Kellan Lutz, Hugh Jackman Take Bites and Swipes & More Casting News
Label: LifestyleBy Julia Haskins
12/02/2012 at 07:00 PM EST
Kellan Lutz (left) and Hugh Jackman
Christopher Polk/Getty, Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
It's comeback time. Whether seeking revenge or reprising beloved roles, a fresh crop of movies shows that the best characters always come back for more.
Twilight's Kellan Lutz feasts on others as a vampire, but this time, he's utilizing his own body for powers, Zimbio reports.
The actor will star in Tatua as a tattooed assassin whose weapons are extracted from the ink on his body. The process is a strain on the hit man, but he must put that aside when his son is kidnapped by a dangerous foe.
Hugh Jackman is set to reprise his role as Wolverine in
X-Men: Days of Future Past, the Hollywood Reporter. Ian McKellen (Magneto) and Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier), will also be joining Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult.
Charlize Theron will star in an adaptation of the final installment of a South Korean revenge trilogy, the Hollywood Reporter also says. The original movie revolves around a woman wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years who then sets out to seek her long-awaited revenge. Writer William Monahan says the English-language remake will be "very American – and very unexpected."
The made-for-TV Disney channel movie Life-Size is getting a sequel, Variety reports. Tyra Banks will reprise her role as Eve, the doll who comes to life, and also executive produce the movie. No word yet on whether Lindsay Lohan, who played Eve's owner, will be making a return.
Also coming soon:
Beyoncé won't be slowing down after her Super Bowl performance in February. Just a couple weeks later, she'll introduce her still untitled, feature-length documentary on HBO, Deadline reports. The documentary airs Feb. 16.
Bridesmaids' Rose Byrne will be going through the motions as a newlywed in I Give it a Year, Zimbio reports. As if being newly married wasn't tough enough, the "too perfect" ex Anna Faris will be shaking up an already teetering balance.
Cate Blanchett will be stirring up her wicked ways as the evil stepmother in a live-action adaptation of Disney's Cinderella, also according to Zimbio.
And George Clooney is sticking to his winning formula by joining forces with his Argo team to produce an untitled crime drama, Variety reports.
Asperger's dropped from revised diagnosis manual
Label: HealthCHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term "Asperger's disorder" is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But "dyslexia" and other learning disorders remain.
The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation's psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.
Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association's new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.
This diagnostic guide "defines what constellations of symptoms" doctors recognize as mental disorders, said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor. More important, he said, it "shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care."
Olfson was not involved in the revision process. The changes were approved Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., by the psychiatric association's board of trustees.
The aim is not to expand the number of people diagnosed with mental illness, but to ensure that affected children and adults are more accurately diagnosed so they can get the most appropriate treatment, said Dr. David Kupfer. He chaired the task force in charge of revising the manual and is a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
One of the most hotly argued changes was how to define the various ranges of autism. Some advocates opposed the idea of dropping the specific diagnosis for Asperger's disorder. People with that disorder often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lack social skills. Some who have the condition embrace their quirkiness and vow to continue to use the label.
And some Asperger's families opposed any change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services.
But the revision will not affect their education services, experts say.
The new manual adds the term "autism spectrum disorder," which already is used by many experts in the field. Asperger's disorder will be dropped and incorporated under that umbrella diagnosis. The new category will include kids with severe autism, who often don't talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.
Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich., who has four sons with various forms of autism, said Saturday she welcomes the change. Her boys all had different labels in the old diagnostic manual, including a 14-year-old with Asperger's.
"To give it separate names never made sense to me," Gibson said. "To me, my children all had autism."
Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won't affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.
People with dyslexia also were closely watching for the new updated doctors' guide. Many with the reading disorder did not want their diagnosis to be dropped. And it won't be. Instead, the new manual will have a broader learning disorder category to cover several conditions including dyslexia, which causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words.
The trustees on Saturday made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several work groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.
The revised guidebook "represents a significant step forward for the field. It will improve our ability to accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders," Dr. David Fassler, the group's treasurer and a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said after the vote.
The shorthand name for the new edition, the organization's fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is DSM-5. Group leaders said specifics won't be disclosed until the manual is published but they confirmed some changes. A 2000 edition of the manual made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.
Olfson said the manual "seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 ... there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders."
Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York who was on the psychiatric group's autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger's in the old manual would be included in the new diagnosis.
One reason for the change is that some states and school systems don't provide services for children and adults with Asperger's, or provide fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.
Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said small studies have suggested the new criteria will be effective. But she said it will be crucial to monitor so that children don't lose services.
Other changes include:
—A new diagnosis for severe recurrent temper tantrums — disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Critics say it will medicalize kids' who have normal tantrums. Supporters say it will address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings and affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums.
—Eliminating the term "gender identity disorder." It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender. But many activists believe the condition isn't a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with "gender dysphoria," which means emotional distress over one's gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner .
Euro, shares rise on signs of Chinese growth
Label: BusinessLONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit a six-week high and shares rose on Monday as signs of quicker Chinese growth boosted investors' risk appetite although gains were capped by U.S. budget worries.
Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector sped up for the first time in 13 months in November, according to the latest Purchasing Managers' Surveys (PMI), adding to evidence the economy is reviving after seven quarters of slowing growth.
"We are in an environment where the big picture risks are still there; the U.S. fiscal cliff, the euro zone and China - on two of those (China and the euro zone) arguably things have been improving," Philip Poole, global head of macro investment strategy at HSBC Global Asset Management, said.
Final PMI readings for Europe due later are also likely to show a small rebound in November, although this will still mean the euro area is on course for its worst quarter since the depths of the global financial crisis in early 2009.
Uncertainty over whether Washington can avert the "fiscal cliff", $600 billion worth of tax increases and spending cuts that will be automatically triggered in early 2013 unless Democrats and Republicans agree how to cut the deficit, was also keeping investors nervous.
MSCI world equity index <.miwd00000pus> edged up about 0.1 percent 332.80 helped by a small gain in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus>.
In Europe the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> of top European shares rose 0.2 percent in early trade to 1,121.87 points with London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> all around 0.2 percent higher.<.eu/>
The euro hit a six-week high against the dollar at $1.3048 on the upbeat Chinese data, before settling to be around $1.3030 ahead of the a euro zone finance ministers meeting which is due to assess the latest plan to help Greece.
The Greek government has unveiled details of a 10 billion euro bond buy-back crucial to cutting its ballooning debt pile, hoping the terms will draw enough investors and unblock aid.
The dollar was down 0.1 percent against the yen at 82.27, but not far from a 7-1/2-month high of 82.84 yen touched on November 22.
Oil prices were underpinned by the firm Chinese data, tensions in the Middle East.
U.S. crude futures rose 0.15 percent to $89.04 a barrel and Brent added 0.3 percent to $111.55, while London copper gained 0.2 percent to $8,010 a metric ton (1.1023 tons).
That uncertainty underpinned gold's appeal as a safe-haven as spot gold edged up 0.25 percent to $1,719 an ounce.
(Reporting by Richard Hubbard; Editing by Anna Willard)
Mursi calls December 15 referendum, Islamists rally
Label: WorldCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a new constitution, hoping to end protests over a decree expanding his powers, as at least 200,000 of his Islamist supporters rallied in Cairo on Saturday.
Approval of the constitution drafted by an assembly stacked with Mursi's Islamist allies will override the November 22 decree that temporarily shielded Mursi from judicial oversight and triggered statements of concern from Western governments.
The decree plunged Egypt into its worst crisis since Mursi won office in a June election and sparked countrywide protests and violence in which two people have been killed and hundreds injured. This hit an economy just showing signs of recovery.
"I renew my call for opening a serious national dialogue over the concerns of the nation, with all honesty and impartiality," said Mursi after receiving the final draft from the constituent assembly. "We must move beyond the period of confrontation and differences, and get on to productive work."
The constitution is meant to be the cornerstone of democracy after three decades of army-backed autocracy under President Hosni Mubarak. Yet drafting it has been divisive, exposing splits between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.
Protesters in an open-ended sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which was also the focus of demonstrations against Mubarak, accuse Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood of trying to impose a flawed constitution.
Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said on Twitter that "struggle will continue" despite the referendum and that the draft constitution "undermines basic freedoms."
Liberal figures including former Arab League chief Amr Moussa pulled out of the constituent assembly last month, as did representatives of Egypt's Christian minority.
The draft constitution contains Islamist-flavored language which opponents say could be used to whittle away human rights and stifle criticism. It forbids blasphemy and "insults to any person", does not explicitly uphold women's rights and demands respect for "religion, traditions and family values".
The text also limits presidents to two four-year terms, requires parliamentary approval for their choice of prime minister, and introduces some civilian oversight of the military - although not enough for critics.
Mursi described it as a constitution that fulfilled the goals of the January 25, 2011 revolution that brought an end to Mubarak's rule. "Let everyone - those who agree and those who disagree - go to the referendum to have their say," he said.
JUDGES TO SUPERVISE VOTE
To hold the referendum, Mursi will depend on a judiciary which has been on partial strike over the November 22 decree, and which he and the Brotherhood suspect of links to the Mubarak regime. Judges oversee elections in Egypt.
Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said he trusted the judiciary would supervise the vote, state news agency MENA reported.
Mursi is betting the Islamists' core supporters and ordinary Egyptians fed up with instability will pass the constitution.
While Mursi only secured the presidency by a slim margin, the Islamists have won all elections since Mubarak was toppled.
The opposition must decide whether to urge a boycott or a "No" vote in the referendum. If they secure a "No", the president could retain the powers he has unilaterally assumed.
The referendum call met with cheers from the pro-Mursi rally at Cairo University. Streets were clogged with those sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and more hardline Salafi parties.
The rally was a show of strength by Islamists who feel under attack from leftist, liberal and socialist parties. By early evening, the crowd peaked at at least 200,000, said Reuters witnesses, basing estimates on previous Cairo rallies. Authorities declined to give an estimate for the crowd's size.
"The people want the implementation of God's law," chanted flag-waving demonstrators, many bussed in from the countryside.
Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against Mursi on Friday, chanting: "The people want to bring down the regime," echoing a trademark slogan of the revolts against Arab leaders.
Rival demonstrators threw stones after dark in the northern city of Alexandria and a town in the Nile Delta. Similar clashes erupted again briefly in Alexandria on Saturday, state TV said.
Mohamed Noshi, 23, a pharmacist from Mansoura, said he had joined the rally in Cairo to support Mursi and his decree. "Those in Tahrir don't represent everyone. Most people support Mursi and aren't against the decree," he said.
Egypt cannot hold a new parliamentary election until a new constitution is passed. The country has been without an elected legislature since the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated lower house in June.
The court is due to meet on Sunday to discuss the legality of parliament's upper house.
"We want stability. Every time, the constitutional court tears down institutions we elect," said Yasser Taha, a 30-year-old demonstrator at the Islamist rally in Cairo.
(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad, Yasmine Saleh and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Alistair Lyon and Tom Perry; Editing by Myra MacDonald and Jason Webb)
Zynga stock falls after Facebook terms change
Label: TechnologyNEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Zynga slumped Friday after it disclosed with its partner Facebook that they have loosened their close ties to one another.
THE SPARK: The companies said in regulatory filings Thursday that they have amended their 2010 contract to say Zynga will no longer have to display Facebook ads or use Facebook payments on its own properties, such as Zynga.com.
In addition, Zynga, which makes the games “FarmVille” and “CityVille,” will no longer be required to use Facebook as the exclusive social site for its games, or to grant Facebook exclusive games. Any social game Zynga launches will also be available on Facebook either at the same time or shortly after it launches elsewhere.
Facebook, meanwhile, will be able to develop its own games after the end of March, though it said it has no plans to do so. Its deal with Zynga previously prohibited Facebook from developing games.
THE BIG PICTURE: While it’s not exactly splitsville, the original 2010 contract gave Zynga special status among Facebook game developers. Zynga relies on Facebook for most of the revenue it generates even as it works to establish its independence.
Facebook also makes money from Zynga, though the portion of its revenue that the game maker accounts for has declined. In the third quarter, Facebook said that 7 percent of its total revenue came from Zynga, down from 12 percent in the third quarter of 2011.
ANALYSIS: Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said while Zynga investors reacted badly to the news, he sees the changes as a long-term positive for both companies.
“Zynga now has an incentive to expand the reach of its most popular social games beyond Facebook and Zynga.com and be able to offer additional payment options, likely resulting in additional payers who are not Facebook users,” the analyst wrote in a note to investors.
Pachter rates Zynga “Outperform” with a target price of $ 4.
STOCK ACTION: Shares of San Francisco’S Zynga Inc. fell 19 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $ 2.43 in afternoon trading. Zynga went public in December 2011 at a price of $ 10 per share but its stock have fallen sharply amid concerns about its ability to keep growing quickly.
Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum Are Married
Label: Lifestyle
People Exclusive
By Monica Rizzo
12/01/2012 at 06:15 PM EST
J.P. Rosenbaum and Ashley Hebert
Victor Chavez/Getty
It’s official: Bachelorette star Ashley Hebert and her fiancé J.P. Rosenbaum tied the knot Saturday afternoon in Pasadena, Calif.
Surrounded by family, friends and fellow Bachelor and Bachelorette alumni like Ali Fedotowsky, Emily Maynard, and Jason and Molly Mesnick, the couple said "I do" in an outdoor ceremony officiated by franchise host Chris Harrison.
"Today is all about our friends and family," Hebert, whose nuptials will air Dec. 16 on a two-hour special on ABC, tells PEOPLE. "It's about standing with J.P., looking around at all the people we love in the same room there to celebrate our love."
The 28-year-old dentist from Madawaska, Maine, met New York construction manager Rosenbaum, 35, on season 7 of The Bachelorette. The couple became engaged on the season finale.
Hebert and Rosenbaum are the second couple in the franchise's 24 seasons to make it from their show finale to the altar, following in the footsteps of Bachelorette Trista Rehn, who married Vail, Colo., firefighter Ryan Sutter in 2003.
Asperger's dropped from revised diagnosis manual
Label: HealthCHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term "Asperger's disorder" is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But "dyslexia" and other learning disorders remain.
The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation's psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.
Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association's new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.
This diagnostic guide "defines what constellations of symptoms" doctors recognize as mental disorders, said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor. More important, he said, it "shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care."
Olfson was not involved in the revision process. The changes were approved Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., by the psychiatric association's board of trustees.
The aim is not to expand the number of people diagnosed with mental illness, but to ensure that affected children and adults are more accurately diagnosed so they can get the most appropriate treatment, said Dr. David Kupfer. He chaired the task force in charge of revising the manual and is a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
One of the most hotly argued changes was how to define the various ranges of autism. Some advocates opposed the idea of dropping the specific diagnosis for Asperger's disorder. People with that disorder often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lack social skills. Some who have the condition embrace their quirkiness and vow to continue to use the label.
And some Asperger's families opposed any change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services.
But the revision will not affect their education services, experts say.
The new manual adds the term "autism spectrum disorder," which already is used by many experts in the field. Asperger's disorder will be dropped and incorporated under that umbrella diagnosis. The new category will include kids with severe autism, who often don't talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.
Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich., who has four sons with various forms of autism, said Saturday she welcomes the change. Her boys all had different labels in the old diagnostic manual, including a 14-year-old with Asperger's.
"To give it separate names never made sense to me," Gibson said. "To me, my children all had autism."
Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won't affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.
People with dyslexia also were closely watching for the new updated doctors' guide. Many with the reading disorder did not want their diagnosis to be dropped. And it won't be. Instead, the new manual will have a broader learning disorder category to cover several conditions including dyslexia, which causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words.
The trustees on Saturday made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several work groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.
The revised guidebook "represents a significant step forward for the field. It will improve our ability to accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders," Dr. David Fassler, the group's treasurer and a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said after the vote.
The shorthand name for the new edition, the organization's fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is DSM-5. Group leaders said specifics won't be disclosed until the manual is published but they confirmed some changes. A 2000 edition of the manual made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.
Olfson said the manual "seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 ... there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders."
Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York who was on the psychiatric group's autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger's in the old manual would be included in the new diagnosis.
One reason for the change is that some states and school systems don't provide services for children and adults with Asperger's, or provide fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.
Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said small studies have suggested the new criteria will be effective. But she said it will be crucial to monitor so that children don't lose services.
Other changes include:
—A new diagnosis for severe recurrent temper tantrums — disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Critics say it will medicalize kids' who have normal tantrums. Supporters say it will address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings and affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums.
—Eliminating the term "gender identity disorder." It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender. But many activists believe the condition isn't a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with "gender dysphoria," which means emotional distress over one's gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner .
Cliff fight may knock out December rally
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - In normal times, next week's slew of U.S. economic data could be a springboard for a December rally in the stock market.
December is historically a strong month for markets. The S&P 500 has risen 16 times in the past 20 years during the month.
But the market hasn't been operating under normal circumstances since November 7 when a day after the U.S. election, investors' focus shifted squarely to the looming "fiscal cliff."
Investors are increasingly nervous about the ability of lawmakers to undo the $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that are set to begin in January; those changes, if they go into effect, could send the U.S. economy into a recession.
A string of economic indicators next week, which includes a key reading of the manufacturing sector on Monday, culminates with the November jobs report on Friday.
But the impact of those economic reports could be muted. Distortions in the data caused by Superstorm Sandy are discounted.
The spotlight will be more firmly on signs from Washington that politicians can settle their differences on how to avoid the fiscal cliff.
"We have a week with a lot of economic data, and obviously most of the economic data is going to reflect the effects of Sandy, and that might be a little bit negative for the market next week, but most of that is already expected - the main focus remains the fiscal cliff," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
Concerns about the cliff sent the S&P 500 <.spx> into a two-week decline after the elections, dropping as much as 5.3 percent, only to rally back nearly 4 percent as the initial tone of talks offered hope that a compromise could be reached and investors snapped up stocks that were viewed as undervalued.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained more than 20 points from its intraday low after House Speaker John Boehner said he was optimistic that a budget deal to avoid big spending cuts and tax hikes could be worked out. The next day, more pessimistic comments from Boehner, an Ohio Republican, briefly wiped out the day's gains in stocks.
On Friday, the sharp divide between the Democrats and the Republicans on taxes and spending was evident in comments from President Barack Obama, who favors raising taxes on the wealthy, and Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, who said Obama's plan was the wrong approach and declared that the talks had reached a stalemate.
"It's unusual to end up with one variable in this industry, it's unusual to have a single bullet that is the causal factor effect, and you are sitting here for the next maybe two weeks or more, on that kind of condition," said Sandy Lincoln, chief market strategist at BMO Asset Management U.S. in Chicago.
"And that is what is grabbing the markets."
BE CONTRARY AND MAKE MERRY
But investor attitudes and seasonality could also help spur a rally for the final month of the year.
The most recent survey by the American Association of Individual Investors reflected investor caution about the cliff. Although bullish sentiment rose above 40 percent for the first time since August 23, bearish sentiment remained above its historical average of 30.5 percent for the 14th straight week.
December is a critical month for retailers such as Target Corp
With consumer spending making up roughly 70 percent of the U.S. economy, a solid showing for retailers during the holiday season could help fuel any gains.
Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, believes the recent drop after the election could be a market bottom, with sentiment leaving stocks poised for a December rally.
"The concerns on the fiscal cliff - as valid as they might be - could be overblown. When you look at a lot of the overriding sentiment, that has gotten extremely negative," said Detrick.
"From that contrarian point of view with the historically bullish time frame of December, we once again could be setting ourselves up for a pretty nice end-of-year rally, based on lowered expectations."
SOME FEEL THE BIG CHILL
Others view the fiscal cliff as such an unusual event that any historical comparisons should be thrown out the window, with a rally unlikely because of a lack of confidence in Washington to reach an agreement and the economic hit caused by Sandy.
"History doesn't matter. You're dealing with an extraordinary set of circumstances that could very well end up in the U.S. economy going into a recession," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New York.
"And the likelihood of that is exclusively in the hands of our elected officials in Washington. They could absolutely drag us into a completely voluntary recession."
(Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Questions or comments on this column can be emailed to: charles.mikolajczak(at)thomsonreuters.com )
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)
Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through
Label: WorldCAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers.
"The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak.
Mursi said a decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which sparked eight days of protests and violence by Egyptians calling him a new dictator, was "for an exceptional stage" and aimed to speed up the democratic transition.
"It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution," he told state television while the constituent assembly was still voting on a draft, which the Islamists say reflects Egypt's new freedoms. "There is no place for dictatorship."
But the opposition cried foul. Liberals, leftists, Christians, more moderate Muslims and others had withdrawn from the assembly, saying their voices were not being heard.
Even in the mosque where Mursi said Friday prayers some opponents chanted "Mursi: void" before sympathizers surrounded him shouting in support, journalists and a security source said.
Tens of thousands gathered across the country, filling Tahrir Square and hitting the streets in Alexandria and other cities, responding to opposition calls for a big turnout. Rival demonstrators clashed after dark in Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Al-Mahala Al-Kobra, some hurling rocks in anger.
An opposition leaflet distributed on Tahrir urged protesters in Cairo to stay overnight before Saturday's rallies by Islamists; the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies said they would avoid the square during their demonstrations backing Mursi.
The disparate opposition, which has struggled to compete with well-organized Islamists, has been drawn together and reinvigorated by the crisis. Tens of thousands had also protested on Tuesday, showing the breadth of public anger.
POTENT MACHINE
But Islamists have a potent political machine and the United States has looked on warily at the rising power of a group it once kept at arms length now ruling a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel and is at the heart of the Arab Spring.
Protesters said they would push for a 'no' vote in a constitutional referendum, which could happen as early as mid-December. If the new basic law were approved, it would immediately cancel the president's decree.
"We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society," said Sayed el-Erian, 43, a protester in Tahrir and member of a party set up by opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei.
ElBaradei said in a statement the constitution had "lost legitimacy" and called for ending the polarization of Egypt.
The plebiscite on the constitution is a gamble based on the Islamists' belief they can mobilize voters again after winning every election held since Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.
Despite the big numbers opposed to him, Mursi can count on backing from the disciplined Brotherhood and Islamist allies, as well as many Egyptians who are simply exhausted by the turmoil.
"He just wants us to move on and not waste time in conflicts," said 33-year-old Cairo shopkeeper Abdel Nasser Marie. "Give the man a chance and Egypt a break."
But Mursi needs the cooperation of judges to oversee the vote, and many have been angered by a decree from Mursi they said undermined the judiciary. Some judges are on strike.
The assembly concluded the vote after a 19-hour session, faster than many expected, approving all 234 articles of the draft, covering presidential powers, the status of Islam, the military's role and human rights.
It introduces a presidential term limit of eight years - Mubarak served for 30. It also bring in a degree of civilian oversight over the military - though not enough for critics.
An Egyptian official said Mursi was expected to approve the document on Saturday and then has 15 days to hold a referendum.
"This is a revolutionary constitution," said Hossam el-Gheriyani, head of the assembly, urging members to campaign for the new constitution across Egypt, after the all-night session.
DEEPENING DIVISIONS
Critics argue it is an attempt to rush through a draft they say has been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed Mursi for president in a June election, and its Islamist allies.
Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in protests since the decree was announced on November 22, deepening the divide between the newly empowered Islamists and their critics.
Seeking to placate opponents, Mursi welcomed criticism but said there was no place for violence. "I am very happy that Egypt has real political opposition," he told state television.
He said Egypt needed to attract investors and tourists. The crisis threatens to derail a fragile economic recovery after two years of turmoil. Egypt is waiting for the International Monetary Fund to finalize a $4.8 billion loan to help it out.
An alliance of opposition groups pledged to keep up protests and said broader civil disobedience was possible to fight what it described as an attempt to "kidnap Egypt from its people".
Several independent newspapers said they would not publish on Tuesday in protest. One of the papers also said three private satellite channels would halt broadcasts on Wednesday.
The draft injects new Islamic references into Egypt's system of government but keeps in place an article defining "the principles of sharia" as the main source of legislation - the same phrase found in the previous constitution.
The president can declare war with parliament's approval, but only after consulting a national defense council with a heavy military and security membership. That was not in the old constitution, used when Egypt was ruled by ex-military men.
Critics highlighted other flaws, such as articles pertaining to the rights of women and freedom of speech.
A new parliamentary election cannot be held until a new constitution is passed. Egypt has been without an elected legislature since a court ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated lower house in June.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Alastair Macdonald)
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