”Texas Chainsaw” movie kills rivals at North America box office

(Reuters) – The return of the bloody “Texas Chainsaw” franchise sliced up movie box office rivals with a surprise win over the weekend, grabbing an estimated $ 23 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.

The new “Texas Chainsaw 3D” pulled past Quentin Tarantino Western “Django Unchained,” the second place film from Friday through Sunday with $ 20 million. No. 3 movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” grabbed $ 17.5 million.

Going into the weekend, box office forecasters did not think the revival of the 40-year-old “Texas Chainsaw” franchise had enough buzz to top the holiday releases that are adding to their tallies during the month of January, a typically slow time for moviegoing.

Marketing efforts for “Texas Chainsaw” paid off for distributor Lions Gate Entertainment, the studio behind the horror franchise.

Lions Gate ran a social media campaign aimed at its core horror fan base – mostly young men and women – and ran promotions during AMC Networks’ TV zombie hit “The Walking Dead.” The studio aimed for a broader audience with promotions during college football bowl games and other sports programs after Christmas.

“The numbers were a little bit more than expected,” said Richie Fay, the president of domestic distribution for Lions Gate Entertainment.

“It is great to be No. 1. I think we held our own,” he added.

Lions Gate spent about $ 20 million to promote the movie, which was produced by Millennium Films.

The movie revives a franchise that started four decades ago with the 1974 film about a serial killer named Leatherface. Since then, the seven “Texas Chainsaw” movies have pulled in $ 175 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters, according to website Box Office Mojo. The films have generated $ 416 million domestically.

The new movie follows a woman who inherits a family home in the town of Newt, Texas, showing all of the blood and gore in 3D. The story picked up where the original left off and included cameos from original cast members.

“Texas Chainsaw” was the only new nationwide release in North America (United States and Canada) over the weekend. “The Hobbit,” the first of three movies based on the fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, brought its total domestic sales to $ 263.8 million since its December 14 debut. “Django Unchained,” released on Christmas Day, reached $ 106.3 million.

In fourth place for the weekend, musical “Les Miserables” earned $ 16.1 million, bringing its domestic sales to $ 103.6 million since its Christmas Day release. The No. 5 slot belonged to family comedy “Parental Guidance,” which grossed $ 10.1 million.

“The Hobbit” was distributed by Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros. studio. The Weinstein Co. released “Django Unchained.” Universal Studios, a unit of Comcast Corp distributed “Les Miserables.” “Parental Guidance” was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Stock futures slip after stocks hit five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures fell on Monday, with markets expected to consolidate after the S&P 500 index closed at a five-year high on Friday.

Last week was the best for U.S. stocks in more than a year as a budget deal and economic data boosted investor confidence.

Financial shares will be in focus a day after global regulators gave banks four more years and greater flexibility to build up cash buffers, scaling back moves that aimed to help prevent another financial crisis.

By spurring credit, the easing of the bank rule may help support growth, boosting investments in equities and other risk assets.

S&P 500 futures dipped 1.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 13 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 1 point.

Walt Disney Co started an internal cost cutting review several weeks ago that may include layoffs at its studio and other units, three people with knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Video-streaming service Netflix Inc said it will carry previous seasons of some popular shows produced by Time Warner’s Warner Bros Television.

Major U.S. technology companies could miss estimates for fourth-quarter earnings as budget worries likely led some corporate clients to tighten their belts last month.

Amazon shares rose 2.3 percent in premarket trading after Morgan Stanley raised is rating on the stock to “overweight” from “equal weight.”

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Heartland Payment Systems(R) Acquires Ovation Payroll to Position Heartland Payroll Services for Rapid Growth

PRINCETON, NJ–(Marketwire – Jan 7, 2013) – Heartland Payment Systems ( NYSE : HPY ), one of the nation’s largest payments processors, has expanded its Heartland Payroll Services business by acquiring Ovation Payroll, a leading U.S. payroll outsourcing company that offers payroll tax preparation and administration, Internet payroll reporting, direct deposit, and other services.

Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., with six additional locations nationwide, Ovation Payroll serves nearly 10,000 clients in 48 states and is listed on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies. Heartland will retain Ovation’s nearly 150 employees as well as its executive leadership.

In addition to being an important element in Heartland’s strategic growth plan for Heartland’s payroll business, the acquisition immediately brings aboard additional veteran payroll industry leaders, as well as a highly developed Affinity Partner network to provide high quality sales leads that can be leveraged throughout the Heartland sales force. The acquisition also provides immediate scale to more quickly leverage platform and operating costs while further enhancing Heartland’s product and service offerings to merchants in virtually all markets in which Heartland conducts business.

“Integrating Ovation Payroll within Heartland will allow us to further market the advantages of being the only large, public, highly service-oriented, merchant advocate payroll provider offering three-year price lock agreements,” said David Gilbert, president, hospitality group, Heartland Payment Systems. “While our consolidated payroll business will now service more than 22,000 clients with the combination of our talented management teams, our powerful sales forces and our great Affinity Partners, we are excited about the opportunity to accelerate our growth. As the industry’s only all-inclusive provider and merchant advocate offering guaranteed pricing, Heartland will further help merchants save money and increase productivity by being one partner that bundles an enhanced payroll service platform with payments processing and other solutions. With the addition of Ovation, we also gain a distribution channel into new markets.”

Tony Tortorella, president and CEO of Ovation Payroll, added, “I speak for my executive team and all our employees when I share our enthusiasm about becoming a part of Heartland Payment Systems. Over the last three years, we’ve expanded our national footprint, as well as our payroll and HR services, to become one of the leading payroll providers in the country. By integrating our services, technology and sales teams with an industry leader like Heartland, employers across the country will benefit from the most competitive payroll solutions currently on the market today.”

Heartland Payroll Services offers complete, customizable payroll processing solutions, all-inclusive pricing guaranteed for three years, U.S.-based payroll specialists, 100 percent web-based solutions for anytime, anywhere management, an easy-to-use employee self-service portal and a paperless solution with standard direct deposit and prepaid card options. More information can be found at Heartland Payroll Services.

About Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. ( NYSE : HPY ), the sixth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, school solutions, loyalty marketing services, campus solutions, payroll solutions, and related business solutions and services to more than 250,000 business and education locations nationwide. A FORTUNE 1000 company, Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, (MerchantBillofRights.org), a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. The company is also a leader in the development of end-to-end encryption technology designed to protect cardholder data, rendering it useless to cybercriminals. For more detailed information, visit HeartlandPaymentSystems.com or follow the company on Twitter @HeartlandHPY and Facebook at facebook.com/HeartlandHPY.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including risks and additional factors that are described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Marketwire News Archive – Yahoo! Finance

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Stocks dip at open after five-year high

DEAR ABBY: I spent the afternoon running errands. As I left the shopping center, I saw a young couple with a baby and a toddler holding a sign requesting help with food, as the husband had just been laid off. I drove past, then considered the children and circled back. I had no cash with me, so I stopped and offered them our family's dinner -- a jar of premium spaghetti sauce, a pound of fresh ground beef, a box of dried spaghetti, fruit cups that my children usually take to school for treats, and some canned soups I occasionally have for lunch. ...

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Here come the big boys

Here come the big boys.

The NFL's wild-card weekend is over, with nary an upset. Moving on are division winners Green Bay, Houston and Baltimore, along with NFC West runner-up Seattle and the only rookie quarterback still standing: Russell Wilson.

Ahead are some daunting challenges as the Ravens visit Denver, the Texans go to New England, the Packers head to San Francisco and the Seahawks journey to Atlanta.

Only the Seahawks-Falcons isn't a rematch.

Seattle isn't intimidated one bit about facing the NFC's top seed.

"Despite the fact that we have a 'nobody' team," Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said after Sunday's convincing 24-14 comeback win at Washington, "a team not full of first-rounders and things like that, we have a lot of guys that play at a high level."

Of course, so do the Falcons (13-3), Broncos (13-3), Patriots (12-4) and 49ers (11-4-1).

"They have a great coach and a great quarterback and they have great role players on their team," Texans running back Arian Foster said of the Patriots, who routed Houston 42-14 last month. "I have a lot of respect for them, but we can play ball, too."

The Texans beat Cincinnati 19-13 on Saturday, then Green Bay took out Minnesota 24-10. In Sunday's other game, Baltimore eliminated Indianapolis 24-9.

The playoffs continue next Saturday with Baltimore (11-6) at Denver, followed by Green Bay (12-5) at San Francisco. The Broncos beat the Ravens 34-17 three weeks ago, while the 49ers knocked off the Packers 30-22 in the season opener.

On Sunday, it's Seattle (12-5) at Atlanta, followed by Houston (13-4) visiting New England.

___

Ravens at Broncos

Not only is Baltimore thrilled to keep playing and keep star linebacker Ray Lewis' career going, but the Ravens got the opponent they sought for the divisional round.

"I wanted Denver," said Anquan Boldin, who set a franchise record with 145 yards receiving, including the clinching touchdown against Indianapolis (11-6). "Because they beat us. We'll make it different."

Lewis made 13 tackles in his first game back in nearly three months. He ended his last home game in Baltimore before his impending retirement by lining up at fullback for the final kneel-down. Then Lewis went into a short version of his trademark dance before being mobbed by teammates. He followed with a victory lap, his right triceps, covered by a brace, held high in salute to the fans.

Joe Flacco became the first quarterback to win a postseason game in each of his first five seasons and John Harbaugh is the first coach to do so.

"I love our team," Lewis said, "and I'm really looking forward to going out there and playing them next week."

The loss ended the Colts' turnaround season in which they went from 2-14 to the playoffs in coach Chuck Pagano's first year in Indianapolis. Pagano missed 12 weeks while undergoing treatment for leukemia and returned last week.

Andrew Luck completed 28 of 54 passes, the most attempts by a rookie in a playoff game, for 288 yards.

Packers at 49ers

It's been a long time since these teams met on kickoff weekend, and much has changed.

Green Bay has become a bit more balanced on offense and somewhat stingier on defense than it was back in September. San Francisco has second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick instead of Alex Smith, and receiver Michael Crabtree finally has developed into a threat.

The Packers held league rushing king Adrian Peterson to 99 yards in beating the Vikings (10-7), 100 yards less than he got on them the previous week.

"I don't think we had our identity at that point," QB Aaron Rodgers said of the Packers team San Francisco beat. "We were trying a lot of different things."

Seahawks at Falcons

Atlanta has flopped in its last three playoff games, including losing at home to Green Bay two years ago in a similar scenario.

Seattle won't bring as high-powered an offense as the Packers did to Atlanta, but it's versatile enough with the creative Wilson, bulldozing halfback Marshawn Lynch and a deep group of receivers.

The most significant challenge for the Falcons, though, will be a defense that completely shut down the Redskins and a hobbling Robert Griffin III for the final three quarters of their wild-card game.

Washington (10-7) had 129 yards in the first quarter and 74 for the rest of the game.

"Seventy yards in 3½ quarters is ridiculously good defense," coach Pete Carroll said after his Seahawks won their sixth straight and snapped Washington's seven-game winning streak.

Texans at Patriots

Both teams say the Monday night romp by New England on Dec. 10 is not an indicator of what's ahead. For their sake, the Texans better hope that is true.

"We didn't play our best football up there and we hurt ourselves with penalties and mistakes," said Foster, who rushed for 140 yards and a TD against the Bengals (10-7). "Anytime you give (the Patriots) opportunities, they'll take advantage of them. But we'll play our best up there."

They have no choice, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick fully expects a tighter game.

"When you play a team twice during the season, the games are totally different. They never go the same way," Belichick said. "We'll be able to certainly look at some of the matchups individually, guys that faced each (other) in the game. As far as plays and calls and things like that matching up, I'm sure they'll have some new wrinkles. I'm sure we'll have some, too. It will be totally different."

___

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

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Storm over Depardieu's 'pathetic' move

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed Russian citizenship on actor Gérard Depardieu


• For Depardieu, a public war of words erupted, with many in France disgusted by his move


• Depardieu more than anyone, represents the Gallic spirit, says Agnes Poirier


• Majority of French people disapprove of his action but can't help loving him, she adds

Agnes Poirier is a French journalist and political analyst who contributes regularly to newspapers, magazines and TV in the UK, U.S., France, Italy. Follow her on Twitter.

Paris (CNN) -- Since the revelation on the front page of daily newspaper Libération, on December 11, with a particularly vicious editorial talking about France's national treasure as a "former genius actor," Gérard Depardieu's departure to Belgium, where he bought a property just a mile from the French border, has deeply divided and saddened France. Even more so since, as we have learnt this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed the actor Russian citizenship.

Back in mid-December, the French media operated along political lines: the left-wing press such as Libération couldn't find strong enough words to describe Depardieu's "desertion" while right-wing publications such as Le Figaro, slightly uneasy at the news, preferred to focus on President François Hollande's punishing taxes which allegedly drove throngs of millionaires to seek tax asylum in more fiscally lenient countries such as Belgium or Britain. Le Figaro stopped short of passing moral judgement though. Others like satirical weekly Charlie hebdo, preferred irony. Its cover featured a cartoon of the rather rotund-looking Depardieu in front of a Belgian flag with the headline: "Can Belgium take the world's entire load of cholesterol?" Ouch.

Quickly though, it became quite clear that Depardieu was not treated in the same way as other famous French tax exiles. French actor Alain Delon is a Swiss resident as is crooner-rocker Johnny Halliday, and many other French stars and sportsmen ensure they reside for under six months in France in order to escape being taxed here on their income and capital. Their move has hardly ever been commented on. And they certainly never had to suffer the same infamy.

Agnes Poirier

For Depardieu, a public war of words erupted. It started with the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, and many members of his government, showing their disdain, and talking of Depardieu's "pathetic move." In response the outraged actor penned an open letter to the French PM in which he threatened to give back his French passport.

The backlash was not over. Fellow thespian Phillipe Torreton fired the first salvo against Depardieu in an open letter published in Libération, insulting both Depardieu's protruding physique and lack of patriotism: "So you're leaving the ship France in the middle of a storm? What did you expect, Gérard? You thought we would approve? You expected a medal, an academy award from the economy ministry? (...)We'll get by without you." French actress Catherine Deneuve felt she had to step in to defend Depardieu. In another open letter published by Libération, she evoked the darkest hours of the French revolution. Before flying to Rome to celebrate the New Year, Depardieu gave an interview to Le Monde in which he seemed to be joking about having asked Putin for Russian citizenship. Except, it wasn't a joke.

In truth, French people have felt touched to their core by Depardieu's gesture. He, more than anyone, represents the Gallic spirit. He has been Cyrano, he has been Danton; he, better than most, on screen and off, stands for what it means to be French: passionate, sensitive, theatrical, and grandiose. Ambiguous too, and weak in front of temptations and pleasures.

In truth, French people have felt touched to their core by Depardieu's gesture. He, more than anyone, represents the Gallic spirit
Hugh Miles

For more than two weeks now, #Depardieu has been trending on French Twitter. Surveys have showed France's dilemma: half the French people understand him but there are as many who think that paying one's taxes is a national duty. In other words, a majority of French people disapprove of his action but can't help loving the man.

Putin's move in granting the actor Russian citizenship has exacerbated things. And first of all, it is a blow to Hollande who, it was revealed, had a phone conversation with Depardieu on New Year's Day. The Elysées Palace refused to communicate on the men's exchange. A friend of the actor declared that Depardieu complained about being so reviled by the press and that he was leaving, no matter what.

If, in their hearts, the French don't quite believe Depardieu might one day settle in Moscow and abandon them, they feel deeply saddened by the whole saga. However, with France's former sex symbol Brigitte Bardot declaring that she too might ask Putin for Russian citizenship to protest against the fate of zoo elephants in Lyon, it looks as if the French may prefer to laugh the whole thing off. Proof of this: the last trend on French Twitter is #IWantRussianCitizenship.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Agnes Poirier.

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”Zero Dark Thirty” screenplay among Writers Guild nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The writers of controversial Osama bin Laden thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” and of the presidential drama “Lincoln” won nominations on Friday for the Writers Guild Awards, as momentum built in Hollywood ahead of the Oscars in February.

The screenplays for Iran hostage drama “Argo,” cult movie “The Master,” quirky comedy “Silver Linings Playbook,” and shipwreck tale “Life of Pi” also won nods from the Writers Guild of America for honors either as adapted or original movie screenplays.

The field of 10 feature film screenplays was rounded out by “Flight,” “Looper,” Wes Anderson‘s “Moonrise Kingdom,” and coming of age movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

“Zero Dark Thirty” screenplay writer Mark Boal has come under fire from some U.S. politicians over the film’s depiction of the role torture may have played in the hunt for the al Qaeda leader, and for the origins of his source material in reconstructing the 10-year effort to track down and kill bin Laden in May 2011 by U.S. special forces.

The film makers have denied being leaked classified material and say the film shows that no single method was responsible for leading to the capture of bin Laden.

The Writers Guild Awards, a key indication of Hollywood sentiment ahead of the Oscars, will be handed out at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York on February 17, one week before the February 24 Academy Awards ceremony.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Shutterfly’s Improbably Long Survival

Jeffrey Housenbold, the chief executive officer of Shutterfly (SFLY), sat down recently for a meal at Il Fornaio, a popular Italian restaurant in Palo Alto. He says he watched as a diner at a nearby table pulled out a smartphone and began uploading pictures of his steaming plate of cioppino onto Instagram. After describing the scene, Housenbold says: “I don’t have photos of people’s dinner on my service. I have 16 billion memories.”

Housenbold uses anecdotes like this to help explain why Shutterfly isn’t insecure about its place in the world. The Redwood City (Calif.)-based company is making money by turning digital snapshots into tangible things: Sales of custom photo books, calendars, greeting cards, wedding invitations, and even wall decals totaled an estimated $ 600 million in 2012. Yet there’s a feeling that the company has been passed by. After all, investors value Shutterfly at $ 1 billion—the same price Facebook (FB) paid for Instagram, a startup with no revenue.

Founded in 1999, Shutterfly has been surrounded by naysayers for much of its existence. The company has faced off against 1,000 (yes, really) startups in the online photo market as well as giants such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), Walgreens (WAG), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Eastman Kodak, and Yahoo! (YHOO) Its odds of survival seemed low, but Shutterfly has chalked up 47 straight quarters of revenue growth. Sales, on Housenbold’s watch, have multiplied elevenfold. Having absorbed the customers from the defunct digital photo businesses of Kodak, Fujifilm, and Yahoo, Shutterfly is now home to 70 petabytes’ worth of cherished family pictures—making it the largest service of its kind.

Housenbold arrived from EBay (EBAY) in 2005 and took Shutterfly public a year later. Endowed with a photographic memory, the 43-year-old executive can recite the minutiae of Shutterfly’s financial performance over the past decade with ease. He’s also beyond what people would consider a photo buff. A onetime high-school and college yearbook photographer, he spent $ 2,000 a year on Shutterfly before taking over the company. He has 248,000 photos stored on his hard drive.

Most of Shutterfly’s customers aren’t so committed to photography. They are, in Housenbold’s words, amateur “chief memory officers.” Women account for 80 percent of Shutterfly’s business, and more than half of the company’s revenue comes around December as these CMOs turn photos into gifts. To secure its edge over rivals, Shutterfly has invested in technology, such as algorithms that will scan a photo album and arrange the pictures into a well-crafted book, as well as high-quality materials like double-thick paper. “It turns out that 25- to 50-year-old women really care about design and want to show off some flair,” Housenbold says.

Despite its solid financial performance, Shutterfly has a roller-coaster stock history, reflecting investors’ continuing concerns that it will be edged out by competitors. HP, owner of Snapfish, and American Greetings heavily discounted their prices in 2012, says Victor Anthony, a financial analyst with Topeka Capital Markets. “You have an industry under intense pricing pressure, and there’s always the concern going forward that companies like Facebook, Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN) will decide to enter this business,” he says. “The question is, will they build their own stores or try to buy Shutterfly?”

Housenbold counters that the company has a strategy in place to make more money outside the holiday rush. During slower times, Shutterfly has started using its digital presses to print custom brochures and mailings for AT&T (T), Dell (DELL), and other customers. It’s a $ 13 million-a-year business that Anthony expects could hit $ 100 million in two to three years. Shutterfly has also acquired companies such as Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas to round out its portfolio of stationery, greeting cards, and invitations that can be sent throughout the year. As Housenbold says, “It’s all about the moments that matter.”

The bottom line: With an estimated $ 600 million in sales last year, Shutterfly has become No. 1 in the business of turning digital photos into keepsakes.

Businessweek.com — Top News

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New Job Alerts System Launched to Help Canadians Looking for Work

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Jan 6, 2013) – The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, today launched the new Job Alerts system, making it easier for Canadians across the country to find out about local job opportunities.

“The new Job Alerts system is an important part of our government”s plan to better Connect Canadians with Available Jobs in their area,” said Minister Finley. “Starting today, Canadians can subscribe to the new system, which will help them find out about locally available jobs that match their skills.”

The new Job Alerts will provide emails to Canadian subscribers twice a day that contain job postings from a variety of sources, including Job Bank and other recruitment systems. Job Alerts will continue to be refined and improved over time to ensure it works effectively and efficiently for users.

In addition to job postings for their preferred occupation, subscribers will have access to labour market information and resources that will help support a reasonable job search for suitable employment for Employment Insurance regular and fishing claimants. Subscribers may also choose to receive information on related jobs or the job market in other regions.

The new system is also much simpler to use. Subscribers to the new enhanced Job Alerts system will only have to provide a valid email address to get started. Once users confirm their subscription, they can modify their preferences to define the type of information they want to receive.

For more information or to subscribe, visit WorkinginCanada.gc.ca/JobAlerts. 

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.

This news release is available online at www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Backgrounder

The new, enhanced Job Alerts system provides Canadian subscribers with a more comprehensive list of available jobs in their chosen occupation and local area by sending emails twice a day regarding job opportunities and related labour market information.

Among the new features available, Job Alerts can offer suggestions for alternative occupations related to a user”s current occupational field. These related occupations are based on the skills and knowledge of the user”s current occupation. The results are suggestions and will require further exploration to determine any differences or gaps in skills or training.

When the system launches, Job Alerts will include job postings from a variety of sources, including Job Bank and other recruitment systems. The Government is also working with private-sector companies to include job postings from their sites. As these agreements come into effect, Job Alerts will be able to provide daily alerts about job postings from an even broader range of sources.

As the system continues to evolve, subscribers will also receive additional information that can help them decide how and when to expand a job search. For example, a heavy equipment operator in the oil and gas industry may begin searching for the same job in the same industry. If he chooses to receive additional labour market information, he could find that his skills are in high demand in other sectors. This could help him make the decision to expand his search to the construction or utilities sector.

How can I register for Job Alerts?

Under the previous system, people had to register by creating a profile through Job Bank to receive alerts. Subscribing to the enhanced Job Alerts is easier than ever-simply:

1. visit WorkinginCanada.gc.ca/JobAlerts;


2. choose an occupation and location for which to receive an alert; and


3. provide an email address where the alerts can be sent twice daily.

You can expect to begin receiving email alerts within 24 hours of registration, which is voluntary and can be unsubscribed at any time.

While visiting WorkinginCanada.gc.ca to subscribe to Job Alerts, Canadians can also use other tools to help them in their job search. For instance:

• The Skills and Knowledge checklist allows users to explore jobs or career options that match their skills and knowledge. Users select which skills and knowledge they possess, and a list of results demonstrates occupations with similar matches.


• A user can also explore careers by education program. Users can input an education program to generate a list of occupations linked to that program. 

The Job Alerts system is part of the Government”s common-sense changes to help better connect unemployed Canadians with available jobs in their local area that match their skills.

Other Connecting Canadians with Available Jobs measures include clarifying what constitutes “suitable employment” and “reasonable job search” and working with interested provinces and territories to explore ways to help people on Employment Insurance access employment supports earlier in their claim.

Marketwire News Archive – Yahoo! Finance

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"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week.

Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current estimates are down sharply from what they were in October.

That could set stocks up for more volatility following a week of sharp gains that put the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> on Friday at the highest close since December 31, 2007. The index also registered its biggest weekly percentage gain in more than a year.

Based on a Reuters analysis, Europe ranks among the chief concerns cited by companies that warned on fourth-quarter results. Uncertainty about the region and its weak economic outlook were cited by more than half of the 25 largest S&P 500 companies that issued warnings.

In the most recent earnings conference calls, macroeconomic worries were cited by 10 companies while the U.S. "fiscal cliff" was cited by at least nine as reasons for their earnings warnings.

"The number of things that could go wrong isn't so high, but the magnitude of how wrong they could go is what's worrisome," said Kurt Winters, senior portfolio manager for Whitebox Mutual Funds in Minneapolis.

Negative-to-positive guidance by S&P 500 companies for the fourth quarter was 3.6 to 1, the second worst since the third quarter of 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data.

U.S. lawmakers narrowly averted the "fiscal cliff" by coming to a last-minute agreement on a bill to avoid steep tax hikes this weeks -- driving the rally in stocks -- but the battle over further spending cuts is expected to resume in two months.

Investors also have seen a revival of worries about Europe's sovereign debt problems, with Moody's in November downgrading France's credit rating and debt crises looming for Spain and other countries.

"You have a recession in Europe as a base case. Europe is still the biggest trading partner with a lot of U.S. companies, and it's still a big chunk of global capital spending," said Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

Among companies citing worries about Europe was eBay , whose chief financial officer, Bob Swan, spoke of "macro pressures from Europe" in the company's October earnings conference call.

REVENUE WORRIES

One of the biggest worries voiced about earnings has been whether companies will be able to continue to boost profit growth despite relatively weak revenue growth.

S&P 500 revenue fell 0.8 percent in the third quarter for the first decline since the third quarter of 2009, Thomson Reuters data showed. Earnings growth for the quarter was a paltry 0.1 percent after briefly dipping into negative territory.

On top of that, just 40 percent of S&P 500 companies beat revenue expectations in the third quarter, while 64.2 percent beat earnings estimates, the Thomson Reuters data showed.

For the fourth quarter, estimates are slightly better but are well off estimates for the quarter from just a few months earlier. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 2.8 percent while revenue is expected to have gone up 1.9 percent.

Back in October, earnings growth for the fourth quarter was forecast up 9.9 percent.

In spite of the cautious outlooks, some analysts still see a good chance for earnings beats this reporting period.

"The thinking is you need top line growth for earnings to continue to expand, and we've seen the market defy that," said Mike Jackson, founder of Denver-based investment firm T3 Equity Labs.

Based on his analysis, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary are the S&P sectors most likely to beat earnings expectations in the upcoming season, while consumer staples, materials and utilities are the least likely to beat, Jackson said.

Sounding a positive note on Friday, drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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