Oil falls below $93 amid slowing global economy

Oil prices fell below $93 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors mulled whether slowing global economic growth justified a surge in crude this month.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 48 cents at $92.84 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 64 cents to settle at $93.32 in New York on Friday.

Brent crude was down 5 cents at $109.86 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Crude has soared this month -- up 24 percent from $75 on Oct. 4 -- amid investor expectations European leaders would soon announce a plan to contain Greece's debt crisis. Last week, EU policymakers said they agreed to lower Greece's debt level over the next decade and require bondholders to accept 50 percent losses.

Traders are now turning their attention to the global economy, especially to weak growth in the U.S and Europe. Some analysts expect the jump in crude prices in October will push gasoline prices higher and undermine demand.

"The market has come a very long way in a very short amount of time," energy trader and consultant The Schork Group said in a report. "That is not to say it cannot go even farther, but it is to say that it has certainly gone far enough to start pinching consumers."

Investors will be closely watching the latest employment figures scheduled to be announced Friday for signs about the strength of the U.S. economy. Gross domestic product grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter, allaying fears of a recession, but consumer confidence is at its lowest in almost three years.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil fell 0.8 cent to $3.06 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 1.5 cents at $2.63 per gallon. Natural gas advanced 0.9 cent at $3.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs to reduce costs

Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. plans to cut 5,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its workforce in North America and Europe, as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.

The world's biggest appliance maker also on Friday cut its 2011 earnings outlook drastically and reported third-quarter results that missed expectations, hurt by higher costs and a slowdown in emerging markets. Shares fell over 14 percent Friday.

The company, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, has, like other appliance makers, been squeezed by soft U.S. demand since the recession and rising costs for materials such as steel and copper. Due to its size, Whirlpool's performance provides a window on the economy because it indicates whether consumers are comfortable spending on big-ticket items.

Whirlpool has raised prices to combat higher costs, but demand for items like refrigerators and washing machines remains tight. Whirlpool is also facing discount pressure from competitors.

To offset slowing North American sales, Whirlpool has turned to emerging markets. But the company said Friday that sales have slowed there, too. The company revised its demand forecast globally. It now expects demand to decline 3 percent to 5 percent in North America, in 2011, down from a 1 percent to 2 percent prior decline forecast.

It expects flat demand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, from prior expectations of a 1 percent to 2 percent rise in demand.

In Latin America, it now expects demand to be flat to up 5 percent, from prior expectations of a 5 percent to 10 percent increase. And in Asia it expects demand to rise 2 percent to 4 percent from earlier expectations of a 4 percent to 6 percent increase.

Steep costs and the dour global economy are affecting the entire appliance industry. Swedish appliance maker Electrolux said Friday that its third-quarter net income fell 39 percent and also cut its forecast for demand in North American and Europe for the year.

Whirlpool jobs to be cut are mostly in North America and Europe. They include 1,200 salaried positions and the closing of the company's Fort Smith, Ark., plant.

The Fort Smith plant shutdown will affect 884 hourly workers and 90 salaried employees. An additional 800 workers were on layoff from the factory and on a recall list.

Whirlpool will also relocate dishwasher production from Neunkirchen, Germany, to Poland in January 2012.

The company expects the moves will save $400 million by the end of 2013. They'll cost $500 million in restructuring costs however, which will be recorded over the next three years, including a $105 million charge in the fourth quarter, $280 million charge in 2012 and $115 million charge in 2013.

Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool's third-quarter net income more than doubled to $177 million, or $2.27 per share, from $79 million, or $1.02 per share. Adjusted earnings of $2.35 per share fell short of analyst expectations for $2.73 per share.

Revenue rose 2 percent to $4.63 billion, short of expectations for $4.74 billion.

"Our results were negatively impacted by recessionary demand levels in developed countries, a slowdown in emerging markets and high levels of inflation in material costs," CEO Jeff Fettig said.

Unit shipments fell in all regions except Asia, where they rose 4 percent.

In North America, revenue fell 2 percent to $2.4 billion, and in Latin America, revenue rose 8 percent to $1.2 billion.

The company now expects 2011 net income will be $4.75 to $5.25 per share. Its prior guidance was net income would be at the low end of a range between $7.25 and $8.25 per share.

Separately, Whirlpool has complained to authorities that some companies, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, have been selling appliances at less than fair value in the U.S., a practice known as dumping. Whirlpool said the Commerce Department issued a preliminary determination that the companies are violating international trade laws. The investigation is ongoing.

Whirlpool's stock fell $8.67, or 14.3 percent, to close at $51.80 Friday. The stock has already sunk 42 percent this year.

Stocks finish mixed after Thursday's big rally

A quiet day on Wall Street ended Friday with major stock indexes little changed after a big rally the day before. The Dow Jones industrial average closed out its fifth week of gains, its longest winning streak since January.

The Dow edged up 23 points, or 0.2 percent, to finish at 12,231.11. Stock indexes jumped more than 3 percent Thursday after European leaders unveiled a plan to expand their regional bailout fund and take other steps to contain the debt crisis in Greece.

Optimism ebbed on Friday as analysts raised questions about the plan, which left out many key details about how the fund would work. European markets mostly fell, and the euro declined against the dollar.

"It's a kind of sobering-up after a day of partying," said Jerry Webman, chief economist with Oppenheimer Funds in New York. "We got back to what's more of a square position, closer to where we want to be, and now we're going to take a couple of deep breaths and reassess what this really means."

There are still plenty of obstacles to overcome before the crisis is resolved. One troubling sign: Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain increased, signaling that traders remain worried about their finances.

The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,285.09. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.48, or 0.1 percent, to 2,737.15.

In less than four weeks, the Dow has risen 14.8 percent from its 2011 low, reached on Oct. 3. The S&P has gained 17 percent. However, the Dow remains 4.5 percent below this year's high, reached on April 29. The S&P is 5.8 percent below its high.

The Dow surged 3.6 percent for the week; the S&P and Nasdaq each gained 3.8 percent. Both indexes are on pace to have their best month since January 1987.

Whirlpool Corp. slumped 14 percent, the most in the S&P index, after the appliance maker said it would cut 5,000 jobs, citing weak demand and higher costs for materials. Another household name, Newell Rubbermaid Inc., soared 11 percent after its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street's expectations. The maker of tubs and markers maintained its outlook for the year.

Cablevision Systems Corp. fell 12.5 percent after reporting that its third-quarter net income dropped sharply and it lost cable TV subscribers. Hewlett-Packard Co. rose 3.5 percent after the company said it would shelve its plan to spin off its PC business.

Thursday's stock rally led to a sell-off in Treasurys, which traders hold to protect their money when other investments are falling. Demand for Treasurys increased sharply Friday, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury down to 2.33 percent from 2.39 percent late Thursday.

Markets have been roiled for months by fears about the impact of Europe's debt crisis. Greece couldn't afford to repay its lenders, and banks holding Greek bonds faced billions in losses. A disorganized default by Greece threatened to spook lenders to other countries with heavy debt loads such as Spain and Italy. Traders feared that a wave of defaults by countries would cause financial panic and mire the global economy.

Some analysts expect traders to refocus on U.S. economic news next week after months spent watching Europe. The government releases its jobs report for October next Friday. A news conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might offer clues about the Fed's economic outlook. Key reports on manufacturing and business sentiment are due out as well.

Oil prices lower a day after big gains

Oil prices dropped Friday as investors acknowledged that Europe needs to tighten its belt for years to work through a credit crisis and factory production stalled in Japan.

Benchmark crude fell 64 cents to end the day at $93.32 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil, lost $2.17 to finish at $109.91 per barrel in London.

Prices have seesawed for weeks while Europe tried to deal with Greece's debt troubles. Oil soared Thursday after eurozone leaders hammered out an agreement to avoid default, and economic news in the U.S. soothed fears of another recession. Still, analysts agreed that Europe has much more work to do and the U.S. economy is not up to full steam.

"It's going to be a while before we see a broad-based solution to the problem," independent analyst Jim Ritterbusch said.

Europe will likely see energy demand fall while Greece and other countries cut spending to get their national debts under control. Meanwhile one of the continent's biggest oil suppliers, Libya, is expected to resume exports this year after an eight-month stoppage because of unrest there.

Japan on Friday said that factory production fell in September for the first time in six months. The export-dependent nation produced fewer cars, chip-related machines and cellphones as the yen strengthened against other currencies, including the dollar. That made Japanese goods less attractive to foreign buyers and could mean demand for oil will fall as factories slow.

On Wall Street the major stock indexes were little changed after Thursday's big rally. The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite index moved between small gains and losses.

At the pump, gasoline prices rose less than a penny to a national average of $3.448 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline prices are 64 cents higher than they were a year ago.

Natural gas futures prices jumped more than 4 percent as colder weather blanketed much of the eastern U.S. Natural gas rose 16 cents, or 4.2 percent, to end the day at $3.923 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In other energy trading, heating oil lost 4 cents to end at $3.0592 per gallon, while gasoline futures fell 6 cents to finish at $2.6822 per gallon.

Behind the numbers: Samsung passes Apple in phones

For the first time, Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more smartphones in the latest quarter than tech industry darling Apple Inc. On the surface, this may look like a big upset in a world that affords the iPhone maker adulation and outsized expectations. The real reason, however, has more to do with timing and Samsung's variety of offerings and prices.

Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones in the third quarter, 3 million fewer than expected. Samsung, meanwhile, shipped more than 27 million, according to analyst estimates.

So what happened? For one, Apple's latest iPhone, the 4S, didn't come out until the quarter ended, so its sales are not included in the figure. People held back on buying older models in anticipation of the new iPhone, which came out Oct. 14. Apple said it sold more than 4 million units in its first weekend on sale, and that should be reflected in the tally for the current, holiday quarter.

"People were waiting," said Francis Sideco, analyst with the research firm IHS. "We don't see this as a signal that Apple is all of a sudden losing its edge. It's their normal thing. But while they are doing this normal thing, Samsung is (going strong) and they happen to have a really good quarter."

Samsung's quarter was helped by strong sales of its Galaxy phones, though Sideco said the numbers shouldn't lead to the conclusion that the Samsung Galaxy beat the Apple iPhone.

"What beat it is Samsung's lines," Sideco said.

Besides the Galaxy line, Samsung's phones include Conquer, Replenish, Focus and Indulge. IHS estimates that Samsung sold about 40 different models during the third quarter. By comparison, Apple had just two -- the 4 and the 3GS.

Samsung, which is based in Seoul, South Korea, does not disclose the number of phones it ships. IHS, formerly known as iSuppli, estimates that Samsung shipped 27.3 million smartphones in the latest quarter. Jae Lee from Daiwa Securities puts the figure at about 28 million.

Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the numbers, but such comparisons are tempting given the pedestal that Apple is held on and the fact that the rivalry between the two companies has heated up and extended into the courtroom. Apple says the product design, user interface and packaging of Samsung's Galaxy devices "slavishly copy" the iPhone and Apple's iPad tablet computer. Samsung fought back with lawsuits of its own, accusing Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology.

Even as Samsung sold more phones, Apple seems to be making more money on each. That's one of the reasons Apple is now the most valuable tech company in the world, with a market value about three times that of Samsung.

Apple competes on -- and dominates -- the high-end smartphone market. By contrast, Samsung has both cheap and expensive phones available. That means Samsung can appeal to a broader range of customers, but the company has to settle for a lower profit margin on lower-end smartphones.

Sideco called both strategies good. Good, but different.

Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., limits the market it addresses because it is safeguarding its profit margin on the iPhone, said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. More expensive phones mean higher margins for the company, which so far hasn't focused on the market for lower-end phones.

"It's part of their plan," Milanesi said. "If they wanted to capture a wider segment of the market, they would go with a lower-end device."

That could come soon. The price cut earlier this month for the iPhone 4 to $99 (down from $199) and the decision to offer now-ancient 3GS for free -- with a two-year service contract -- could mean that Apple is testing the waters in the cheaper market.

"The sales of the $99 iPhone 4 will definitely help widen the addressable market," Milanesi said.

When it comes to the overall mobile phone market, though neither Apple nor Samsung are on top. That honor goes to Nokia Corp. The Finnish company is still the world's No. 1 cellphone maker even though it has fallen behind rivals in the smartphone market. Nokia shipped 16.8 million smartphones during the third quarter, a close third to Apple, according to IHS.

At least 4 jets strand Conn. passengers for hours

It was a passengers' nightmare at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., this weekend.

Passengers on at least three JetBlue planes and one American Airline plane say they were stranded on the tarmac for seven hours or more after being diverted from New York-area airports on Saturday.

The ordeal continued after they were let off and had to spend the night on cots and chairs in terminals.

A passenger on one of the diverted JetBlue planes says the crew ran out of snacks and bottled water for the last few hours of the delay.

"The toilets were backed up. When you flushed, nothing would happen," said Andrew Carter, a reporter for the Sun Sentinel of Florida, who was traveling to cover the Miami Dolphins game against the New York Giants. His plane took off from Fort Lauderdale for Newark Liberty International Airport at around 9 a.m. After being diverted to Hartford, the plane sat on the tarmac between around 1:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., he said.

A representative for Bradley International wasn't available to comment on the scope of the tarmac delays at the airport.

A JetBlue spokeswoman, Victoria Lucia, confirmed in an emailed statement that six of its planes, carrying a total of about 700 passengers, were diverted to Hartford as a result of a "confluence of events" including equipment failures at Newark and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport that prevented planes from landing in low visibility.

She declined to specify how long the planes sat on the tarmac at Bradley, but noted that 17 other flights with different carriers were also diverted to airport.

Once the planes landed at Bradley, Lucia said that intermittent power outages at the airport made refueling and deplaning difficult.

Kate Hanni, executive editor for FlyersRights.org, said she got calls and emails from passengers and worried family members regarding at least four flights that were stranded on the tarmac for up to 10 hours.

Brent Stanley and his wife were on one of those planes, an American Airlines flight that had originally been headed to JFK after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

After being diverted and landing in Hartford at 2:30 p.m., Stanley said passengers were given various reasons for being held on the tarmac, including the need to refuel and de-ice and the airport's limited capacity for handling international flights. He and his wife were eager to get back home to their two young sons in Lake Zurich, Ill. But they realized they didn't have it as bad as the parents who had infants on the plane.

"There was a lady in front of us with an 18-month-old daughter," Stanley said. "Another woman came by to borrow diapers because we couldn't get to our luggage."

After spending the night at the airport, Stanley was lucky to find two seats Sunday on an afternoon flight home to Chicago. But the headache isn't over yet; his luggage was headed to JFK because the Hartford airport crew wasn't able to handle international luggage, he said.

An American Airlines spokesman, Ed Martelle, said the passengers weren't allowed off the plane by customs at the airport. Martelle did not know the exact number of American planes that were diverted to Bradley or how long they sat on the tarmac.

Matt Shellenberger, who was on a JetBlue flight from Boston to JFK, said his plane was diverted to Bradley International and sat on the tarmac for seven hours.

The crew picked up trash regularly and handed out water and snacks and "everyone held their cool," he said. But his frustrations grew with each status update; the reasons for the delay kept changing as the hours passed.

Early on, passengers were told that the plane was just being refueled and would fly out soon, Shellenberger said. Then they were told it was being de-iced. Then there was an emergency on another plane.

"We were told we were the third plane in line to get to the gate when we landed," he said. "Then we stayed on the plane for seven hours."

Carter of the Sun Sentinel, who was on another JetBlue flight, reported a similar sequence of updates.

The saga continued long after passengers were let off the plane.

The power outages from storms throughout Connecticut made booking hotel rooms difficult. As a result, many passengers just slept at the airport, Carter and Shellenberger said in separate interviews.

When they awoke, hundreds of passengers had to wait in line for hours just to figure out which flight they'd be on.

"That was most disappointing part," Carter said. "It seemed like there was no plan when we got off the plane."

In the morning, Carter said he and several other passengers rented a van to drive to New Jersey rather than wait for the afternoon flight JetBlue had scheduled to Newark.

It's not the first time JetBlue has had problems with tarmac delays. The New York-based airline also made headlines in 2007 when snow and ice storms stranded its planes for nearly 11 hours at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Such high-profile delays helped prompt a regulation last year that fines airlines for holding domestic flights on the tarmac for more than three hours. This year, the rule was extended to apply to international flights that are held on the tarmac for more than four hours.

The Department of Transportation often doesn't enforce the fines to their full extent unless delays are extreme, however. Passengers also do not get a cut of the fines.

Low-cost carriers are more prone to tarmac delays because letting passengers off planes can cost an airline a lot of money, said Hanni of FlyersRights.org.

If a plane is diverted because of a reason within the airline's control, such as a mechanical failure, ticket contracts usually state that passengers will be reimbursed for hotels, food and transportation. That means airlines do everything in their power to keep passengers on board in hope that the plane will be able to take off again.

JetBlue said that passengers who were diverted to Bradley International would be reimbursed for their fares and hotel expenses.

A representative for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which oversees Newark and JFK airports, could not immediately say how many total flights were diverted to other airports because of equipment failures.

Investors to shift focus from Europe to US economy

Encouraging news from Europe helped ignite stock prices in October. This week, investors will shift their focus to U.S. economic data, which might temper their exuberance.

Three events this week will command attention: the U.S. jobs report for October, the Federal Reserve's policy meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's quarterly news conference.

A report Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a solid 2.5 annual rate in the July-September quarter. That helped ease concerns that another recession might be nearing. Yet the news may have also raised unrealistic expectations about the economy. Investors could end up disappointed.

"There's a big difference between avoiding recession and stronger growth," said Eric Green, chief U.S. economist at TD Securities. "The economic data will be OK, but it's not going to be a catalyst to move stocks up" significantly.

Last week, investors were cheered by the deal European leaders reached Thursday. European banks agreed to take a 50 percent loss on their holdings of Greek government bonds. They will also set aside more money to cushion against future losses.

Leaders also pledged to expand the European Union's bailout fund.

The announcement catapulted U.S. stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average rocketed 339 points Thursday and appears headed for its sharpest monthly gain since 1987.

Economists caution that European officials must still fill in the details of their plan and implement it. Even then, it might not work. When world leaders meet in France on Thursday and Friday, investors will want to see signs that China and other nations are prepared to help bolster Europe's bailout fund.

For all that, some stock analysts remain bullish.

"The market was priced for meltdown, and didn't get it," Green said. "However inadequate the European package may appear, it is a decisive step in the right direction."

Stocks had plummeted in September over fears that Europe's debt burdens would trigger a financial catastrophe. With those fears fading, U.S. stock prices looked cheap last week, analysts said.

The U.S. economy appears more resilient than it did in August, when worries had grown that the United States would fall back into recession. Consumers' sentiment tumbled that month after Congress fought over raising the nation's borrowing limit and Standard & Poor's downgraded long-term U.S. debt.

Yet the economy managed to expand in the July-September quarter at the healthiest pace in a year. Despite their gloomy outlook, consumers spent more. Companies increased their investment in software and equipment.

The focus on Europe "taught us something very important," said David Kelly, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Fund. "Despite all the turmoil in Europe and the drop in confidence caused by it, the U.S. economy is still growing."

All that makes the Fed less likely to announce any new steps Wednesday at the end of its two-day policy meeting. Several members of the policy committee have suggested more action may be needed to try to help the economy -- perhaps another round of bond purchases to further cut long-term interest rates. But few analysts expect any such announcement yet.

Three of the 10 members of the policymaking committee have dissented from the Fed's smaller-scale efforts to boost growth in recent months. Two of the three are scheduled to lose their voting privileges in 2012.

Investors might welcome a quiet Fed meeting, analysts said. It would suggest that the economy might be able to recover on its own.

"Every time the Fed administers medicine to the economy, it convinces people that the economy is sick," Kelly said. "There would be incredible cheering if the Fed decided that the economy is on the mend and no further action is required."

Also Wednesday, the central bank will update its economic forecasts, which Bernanke will discuss at his news conference. The Fed is expected to revise down its estimates for hiring and growth from its last forecast in June. Investors will scrutinize how Bernanke explains any such revisions.

The Fed's meeting will be followed by the most closely watched economic indicator the government releases: the monthly jobs report.

The economy is growing, but not enough to generate many jobs for the 14 million people unemployed. Employers added 103,000 net jobs in September. That wasn't enough to lower the unemployment rate, which has been stuck 9.1 percent for three months.

Analysts expect roughly 100,000 jobs to be added in October. Anything less could raise concerns that the economy may slow. Stocks might stumble.

A gain of 100,000 jobs is scarcely enough to keep up with population growth. More than double that total would be needed consistently to reduce unemployment significantly.

"The jobs report will be a sobering reminder ... that all is not well with the economy," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at brokerage firm BTIG.

This week will bring other economic reports, too. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, will issue its surveys of purchasing managers for manufacturing and service-sector companies. Those will provide early reads of whether growth will accelerate in the final three months of the year or drop back.

And automakers will report their October sales, a gauge of whether consumers are willing to make big purchases. Consumer sentiment has fallen to recession levels. But that doesn't necessarily mean shoppers will reduce their spending.

The auto sales data, in particular, will show "what the consumer does, not what the consumer says," said Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds.

Can Kodak rescue itself via a patent bonanza?

Kodak -- the company that invented the first digital camera in 1975, and developed the photo technology inside most cellphones and digital devices -- is in the midst of the worst crisis in its 131-year history.

Now, caught between ruin and revival, Eastman Kodak Co. is reaching ever more deeply into its intellectual treasure chest, betting that a big cash infusion from the sale of 1,100 digital-imaging inventions will see it through a transition that has raised the specter of bankruptcy.

Kodak popularized photography over a century ago. It marketed the world's first flexible roll film in 1888 and transformed picture-taking into a mass commodity with the $1 Brownie camera in 1900. But for too long the world's biggest film manufacturer stayed firmly focused on its 20th-century cash cow, and failed to capitalize quickly on its new-wave know-how in digital photography.

As a result, Kodak has been playing catch-up. Pummeled by Wall Street over its dwindling cash reserves -- and its stumbling attempts to reinvent itself as a profitable player in digital imaging and printing -- Kodak has been hawking the digital patents since July. Many financial analysts foresee the portfolio fetching $2 billion to $3 billion.

But others think Kodak can haul in far more than that -- and carry it off within a few months. That's because patents have become highly valuable to digital device makers who want to protect themselves from intellectual property lawsuits. In July, an alliance made up of Apple and Microsoft purchased a raft of patents from Nortel Networks for $4.5 billion. A month later, Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, in part, to gain hold of the company's 17,000 patents.

"The size of the (Kodak) deal could blow your socks off," predicts Los Angeles money manager Ken Luskin, whose Intrinsic Value Asset Management owns 3.8 million Kodak shares.

"It's pocket change for Google and Apple to go pay $3-or-$4-or-$5 billion for these patents," concurs Christopher Marlett, chief executive of MDB Capital, an investment bank based in Santa Monica, Calif., that specializes in intellectual property. "There is an all-out nuclear war right now for global dominance in smartphones, tablets and mobile devices, and Kodak has one of the largest cache of weapons sitting there." Marlett says he owns Kodak stock, but wouldn't disclose how much.

Even a hefty return, skeptics counter, won't solve Kodak's struggle to close out a nearly decade-long transformation and return to profitability in 2012 after running up losses in six of the last seven years.

"All the extra cash does is give you a lifeline for a short period. And then, poof, you're back in the same position without the assets to sell," says analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research in Livingston, N.J. "If you're burning cash and not finding a way to generate recurring earnings, it doesn't matter."

Kodak's grim financial picture should become clearer when it reports third-quarter results Thursday.

Agitated investors will likely focus on the company's latest borrowing activities and cash woes -- it had $957 million in cash in June, down from $1.6 billion in January. They will also want to know what kind of progress Kodak made in the July-September period in building up a high-margin ink business to replace shriveling film sales.

Kodak has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into new lines of inkjet printers that are finally on the verge of turning a profit. Home photo printers, high-speed commercial inkjet presses, workflow software and packaging are viewed as the company's new core. Kodak projects that sales from those four businesses will double to nearly $2 billion in revenue in 2013, accounting for 25 percent of all sales.

In the meantime, Kodak needs to tap other sources of revenue before those areas have time to pay off -- and mining its inventions has become indispensable.

Kodak's chief executive, Antonio Perez, has signed confidentiality agreements with potential buyers but hasn't given a time frame for a deal. The patents for capturing, storing, organizing, editing and sharing digital images do not apply to the four core businesses, Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner says.

"One thing I would stress is: It is our intention to retain a license to any of the intellectual property we sell," Meuchner says. "It's like you sell the property but still get to live in the house."

A sale represents a sharp tactical shift. Kodak picked up just $27 million in patent-licensing fees in the first half of 2011 after amassing nearly $2 billion in the previous three years.

In the heated environment for patents, "it makes more sense for us to sell the portfolio than it does to license it company by company, which takes lots of time and expense and can involve litigation," Meuchner says.

Michael Fitzgerald, chief executive of Next Techs Technologies, a patent buying-and-selling intermediary in Houston, says that while the portfolio is valuable, "I just don't view it necessarily as a `strategic' acquisition that multiple players will fall all over themselves on."

Investor fears sent Kodak stock tumbling to an all-time closing low of 78 cents a share on Sept. 30 after it hired Jones Day, a major restructuring law firm, as an adviser. Kodak insisted it had no intention of filing for bankruptcy protection.

Kodak is also involved in a royalty dispute with iPhone behemoth Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. The case centers on a 2001 patent now on the auction block -- a method that enables a camera to preview low-resolution versions of a moving image while recording still images at higher resolutions.

The 21-month-old battle before the U.S. International Trade Commission, a trade-dispute arbiter in Washington, D.C., was due to be revisited on Monday, but was recently shelved until December 30.

Chief Executive Antonio Perez thinks a favorable ruling could enable Kodak to draw up to $1 billion in fees from its deep-pocketed rivals. In 2009, the commission ruled that South Korean mobile phone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics infringed the same patent, resulting in $964 million in payouts.

Qantas expected to resume flights after court acts

Qantas Airways was expected to resume flying Monday after an Australian court intervened in a labor dispute that led the airline to ground its entire fleet over the weekend.

By the time the labor-relations court acted, several hundred flights had been canceled and tens of thousands of passengers stranded around the world.

Some airline industry experts say Qantas' surprise grounding of its entire fleet Saturday could cause many travelers to book future trips on other airlines.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said he had no choice but to order the lockout of union workers and end months of rolling strikes that led to canceled flights, $70 million in losses and a collapse in future bookings.

Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he expected some flights to resume by mid-afternoon Monday. It was unclear how long it would take for the airline to resume a full schedule. The airline had estimated that it would lose $20 million a day during the lockout.

The Australian labor-relations court issued its ruling ending the standoff early Monday morning -- midday Sunday in the United States -- after holding an emergency hearing that included testimony from company, labor union and government officials.

The president of the labor-arbitration panel, Geoffrey Giudice, said the group acted to protect Australia's tourism and aviation industry.

The airline said 447 flights had been canceled in the first 24 hours of the lockout. Qantas did not immediately update that figure.

Qantas is the largest of Australia's four national domestic airlines, carrying about 70,000 passengers a day on a fleet of 108 planes that operate in 22 countries. It is the 10th largest airline in the world by passenger miles flown, according to the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group.

Its major international destinations include Singapore, Hong Kong and London. In the United States, Qantas flies to Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and Honolulu.

Travelers reported being ordered to leave planes that were already on the tarmac when the lockout began Saturday. More than 60 planes in mid-flight flew to their destinations, then were parked.

Qantas said it paid to rebook passengers on other airlines, including compensating those who had to pay higher last-minute fares to get home.

For several weeks, workers have carried out rolling strikes and refused to work overtime to demand higher pay and protest the airline's plans to cut about 1,000 jobs. Qantas, which has about 32,500 employees, wants to reduce costs by creating new Asia-based airlines for international flying. International flights were a roughly $200 million drain on the company last year.

The company reported in August that annual profit had doubled. But it said the business climate was too turbulent -- partly because of labor turmoil -- to forecast future earnings.

Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst in San Francisco, predicts the shutdown will do long-term damage to the Qantas name by hurting its reputation for reliability.

"A lot of travelers won't take a chance and will book away to Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand and other airlines," Harteveldt said. "Brand loyalty in the airline business is very low, and there is so much competition."

Before the court ruling, Virgin Australia said it was scheduling extra flights and offering 20 percent fare discounts to help stranded Qantas passengers through Thursday.

If Qantas loses customers, that could also hurt partners in its alliance of global airlines, including American Airlines. A rival alliance that includes Air New Zealand and is led by United Continental Holdings Inc. could benefit. So could a third group of airlines that includes several major Asian carriers and is led by Delta Air Lines Inc. and Air France-KLM.

Other industry veterans said the lockout was a daring move that will pay off for Qantas, which wants to expand the low-cost, low-fare model that it uses at its Jetstar Airways subsidiary.

Jetstar has extensive routes to Southeast Asia and Japan, and lower costs than Qantas. But Qantas unions fear that expansion of low-cost airlines will result in Australian jobs being sent overseas. CEO Joyce hopes to bend the unions closer to the company's vision for growth by tapping into Asian markets.

"It was a very shrewd move by their CEO to force the issue and stop the potential deterioration of the brand," said Mo Garfinkle, an airline consultant who has worked for Qantas rival Virgin Australia. "In the end, it will benefit Qantas financially."

Garfinkle said the short duration of the fleet grounding will help Qantas get back up to full speed quickly, cutting its losses.

Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Asia stocks lower, dollar surges against yen

Asian stock markets were mostly lower Monday as investors shifted their focus from Europe's debt woes to the strength of the U.S. economy. Japan sold the yen to limit its export-sapping strength.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.1 percent to 19,791.74 and South Korea's Kospi fell 1 percent to 1,910.94. Benchmarks in Australia, mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan also posted losses.

The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo swung between positive and negative territory after Japan intervened to weaken its currency, which had earlier hit a new post World War II high against the greenback. The Nikkei was 0.2 percent lower at 9,021.08 in afternoon trading.

The strong yen has dented earnings of Japanese corporations such as Nintendo Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. and hurt the economy's recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Finance Minister Jun Azumi said monetary authorities could continue intervening.

The dollar surged about 5 percent to above 79 yen, and Japan's export sector -- whose fortunes are largely tied to the relative strength of the yen -- rose abruptly.

Isuzu Motors Corp. jumped 4.3 percent. Canon Inc. rose 1.7 percent and Nikon Corp. added 2.3 percent. Nintendo Co. gained 3.6 percent.

In Sydney, shares of Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways Ltd. jumped 4.3 percent after a court ordered employees of the world's 10th-largest airlines back to work. The airline had grounded its entire fleet on Saturday following weeks of strikes by its workers, but an arbitration court on Sunday ordered an end to the strikes and canceled the staff lockout.

Last week, investors were cheered by the debt crisis deal reached by European leaders. European banks were asked to take a 50 percent loss on their holdings of Greek government bonds. They will also set aside more money to cushion against future losses. Leaders also pledged to expand the European Union's bailout fund.

But economists caution that many details in the plan still have to be worked out, including the difficult task of deciding who will pay for it.

"With more questions than answers markets will be hungry for further details over coming weeks and until then it is difficult to see risk appetite stretching too far," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB wrote in a research note.

This week, investors will likely turn their attention to the U.S.

A key jobs report for October, a Federal Reserve policy meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's quarterly news conference are all due.

"This month is going to be another watershed insight into whether we are looking at a low growth environment or something worse," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "To maintain the low growth environment view, the market is going to want to see positive employment growth."

A report Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a solid 2.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. That helped ease concerns that another recession might be nearing.

But while the economy is growing, it may not be enough to generate many jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate has been stuck at 9.1 percent for three months. Analysts expect roughly 100,000 jobs to be added in October. Anything less could raise concerns that the economy may slow.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.4034 from $1.4170 on Friday in New York. The dollar sprinted to 79.18 yen from 75.76 yen.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 96 cents at $92.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 64 cents to settle at $93.32 in New York on Friday.

VH1 Divas to feature Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige and more

VH1 Divas returns this December, with an all-star cast that features Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine and Jessie J.

This year, the series will pay tribute to the cities where soul gave birth to music's most powerful classics and inspired today's divas.

"VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul" will bring together some of the best singers across the globe, men and women alike, to honor the soulful cities that inspired these divas and their art. The cities honored include Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia.

Accompanied by one of the most exciting groups of modern soul, The Roots, with Questlove as musical director, each diva will pay tribute through not only their own soul-inspired songs, but some of the greatest classics that have shaped a genre.

"This year's telecast will showcase the vast impact soul music has had on the 21st century's music and pop culture landscape as our talented and diverse lineup will attest," says VH1’s Lee Rolontz. "This year's 'Divas' offers a modern twist on soul music, all while tipping its hat to the legacy of key cities that created this musical heritage."

As in previous years, this edition of "VH1 Divas" will benefit VH1 Save The Music Foundation and its programs to restore music education in public schools. For more information, visit www.vh1savethemusic.org

Additional performers, presenters and special guests will be announced as they are confirmed.

"VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul" happens at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom and premieres Monday, December 19 at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1.

Florida Small Business Opportunities For Sale Resource Launched

How to work from Home may be the new Mantra for today's financial situation. The economic downturn over the last couple of years has led to job cuts and layoffs in a large number of industries all over the country. This is probably the right time to switch from being an employee to becoming an entrepreneur. There are a number of ways to make money by taking the entrepreneurial route.

It normally takes a lot of capital to start a business. This may not be the right moment to invest one's hard-earned money in a regular brick and mortar business. A better alternative would be an online home business. It is possible to start an online home business for less than $100. Although it sounds unbelievable, it is nevertheless true.
All it takes to setup an Internet-based business is a domain name and hosting space. A domain name costs less than $10 a year. Hosting space is available from $5 to $10 a month. Designing a website is not an expensive affair either. Using free resources like Wordpress, it is possible to put up a professional-looking website with extremely powerful features, totally free of cost.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that almost every resource required to setup a business online is either available for free or for a very nominal cost. It is extremely easy to get started on a shoestring budget and yet run a highly profitable business online. There is simply no equivalent to this phenomenon in the offline world. Even small business entrepreneurs in the real world may not be able to match the kind of profits some Internet marketers make though their online businesses.
People who have been laid off from their jobs are probably sitting at home wondering how to make cash from home. For most people, their job was their only source of income. And losing that job would have been a traumatic and financially debilitating experience. The Internet provides a great business opportunity for people who are wondering how to earn from home.
How to work from home

As already mentioned, buying domain name and hosting space, and setting up a website requires very little capital and technical skills. Once the website is up and running, it can be used to promote affiliate products from marketplaces like Clickbank or Amazon. Sometimes you don't even need a website all you need is a niche product from Clickbank or any other Affiliate vendor and market it through advertising or an email blast. There are literally tens of thousands of products to choose from these marketplaces. It is possible to earn easy money by becoming an affiliate marketer promoting attractive products and earning a commission from every sale.
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest business models to implement and start making profits quickly. It requires very little time, effort and investments to start earning money using this business model. Running an affiliate marketing online home business could be one of the best ways to make money from home

Redbox price increase

Redbox price increase, which begins Monday, will raise standard DVD rental from $1 to $1.20 a day. The Redbox price increase risks a consumer backlash similar to the one against Netflix.

Redbox's DVD rental kiosks are attracting movie lovers fed up with Netflix's video subscription service. But now Redbox's owner, Coinstar Inc., is risking its own customer backlash by raising its prices, the same move that triggered Netflix's recent loss of 800,000 U.S. subscribers.

The plot twist emerged Thursday in Coinstar's latest quarterly report. The company's earnings nearly doubled, largely because of robust growth at Redbox's more than 34,000 rental kiosks.

But the strong performance was upstaged by Redbox's decision to raise prices for standard DVDs by 20 percent beginning Monday.

The new rental rate will be $1.20 per day, instead of the current $1 daily rate. Redbox prices will remained unchanged for Blu-ray discs at $1.50 per day and video games at $2 per day.

Redbox's change isn't as jarring as what Netflix did last month, when it hiked prices as much as 60 percent and then irked subscribers even more by announcing a now-aborted plan to split its DVD rentals from its Internet video streaming service.

But it spooked investors, especially because Redbox appears to be picking up customers still stewing over the higher prices at Netflix. Coinstar's shares plunged 10 percent in Thursday's extended trading.

Unlike Netflix, Redbox tested the price increases in several cities during the past year to see how they would change rental patterns. Management concluded there only would be a slight drop-off in DVD rentals.

"We didn't take this lightly," Coinstar CEO Paul Davis said in a Thursday interview with The Associated Press.

Coinstar, which is based in Bellevue, Wash., is charging more to help offset higher expenses for DVDs and processing debit card transactions.

Netflix raised its prices in hopes of generating more revenue to license more movies and TV shows for streaming over high-speed Internet connections. The plan backfired, though, leaving Netflix on track to start losing money next year as it tries to repair a badly damaged brand.

Coinstar Inc. earned $37.1 million, or $1.18 per share, in the three months that ended in September. That compared with $19.5 million, or 60 cents per share, at the same time last year.

The results for the latest quarter blew by the average estimate of 88 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

The company's revenue rose 22 percent from last year to $466 million, about $3 million above analyst projections. The Redbox kiosks were Coinstar's main attraction; revenue in the rental division climbed 28 percent in the quarter to $390 million.

Although Davis said the company couldn't know for certain, it appeared Netflix's customers losses are turning into Redbox's gains.

CouponAct.com saves up to 50% for the Savvy Discount Hunters

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With the recent excess of layoffs in New York State, there's an explosion of budding entrepreneurs seeking out online business opportunities working from home. “An unexpected layoff can be devastating in ways that go beyond the obvious, financial ramifications of the job loss,” said Friedmann, online home business niche marketing expert, who understands the dynamics of unemployment, and having herself been laid off three times, empathizes with those who face it. “But this kind of career event can also prompt someone to build a more gratifying sense of self and purpose by self-directing their career to an online home business opportunity. “Many professionals throw a great deal of their personal identities into their careers, so much so that the two become largely linked,” continued Friedmann. “No matter why they leave their jobs,” said Friedmann, “white-collar professionals who find themselves suddenly unemployed need to recognize that they are in fact not unemployed, but rather self-employed entrepreneurs with an incredible opportunity to build an online business working at home." LegitimatBusiness.com is home to the PRO Elite Business Plan and System which offers budding entrepreneurs an exact “blueprint” to succeed in an online home business. Used and endorsed by dozens of millionaires and multi-millionaires in the home based business industry, and featured in many prestigious media outlets, PRO Elite has been tagged the best online business opportunity of 2011. Helping thousands of people in more than 200 countries quit their jobs, earn extra income and build secure wealth for themselves and their families, PRO Elite makes a successful online home business possible.

With the recent excess of layoffs in New York State, there's an explosion of budding entrepreneurs seeking out online business opportunities working from home.

“An unexpected layoff can be devastating in ways that go beyond the obvious, financial ramifications of the job loss,” said Friedmann, online home business niche marketing expert, who understands the dynamics of unemployment, and having herself been laid off three times, empathizes with those who face it. “But this kind of career event can also prompt someone to build a more gratifying sense of self and purpose by self-directing their career to an online home business opportunity.
“Many professionals throw a great deal of their personal identities into their careers, so much so that the two become largely linked,” continued Friedmann.
“No matter why they leave their jobs,” said Friedmann, “white-collar professionals who find themselves suddenly unemployed need to recognize that they are in fact not unemployed, but rather self-employed entrepreneurs with an incredible opportunity to build an online business working at home."

LegitimatBusiness.com is home to the PRO Elite Business Plan and System which offers budding entrepreneurs an exact “blueprint” to succeed in an online home business.
Used and endorsed by dozens of millionaires and multi-millionaires in the home based business industry, and featured in many prestigious media outlets, PRO Elite has been tagged the best online business opportunity of 2011.

Helping thousands of people in more than 200 countries quit their jobs, earn extra income and build secure wealth for themselves and their families, PRO Elite makes a successful online home business possible.

Percy Harvin does not pick the optimal place to get in a fight

Unless your name is Dan Dority, it's probably never a good idea to fight anyone who goes by the name of "Captain." But not only did Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin(notes) fight Carolina Panthers defensive back Captain Munnerlyn(notes), he did it right on the Panthers sideline, where the odds are not exactly in his favor.

Then again, I guess no fight is ever that dangerous when you're wearing an NFL helmet.

The final fight scorecard? Well, no one was hurt, or even landed a punch, really. But Harvin drew a flag for a personal foul, while the Panthers amassed no laundry. Harvin caught four balls for 58 yards on the day, but the scoreboard itself decides this one: Vikings win, 24-21.

I continue to be amazed at how loosely the NFL enforces their "throw a punch, get ejected" rule.

Cain denies report of sexual harassment

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's campaign denied allegations Sunday that he was twice accused of sexual harassment while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.

In a statement to The Associated Press, his campaign disputed a Politico report that said Cain had been accused of sexually suggestive behavior toward at least two female employees.

The report said the women signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them five-figure financial payouts to leave the association and barred them from discussing their departures. Neither woman was identified.

The report was based on anonymous sources and, in one case, what the publication said was a review of documentation that described the allegations and the resolution.

Cain's campaign told the AP that the allegations were not true, and amounted to unfair attacks.

"Inside-the-Beltway media have begun to launch unsubstantiated personal attacks on Cain," spokesman J.D. Gordon said in a written statement. "Dredging up thinly sourced allegations stemming from Mr. Cain's tenure as the Chief Executive Officer at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, political trade press are now casting aspersions on his character and spreading rumors that never stood up to the facts."

Asked if Cain's campaign was denying the report, Gordon said, "Yes."

"These are baseless allegations," Gordon said in a second interview later Sunday evening. "To my knowledge, this is not an accurate story."

Cain plans to continue with several planned appearances in Washington on Monday. He is slated to discuss his tax plan at the American Enterprise Institute, appear at the National Press Club and hold a healthcare briefing on Capitol Hill.

Cain — a self-styled outsider relatively new to the national stage — is facing a new level of scrutiny after a burst of momentum in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. He's been steadily at or near the top of national surveys and polls in early presidential nominating states, competitive with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The former pizza company executive has been pointing to his long record in business to argue that he has the credentials needed to be president during a time of economic strife.

In its report, Politico said it confronted Cain early Sunday outside of the CBS News Washington bureau, where he had just been interviewed on "Face the Nation."

"I am not going to comment on that," he told Politico when asked specifically about one of the woman's claims.

When asked if he had ever been accused of harassment by a woman, he responded, Politico said, by asking the reporter, "Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?"

A message seeking comment from Peter Kilgore, listed on the National Restaurant Association website as its chief legal counsel, was not immediately returned.

High School Students Crowned America's First Lesbian Homecoming Couple

Two California high school students became one of the first lesbian couples crowned homecoming king and queen in the nation this weekend.

Rebeca Arellano, a senior at Patrick Henry High School, was made the school's first female homecoming king when her name was announced Friday at a pep rally.

"They were chanting my name and it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had," said Arellano.

Arellano's girlfriend, Haileigh Adams, who also attends Patrick Henry High School, was made homecoming queen at Saturday night's dance.

"I was happier than when I won, my little Haileigh has just been announced Homecoming queen and I couldn't feel happier! Thanks to every single one of you! You guys made this happen and we are all part of something huge. I can't fully express how grateful I am. I am in completely shocked that this happen. My girl looks absolutely flawless," wrote Arellano on Facebook Saturday night.

The two girls told ABC News that they're thankful for the abundance of support they've received from family, friends, and students and staff at the school.

Arellano said one of her teachers told her, "Today school is a bit better because of you girls."

Arellano's Facebook wall is covered with congratulatory notes from her friends.

"Thank you all for allowing this change to happen," Arellano posted on Facebook.

Adams said they have received negative feedback as well.

"We have a lot of support, but there are also a lot of people who are angry about it," she said. "Anonymous Patrick Henry students are saying they're embarrassed and that it's wrong for a girl to take the spot of king. But there's no other way for us to run as a couple. It's not really fair for us not to have the right to run as a couple."

Arellano posted a statement to those who opposed her on her Facebook wall that read: "For all the girls who think tradition should be continued, go back to the kitchen, stop having sex before you're married, get out of school and job system, don't have an opinion, don't own any property, give up the right to marry who you love, don't vote, and allow your husband to do whatever he pleases to you. Think about the meaning of tradition when you use it in your argument against us."

Adams and Arellano both came out their freshman year of high school, and they began dating in February of their sophomore year. They say their parents were supportive both when they came out and when they started dating.

10 of the World's Coolest Jobs

Unless you're a Powerball winner, or you've inherited a large sum of money, chances are you have to wake up every day, go to work and make a living.

For most people, a job is just a job, little more than a way to pay the bills. But what if work were more like play? What if, instead of living for the weekend, you lived for Monday morning? There are people who feel that way; you just have to find them. We did. For instance, rock climber Steph Davis climbs up the north face of Castleton Tower in Castle Valley, Utah. Yeah, she gets paid to do that.

Here are 10 of the coolest jobs in the world, and the people who do them.

Stunt Woman
Some people fall into their careers, but Alisa Hensley falls, crashes, dives, rides, kicks and fights as part of her job. She is an established stunt woman with a long career in Hollywood working on a range of film and television shows, doubling for well-known actresses including Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Yvonne Strahovski on the NBC series "Chuck."

Hensley started her career with a non-paying TV show gig, which eventually led her to Stunt Coordinator Joni Avery, who had no hesitation in hiring her for her first paying job on Pamela Anderson's TV series "V.I.P."

Hensley is one of about 500 women in this field. She can do martial arts, ride motorcycles, fence, shoot firearms, rock climb, rappel, swim and many different forms of falling.

"In the middle of a day, when I'm just sweating and beating up guys, it's like I can't believe people pay me to do this!" Hensley said.

Photographer, Victoria's Secret
Taking pictures of lingerie models, working barefoot and having your work showcased in every Victoria's Secret store in the world for everyone to see certainly seems like a dream job, but for Russell James it's reality.

This popular photographer for Victoria's Secret loves what he does, but it's not as easy as it seems. His photo shoots can cost upwards of $20,000 a day, meaning he's got to keep 25 other people on the payroll plus the supermodels he works with operating smoothly and efficiently.

The photographer's job is to "make the girl feel sexy and beautiful without being weird," said model Candice Swanepoel. "[I feel] just safe with Russell."

James' photography career took off in 1997 when he took a picture of Tyra Banks that ended up on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. That's where Ed Razek, the creative director of Victoria's Secret, first took notice of him.

Candy Store Owner
The story goes that when Ralph Lauren asked his daughter Dylan, then a teenager, if he could name a new fragrance after her, she responded by saying she wanted to save her name for something she created. Something of her own.

She did just that in 2001 when she opened the Dylan's Candy Bar location in New York, inspired by "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." After graduating from Duke University with a major in Art History, Lauren traveled the globe in search of the world's most exciting confectionery creations.

"I always wanted to do something big," Lauren said. "I wanted to open the world's biggest candy store and make it look like Disney World with candy."

Today, there are Dylan's Candy Bar locations in New York City (a whopping 15,000-square-feet of candy bliss), East Hampton and Roosevelt Field in New York; Houston; Orlando and, coming in 2012, stores in Miami and Los Angeles. The stores employ 206 people and sales for 2011 are expected to hit $25 million.

These candy emporiums offer not just candies from around the world but fashion items, accessories and even housewares. All with a sweet candy theme, of course.

Marine Biologist, Filmmaker, Inventor
Greg Marshall, Vice President, National Geographic Society, Remote Imaging
Greg Marshall has dedicated the last 25 years to studying, exploring, and documenting life in the oceans. He's won two Emmy awards for his cinematography and sound work on National Geographic specials, but perhaps his biggest contribution to the scientific world is the National Geographic Crittercam.

In 1986, while diving in the reefs off Belize, Greg encountered a shark and was struck by the sight of a remora fish clinging to the shark's side. Imagining the unique perspective the remora must have when hitchhiking with its host, Greg conceived a remote camera that would mimic the remora's behavior.

Marshall thought that if the camera were small and lightweight it could attach like a remora to a host and record the behavior of sea creatures in situations where a handheld camera could never go. Recognizing the scientific potential of such a tool he began developing a camera tool that could record images, sound and data from an animal's perspective.

"The first wild animal I worked with was an alligator... but I lost my one and only unit on the very first deployment," Marshall said. "The first successful wild deployment was with a Tiger shark at Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and it was incredibly exciting to finally see what a wild, free-ranging animal does in its natural habitat over time and spatial scales that we could never otherwise experience."

In 2003 Greg and his team deployed the first land-based Crittercam on wild lions in Kenya, capturing remarkable new images and ushering in a new era of behavioral science.

Beer Brewer
While some people's work might drive them to drink in the morning, it's actually part of Jennifer Glanville's job. There's a tasting every day at 10:30 a.m., and unlike in the wine world where professional tasters spit, Glanville and her brewing compatriots swallow. It's important in experiencing the true finish of the beer, she explained.

"My bad day at work is probably somebody else's best day," Glanville said.

Of course, there's a lot more to it than just tasting beers. A lot of work and passion goes into brewing craft beers for The Boston Beer Company, the maker of the Samuel Adams line of beers. It's Glanville's job not only to ensure the quality of the beer being made, but to come up with new flavors and new ideas that take traditional styles and turn them on their head.

One of her most recent brews is the Oyster Stout, literally made with oysters from Wellfleet, Mass., near the tip of Cape Cod. It was an idea near and dear to Glanville, who spent her summers on the Cape as a kid and now owns a home there overlooking the oyster flats. She recently debuted the brew at the Wellfleet Oyster Fest. It was a hit, but there's no word yet on when or if it will be widely distributed.

Meanwhile, she's still hard at work perfecting what might be her favorite brew yet: Sahti, a Finnish-style beer flavored with juniper. It's one of the oldest, continuously brewed styles of beer in the world, Glanville explained. Like the rest of her brews, it's full of her passion.

"It's a match made in heaven, I guess, because I've been here 10 years," Glanville said. " It's hard to imagine what else now would fulfill me."

LEGO Sculptor
Nathan Sawaya was a successful corporate lawyer, but he dreamed of LEGOs. Sculpting with LEGOs, to be exact. So in 2004, he told his boss he was quitting and gave up his six-figure salary to start playing with the plastic blocks full-time.

"I remember walking into his office, 42nd floor, MetLife Building, and just telling him, you know, I'm going to go start a new career playing with LEGO, and I'm leaving the practice," he said. There were some lean times, but when the LEGO company noticed his work, things took off for Sawaya.

Today, he is a "LEGO certified professional" whose work can be seen around the world in museums and fine art galleries. His work was even featured in the annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog, offering customers customized, life-size sculptures of themselves or their loved ones.

Sawaya's most recent work of art is a gift donated to The New York Public Library: Replicas of the library's famous marble lions, Patience and Fortitude. The half-scale sculptures took more than 60,000 legos and have an estimated value of about $30,000.

Music Teacher
Detroit is a difficult place to grow up, and working there isn't easy either. But for Victoria Miller it's a calling. She has worked as a music teacher in the Detroit Public School System for nearly 40 years, teaching kids not just how to play, but how to be leaders.

"Times are so hard, and children need a place to be," Miller said. "They need things to do to keep them out of trouble. And so, I'm there for them. They need to know there's somebody they can count on."

She sees it as her personal duty to give these kids a chance. She tries to keep them out of trouble, focused on their futures and doing the best they can. For these students, spending time in band practice means less time in the dangerous Detroit streets. For some, it's been a life saver.

One of her students was at band practice on the day his best friend was murdered. To this day, he believes Miller saved his life.

"The best teacher I ever had, period." he said.

Car Aficionado
This duo's idea of a dream come true? Searching all over the world to find the coolest and most powerful cars around. More than 300 members pay a $15,000 annual membership fee to drive the amazing collection of cars either on their own or as part of events such as skeet shooting, road rallies and visits to sports parks.

"We drive all the greatest cars. We get to buy what we like. We get to live our dream." said Princhinello about his dream job.

Princhinello and Moseley are currently planning to open clubs in Miami and Los Angeles. It's not all glamour and speed, though. The duo must also take care of the everyday necessities such as paying insurance policies costing $20,000 a year, dealing with accidents, overhead, and the dreaded Motor Vehicles department.

At right, Princhinello and Moseley driving some of their cool car finds.

Surfboard Designer/Builder
Ryan Harris spends his days at the beach building the world's first ecologically friendly surfboards. Of course, he also tests the products.

"I get dirty like a 5-year-old every single day, covered in dust, covered in resin and then get to clean up and go home and then do it all over again. I love it. Wouldn't trade it for the world." Harris said.

Harris and his partners opened their shop in May 2011, and business is already booming with a typical shortboard going for $600, significantly more expensive than a normal shortboard made without eco-friendly material.

Harris handcrafts all the boards in his Hawthorne, Calif., production studio. The process usually begins with Harris and his partners or a client coming up with a design idea. After that, Harris crafts the basic board, adds natural resin and then bamboo in order to make the board more flexible, then he vacuum-bags it. Finally, it goes into the "hot box" and by 6 a.m. the next morning it's ready for the fins to be added.

Rock Climber
Steph Davis's day job will likely make you feel like a wimp. The 38-year-old Moab, Utah, resident on a typical day will climb up a sheer rock face hundreds of feet high — without ropes — then casually jump from the top, coasting back down to earth using a small parachute. She also jumps out of planes. And she does this.

Davis was the first woman to free climb the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite and to summit Torre Egger in Patagonia. For Davis, rock climbing started as a hobby in college. Making it a job stemmed from her figuring out what she really loved rather than "getting bogged down in what job" she should be doing and how much money she should be making.

"It's about pursuing passion, living simply," Davis said. For her, climbing — and jumping and flying — helps her examine the larger questions in life and deal with fear, not by just trying to overcome it but by being aware of it and working "alongside it rather than being controlled by it."

About 80 percent of Davis's income comes from sponsorships. She's established relationships over the last 20 years of climbing with well-known outdoor brands like prAna, Clif Bar, Mammut and Backcountry.com. She's also a scholar with a master's degree in literature and is presently working on her second book, "Learning to Fly," slated for publication sometime next year by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.

Tyler Thigpen gets hit in the head with a football

Tyler Thigpen(notes) is 1-11 in his 12 career NFL starts and has spent the first seven games of this season backing up the Buffalo Bills' new $59 million man, Ryan Fitzpatrick(notes). For a brief moment in Sunday's game, it appeared the Coastal Carolina product was going to get a chance to redeem himself on the field when Fitzpatrick took a vicious hit from Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher(notes) and it looked like Thigpen would have to come in the game to replace him.

Then, while he was awaiting his entrance, somebody tossed him a ball with which to warm-up with and this metaphor for his NFL career happened. Needless to say, Thigpen did not enter the game. Fitzpatrick walked off the hit and concluded the half, eventually leading Buffalo to a 23-0 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Good thing for Thigpen that, unlike a famous former Bills player with similar double-T initials, he was able to find his helmet before trying to get on the field.

Oil jumps 3 percent on positive US, European news

Oil is climbing on positive economic news for the U.S. and Europe.

Benchmark crude rose $2.71, or 3 percent, at $92.90 per barrel in New York on Thursday. Brent crude rose $2.67, or 2.5 percent, to $111.58 in London.

Prices soared after European leaders announced an agreement to reduce Greece's debt and head off a default. In the U.S., the government said the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter. That's the strongest growth this year and quieted concerns that the country is headed for another recession.

At the pump, retail gasoline prices rose to a national average of $3.444 per gallon.

Fuel bill dents United Continental 3Q profit

A higher fuel bill brought down United Continental's quarterly profit by 23 percent.

The company's fuel cost was $831 million bigger than last year. As a result, the airline's third-quarter net income fell to $653 million, or $1.69 per share. That was down from $852 million, or $2.16 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue, however, rose almost 9 percent to $10.17 billion because United Continental raised fares and cut back on flying.

The company would have earned $2 per share if not for one-time costs related to combining the two airlines, which took place Oct. 1, 2010. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting net income of $2.08 per share on revenue of $10.11 billion.

The year-earlier results include both United and Continental, even though they hadn't merged yet.

With fares higher and the economy weak, fewer people flew. Traffic was down 1.5 percent for the quarter compared with a year ago.

Procter & Gamble's net income falls 2 pct

Procter & Gamble Co.'s net income fell 2 percent in the fiscal first quarter as revenue growth was offset by the consumer-goods giant's higher costs.

P&G, maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, said net income fell to $3.02 billion from $3.08 billion. Per-share earnings were $1.03 per share, in line with analysts' estimates, and up from $1.02 per share in the same period a year ago.

The decline came despite a revenue increase of 9 percent to $21.9 billion from $20.12 billion. That beat analysts' estimates for revenue of $21.5 billion. P&G said it expects revenue to increase 3 to 6 percent for the current fiscal year, which runs through June, due in part to higher prices.

P&G serves as a bellwether for the consumer-products industry and the economy as a whole because its products, ranging from Gillette razors to Olay skin cream, can be found in homes across the world. Like many companies, it's been raising prices and trimming some of its own expenses to battle higher costs for raw materials. But it has to be careful not to raise prices too high and risk driving away customers who already are saddled down by stubbornly high unemployment, stock market turmoil and an overall weak economy.

The company's operating margin fell to 19.8 percent from 22.4 percent, which the company blamed on a climb in commodity costs of 3.4 percentage points.

Market share fell in North America and Western Europe. P&G said that was because it had already raised prices on some products, and rival companies were only in the process of raising their own prices. However, executives did mention a few instances where rival companies hadn't followed suit: For example, they said, Unilever continues to run discounts on its hair products and laundry products in the U.K.

The Cincinnati-based company has raised prices on some products, including Pampers diapers, Charmin toilet paper and Cascade dish detergent. But as the recession and its aftermath shrink the middle class, P&G has developed a strategy of going after customers at both the high end and the low end. For example, higher-end customers might buy the more-expensive Tide Total Care, and lower-end customers might buy Era brand laundry detergent. The company has also introduced "Basic" versions of some products to go after customers who were trading down to store brands.

"An unemployed consumer continues to look for good value and continues on occasion to trade down. But on the other hand you've got people on the other end of the economic portfolio who continue to trade up," CEO Bob McDonald said on a call with reporters.

P&G also has been expanding in emerging market countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, as a way to make up for recession-weary U.S. customers reining in spending. Like most companies, P&G usually sells lower-priced items with lower profit margins in those regions, although they hope to move consumers into buying higher-priced products.

P&G and other U.S. companies that sell goods overseas have benefited this year from favorable foreign exchange rates. That means that when the dollar is weak, revenue made overseas translates into more dollars at headquarters.

P&G said that favorable currency translations increased revenue by 5 percent this quarter. But it also said it expects that benefit to slow down as the dollar shows signs of strengthening, and the currency translation is expected to be neutral to revenue growth this fiscal year.

"This happens pretty much every fiscal year. It's just more of the same in the volatile environment that we live in," said chief financial officer Jon Moeller.

Chrysler posts $212M 3Q profit

Rising sales and higher prices helped push Chrysler Group LLC back into the black in the latest quarter, another sign that the once-troubled company is turning around under is new Italian management.

The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler reported Thursday that its net income was $212 million for the July-September period, its second quarterly profit this year and only the second since 2006. Vehicle sales worldwide rose 24 percent, and revenue rose 19 percent to $13.1 billion.

In last year's third quarter, the privately held company lost $84 million, but Chrysler, now run by Italy's Fiat SpA, said its fortunes have improved because of increased demand for its new or revamped Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram cars and trucks.

"This house continues to be fully focused on financial performance and making outstanding cars and trucks by fully leveraging its alliance with Fiat," Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both companies, said in a statement.

For the first three quarters of the year, Chrysler has lost $42 million. But that's mainly due to a $551 million accounting charge for refinancing its government debt in the second quarter. Excluding the debt charge, the company expects to earn $200 million to $500 million for the full year.

Chrysler hasn't made an annual profit since 2005, but it's getting closer to profitability with a mix of strong new products. Under Marchionne, the company has changed factory procedures and is doing more rigorous quality testing, raising the reliability of its vehicles.

Chrysler's Jeep brand was the top brand from a U.S. automaker in Consumer Reports' latest reliability rankings, which were released Tuesday. Chrysler was also the most improved brand, moving up to 15th place from 27th. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 200 and Dodge Durango have been among the company's recent successes.

Chrysler also got good news on the labor front this week. On Wednesday, the United Auto Workers announced that 55 percent of the Chrysler workers voting on their new contract approved the agreement. The contract, which covers 23,000 U.S. factory workers, will hold down the company's costs by giving workers profit-sharing and other bonuses instead of annual raises.

Stocks surge on European debt deal, GDP growth

Stocks soared around the world Thursday after European leaders agreed on a deal to slash Greece's debt and protect other weak countries in the region. Stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings also drove commodities prices and Treasury yields higher.

Europe's sweeping agreement, reached after an all-night summit meeting, is aimed at preventing a two-year debt crisis there from escalating into another financial crisis. Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds that they hold. Europe will also strengthen a rescue fund to protect Italy and other large European economies.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 234 points, or 2 percent, to 12,105 in the first hour of trading. The Dow hasn't closed above the 12,000 level since Aug. 1.

The S&P 500 rose 30, or 2.4 percent, to 1,272. The gain turned the S&P positive for the year for the first time since Aug. 3, just before the U.S. government's debt was downgraded.

The Nasdaq composite rose 53, or 2 percent, to 2,704.

Raw materials producers, banks and stocks in other industries that depend on a strong economy for profit growth led the way. Copper jumped 5 percent to $3.66 a pound and crude oil jumped 3 percent to $93 a barrel.

Materials producers in the S&P 500 rose 3.5 percent, the most among the 10 industries that make up the index. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. rose 5.9 percent, the biggest gain among the 30 stocks in the Dow.

The euro rose sharply, to $1.41, as confidence in Europe's financial system grew. The euro was worth $1.39 late Wednesday and had been as low as $1.32 on Oct. 3. European stock indexes also soared. France's CAC-40 rose 5.3 percent and Germany's DAX jumped 4.8 percent.

Investors sold U.S. Treasury notes and bonds, an indication they feel less need for safer investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose to 2.28 percent from 2.21 percent late Wednesday.

European leaders still have to finalize the details of their latest plan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao amid hopes that countries with lots of cash like China can contribute to the European rescue.

Past attempts to contain Europe's two-year debt crisis have proved insufficient. Greece has been surviving on rescue loans since May 2010. In July, creditors agreed to take some losses on their Greek bonds, but that wasn't enough to fix the problem.

Worries about Europe's debt crisis and a weak U.S. economy dragged the S&P 500 down 19.4 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3. That put it on the cusp of what's called a bear market, which is a 20 percent decline.

Since then, there have been a number of more encouraging signs on the U.S. economy. The government reported Thursday that the economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Despite the jitters over Europe, many large U.S. companies have been reporting strong profit growth in the third quarter.

Dow Chemical rose 5.5 percent after its profit last quarter rose 59 percent on strong sales growth from Latin America.

Citrix Systems Inc. rose 17 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index. The technology company's revenue rose 20 percent last quarter, and it forecast growth of up to 13 percent for 2012. Akamai Technologies Inc., whose products help speed the delivery of online content, jumped 16.8 percent after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

Avon Products Inc. fell 18 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its contacts with financial analysts and Avon's own probe into bribery in China and other countries.

Marlboro Man meets moisturizer

Everyone wants flawless skin, flat abs and a fab rear. But men don't always admit it.

So, companies that sell products promising to help guys lose weight, conceal bloat and enhance skin have to walk a fine line between men's vanity and masculinity. But how do you market moisturizer to the Marlboro Man?

Dove plays the theme song to the 1930s TV western "The Lone Ranger" and compares guys' skin with cowhide in commercials for its men's shower gel. Weight Watchers uses TV spots with trimmed-down singer Jennifer Hudson to market to women, but opts for average Joes talking about drinking beer and grilling meat in ads for its weight loss program for men. Dr Pepper is more overt in ads for its diet soda targeted toward men with the tagline: "It's not for women."

The ads come as guys are succumbing to growing pressure to suck in their guts and hide their blemishes. In one of the biggest signs that men are more image-conscious, the number of chemical peels, laser hair removal and other cosmetic procedures on men is up 45 percent since 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

"Back in the day, guys cared more about working hard and providing than having a hairy chest or a beer belly," said Brian McCarthy, 32, a Philadelphian who works out regularly and uses hair pomade. "Guys worry more about their appearance than they used to."

Fashion and pop culture have a lot to do with the change. The ultra-slim silhouette and skinny jeans that hit the high-fashion world several years ago have infiltrated men's departments in mainstream stores like Banana Republic and Old Navy. And because of social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, men constantly are confronted with photos of fit male celebs like singer Justin Timberlake and actor Will Smith.

The U.S. economic downturn even plays a role. With unemployment around 9 percent, men looking for a job have to make sure their look is as polished as their resume. "The better you look, the more you're going to earn," said Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. "Men are increasingly thinking `Wow, I need to look good or look young.'"

That doesn't mean men want the whole world to know.

Dove officials had that in mind when they launched a line of shower gels for men. The brand, a unit of Unilever, had been synonymous with women since the 1950s. But when Dove rolled out the Men+Care line of lighter-scented shower gels, it used a more "manly" approach to marketing.

The "Manthem," which was launched during the Super Bowl in 2010, showed a man's journey through life from conception to age 30. In another ad, the theme music for "The Lone Ranger" plays as a deep male voice urges men to use Dove shower gel to moisturize their "man hide," which it says dries out like cowhide. Then, the voiceover implores men to not be bashful: "Be comfortable in your own skin."

Rob Candelino, Unilever's marketing director for personal wash in the U.S., declined to give sales for the Men+Care line, but said the campaign has exceeded expectations.

Before seeing ads for the Men+Care line, James Harris, 32, wouldn't dare use his girlfriend's Dove soap. But since seeing one of the ads during a Yankees baseball game in April, he has become a loyal user of the brand. "If it's for men, I'll use it," says the student who lives in Birmingham, Ala. "If it's for women, I won't."

Weight Watchers found that men respond better to real men -- rather than women or celebs -- in ads for its weight loss program. In April, it launched its first national campaign targeting men, using ordinary fellas talking about its online "cheat sheets" that give tips on the healthiest ways to enjoy beer and grilled meats.

"Losing weight clicked for me when I realized that Weight Watchers online was for guys too. It's not all rainbows and lollipops," one man says in the ads. Another recalls his friends teasing him about being on the program: "I go, `Really? I look a lot better than you right now.'"

During the first five weeks of the campaign, the percentage of men using Weight Watchers online rose from about 8 percent to 15 percent of all users. The company plans a new campaign early next year.

Cheryl Callan, chief marketing officer at Weight Watchers, said you have to market to men and women differently. For example, she says "men will not use the word `diet.'"

Many men also won't use the word `girdle.' So, Spanx, which sells girdle-like products to slim physiques, made some changes when it launched its men's line last year. To market its "compression" shirt, which is designed to make a man's chest look firmer, the company tweaked its packaging and website. Both feature a macho, superhero-like character named Blake to convey the idea that men can "do anything" and feel "powerful" while wearing Spanx.

"Men's psyches are different than women's," says Laurie Ann Goldman, Spanx CEO. "Men want to feel powerful and strong. Women want to feel smart and choice-ful."

As for whether the name is a deterrent for men? Sales of Spanx for Men are about 40 percent better than the company expected, Goldman said, although she declined to give figures. "We found if you could take a couple of inches off a man's waist and tighten his torso, he would be fine calling it Spanx," she says.

But sometimes marketing to men winds up irking the opposite sex.

After research showed that men think drinking diet soda is "girly," Dr Pepper Snapple Group went out of its way to exclude women in marketing for its Dr Pepper Ten 10-calorie soda aimed at men. Ads for the "It's not for women" campaign, which was rolled out earlier this month, show men in a fake action movie drinking Dr Pepper Ten. There's also a "men only" Facebook page that features a game that allows guys to take target practice at lipstick and high heels. If you're listed as female on Facebook, you can't play.

Officials say the campaign has been well received, but an online petition to stop what critics say is "sexist" marketing lists more than 1,600 signatures.

Despite the controversy, Leslie Vesper, Dr Pepper's brand manager, says: "The vast majority of our consumers get the joke."

Exxon Mobil profit rises 41 pct on higher prices

Exxon Mobil's quarterly profit rose 41 percent because the company sold oil and natural gas at higher prices, making up for lower production.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company, which owns and operates oil and gas fields from Texas to Qatar, said prices rose sharply in the third quarter. Its refineries also charged more for gasoline and other fuels that they make from oil.

Exxon sold oil in the U.S. for an average of $95.58 a barrel, up 35.2 percent from a year earlier. Internationally, it charged $107.32 a barrel, up 45.4 percent. It also charged more for natural gas.

The higher prices boosted earnings at Exxon's exploration and production business, which finds and pumps oil and natural gas. Earnings rose nearly 19 percent in the U.S. and 61 percent internationally.

Exxon's U.S. refineries also benefited. Their profits quadrupled as demand for gasoline and other fuels soared around the world, enabling them to charge more.

Yet the production decline was a disappointment for the Irving, Texas-based company. Exxon has outspent other oil giants over the past few years in the search for new fields. So far this year, it shelled out $24 billion on projects. Exxon's oil production fell 7 percent while natural gas production slipped 3 percent

Some of the declines resulted from deals that limit the amount of oil Exxon can sell as prices rise on international markets. Excluding those limits, however, production was still flat.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell also reported production declines in the July-September quarter. .

Still, Exxon Mobil Corp.'s total net income rose to $10.33 billion, or $2.13 per share, in the third quarter. That compared with $7.35 billion, or $1.44 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 32 percent to $125.3 billion.

Shares of the Irving, Texas-based company rose Thursday after it announced the quarterly results. Investors were encouraged by oil prices in the futures market. The price of crude rose more than 3 percent to $93.10 in New York.

Exxon's stock price climbed 9 cents to $81.16.

Exxon's production declines this quarter raise larger concerns. It takes years to find new sources of oil, and demand is rising as China and other countries need more fuel to run and expand their economies. Analysts say they're concerned that major producers are so far unable to supply enough crude.

"I think there is a danger that we can't keep up with demand," Argus Research analyst Phil Weiss said.

But if companies find and successfully pump oil, that should raise production levels and eventually provide producers with a return for the billions they're spending on exploration.

Claims for unemployment aid dip but remain high

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week, though not by enough to suggest that hiring is picking up.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits declined 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 402,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the fourth drop in six weeks.

Still, the four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 405,500. The average had fallen to a six-month low two weeks ago.

Despite the recent declines, applications are stuck above 400,000, where they have been for all but two weeks since March. Applications need to fall consistently below 375,000 to signal sustainable job growth. They haven't been below that level since February.

The report shows that layoffs have stabilized at the lowest levels since the spring.

That's "a very welcome development in the context of the steep decline in business confidence," said Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, in a note to clients.

"Businesses are not happy about the economy, but neither are they in panic mode," he said.

Also Thursday, the government said the economy grew modestly over the summer after nearly stalling in the first six months of the year. Growth in the July-September quarter was lifted by stronger consumer spending and business investment.

The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.5 percent. That's nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the April-June quarter. And it's a vast improvement over the 0.9 percent growth for the entire first half of the year.

Still, while 2.5 percent growth is enough to ease recession fears, it's far below what's needed to lower painfully high unemployment. The rate has been stuck at 9.1 percent for three straight months. Analysts project similar growth for the October-December quarter.

The economy would need to expand by about 4.5 percent for a year to reduce the unemployment rate by a full percentage point. The rate has been near 9 percent for more than 2 1/2 years, the longest such stretch since the Great Depression.

The number of people collecting benefits fell sharply to the lowest level in more than three years. That's a positive sign that hiring could be improving. The unemployment benefit rolls dropped 96,000 to 3.65 million.

That doesn't include several million additional people who are receiving benefits under an extended benefit program put in place during the recession and paid for by the federal government.

All told, 6.7 million people received benefits in the week ending Oct. 8, the latest data available. That's down about 15,000 from the previous week.

Employers have added an average of only 72,000 jobs a month in the past five months. That's below the 100,000 per month needed just to keep up with population growth. And it's down from an average of 180,000 in the first four months of this year.

In September, the economy generated 103,000 net jobs.

There was some positive economic news Wednesday. Companies ordered more heavy machinery, computers and other long-lasting factory goods last month, the Commerce Department said.

Orders for those types of capital goods rose 2.4 percent, the biggest gain in six months. That suggests companies are willing to spend and invest, even with growth slow and consumer confidence at dismal levels.

Sales of new homes also rose in September, the department said in a separate report, though mostly because builders cut prices. Sales are still at about half the level that would be consistent with a healthy economy. Most analysts say the battered housing sector is years away from a turnaround.

The U.S. economy could also benefit from the deal European leaders clinched Thursday to have banks take 50 percent losses on Greek debt and raise new capital to protect against defaults on sovereign debt.