Power outage electrifies CBS Super Bowl broadcast

NEW YORK (AP) — When the lights went out at the Super Bowl, CBS’ telecast got a jolt.

The power outage in the Super Dome in New Orleans sent the network scrambling and silenced its announcers for about half an hour. The remarkable scene — probably the most-watched “we’re having technical difficulties” moment in television history — also made CBS’ broadcast compelling at a time when the game was looking like a blow-out.

Early in the game’s second half, a portion of the Superdome lost power, including CBS’ broadcasting booth where Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were calling the game. It led to an awkward, ambient few moments of darkness and quiet in a broadcast that’s otherwise nonstop noise. A highly orchestrated media event was suddenly forced to improvise.

It took several minutes and numerous commercial breaks for CBS to find its footing and inform viewers of the situation. Social media went wild with a stream of joke conspiracy theories.

Eventually, CBS sideline reporter Steve Tasker — the MVP on the night, regardless of the play on the gridiron — announced the problem of a “click of the lights” to viewers. Later, the halftime crew anchored by host James Brown returned to fill time with football analysis. Brown said a power surge caused the outage.

That left the CBS NFL Today crew of Brown, Dan Marino, Bill Cowher and Shannon Sharpe to improvise by talking football. With little awareness of the power outage, the group bantered about the game to pad for time, even though viewers at that point had little interest in football strategy. Marino claimed halftime performer Beyonce knocked the lights out.

Calm and collected, Nantz and Simms finally returned from their unexpected exile as the lights came back on. Simms said he momentarily thought they were going to have to call the rest of the game from the sidelines.

“Hey, the next time you decide to plug in your phone charger, give us a warning, will you?” said Nantz.

“I was doing some of my best work during that blackout,” replied Simms.

CBS issued a statement later in the game, saying that “we lost numerous cameras and some audio powered by sources in the Super Dome.” The network said it used backup power and that “all commercial commitments during the broadcast are being honored.”

The power outage may have had the ironic effect of keeping viewers glued to their TVs, amazed at seeing the biggest TV event of the year momentarily shut down. At the time of the outage, the game was becoming a rout, with the Baltimore Ravens beating the San Francisco 49ers 28-6.

But afterward, momentum shifted and the 49ers rallied, making it a close game that went down to the wire before the Ravens edged out a 34-31 victory. Close contests are essential for retaining a big Super Bowl audience, so the shift that followed the outage held major ratings implications for CBS. The last three years, the game has successively set viewership records. Last year’s Super Bowl drew 111.3 million average viewers for NBC.

But ratings are a mere point of pride for CBS, with the ads sold-out well in advance, (some at more than $ 4 million a pop). The game was also streamed live on both CBSSports.com and NFL.com.

The chaos of the power failure outshined all other aspects of CBS’ broadcast, which had seemed certain to focus on a handful of storylines: the head coaching brothers John and Jim Harbaugh (CBS scored their parents on the pregame); the threat to player safety by head injuries (a pregame segment took an optimistic view); and Ray Lewis’ final game and fraught legacy.

Nantz reminded viewers during the game of the 2000 double murder case in which Lewis testified against two men and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. But Sharpe, Lewis’ former teammate, let him completely evade the subject in a pregame interview.

Nantz also smartly predicted the Ravens possibly taking a safety willingly at the end of the game for the sake of time and field position. Simms initially dismissed the idea, but it was what the Ravens elected to do and it was successful.

CBS didn’t overplay the Harbowl angle (if anything, it felt more like the Beyonce Bowl), and didn’t flash to the parents in the crowd until the second quarter. Director Mike Arnold did land the money shot of the game: The two coaches embracing at midfield after the game. (Its cameras and microphones also caught Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco celebrating with profanity.)

But this year’s Super Bowl broadcast will be remembered for the blackout — how CBS handled and benefited from an awkward situation. Nantz put the fitting final word on the Ravens’ win: “The adversity they faced tonight was to somehow rekindle the energy after it had been taken — literally — out of the building.”

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

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World stock markets cautious after US rally

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — World stock markets moved cautiously higher Monday as investors continued to feel confident about stocks following last week’s U.S. jobs report and Wall Street’s rally.

Solid corporate earnings reports and expectations that the weaker yen will enhance the bottom line of Japanese exporters also lured investors to stocks. Investors were also awaiting the release later in the day of U.S. factory orders for December.

In early European trading, Britain’s fell 0.2 percent to 6,335.65. Germany’s DAX was marginally higher at 7,834.47. France’s CAC-40 was flat at 3,772.96. Wall Street appeared headed for a slightly higher open with Dow Jones industrial futures gaining almost 0.1 percent at 13,937. S&P 500 futures were nearly unchanged at 1,506.80.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.6 percent higher at 11,260.35. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2 percent to 23,685.01. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.2 percent to 1,953.21. Shares in mainland China were mixed and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3 percent to 4,907.50.

Last week, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 14,000 on Friday for the first time in more than five years as investors became less risk-averse following solid economic indicators from the U.S. and Europe.

U.S. government revised upward how many people were hired in the last two years — adding an upbeat note to earlier news that Europe saw a lower-than-expected unemployment rate in December.

These indicators help ease investor aversion for risky assets, assuring them that the U.S. economic recovery is not losing steam and that the slump in eurozone economic activity might be bottoming out.

Improved sentiment helped the Shanghai Composite Index rise 0.4 percent to close at 2,428.15.

“The mood is improving in Shanghai with the main index surpassing 2,400 as investors are less hesitant about betting on risks,” said Yun hang-jin, a market analyst at Korea Investment Securities. “There are expectations that policies from China and other emerging markets will boost stock markets.”

Investors in Asian markets are also keen on the lunar New Year holidays starting this weekend, which could boost retail sales and increase inflow of Chinese tourists to neighboring countries.

Among individual stocks, shares of Panasonic Corp. skyrocketed more than 17 percent. The company, which reported a 61.4 billion yen ($ 667 million) profit for the October-December period Friday, has gotten a boost from a favorable exchange rate.

South Korean exporters Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. saw their shares fall 0.3 percent and 1.8 percent respectively, as the stronger won threatens to erode their overseas revenues.

Benchmark oil for March delivery fell 50 cents to $ 97.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 28 cents to finish at $ 97.77 a barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $ 1.3600 from $ 1.3662 in late trading Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 92.93 yen from 92.75 yen.

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How to create a tax-smart portfolio strategy

Retirement » Creating Tax-Efficient Portfolio Plans

A diversified blend of stocks, bonds and cash in your individual retirement account is the proven path to attaining your long-term financial goals. Right?

Well, yes, but you might want to consider a more tax-efficient approach to investing.

While financial experts agree that a mix of securities can help stabilize your overall portfolio, they also note that long-term savers with both taxable and tax-favored accounts may be better served using their IRA primarily to shelter income-producing investments.

Their brokerage accounts, then, can be used for investments with lesser tax implications to maintain their ideal allocation.

Thus, a 40-something retirement saver could still maintain a mix of, say, 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds. But the investments held in his various accounts would not mirror one another, says Certified Financial Planner professional Brett Horowitz, a wealth manager and vice president with Evensky & Katz in Coral Gables, Fla.

“We can’t control the market or how it performs, but we do have control over taxes and expenses,” says Horowitz. “To the extent that we can keep inefficient vehicles in our IRAs, and reduce expenses by not holding the same securities in multiple accounts, you can potentially boost your return by up to a half a percent per year.”

That may not sound like much, but over time it can make a big difference in your net worth.

Indeed, an integrated approach that favors tax efficiency may result in higher returns by minimizing your taxable income and eliminating redundant transaction fees.

“It saves clients a lot in commissions because typically each investment is only placed in one account, so if we sell that fund, we only need to sell it once,” says Horowitz. “If the same fund were held in four accounts, you would have to multiply the commissions by four. Every penny adds up.”

Determining your asset allocation

To implement a tax-efficient strategy for your long-term retirement accounts, start by determining your optimal asset allocation, which differs for everyone depending upon his or her financial profile, age and appetite for risk, says Mike Piper, a certified public accountant and blogger at ObliviousInvestor.com.

A moderate investor 10 years from retirement, for example, might opt for 61 percent equities, 31 percent bonds, 6 percent alternatives (such as commodities and real estate investment trusts), and 2 percent cash (money market funds, certificates of deposit), says Horowitz.

That investor’s more conservative counterpart might invert his exposure to equities and bonds, while a more aggressive investor might put up to 90 percent in stocks.

Regardless of where you fall on the risk tolerance spectrum, your equity weighting should include roughly two-thirds domestic stocks and one-third international stocks, says Horowitz, who favors value and small-capitalization mutual funds in the current market environment for their upside potential.

Next, says Piper, determine which specific stocks, bonds and funds best meet your portfolio needs and list them in order from least to most tax-efficient.

“Put your least tax-efficient investments into your IRA and 401(k) first,” he says.

What belongs in your IRA?

Your IRA should include high turnover, actively managed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that are likely to distribute gains at the end of the year, says Horowitz.

Eventually, you’ll pay ordinary income rates when you start taking distributions from your traditional IRA, but the benefit of compounded growth far outweighs the loss of the lower capital gains rate, which is reserved for investments in taxable accounts, he says.

Plus, you’ll likely be in a lower marginal tax bracket during retirement.

By comparison, earnings on investments held for more than one year in your brokerage account are taxed at the long-term capital gains rate, which was raised from 15 percent to 20 percent in 2013 for the wealthiest taxpayers as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act.

Other good candidates for your IRA include high-yield bonds and bond funds, along with Treasuries and Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, which are all taxed as ordinary income, says Horowitz.

The same is true for real estate investment trusts, or REITs, which are required to distribute 90 percent of their income annually to shareholders in the form of dividends.

The benefit of keeping your least tax-efficient investments in your IRA may be amplified if you own a Roth, which is funded with after-tax dollars and therefore grows tax-free, says Larry Luxenberg, a portfolio manager with Lexington Avenue Capital Management in New City, N.Y.

If you don’t anticipate needing the money for many years, he says, investors “in general should consider placing their fastest-growing and riskiest assets inside of a Roth.”

The downside of placing riskier stocks inside a traditional or Roth IRA, however, is that investors would not be able to harvest losses if they underperform. Stock losses inside a taxable brokerage account can be used to offset capital gains.

What belongs in the taxable account?

Conversely, investments that do not produce a high dividend or yield, such as total market index funds and tax-managed stock funds, are best left to your brokerage account, says Piper.

Low-yielding bonds and, more specifically, municipal bonds, which are exempt from federal and often state and local taxes, also make sense for your brokerage account, says Horowitz.

Lastly, you may wish to consider parking your international stock funds in a taxable account as well, as it may be possible to get a tax credit for the foreign taxes you pay from such funds, says Luxenberg. That opportunity is lost in tax-deferred accounts, but the faster anticipated growth (and resulting capital gains) of foreign investments may outweigh that benefit over a long holding period, he adds.

Keep it simple

When it comes to structuring your retirement portfolio for tax efficiency, the name of the game is simplicity, says Ed Slott, an IRA distribution expert and author of several books about retirement, including “The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It.”

Those with multiple IRAs and 401(k)s from past employers should roll their accounts into a single, traditional IRA, if they wish to defer taxes, or a Roth, if they prefer to pay taxes upfront and benefit from tax-free growth, Slott says. Either way, the fewer accounts the better.

“Older people, in particular, tend to build an inventory of IRAs because years ago they were told that more accounts meant you were more diversified,” he says. “There was some truth to that before banks were deregulated because institutions couldn’t sell one another’s products, but now they can.”

Duplicate accounts, Slott says, make it hard to determine the degree to which your investments overlap. It’s also harder to calculate your annual tax obligation on the earnings. Keeping your accounts to a minimum will help you monitor performance and reallocate as market performance ebbs and flows.

“IRAs do not exist in a vacuum,” says Slott. “You have to look at your whole portfolio, including what’s inside and outside your IRA. If you have all risky stocks in your IRA, you can hedge that with more conservative investments outside your IRA.”

Don’t be alarmed, though, when your investment accounts no longer perform in lockstep.

Retirement savers who allocate assets based on tax implication often get nervous when one part of their portfolio performs worse than others, says Horowitz.

“I’ll get a call from a husband asking why his account performed so poorly when his wife’s did so well,” says Horowitz. “The reason is that we’re trying to maximize the performance of the entire portfolio, not a single account. You can match them up so they all perform the same, but that’s the lazy way out. You’ll lose the overall efficiency by doing that.”

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Spanish worries tarnish growth outlook

London (Reuters) - European shares edged up but the euro fell and German bonds trimmed their losses on Monday as a resurgence of worries about Europe undermined positive sentiment stemming from stronger U.S. and Chinese economic data.

However, the rising confidence in the global economic recovery underpinned oil and copper, although prices moved in narrow ranges at the start of a week which sees policy meeting by several major central banks and a summit of European leaders.

"We are now seeing a consistent story of moderate growth in the U.S. and China," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

The economic outlook brightened considerably last week after data showed U.S. factory activity quickened in January and hiring increased, and after a survey of euro zone business activity suggested the worst of the region's downturn may be over.

On Sunday China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the increasingly important services sector posted a fourth-straight monthly rise in January, although its slim gain added to evidence that the global recovery is a modest one.

But Spain dampened the mood in Europe by reporting that its unemployment problems are worsening as a corruption scandal threatens to engulf Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, with the opposition calling for his resignation.

"If Rajoy were really forced to resign, if we were to have new elections in Spain, that would not help the improvement we've seen in financial markets," Tobias Blattner, European economist at Daiwa Capital Markets said.

Ten-year Spanish government bond yields rose 11 basis points to 5.32 percent in early Monday trade.

The equivalent Italian yields also rose on concerns that a scandal involving a major domestic bank could boost support for the centre-right party led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi as election day approaches.

The German Bund future which had opened 53 ticks lower at 141.48, trimmed its losses to be only down 13 ticks.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> held near a 23-month high after a solid rally since the start of the year to be up 0.15 percent. London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> were flat to slightly lower.

Meanwhile the euro fell 0.3 percent to a day's low of $1.3602 after the Spanish jobs data was released, with bids cited at $1.3580 and $1.3600.

(Reporting by Richard Hubbard. Editing by David Stamp)

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Peterson double winner of AP NFL awards

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Adrian Peterson called it a blessing in disguise.

Strange way to describe career-threatening major knee surgery.

The Minnesota Vikings' star came back better than ever, just missing Eric Dickerson's longstanding rushing record and closing out the season with two of the top NFL awards from The Associated Press: Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year.

As sort of an added bonus, he beat Peyton Manning for both of them Saturday night.

"My career could have easily been over, just like that," the sensational running back said. "Oh man. The things I've been through throughout my lifetime has made me mentally tough.

" I'm kind of speechless. This is amazing, " he said in accepting his awards, along with five others at the "2nd Annual NFL Honors" show on CBS saluting the NFL's best players, performances and plays from the 2012 season. The awards are based on balloting from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL.

Manning's own sensational recovery, from four neck surgeries, earned him Comeback Player honors.

"This injury was unlike any other," said the only four-time league MVP. "There really was no bar or standard, there were no notes to copy. We were coming up with a rehab plan as we went."

Before sitting out 2011, Manning had never missed a start in his first 13 seasons with Indianapolis. But he was released by the Colts last winter because of his neck issues, signed with Denver and guided the Broncos to the AFC's best record, 13-3.

"Certainly you have double variables of coming off injury, not playing for over year and joining a new team. That certainly added a lot to my plate, so it was hard to really know what to expect," Manning said. "I can't tell you how grateful and thankful I am. I can't tell you how happy I am to be playing the game of football we all love so much."

Also honored were:

—Washington's Robert Griffin III, who beat out a strong crop of quarterbacks for the top offensive rookie award.

— Houston end J.J. Watt, who took Defensive Player of the Year, getting 49 of 50 votes.

— Bruce Arians, the first interim coach to win Coach of the Year after leading Indianapolis to a 9-3 record while head man Chuck Pagano was being treated for leukemia. Arians became Arizona's head coach last month.

—Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly, the league's leader in tackles with 164, who won the top defensive rookie award.

Peterson returned better than ever from the left knee surgery, rushing for 2,097 yards, 9 short of breaking Dickerson's record. He also sparked the Vikings' turnaround from 3-13 to 10-6 and a wild-card playoff berth.

He received 30 1-2 votes to 19 1-2 for Manning.

"I played my heart out, every opportunity I had," Peterson said. "The result of that is not what I wanted, which is being in the Super Bowl game. But I have a couple of good pieces of hardware to bring back and (put) in my statue area. So it feels good."

Was the knee injury the toughest thing he'd ever overcome?

"Losing my brother at 7, seeing him get hit by a car right in front of me, that was the toughest," he said. "But as far as injuries, yes."

New England QB Tom Brady was the last winner of MVP and Offensive Player in 2010.

"Trying to get two or three like Peyton, trying to get to your level," Peterson said of his first MVP award. "But I won't be there to accept it because I'll be winning with my coach, the most important award, the team award, the Super Bowl."

Dickerson predicted Peterson could get back to 2,000 yards.

"I hope he does have a chance to do it again," Dickerson said, adding with a laugh, "but do I want him to break it? No, I do not."

Wearing a burgundy and gold tie in honor of his Redskins, Griffin said his goal is to be ready for the season opener.

"It's truly a blessing to be up there — to be able to stand, first and foremost," said Griffin, who underwent knee surgery last month. He added that next season "you'll see a better Robert Griffin."

Arians moved up from offensive coordinator and helped Indianapolis make the playoffs at 10-6, making him an easy winner in the balloting.

"It's hard to put into words the feelings of this past year," he said. "This was kind of the cherry on the top, whipped cream and everything else you put on top."

Watt swatted the competition as Denver's Von Miller got the only other vote in the most lopsided balloting of all the awards.

"It sets the bar for me," Watt said. He led the NFL with 20 1-2 sacks and also blocked an astounding 16 passes. "I want to go out and do even better. I want to do even bigger things."

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

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Mark Wahlberg, Ted to Present at Oscars

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Mark Wahlberg and his teddy bear co-star “Ted” will be presenters at the Oscars, the telecast producers announced Friday morning.

The duo, stars in Oscar host Seth MacFarlane‘s comedy about a man trying to turn his immature, hedonistic lifestyle around for a woman he is dating. His indulgent teddy bear, the eponymous Ted, proves to be an obstacle in that transformation.

The film is now the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

“We are happy to make it possible for Mark and Ted to make their debut appearance on the Oscar stage,” Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the show’s producers, said in a statement. “And we won’t deny that Ted used his pull with our host to get himself the booking.”

Wahlberg has twice been nominated for Academy Awards, in 2006 for his supporting role in “The Departed,” and in 2010 as a producer of the Best Picture nominee “The Fighter.”

Wahlberg and the MacFarlane-voiced Ted share the stage with a star-studded list of Oscar performers, including singers Adele, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand. The Oscars will be broadcast on February 24 from the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

“I’m excited to present an Oscar with Mark Wahlberg,” Ted said in the statement. “I’m spending the next month learning to pronounce ‘Quvenzhané.’”

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China services’ slow uptick highlights mildness of recovery

BEIJING (Reuters) – Growth in China‘s increasingly important services sector rose for the fourth straight month in January, though the slim increase added to evidence that the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy remains a modest one.

China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 56.2 in January from 56.1 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday.

The figure follows the bureau’s PMI for the manufacturing sector on Friday, which eased to 50.4 in January, missing market expectations. A reading above 50 indicates growth is accelerating, while one below 50 indicates it is slowing.

“This marginal rise of non-manufacturing PMI again casts doubt on the strength and sustainability of the recovery,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

He noted that new orders declined, pointing to weaker demand, while a rise in input service prices suggested inflationary pressure.

“We believe the government cannot further loosen policies given inflationary pressure, as growth may weaken beyond Q1 as policy easing runs out of steam,” Zhang said.

The NBS said in a statement that the retail, air cargo and shipping sectors all reported levels of activity above 60 in January, though the construction sector, one of the big drivers of growth in December, ticked down slightly to 61.6 from 61.9.

The new orders index fell to 53.7 from the previous month’s 54.3, showing a slowdown in demand even though the overall figure remained well above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.

The intermediate input price index jumped to 58.2 from 53.8 last month, indicating rising costs for enterprises, with a big rise in costs the construction sector.

MODEST RECOVERY

The marginal rise in the services PMI is consistent with the view of many economists that recent data signals a modest recovery for China and that steady policy support may well be needed to keep it on track.

A Reuters poll last month showed that China’s economic growth is likely to edge up to 8.1 percent in 2013 from 7.8 percent last year, which had been the economy‘s slowest growth since 1999.

But the recovery could fizzle in 2014 as a pick-up in inflation forces the central bank to revert to modest policy tightening, the poll found.

The services sector generated 44 percent of China’s GDP in 2011, up from 35 percent in 2000, and Beijing has acknowledged that greater consumer activity is needed to reduce the economy’s reliance on exports and investment-led growth.

The services industry has so far weathered the global slowdown much better than the factory sector, with the PMI consistently signalling healthy expansion and hitting a 10-month high of 58.0 in March.

That is partly due to a maturing economy as well as a historic shift in the last decade leading a majority of Chinese to live and work in cities rather than the countryside.

The January index of expected activity also fell from December, but remained above 60, indicating that service sector enterprises continued to be optimistic, the bureau said.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Asiacell shares sold on Iraq bourse in major float

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi mobile phone service provider Asiacell began on Sunday to sell shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange in what the head of the bourse said is the biggest initial public offering in the Middle East since 2008.

Asiacell offered a quarter of its shares, or 67.5 billion, as part of licensing requirements. The company is hoping to raise $ 1.3 billion, with the initial share price set at 22 Iraqi dinars, or just under 2 cents, apiece.

Taha al-Rubaye, the head of the exchange, said the floatation would almost double the market capitalization of the ISX to about $ 9 billion. It currently stands at $ 4.7 billion.

Al-Rubaye said it’s the first major stock float on the ISX, which was set up in 2004, a year after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Al-Rubaey said he believes it’s also the largest IPO in the Middle East in nearly five years.

About 90 minutes after the start of trading Sunday, Asiacell had sold more than 35 billion shares, said a-Rubaye.

A successful floatation on Baghdad’s low-volume stock exchange could reassure international investors, many of whom remain wary of the risky Iraqi market, overshadowed by continued sectarian violence and political deadlock.

On Sunday, an attacker drove a car packed with explosives into the regional police headquarters in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least 15 people and wounding 70.

Asiacell is one of three major Iraqi telecom companies, along with Zain Iraq, part of Kuwait’s Zain, and Korek, an affiliate of France Telecom. The Gulf state of Qatar’s government-backed Qatar Telecom has a majority stake in Asiacell.

The three companies are required to list shares on the stock exchange as a condition of their 15-year operating licenses, which cost $ 1.25 billion when they were acquired in 2007. All three missed a deadline in August 2011 to offer shares to the public.

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"Great Rotation"- A Wall Street fairy tale?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's current jubilant narrative is that a rush into stocks by small investors has sparked a "great rotation" out of bonds and into equities that will power the bull market to new heights.

That sounds good, but there's a snag: The evidence for this is a few weeks of bullish fund flows that are hardly unusual for January.

Late-stage bull markets are typically marked by an influx of small investors coming late to the party - such as when your waiter starts giving you stock tips. For that to happen you need a good story. The "great rotation," with its monumental tone, is the perfect narrative to make you feel like you're missing out.

Even if something approaching a "great rotation" has begun, it is not necessarily bullish for markets. Those who think they are coming early to the party may actually be arriving late.

Investors pumped $20.7 billion into stocks in the first four weeks of the year, the strongest four-week run since April 2000, according to Lipper. But that pales in comparison with the $410 billion yanked from those funds since the start of 2008.

"I'm not sure you want to take a couple of weeks and extrapolate it into whatever trend you want," said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup. "We have had instances where equity flows have picked up in the last two, three, four years when markets have picked up. They've generally not been signals of a continuation of that trend."

The S&P 500 rose 5 percent in January, its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997, driving speculation that retail investors were flooding back into the stock market.

Heading into another busy week of earnings, the equity market is knocking on the door of all-time highs due to positive sentiment in stocks, and that can't be ignored entirely. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> ended the week about 4 percent from an all-time high touched in October 2007.

Next week will bring results from insurers Allstate and The Hartford , as well as from Walt Disney , Coca-Cola Enterprises and Visa .

But a comparison of flows in January, a seasonal strong month for the stock market, shows that this January, while strong, is not that unusual. In January 2011 investors moved $23.9 billion into stock funds and $28.6 billion in 2006, but neither foreshadowed massive inflows the rest of that year. Furthermore, in 2006 the market gained more than 13 percent while in 2011 it was flat.

Strong inflows in January can happen for a number of reasons. There were a lot of special dividends issued in December that need reinvesting, and some of the funds raised in December tax-selling also find their way back into the market.

During the height of the tech bubble in 2000, when retail investors were really embracing stocks, a staggering $42.7 billion flowed into equities in January of that year, double the amount that flowed in this January. That didn't end well, as stocks peaked in March of that year before dropping over the next two-plus years.

MOM AND POP STILL WARY

Arguing against a 'great rotation' is not necessarily a bearish argument against stocks. The stock market has done well since the crisis. Despite the huge outflows, the S&P 500 has risen more than 120 percent since March 2009 on a slowly improving economy and corporate earnings.

This earnings season, a majority of S&P 500 companies are beating earnings forecast. That's also the case for revenue, which is a departure from the previous two reporting periods where less than 50 percent of companies beat revenue expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Meanwhile, those on the front lines say mom and pop investors are still wary of equities after the financial crisis.

"A lot of people I talk to are very reluctant to make an emotional commitment to the stock market and regardless of income activity in January, I think that's still the case," said David Joy, chief market strategist at Columbia Management Advisors in Boston, where he helps oversee $571 billion.

Joy, speaking from a conference in Phoenix, says most of the people asking him about the "great rotation" are fund management industry insiders who are interested in the extra business a flood of stock investors would bring.

He also pointed out that flows into bond funds were positive in the month of January, hardly an indication of a rotation.

Citi's Levkovich also argues that bond investors are unlikely to give up a 30-year rally in bonds so quickly. He said stocks only began to see consistent outflows 26 months after the tech bubble burst in March 2000. By that reading it could be another year before a serious rotation begins.

On top of that, substantial flows continue to make their way into bonds, even if it isn't low-yielding government debt. January 2013 was the second best January on record for the issuance of U.S. high-grade debt, with $111.725 billion issued during the month, according to International Finance Review.

Bill Gross, who runs the $285 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, commented on Twitter on Thursday that "January flows at Pimco show few signs of bond/stock rotation," adding that cash and money markets may be the source of inflows into stocks.

Indeed, the evidence suggests some of the money that went into stock funds in January came from money markets after a period in December when investors, worried about the budget uncertainty in Washington, started parking money in late 2012.

Data from iMoneyNet shows investors placed $123 billion in money market funds in the last two months of the year. In two weeks in January investors withdrew $31.45 billion of that, the most since March 2012. But later in the month money actually started flowing back.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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