Wall Street closed for second day

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The stock market was closed for a second straight day on Tuesday as cash equity trading was canceled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Tuesday’s shutdown was the first time weather had resulted in a two-day market shutdown since the Great Blizzard of 1888. Exchanges expect to reopen on Wednesday.

NYSE Euronext said the New York Stock Exchange would open, although it will switch to fully electronic trading if necessary. Nasdaq OMX‘s Nasdaq Stock Market will also be operating on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter said.

Index futures stopped trading electronically at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday (1315 GMT) and ended the session largely flat. S&P index futures ended 0.2 percent higher.

Futures will reopen at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT) for the overnight session during European and Asian hours, closing again at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Sandy, a mammoth storm, slammed into a large swathe of the densely populated U.S. eastern seaboard on Monday, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses, financial markets and government departments. At least 18 people died and more than eight million homes and businesses were without power.

Investors expect heightened volatility when markets do reopen as the two-day closure creates pent-up demand.

Certain sectors are seen as especially tied to the fallout from the storm, which caused major flooding from storm surge during high tides, along with extensive damage from high winds and lashing rain. Disaster-modeling company Eqecat estimates Sandy caused between $ 10 billion and $ 20 billion in total economic damages, with $ 5 billion to $ 10 billion in insured losses.

Construction sectors as well as retailers such as Home Depot may see a boost from the eventual rebuilding effort, though airlines, which were forced to cancel thousands of flights, could see sharp falls. Insurance companies will also be in focus.

“With winds 75 miles per hour along with flooding in the most populated area of the country, you could have an unparalleled loss picture for insurance companies,” said Joe Heider, a Cleveland based wealth manager at Rehmann.

Compounding the issue, Sandy arrived in the middle of the corporate earnings season. While some companies, including Pfizer Inc , delayed releasing their results until the storm passed, others released theirs on schedule, including Ford Motor and TD Ameritrade .

With their results out but investors unable to trade on them, those stocks may see particular interest on Wednesday.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Hurricane’s death toll rises to 65 in Caribbean

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — As Americans braced Sunday for Hurricane Sandy, Haiti was still suffering.

Officials raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to 65, with 51 of those coming in Haiti, which was pelted by three days of constant rains that ended only on Friday.

As the rains stopped and rivers began to recede, authorities were getting a fuller idea of how much damage Sandy brought on Haiti. Bridges collapsed. Banana crops were ruined. Homes were underwater. Officials said the death toll might still rise.

“This is a disaster of major proportions,” Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told The Associated Press, adding with a touch of hyperbole, “The whole south is under water.”

The country’s ramshackle housing and denuded hillsides are especially vulnerable to flooding. The bulk of the deaths were in the southern part of the country and the area around Port-au-Prince, the capital, which holds most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Santos Alexis, mayor of the southern city of Leogane, said Sunday that the rivers were receding and that people were beginning to dry their belongings in the sun.

“Things are back to being a little quiet,” Alexis said by telephone. “We have seen the end.”

Sandy also killed 11 in Cuba, where officials said it destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses. Deaths were also reported in Jamaica, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Authorities in the Dominican Republic said the storm destroyed several bridges and isolated at least 130 communities while damaging an estimated 3,500 homes.

Jamaica’s emergency management office on Sunday was airlifting supplies to marooned communities in remote areas of four badly impacted parishes.

In the Bahamas, Wolf Seyfert, operations director at local airline Western Air, said the domestic terminal of Grand Bahamas‘ airport received “substantial damage” from Sandy’s battering storm surge and would need to be rebuilt.

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Anderson Cooper’s daytime show to end after two seasons

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Anderson Cooper‘s venture into daytime is coming to an end after just two seasons after failing to find an audience in the crowded daytime talk show market.

Warner Bros Television, which syndicates “Anderson”, said on Monday the show will not be renewed after the current season ends in the summer of 2013.

“The series will not be coming back for a third season in a marketplace that has become difficult to break through,” Warner Bros said in a statement.

The CNN anchor launched “Anderson,” subsequently retitled “Anderson Live,” in September 2011. But the show has struggled in the ratings despite retooling in the face of competition from veteran daytime hosts such as Ellen DeGeneres, and newcomers such as Katie Couric and “Survivor” host Jeff Probst.

“Anderson Live,” is attracting an average audience of about 1.4 million viewers, compared with around 4 million for “Dr. Phil” and about 2.3 million for “Katie,” according to TV ratings data.

Cooper issued a statement on Monday saying, “I am very proud of the work that our terrific staff has put into launching and sustaining our show for two seasons,” and added that he looked forward “to doing more great shows this season … I’m sorry that we won’t be continuing.”

TV stations carrying the show were first informed on Friday that the producers were not seeking renewal for another season.

Cooper, 45, and the winner of multiple Emmy award and a Peabody Award, continues as host of the CNN news program “Anderson Cooper 360” and has hosted the network’s New Year’s Eve special from Times Square for several years running.

Warner Bros is owned by Time Warner Inc.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud, editing by Jill Serjeant and Marguerita Choy)

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Lilly trials boost amyloid-protein link to Alzheimer’s-analysis

(Reuters) – Levels of a protein believed to be a main cause of Alzheimer’s disease rose in the blood of patients treated with Eli Lilly‘s experimental drug in late-stage trials, suggesting the protein, beta amyloid, was removed from the brain as intended, researchers said on Monday.

Lilly in August disclosed that its drug solanezumab did not significantly arrest progression of the memory-robbing disease in the pair of Phase III studies, which tested patients with mild to moderate symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

But the company later said an analysis of combined data from the two trials suggested the drug significantly slowed cognitive decline in patients with only mild symptoms, although it did not slow the decline of their physical function.

The finding from the pooled trial data helped restore some faith in the closely followed Lilly drug – that it might hold promise in treating patients who have not yet developed symptoms or who are in the very earliest stages of the disease.

Researchers on Monday, attending the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) annual scientific meeting in Monaco, said an independent analysis of the trial data suggested that beta amyloid was removed from the brain into the bloodstream of patients taking solanezumab.

“The results support continued interest in amyloid as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease research,” CTAD said in a release.

Rachelle Doody, an Alzheimer’s disease researcher from Baylor School of Medicine who led the analysis, said the removal of amyloid from the brain into the blood – and slight cognitive improvement seen – lend credence to amyloid as a culprit in the disease.

“The beta amyloid biomarker results in the trial support the small, yet significant cognitive benefit” seen with the anti-amyloid approach, Doody said.

Researchers said the studies support the earlier use of drugs like solanezumab, which target toxic amyloid plaques in the brain, to prevent symptoms of the disease. One such prevention study is slated to begin next year at Washington University in St. Louis, and includes use of the Lilly drug.

Researchers in Monaco said no changes were seen in any other biomarkers – meaning proteins or tissue changes believed associated with the disease – including another suspected leading culprit protein called tau.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease affecting an estimated 35 million people worldwide, CTAD said, adding the number is expected to exceed 115 million if nothing is done to slow or prevent the disease.

(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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Five million ‘below living wage’

29 October 2012 Last updated at 11:14 ET

One in five workers in the UK is paid less than required for a basic standard of living, a report has said.

The proportion is much higher among waiters and bar staff, at up to 90% of workers, the research for accountants KPMG suggested.

It said that nearly five million people failed to command the living wage – a pay packet that enabled a basic standard of living.

The rate stands at £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 in the rest of the UK.

This rate is voluntary, unlike the National Minimum Wage – the amount that employers must pay by law, which is set at £6.19 an hour for those aged 21 and over.

“Times are difficult for many people, but of course those on the lowest pay are suffering the most,” said Marianne Fallon, head of corporate affairs at KPMG, which has itself signed up to pay the living wage.

“Paying a living wage makes a huge difference to the individuals and their families and yet does not actually cost an employer much more.

“Tackling in-work poverty is also vital if we are to enable more people to improve their life prospects and increase social mobility in this country.”

Continue reading the main story

Why I pay the living wage

Mark Constantine, co-founder of cosmetics chain Lush, said he was encouraged to pay the living wage by staff at a Christmas party.

“I basically got cornered,” he said. “Staff explained the situation to me.”

He said that the advantage was that staff did not feel they needed to take on other jobs.

“They are not exhausted, and not worried about paying their rent.”

He said that there were affordability issues for employers. Lush has introduced the living wage for staff in London and is “working towards” paying it in the rest of the UK.

‘Tough choices’

The report suggested that Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of people earning below the living wage, at 24% of workers, followed by Wales at 23%.

The lowest levels were in London and the South East of England, both at 16%, it said. In terms of total numbers, London, the North West of England and the South East of England had the most.

When looking at sectors of employers, some 90% of bar staff and 85% of waiters and waitresses failed to get as much as the living wage.

Some 780,000 sales and retail assistants were not paid to living wage level, the highest total of any group of employees, the report suggested.

Frances O’Grady, the incoming general secretary of the TUC, said: “It is shocking that in this day and age, one in five workers is still earning less than is needed to maintain a decent standard of living.

“The living wage is not a luxury, and means that low-paid workers do not have to make tough choices over whether they can afford the everyday things that most of us take for granted, such as their fuel bill or a winter coat for their children.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

When it comes to the living wage, politicians are really looking for a free lunch: or rather, a free pay rise. They want an increase in wages for people at the lower end of the pay spectrum that doesn’t cost anyone any money”

End Quote

“Many more employers could afford to adopt the living wage, and we hope that many more decide to pay it in the coming months. Now more than ever is the time for employers to put an end to poverty pay.”

But Mike Cherry, policy chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Every employer would want to be as reasonable as they possibly can, but in the current economic climate it is not going to be possible for those sectors that have traditionally been unable to pay the national minimum wage.”

He said rent and rates were becoming more expensive, and so were energy costs, so the living wage was an aspiration but not affordable for some employers.

He added that the market would determine what was affordable.

A separate report by the CBI said that employers have needed to take a cautious approach to employment and pay given the economic climate, and this is set to continue.

The group said that there would be pay restraint over the next six months, but this was designed to protect employment.

However, one 23-year-old care worker told the BBC News website that life was tough financially – even when on the living wage.

Report author Mike Kelly: “Businesses should look at wages in a more innovative way”

She said that the cost of petrol, when driving between the homes of the people she cared for, took a big chunk out of her pay which totals £7.21 an hour.

“It would be nice to have enough so I am not worried about paying rent every month and only having £100 left to spend,” she said.

“I would like to live comfortably rather than struggling from pay cheque to pay cheque.”

Regional pay

The government is considering whether to push on with plans to end national pay bargaining and introduce a system of regional or local pay rates.

However, a group of 60 academics have warned, in a letter to The Times newspaper, that any new system could widen inequalities between different parts of the UK.

The group claimed that there was “no convincing evidence” that regional pay would boost local economies, and that it could reduce consumer spending. They argued that would depress pay for public sector workers outside London and the South East of England.

This follows a campaign by unions to stop any introduction of regional pay rates for public sector workers.

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Pole gets 30 years for killing 6 on Channel Island

LONDON (AP) — A Polish builder who killed six people, including his wife and children, on the British Channel Island of Jersey has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Damian Rzeszowski, 31, carried out the knife attack in August 2011 at his home. He was said to have become depressed after his wife admitted to an affair.

Rzeszowski was convicted of six counts of manslaughter but cleared of murder. On Monday, Judge Michael Birt sentenced him to 30 years in jail for each victim, but the sentences are to run concurrently.

Rzeszowski’s victims were his wife Izabela Rzeszowska, 30; 5-year-old daughter, Kinga; 2-year-old son, Kacper; father-in-law, Marek Gartska, 56; his wife’s friend Marta De La Haye, 34; and her 5-year-old daughter, Julia.

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Taxpayer data exposed in cyber attack on South Carolina agency

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – As many as 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers used by state taxpayers could have been exposed to a hacker in recent cyber attacks on the state Department of Revenue‘s computers, officials said on Friday.

The vast majority of the credit card numbers used by South Carolina taxpayers were encrypted, but about 16,000 were not, meaning the data was fully exposed, state police said.

None of the Social Security numbers were encrypted, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry.

Berry said the hacker used a foreign Internet Protocol (IP) address to gain access to the data.

“This is not a good day for South Carolina,” Governor Nikki Haley said at a news conference in the state capital of Columbia. “I want this person slammed against the wall,” she said of the hacker.

“I want to get this person and make sure he can never do this to anybody or any state again,” Haley said “I want that man just brutalized.”

Officials said no public funds were accessed or put at risk. An investigation into the security breach is ongoing.

Investigators this month discovered two attempts to probe the Department of Revenue’s system in early September, and later learned of an attempt made in late August, state officials said.

Two other intrusions occurred in mid-September, and the department determined the hacker had obtained data for the first time, according to a statement from the state.

Officials said the vulnerability in the system was closed on October 20 and the system is now believed to be secure.

Anyone who filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 is being urged to find out whether their information was affected. The state will provide those affected with one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

Earlier this year, police arrested a South Carolina state health agency employee they said had made off with almost 230,000 Medicaid recipients’ personal information.

Also, the University of South Carolina said in August that a hacker had breached the personal information of as many as 34,000 people connected to its College of Education.

(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Todd Eastham)

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Broadway takes few chances with superstorm coming

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway took the threat of the mammoth storm seriously, with theater owners canceling all Sunday evening and Monday performances of shows like “The Book of Mormon” ”Once” and “Mama Mia!” long before a drop of rain fell in Times Square.

“The safety and security of theatregoers and employees is everyone’s primary concern,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, which represents producers.

Forecasts called for rain late Sunday or early Monday, and subway and public transportation service is to be halted Sunday evening, potentially stranding theatergoers. Refunds will be made available from the point of purchase.

Off-Broadway shows including “Stomp,” ”Bad Jews” and “Golden Child” were also canceled Sunday night. Most matinees on and off Broadway stayed open. Mondays are usually very light on Broadway, with most shows having that as their day off.

Some Broadway shows had no evening shows scheduled Sunday, including “Cyrano de Bergerac,” ”Annie,” ”Chaplin,” ”Enemy of the People,” ”Once,” ”Jersey Boys” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”

It was the most disruptive storm for the theater community since the threat of Hurricane Irene in late August 2011 prompted producers to cancel matinee and evening performances on Saturday and Sunday. While that hurricane mostly fizzled over New York, every show lost money because they were mostly limited to five or six performances that week.

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New test to improve HIV diagnosis in poor countries

LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have come up with a test for the virus that causes AIDS that is ten times more sensitive and a fraction of the cost of existing methods, offering the promise of better diagnosis and treatment in the developing world.

The test uses nanotechnology to give a result that can be seen with the naked eye by turning a sample red or blue, according to research from scientists at Imperial College in London published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

“Our approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation and it is ten times cheaper,” Molly Stevens, who led the research, told Reuters.

Simple and quick HIV tests that analyze saliva already exist but they can only pick up the virus when it reaches relatively high concentrations in the body.

“We would be able to detect infection even in those cases where previous methods, such as the saliva test, were rendering a ‘false negative’ because the viral load was too low to be detected,” she said.

The test could also be reconfigured to detect other diseases, such as sepsis, Leishmaniasis, Tuberculosis and malaria, Stevens said.

Testing is not only crucial in picking up the HIV virus early but also for monitoring the effectiveness of treatments.

“Unfortunately, the existing gold standard detection methods can be too expensive to be implemented in parts of the world where resources are scarce,” Stevens said.

According to 2010 data from the World Health Organisation, about 23 million people living with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa out of a worldwide total of 34 million.

The virus is also spreading faster and killing more people in this part of the world. Sub-Saharan Arica accounted for 1.9 million new cases out of a global total of 2.7 million in the same year, and 1.2 million out of the 1.8 million deaths.

The new sensor works by testing serum, a clear watery fluid derived from blood samples, in a disposable container for the presence of an HIV biomarker called p24.

If p24 is present, even in minute concentrations, it causes the tiny gold nanoparticles to clump together in an irregular pattern that turns the solution blue. A negative result separates them into ball shapes that generate a red color.

The researchers also used the test to pick up the biomarker for Prostate Cancer called Prostate Specific Antigen, which was the target of previous work that Stevens did with collaborators at University of Vigo in Spain.

That sensor used tiny gold stars laden with antibodies that latched onto the marker in a sample and produced a silver coating that could be detected with microscopes.

Stevens and her collaborator on the new test, Roberto de la Rica, said they plan to approach not-for-profit global health organizations to help them manufacture and distribute the new sensor in low income countries.

(Editing by Jason Webb)

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Wall Street plans to open Monday, as Sandy bears down

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock exchanges and Wall Street banks sent crucial employees into Manhattan to stay in hotels and coworkers’ homes, preparing to open for business on Monday with at least skeletal staff as Hurricane Sandy threatened to halt mass transit.

NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group , the two major U.S. stock exchange operators, said on Sunday they still planned to open for trading on Monday. Direct Edge also said it expected to operate its EDGX and EDGA exchanges during normal market hours on Monday.

But NYSE said on Sunday afternoon that it would close its physical trading floor operations for the first time since 1985. It will instead trade NYSE-listed securities on its fully electronic exchange, NYSE Arca.

CME Group Inc said it was suspending floor trade on Monday at NYMEX World Headquarters, the biggest oil and energy futures and options market in the world. But electronic trade at all of CME will open at the regularly scheduled time at Globex and ClearPort, CME’s online electronic platforms.

Major Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co were also preparing to open for business on Monday.

“The word going around the floor on Friday was people should expect this to happen. In the event the exchange does not open, they will trade electronically though,” Ken Polcari, managing director for ICAP Equities, said on Sunday morning.

“If that happened, it’s probably going to be very muted volume,” he said.

One bond trader at a large Wall Street firm said the New York-based banks would route orders through their Midwest and West Coast offices. He said West Coast employees were planning to get up early, while colleagues in Europe were expecting a long day on Monday.

Volumes were, however, expected to be lower and orders may be harder to fill, the trader added.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said it has not made any recommendations to close the fixed-income market on Monday.

Hurricane Sandy is expected to slam into the East Coast on Monday night, bringing torrential rains, high winds, severe flooding and power outages. The rare “super storm”, created by an Arctic jet stream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, could be the biggest to hit the U.S. mainland, forecasters said.

The scramble on Wall Street started early, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the subway, bus and rail system in the city would close at 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday (2300 GMT). About 8.5 million commuters use the Metropolitan Transit Authority, meaning most Wall Street employees would be unable to get to work as usual.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also closed public schools and ordered an evacuation of 375,000 people in coastal areas.

In August 2011, officials feared Hurricane Irene would flood lower Manhattan and cripple business in the world’s financial capital, but the flooding was minor and there were no major disruptions at the exchanges.

WORK FROM HOME

Goldman, whose office in downtown Manhattan is in one of the areas to be evacuated, told employees that it would open for business, with some staff working from offices in Greenwich, Connecticut and in Princeton, New Jersey.

Others will work from home. It also plans to use teams in London and other locations around the world for additional support.

Citigroup, which has three locations in the New York evacuation zone, said there would be no access to those buildings, and “non-critical personnel should invoke their work-from-home strategies”.

JPMorgan said it would be open, but the bank was focused on ensuring its employees’ safety.

Wells Fargo & Co , which has about 1,170 locations in Sandy’s path, had closed some of those by Sunday afternoon.

PLAN TO STAY OPEN

The NYSE has not suffered a weather-related late opening since 1996, having opened on time in extreme circumstances in the past, including Hurricane Irene last year. It last suspended physical trading floor operations on September 27, 1985 due to Hurricane Gloria, during which all markets were closed.

The Big Board is located in Zone C, an area considered low in terms of its likelihood of an evacuation, according to the New York Office of Emergency Management.

The NYSE has arranged accommodations for essential staff near its lower-Manhattan headquarters, while other employees have been encouraged to work from home or alternate locations, said a person familiar with the situation.

“Everybody on Wall Street has hotels booked for essential personnel,” this person said, adding that the stock exchange would need several hundred people, compared to its usual 1,000, on the floor to keep trading going.

The major exchanges and most big trading firms have alternate trading facilities if downtown Manhattan is inaccessible, but the storm’s wide path may affect a number of sites in the New York metropolitan area. Authorities have warned of possible widespread power outages that could last for days.

NYSE’s servers are located in Mahwah, New Jersey, while Nasdaq has servers in Carteret, New Jersey.

SKELETAL CREWS

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, many hedge funds had drawn up contingency plans for emergency operations. Some funds, especially in Connecticut, were forced to put those plans into effect last year after Hurricane Irene left many suburban towns without power for days. They managed with backup generators to run computers and remote servers.

Large funds with multiple offices can continue to trade even if the main headquarters are uninhabitable due to flooding. But the impending storm has led Citi Prime Brokerage to postpone a Tuesday hedge fund event.

Some trading firms were also making alternate plans for employees. Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial, said his retail brokerage in lower Manhattan appeared to be taking a wait-and-see approach.

“I haven’t seen anything on our email but I’m pretty sure the office is going to be closed or a skeletal crew at most,” he said around midday on Sunday. “Nobody wants to take the chance of being stuck downtown.”

(Reporting by John McCrank, David Gaffen, Caroline Humer, David Henry, Charles Mikolajczak, Richard Leong, Edward Krudy, Lauren LaCapra and Rick Rothacker; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Jennifer Merritt, Tiffany Wu, Maureen Bavdek and Dale Hudson)

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