Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, had some parallels to efforts by other Fed officials earlier this week to soothe market anxieties about a pullback in the bond purchases.

Nonetheless, Stein and Lacker took a more aggressive tone on when the central bank's unprecedented policy accommodation might be reduced.

Even so, differences within the Fed over the strength of the economy were in view as a third policymaker, John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, shelved his earlier view that the Fed could stop buying bonds by late 2013, saying, "It's too early to cut back on our programs right now."

The Fed's purchase of Treasuries and mortgage bonds at a monthly pace of $85 billion has provided a huge flow of liquidity into financial markets, driving up assets from stocks to bonds.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose after Stein's remarks, a sharp reversal of stabilization in the market earlier in the day.

Markets had dropped hard in the days after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke last week said the Fed expected to pare back on its bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, later this year and to halt it altogether by mid-2014, as long as the economy progresses as expected. Unemployment will likely have fallen to about 7 percent by then, he said.

But Stein on Friday, in an unusual move, trained investors' attention on the Fed's September policy meeting, though the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee next meets in July.

"The best approach is for the committee to be clear that in making a decision in, say, September, it will give primary weight to the large stock of news that has accumulated since the inception of the program and will not be unduly influenced by whatever data releases arrive in the few weeks before the meeting," said Stein, a voting member of the policy committee.

Data from early September "will remain relevant for future decisions," even if it does not play a primary role in any policy decision in September, he said, in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

"If the news is bad, and it is confirmed by further bad news in October and November, this would suggest that the 7 percent unemployment goal is likely to be further away, and the remainder of the program would be extended accordingly," he said.

Stein's comments drew a sharp reaction on expectations of the Fed's policy path.

"Stein's remarks cannot be lightly dismissed and raise risks that some on the committee may have already essentially decided on September," said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan in New York.

Lacker also put September in focus, saying the Fed meeting that month "is certainly a candidate" for when the Fed could first reduce its pace of buying, though he said that economic data would be key.

Nearly half of the economists polled by Reuters this month expect the Fed to start reducing the pace of asset purchases in September.

Video of Stein's speech: http://reut.rs/14zOITm

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EXPECT MORE VOLATILITY

Williams, who is a voter on Fed policy this year, gave no preferred timeline for reducing bond purchases, saying only that doing so would be appropriate "at some point." If inflation continues to come in below expectations, that could point to the need for more stimulus, not less, he said.

He called the recent rise in Treasury rates a "healthy" development because it suggests markets no longer assume the Fed will keep rates low forever.

Lacker, one of the central bank's most hawkish officials and a persistent critic of the latest round of bond buying, said it was "wise" for Bernanke to clarify the Fed's views on future bond buying, but he stressed policy would still be loose as the Fed reduces "the pace at which it is adding accommodation." Lacker is not a voter on policy this year.

Financial markets should brace for more volatility as they digest news of a reduction in quantitative easing, Lacker told a judicial conference in West Virginia, adding that it "should not interfere with the moderate-growth scenario that I have presented."

Williams said that the sudden rise in rates suggests some investors had become complacent about low rates and that froth had been building in some areas of financial markets.

"It's healthy to get some froth out of the market," he told reporters after his speech.

On the labor market, where unemployment remains high at 7.6 percent, Stein noted the rate was 8.1 percent when the bond purchase program was launched last year. Monthly job growth has jumped dramatically since then, he said, adding Fed forecasts are also more optimistic.

Stein said the Fed can be more specific about its plans for QE3 as it approaches its policy goals. The timeline Bernanke articulated illustrates a "greater willingness to spell out what the committee is looking for, as opposed to a 'we'll know it when we see it' approach," he said.

Still, Stein stressed that reducing the pace of QE3 is highly conditional on the economy. He added it did not mark a change in policy and was meant only to clarify things for investors.

Stein, a relatively new but highly respected member of the powerful Fed board, turned some heads back in February when he warned the massive asset purchases were showing signs of inflating price bubbles in junk bonds and other markets.

But on Friday he said while financial stability should play a roll in monetary policy decisions, the benefits of QE3 have surpassed the costs of the program, including such stability risks.

(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in Rohnert Park, Calif., and Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-stein-puts-focus-september-time-assess-qe3-161413098.html

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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 24th, 2013

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, the Galaxy S 4 was spotted in purple garb, a new Windows Phone was outed for AT&T and US Cellular officially welcomed a budget handset from ZTE into its ranks. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of June 24th, 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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

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Sanofi's MS drugs get double boost in Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Sanofi's hopes in the multiple sclerosis market received a double boost on Friday as the European regulator backed an injectable treatment and adopted a more positive stance toward a pill for the neurodegenerative disease.

The European Medicines Agency said it was recommending Lemtrada, Sanofi's biggest MS drug hope, for relapsing-remitting MS, ending a quarter-century development saga for the injectable treatment.

The European regulator also reversed an earlier decision not to give pill-administered Aubagio a "new active substance" (NAS) designation because it is very similar to a much older drug.

Without this designation, Aubagio, which received the regulator's green light in March, could have faced generic copies in Europe in as little as three years - the time required for brief clinical studies of generics and to review applications for approval.

The news sent the stock over 1 percent higher. Sanofi's shares, which have risen around 13 percent since the start of 2013, were trading 0.8 percent higher at 80.65 euros at 1225 GMT, outperforming Paris' CAC40 bluechip index, down 0.7 percent.

LENGHTY DEVELOPMENT

EMA decisions are usually endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to rule on Lemtrada in late 2013. The regulator recently extended its review timeline by three months but did not request any further clinical data on the drug, Sanofi said in a statement.

Lemtrada, also known as alemtuzumab, has been studied in multiple sclerosis since the early 1990s but its progress to market as a treatment for the disease has been halting and the drug has changed hands many times.

Lemtrada was approved back in 2001, under the different name Campath, as a treatment for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), although sales for this condition never took off.

It then went back into testing for MS, amid hopes that its ability to knock out immune system cells called lymphocytes would prove effective in a disease that is caused by abnormal immune attacks on the protective sheath surrounding nerve cells.

Still, industry analysts predict the drug will not be the first choice in a market where competition has exploded with new products, including oral treatments like Novartis's Gilenya.

Instead, it may be kept for patients with more advanced MS, occupying a similar position to Biogen Idec's Tysabri.

The current consensus for annual Lemtrada sales is $650 million by 2017, according to forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Pharma - a number that could rise following the EU recommendation.

For Sanofi, Lemtrada represents a second win in the MS field, following approval of Aubagio in the United States last year.

Aubagio reported sales of 20 million euros ($26 million) in the first quarter of 2013.

Separately, Sanofi got a regulatory boost in Japan on Friday when it won approval from the government there for diabetes treatment Lyxumia.

($1 = 0.7691 euros)

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien and Caroline Copley; Writing by Elena Berton and Ben Hirschler; Editing by Christian Plumb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sanofis-ms-drugs-double-boost-europe-130547702.html

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Body of NYC storm victim lay undetected for months

NEW YORK (AP) ? In the chaotic days after Superstorm Sandy, an army of aid workers streamed onto the flood-ravaged Rockaway Peninsula looking for anyone who needed help. Health workers and National Guard troops went door to door. City inspectors checked thousands of dwellings for damage. Seaside neighborhoods teemed with utility crews, Red Cross trucks and crews clearing debris.

Yet, even as the months dragged by, nobody thought to look inside the tiny construction trailer rusting away in a junk-filled lot at the corner of Beach 40th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard.

If they had, they would have found the body of Keith Lancaster, a quiet handyman who appeared to have been using the trailer as a home the night Sandy sent 5 feet of water churning through the neighborhood.

It took until April 5 before an acquaintance finally went to check on the 62-year-old's whereabouts and found his partially skeletonized remains. His body lay near a calendar that hadn't been turned since October and prescription pill bottles last refilled in the fall.

New York City's medical examiner announced this week that Lancaster had drowned, making him the 44th person ruled to have died in New York City because of the storm.

Neighborhood residents described Lancaster as a loner and something of a drifter, and police said he had never been reported missing. No one stepped forward to claim his body from the city morgue, either, after he was finally discovered this spring. He was buried in a potter's field on an island in Long Island Sound, the medical examiner's office said. A police missing-person squad is still trying to identify any relatives.

But in life, he was well liked by some of the people who saw him sweeping sidewalks around the vacant lot where he sometimes slept.

"When we first moved here, he weeded our entire backyard," said Gerald Sylvester, 55, a retired transit worker who lives in a small bungalow just feet from the trailer where Lancaster died.

Sylvester and his wife, Carrie Vaughan, 60, said Lancaster also mended their fence and once fixed an outdoor light at their house ? but he always refused any money for his help. He wouldn't take any food, either, when they offered, and politely declined their invitations to come inside, explaining he didn't like to go into people's houses.

"He didn't talk a lot, but if he knew you, you could have a decent conversation," said Vaughan. "He was very nice. A gentleman at all times."

She said it wasn't entirely clear where he was living. Lancaster, who the family said looked slightly frail, told her he didn't want to settle in one place.

As the storm approached and the neighborhood evacuated, Sylvester said he went looking for Lancaster to see if he wanted to leave with the family, but never found him.

After the Oct. 29 storm, many neighborhood residents were unable to return to their homes. Even today, some buildings remain empty or under repair. Vaughan and Sylvester were away for two months, living in a FEMA-funded apartment, before they came back.

The lot where Lancaster's trailer sat has been vacant for many years and, at just 15 feet wide, is easy to miss. Someone passing by would probably assume, wrongly, that it is the side yard of one of the bungalows that sit next door.

The company that owns the plot, the Master Sheet Co., hasn't paid any property taxes on the parcel for years, according to city records, and it wasn't clear whether anyone associated with the business was aware someone was living on the property. A lawyer for the owners, Robert Rosenblatt, said Wednesday that he wasn't immediately able to reach his clients.

New York City's Office of Emergency Management didn't respond Wednesday to inquiries about the efforts the city had made to locate and identify storm victims, and why they failed to reveal Lancaster's death for so long. The mayor's office also didn't respond to an inquiry.

The lot where Lancaster died remained filled with junk this week, including an old office chair, plastic crates and bottles and stuffed animals. The trailer ? barely big enough to stand in ? is itself filled with trash.

Vaughan said that when her family returned home, she wondered what had become of Lancaster, but never suspected that he had been killed or that his body was in the trailer, which sits on cinder blocks just a few feet from her home.

"He was like a fixture of the community. We were wondering what happened to him," said Vaughan. "We would've taken him with us."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/body-nyc-storm-victim-lay-undetected-months-065513402.html

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Climate change threatens forest survival on drier, low-elevation sites

June 28, 2013 ? Predicted increases in temperature and drought in the coming century may make it more difficult for conifers such as ponderosa pine to regenerate after major forest fires on dry, low-elevation sites, in some cases leading to conversion of forests to grass or shrub lands, a report suggests.

Researchers from Oregon State University concluded that moisture stress is a key limitation for conifer regeneration following stand-replacing wildfire, which will likely increase with climate change. This will make post-fire recovery on dry sites slow and uncertain. If forests are desired in these locations, more aggressive attempts at reforestation may be needed, they said.

The study, published in Forest Ecology and Management, was done in a portion of the Metolius River watershed in the eastern Cascade Range of Oregon, which prior to a 2002 fire was mostly ponderosa pine with some Douglas-fir and other tree species. The research area was not salvage-logged or replanted following the severe, stand-replacing fire.

"A decade after this fire, there was almost no tree regeneration at lower, drier sites," said Erich Dodson, a researcher with the OSU Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society. "There was some regeneration at higher sites with more moisture. But at the low elevations, it will be a long time before a forest comes back, if it ever does."

Similar situations may be found in many areas of the American West in coming decades, the researchers say, and recruitment of new forests may be delayed or prevented -- even in climate conditions that might have been able to maintain an existing forest. While mature trees can use their roots to tap water deeper in the soil, competition with dense understory vegetation can make it difficult for seedlings to survive.

Openings in ponderosa pine forests created by wildfire have persisted for more than a century on harsh, south-facing slopes in Colorado, the researchers noted in their report. And fire severity is already increasing in many forests due to climate change -- what is now thought of as a drought in some locations may be considered average by the end of the next century.

If trees do fail to regenerate, it could further reduce ecosystem carbon storage and amplify the greenhouse effect, the study said.

Restoration treatment including thinning and prescribed burning may help reduce fire severity and increase tree survival after wildfire, as well as provide a seed source for future trees, Dodson said. These dry sites with less resilience to stand-replacing fire should be priorities for treatment, if maintaining a forest is a management objective, the study concluded.

Higher-elevation, mixed conifer forests in less moisture-limited sites may be able to recover from stand-replacing wildfire without treatment, the researchers said.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/rNgIawg_mCI/130628103145.htm

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Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Set Wedding Date After Supreme Court Ruling

Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Set Wedding Date After Supreme Court Ruling

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie revealed back in 2006 that they would not tie the knot until everyone in the U.S. could legally marry. The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and reinstated gay marriage in Florida and insiders reveal Brad and Angelina have now set a wedding date! On June 26, ...

Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Set Wedding Date After Supreme Court Ruling Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/06/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-set-wedding-date-after-supreme-court-ruling/

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Suspected mine detonated in surf off NJ beach (Providence Journal)

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Ex-National Geographic photo chief Gilka dead at 96

(Reuters) - Robert Gilka, director of photography for National Geographic magazine for 22 years and a mentor to leading photojournalists, died on Tuesday at age 96, the National Press Photographers Association said.

He died in hospice care in Arlington, Virginia, following his third case of pneumonia this year, the NPPA said, citing photojournalist Bruce Dale.

"There is laughter and there are tears because Bob touched so many lives in remarkable ways," Chris Johns, National Geographic's editor in chief, told News Photographer magazine. "He encouraged us, set standards of excellence and instilled in us the desire to become better photographers and editors."

Many photographers considered him a legend for how he ran the photo operation at magazine renowned for its spectacular images.

In 2006, the Alexia Foundation, which promotes photojournalism, honored him with a lifetime achievement award.

Gilka was head of the Milwaukee Journal's picture desk starting in 1952 and joined the staff of National Geographic in 1958 as a picture editor, the NPPA said. He was named photography director in 1963 and retired from National Geographic in 1985.

After leaving the magazine, he was an adjunct professor of photojournalism at Syracuse University until 1992, the NPPA said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-national-geographic-photo-chief-gilka-dead-96-010950436.html

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The view of Obama?s Berlin visit from the street

Editor's note: Marc Young is a Berlin-based freelance journalist covering President Barack Obama's visit for Yahoo News.

Ever since John F. Kennedy made his legendary ?Ich bin ein Berliner? address almost 50 years ago to the day, Berlin has been a place where U.S. presidents come when they have something important to say.

In 1963, JFK set down a marker that America would not yield West Berlin to the Soviets just two years after the Wall had been built. And Ronald Reagan made one of his most memorable speeches in the still-divided city in 1987, demanding Mikhail Gorbachev tear down that very same Cold War barrier.

Keenly aware of the gravitas a Berlin visit can lend, Barack Obama made a passionate plea for a better world as a presidential candidate in 2008 to a huge crowd of 200,000.

Now leader of the free world, President Obama gave an eagerly awaited foreign policy address in front of Berlin?s symbolic Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday morning. But with the entire center of the German capital on lockdown for the duration of his whirlwind 24-hour visit, Obama will have little opportunity to mingle with Berlin?s denizens.

Yahoo News correspondent Marc Young hit the city?s few remaining unblocked streets to find out what people thought of the presidential pomp and ask which U.S. president they considered to be the best Berliner.

2:45 p.m. at the Berlin Wall memorial

Miriam

Miriam (Marc Young)

An American tour guide living in Berlin, Miriam was hurrying to quench her thirst on what?s turned out to be a real scorcher of a day just after Michelle Obama and her daughters visited the Berlin Wall memorial. The huge cross-section of the former "death strip"?the land surrounding the Wall was known for its mines and snipers?is the only place to get a feel for what the city was like during the Cold War. Miriam said the Obamas, besides being escorted by Chancellor Angela Merkel?s husband, Dr. Joachim Sauer, were with the president's half-sister.

"It?s great they came here with the family," she said. "It was a bit odd because the whole area was sealed off to the public, but there were lots of Secret Service agents looking like tourists walking around."

She added, ?I?m sure JFK was impressive in Berlin and Reagan?s speech was admittedly important, but I?m a total Obama fan.?

Presidential pick: Obama

10:45 a.m. near the Ritz-Carlton hotel at Potsdamer Platz

Manfred Fiifi

Manfred Fiifi (Marc Young)

Once a derelict wasteland near the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz is now home to shiny glass towers and the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Obama and his family spent Tuesday night. Rumor has it that the president picked it because of its nice gym. Manfred Fiifi, a 58-year-old Berlin resident who works as a security official for an embassy, stopped by after a doctor?s appointment.

?It?s a huge operation today, but these types of visits are normal for Berliners," he said. "I?m here because of my profession; it?s interesting to see how the police are handling all this.?

(At this point, the police stop a car to let a dog sniff for explosives. One burly officer demands we step farther away with the friend phrase: ?When the dog is dangling from your bones??)

?I don?t have anything against Obama. He?s doing the best he can," adds Fiifi. "I?m not disappointed in him, but I didn?t really expect that much from him either. Of course, JFK was the first U.S. president to come to Berlin, then Reagan and Obama. So I?d say Kennedy really set the standard.?

Presidential pick: JFK

10 a.m. on Unter den Linden Boulevard

Bernd Schneider

Bernd Schneider (Marc Young)

The 63-year-old civil engineer for Germany?s railway took the day off to travel from Leipzig, an hour south of Berlin by train. But on the city?s grand Unter den Linden Boulevard, there was no getting any closer to the Brandenburg Gate just visible in the distance. After growing up in communist East Germany, Schneider fled to the West in 1986, just three years before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

?I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about," said Schneider. "I asked the police if they were getting the day off, since it?s so sunny and nice, but they really didn?t think it was that funny.

?Obama is OK. I?m not really bothered by the [National Security Agency] snooping. I grew up in East Germany, and you just can?t compare it with the Stasi [or the Ministry for State Security, the former secret police of East Germany]. I guess if I send pictures of my vacation and say, ?The weather was the bomb,? I?m going to be scanned. But I don?t mind if it helps stop terrorism. However, I?m pretty un-German about stuff like that.?

Presidential pick: JFK

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/view-obama-berlin-visit-street-134111608.html

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How To Save On Yard Care

Real Simple:

It takes a lot of green to maintain a lawn. Follow these tips to spruce up your turf for less.

Read the whole story at Real Simple

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/save-on-yard-care_n_3471334.html

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Guinea opposition suspends talks with government

By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition parties on Thursday pulled out of U.N.-mediated election talks with the government, accusing police and youths of attacking one of their leaders and his supporters.

The negotiations aim to secure opposition participation in long-delayed parliamentary polls, which are meant to seal the mineral-rich nation's transition to civilian rule following a coup in 2008.

Cellou Dalein Diallo, who heads the UFDG party, announced earlier on Thursday that he was pulling out of the process after the attack by stone-throwing youths and police near his home in the capital Conakry on Wednesday.

The opposition said 17 people were injured in the clashes.

Other opposition parties decided to withdraw from the talks after a meeting on Thursday.

"We decided to suspend our participation in the dialogue to protest against the aggression suffered yesterday by former Prime Minister Diallo," said opposition spokesman Aboubacar Sylla.

He said the opposition would not return until their security was guaranteed.

"Diallo is the opposition's torch-bearer. He was a candidate in the second round of the 2010 presidential election. If he is not spared, nobody is safe," Sylla said.

The government said the violence had been provoked by youths from Diallo's own neighborhood.

Diallo won the first round of the presidential vote with 43.69 percent against President Alpha Conde's 18.25 percent, but lost in the runoff to Conde a few months later in a ballot marred by violence.

He had been returning from an appearance in court on Wednesday, where he was facing defamation charges brought against him by a Conde ally.

"They can't attack us like this, fire tear gas at us, allow thugs to throw stones at us and expect us to go along with it," Diallo said. "For now, the UFDG is suspending its participation in the dialogue."

More than 50 people have been killed over the past three months during protests by the opposition, which accuses Conde of stuffing the electoral roll with his ethnic Malinke supporters.

Political instability following the military coup has deterred some investors despite Guinea's large deposits of iron ore, bauxite, gold and other minerals.

The elections commission, known as the CENI, said this week that a June 30 date for the polls, rejected by the opposition, would need to be pushed back.

(Writing by Joe Bavier and Bate Felix; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guinea-opposition-suspends-talks-government-194017178.html

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS: Ford now using robots to test durability of its trucks

The human body is a delicate thing and it can only take so much physical abuse. So, to protect its drivers--and test the limits of its trucks' durability--Ford's engineers developed the industry?s first robotic test-driving program, which is now in use at the carmaker's proving grounds in Romeo, Michigan, in the US.

"Some of the tests we do on our commercial trucks for North America are so strenuous that we limit the exposure time for human drivers," said Ford vehicle development operations manager Dave Payne. "The challenge is completing testing to meet vehicle development timelines while keeping our drivers comfortable. Robotic testing allows us to do both. We accelerate durability testing while simultaneously increasing the productivity of our other programs by redeploying drivers to those areas, such as noise level and vehicle dynamics testing."

According to Ford, the technology includes a robotic control module that's installed in the test vehicle and controls its steering, acceleration and braking. The module is programmed to follow a predetermined course with the vehicle's position being tracked by cameras in a central control room and through GPS that's accurate to one inch. If the vehicle strays off its course, engineers can stop the vehicle, course-correct as necessary, and restart the test. Onboard sensors can also command the vehicle to come to a full stop if a pedestrian or another vehicle strays into the path.

The American carmaker added that the tests the vehicles are subjected to "compress 10 years of daily driving abuse into courses just a few hundred yards long," with surfaces that vary in severity, like broken concrete, cobblestones, metal grates, rough gravel, mud pits and oversized speed bumps.

For Ford, the robotic technology accomplishes two goals: to protect human drivers and to engineer its trucks to be tougher than ever.

"The goal here was not to develop a truly autonomous vehicle that can drive itself on city streets," shared Payne. "Our objective was to create a test-track solution that allows for this type of intense testing that could take our vehicles to the most extreme limits of their engineering while ensuring the safety of all involved."

Who knows how much tougher the Ford Ranger would be if it were developed using this robotic technology?

?

If you're viewing this on a mobile device and can't see the video, please click?here.

Source: http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/technology-news//ford-now-using-robots-to-test-durability-of-its-trucks

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Milestone for quantum networks: First entanglement between light and an optical atomic coherence

June 19, 2013 ? Using clouds of ultra-cold atoms and a pair of lasers operating at optical wavelengths, researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms in two different states. The development could help pave the way for functional, multi-node quantum networks.

The research, done at the Georgia Institute of Technology, used a new type of optical trap that simultaneously confined both ground-state and highly-excited (Rydberg) atoms of the element rubidium. The large size of the Rydberg atoms -- which have a radius of about one micron instead of a usual sub-nanometer size -- gives them exaggerated electromagnetic properties and allows them to interact strongly with one another.

A single Rydberg atom can block the formation of additional Rydberg atoms within an ensemble of atoms, allowing scientists to create single photons on demand. Georgia Tech professor Alex Kuzmich and collaborators published a report on the Rydberg single-photon source in the journal Science in April 2012, and in a subsequent Nature Physics article, demonstrated for the first time many-body Rabi oscillations of an atomic ensemble.

In the new research, the state-insensitive trap allowed the researchers to increase the rate at which they could generate photons by a factor of 100 compared to their previous work.

"We want to allow photons to propagate to distant locations so we can develop scalable protocols to entangle more and more nodes," said Kuzmich, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Physics. "If you can have coherence between the ground and Rydberg atoms, they can interact strongly while emitting light in a cooperative fashion. The combination of strong atomic interactions and collective light emissions results in entanglement between atoms and light. We think that this approach is quite promising for quantum networking."

The research was reported June 19 in the early edition of the journal Nature. The research has been supported by the Atomic Physics Program and the Quantum Memories Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by the National Science Foundation.

Generating, distributing and controlling entanglement across quantum networks are the primary goals of quantum information science being pursued at research laboratories around the world. In earlier work, ground states of single atoms or atomic ensembles have been entangled with spontaneously-emitted light, but the production of those photons has been through a probabilistic approach -- which generated photons infrequently.

This spontaneous emission process requires a relatively long time to create entanglement and limits the potential quantum network to just two nodes. To expand the potential for multi-mode networks, researchers have explored other approaches, including entanglement between light fields and atoms in quantum superpositions of the ground and highly-excited Rydberg electronic states. This latter approach allows the deterministic generation of photons that produces entanglement at a much higher rate.

However, until now, Rydberg atoms could not be excited to that state while confined to optical traps, so the traps had to be turned off for that step. That allowed the confined atoms to escape, preventing realization of atom-light entanglement.

Based on a suggestion from MURI colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, the Georgia Tech team developed a solution to that problem: a state-insensitive optical trap able to confine both ground-state and Rydberg atoms coherently. In this trap, atoms persist for as much as 80 milliseconds while being excited into the Rydberg state -- and the researchers believe that can be extended with additional improvements. However, even the current atomic confinement time would be enough to operate complex protocols that might be part of a quantum network.

"The system we have realized is closer to being a node in a quantum network than what we have been able to do before," said Kuzmich. "It is certainly a promising improvement."

Key to the improved system is operation of an optical trap at wavelengths of 1,004 and 1,012 nanometers, so-called "magic" wavelengths tuned to both the Rydberg atoms and the ground state atoms, noted Lin Li, a graduate student in the Kuzmich Laboratory.

"We have experimentally demonstrated that in such a trap, the quantum coherence can be well preserved for a few microseconds and that we can confine atoms for as long as 80 milliseconds," Li said. "There are ways that we can improve this, but with the help of this state-insensitive trap, we have achieved entanglement between light and the Rydberg excitation."

The rate of generating entangled photons increased from a few photons per second with the earlier approaches to as many as 5,000 photons per second with the new technique, Kuzmich said. That will allow the researchers to pursue future research goals -- such as demonstration of quantum gates -- as they optimize their technique.

Experimentally, the research works as follows: (1) an ultra-cold gas of rubidium atoms was confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice using lasers operating at 1,004-nanometer and 1,012-nanometer wavelengths. The atomic ensemble was driven from the collective ground state into a single excited state; (2) By applying a laser field, an entangled state was generated. The retrieved field was mixed with the coherent field using polarizing beam-splitters, followed by measurement at single-photon detectors; (3) The remaining spin wave was mapped into a field by a laser field.

According to Kuzmich, the success demonstrates the value of collaboration through the MURI supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which in 2012 awarded $8.5 million to a consortium of seven U.S. universities that are working together to determine the best approach for creating quantum memories based on the interaction between light and matter.

Through the MURI, a team of universities is considering three different approaches for creating entangled quantum memories that could facilitate long-distance transmission of secure information. Among the collaborators in the five-year program are Mark Saffman and Thad Walker at the University of Wisconsin, Mikhail Lukin of Harvard, and Luming Duan of the University of Michigan, who at the beginning of this century made pioneering proposals which formed the basis of the approach that Kuzmich, Li and colleague Yaroslav Dudin used to create the entanglement between light and the Rydberg excitation.

This research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under contract FA9550-12-1-0025 and the by National Science Foundation under award PHY-1105994.?

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/YKjctWwYO8w/130619132448.htm

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Russia: G-8 declaration won't mention Assad's fate

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) ? A senior Russian diplomat says the G-8 summit's joint statement on ending the Syrian civil war will not mention whether Bashar Assad must step down from power as part of any peace settlement.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters Tuesday that the eight nations have agreed they should not specify any outcome from peace talks that all agree should start soon in Geneva.

Ryabkov says the talks should aim to create a transitional coalition government for Syria, but should not predetermine whether Assad can participate in that government.

The formal Syria declaration is expected to be published later Tuesday.

Ryabkov dismissed Western claims that Assad's forces used chemical weapons as unproven and said they require further investigation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-g-8-declaration-wont-mention-assads-fate-123503092.html

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Airborne laser reveals hidden city in Cambodia

In this photo taken on June 28, 2012, Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples complex stands in Siem Reap province, some 230 kilometers (143 miles) northwest Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples complex. The discovery was announced late Monday, June 17, 2013, in a peer-reviewed paper released early by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this photo taken on June 28, 2012, Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples complex stands in Siem Reap province, some 230 kilometers (143 miles) northwest Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples complex. The discovery was announced late Monday, June 17, 2013, in a peer-reviewed paper released early by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

SYDNEY (AP) ? Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

The discovery was announced late Monday in a peer-reviewed paper released early by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The laser scanning revealed a previously undocumented formally planned urban landscape integrating the 1,200-year-old temples.

The Angkor temple complex, Cambodia's top tourist destination and one of Asia's most famous landmarks, was constructed in the 12th century during the mighty Khmer empire. Angkor Wat is a point of deep pride for Cambodians, appearing on the national flag, and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeologists had long suspected that the city of Mahendraparvata lay hidden beneath a canopy of dense vegetation atop Phnom Kulen mountain in Siem Reap province. But the airborne lasers produced the first detailed map of a vast cityscape, including highways and previously undiscovered temples.

"No one had ever mapped the city in any kind of detail before, and so it was a real revelation to see the city revealed in such clarity," University of Sydney archaeologist Damian Evans, the study's lead author, said by phone from Cambodia. "It's really remarkable to see these traces of human activity still inscribed into the forest floor many, many centuries after the city ceased to function and was overgrown."

The laser technology, known as lidar, works by firing laser pulses from an aircraft to the ground and measuring the distance to create a detailed, three-dimensional map of the area. It's a useful tool for archaeologists because the lasers can penetrate thick vegetation and cover swaths of ground far faster than they could be analyzed on foot. Lidar has been used to explore other archaeological sites, such as Stonehenge.

In April 2012, researchers loaded the equipment onto a helicopter, which spent days crisscrossing the dense forests from 800 meters (2,600 feet) above the ground. A team of Australian and French archaeologists then confirmed the findings with an on-foot expedition through the jungle.

Archaeologists had already spent years doing ground research to map a 9-square-kilometer (3.5-square-mile) section of the city's downtown area. But the lidar revealed the downtown was much more expansive ? at least 35 square kilometers (14 square miles) ? and more heavily populated than once believed.

"The real revelation is to find that the downtown area is densely inhabited, formally-planned and bigger than previously thought," Evans said. "To see the extent of things we missed before has completely changed our understanding of how these cities were structured."

Researchers don't yet know why the civilization at Mahendraparvata collapsed. But Evans said one theory is that possible problems with the city's water management system may have driven people out.

The next step for researchers involves excavating the site, which Evans hopes will reveal clues about how many people once lived there.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-06-18-US-SCI-Ancient-Cambodia/id-767ebbd550dc493b933e6be819788ed3

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Afghan president to visit Qatar

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai was to visit Qatar on Sunday to discuss his country's stalled peace process and the possible opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf state, officials said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said Karzai will not hold any talks with Taliban representatives currently in Qatar.

He will hold meetings with Qatari officials on the sidelines of an annual conference on relations between the United States and the Muslim world.

"As we have already said, any official negotiations regarding peace with the Taliban can only take place between the high-ranking Taliban representatives and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan," Mosazai told reporters.

Karzai's office said he was accompanied by senior ministers and advisers.

"During this visit, the President will meet with Qatari officials to discuss Afghanistan's peace process and bilateral relations between the two countries," his office said in a statement.

Both Afghanistan and the United States support the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar as part of an effort to rekindle talks with the insurgent group, which has been waging war against the government and U.S.-led military coalition for nearly 12 years.

Afghanistan has said all talks must be carried out by the peace council, a group formed by President Hamid Karzai to try and find ways to initiate negotiations with the insurgents.

The council has so far failed to start any form of negotiations with the Taliban since U.S.-initiated peace talks collapsed last year. It is made up of influential Afghans, former Taliban and tribal elders from all Afghan ethnic groups.

The Taliban have met representatives of about 30 countries, participated in international forums in Tokyo and France, and recently visited Iran ? a traditional enemy. But they have steadfastly refused to talk to the peace council or Karzai's representatives, saying they represent a "puppet" government.

Mosazai reiterated the Afghan government's support for the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar, but "only under the conditions and principles which would be acceptable for the Afghan people."

He would not comment on the recent trip to Iran by Taliban representatives.

"Unfortunately the Taliban have very good relations with foreign countries, but they have enmity with the Afghan people, they are killing Afghan people while they are carrying out terrorist attacks," Mosazai said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-president-visit-qatar-090123695.html

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Sometimes it seems the only people the Obama administration doesn?t spy on are themselves (Michellemalkin)

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S&P upgrades US outlook, but investors yawn

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Standard & Poor's ratings agency said Monday it's getting more optimistic about the U.S. economy. But investors just yawned.

Stocks budged higher when trading opened, shortly after the S&P agency raised its outlook for the U.S. government's debt rating and credited "the strengths of the economy." But the gains proved both modest and fickle, and the market spent most of the day flitting between small gains and losses.

At day's end, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were lower, but just barely. The Nasdaq composite was slightly higher. It was a marked change from Friday, when the Dow jumped 207 points after a jobs report that investors viewed as positive.

Trading volume was light, and there were no major economic reports or company announcements. The 10 industry sectors in the S&P were split down the middle, with half rising and half falling, but none moved dramatically. The best performer, telecommunications, was up 0.8 percent. The worst, consumer discretionary, was down 0.3 percent.

Booz Allen Hamilton slid after a company employee said he had leaked information about secret government surveillance programs. The consulting company's stock dropped 46 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $17.54.

The S&P's statement harkened back to August 2011, when the agency slashed its rating of the U.S. government's debt because Congress was in a heated battle over whether to raise government spending limits. The downgrade, an embarrassment to the U.S., also sent the stock market into a tailspin. The Dow plunged 634 points, or more than 5 percent, on the first trading day after the downgrade. The market had triple-digit swings throughout that fall.

On Monday, S&P upgraded its outlook on the U.S. debt rating to "Stable" from "Negative." That doesn't restore the U.S. government's top-shelf credit rating, but it does mean that S&P is unlikely to cut the rating again in the near future.

S&P cited the Federal Reserve's willingness to keep interest rates low, which is meant to spur borrowing and spending, and its bond purchasing program, which is meant to encourage investors to buy stocks and other riskier assets. S&P also noted approvingly that Congress had agreed to raise some taxes this year, notably the Social Security tax that most workers pay, which has helped shrink the government's budget deficit.

The reaction from investors was a far cry from two summers ago. Some doubted the S&P's assessment that the economy is improving, and said the Fed is only artificially propping it up.

Ed Butowsky, managing partner of Chapwood Investments in Dallas, said that the unemployment rate is still too high, economic growth too weak and the government's budget deficit too heavy for the economy to be considered healthy.

"It defies economic logic as to why the S&P did this," Butowsky said. "...We continue to print money, we continue to spend money. What are they looking at?"

Others agreed with the S&P's assessment, but said it was old news.

Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds in New York, thinks the economy is strong enough to drive sustainable earnings growth, but not so strong that the Fed might pull the plug on its stimulus measures ? a sentiment that seemed to drive Friday's rally. Still, he thinks investors shouldn't draw too many conclusions from a single S&P report.

"On the question of what's moving the U.S. stock market," Webman said, "the answer is 'Not much.'"

The Dow closed down 9.53 points at 15,238.59, a loss of 0.06 percent. The S&P 500 index was essentially flat, falling 0.57 point to 1,642.81, or 0.03 percent. The Nasdaq composite edged up 4.55 points to 3,473.77, a gain of 0.1 percent.

Outside the U.S., Japan's Nikkei stock index soared 4.9 percent after a report that the world's No. 3 economy is growing faster than expected. But there were also reminders that the global economy is far from cured. In the Netherlands, the central bank warned that the government needs to cut spending. Courts in Germany are poised to consider whether Germany is legally allowed to bail out struggling European countries, as it has been doing.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.21 percent from 2.18 percent late Friday, a sign that investors were more willing to put their money in the stock market. In commodities trading, the price of crude oil fell 26 cents to $95.77 per barrel, and gold edged up $3 to $1,386 an ounce.

Among companies making big moves:

?Facebook jumped after Stifel Nicolaus analysts upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Hold," saying the company is one of the most compelling investments in the Internet sector. The stock rose $1.04, or 4.5 percent, to $24.33.

?B&G Foods, whose brands include Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Dash, jumped after announcing it would buy Robert's American Gourmet Food, whose brands include Pirate's Booty and Smart Puffs. B&G Foods rose $1.99, or 6.8 percent, to $31.17.

?Apricus Biosciences soared after reporting that its impotence drug, Vitaros, has been approved in 10 European countries. The stock shot up 17 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $2.73.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-upgrades-us-outlook-investors-yawn-143301693.html

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