PARIS, March 1 (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson's philosophy is behind the longevity of Manchester United's homegrown players, says Paris St Germain midfielder David Beckham. The former England captain and United player is still active at 37, having joined PSG on a five-month loan at the end of January. Former team mate Phil Neville, 36, plays at Everton and the 39-year-old Ryan Giggs, who started his youth career at Manchester City but ended it at United, is still at Old Trafford after signing his first professional contract there in 1990. ...
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Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night
Label: World“Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).
Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.
William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.
“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.
Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”
The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.
The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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Wall Street advances, on track for third day of gains
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday, pointing to a third straight day of gains in the wake of some strong economic data, though a further advance may be limited with major averages near multi-year highs.
While some data released Thursday were rosy, a read on economic growth was weaker than expected, and analysts said a pullback may be in store a day after major equity indexes posted their biggest daily advance since early January.
Over the past two sessions, the S&P 500 has gained 1.9 percent, rising back above the closely watched level of 1,500. The Dow Jones industrial average moved within striking distance of an all-time high.
"The market is looking choppy, and I think investors should use this as an opportunity to sell into strength," said Matt McCormick, a money manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor. "This seems like an environment where someone should be conservative instead of aggressive."
The U.S. economy grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, a weaker pace than expected, although a slightly better performance in exports and fewer imports led the government to scratch an earlier estimate of an economic contraction.
Separately, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, while the February Chicago Purchasing Managers Index unexpectedly rose to an 11-month high.
While equity markets suffered steep losses earlier in the week on concerns over European debt, they have since recovered, with the gains fueled by strong data and recent comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that showed continued support for the Fed's economic stimulus policy.
"Growth is still anemic and there are still issues with Europe. People seem to be ignoring the signs that would otherwise give them cause for concern," said McCormick, who helps oversee $8.2 billion in assets.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 27.27 points, or 0.19 percent, at 14,102.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 5.13 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,521.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 13.75 points, or 0.43 percent, at 3,176.01.
The benchmark S&P 500 has gained 1.4 percent in February, the Dow is up 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq has added 1 percent.
J.C. Penney Co Inc
Mylan Inc
Investors were keeping an eye on the debate in Washington over sequestration - U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting on Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on spending and taxes. President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders arranged to hold last-ditch talks to prevent the cuts, but expectations were low that any deal would be produced.
With 93 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 69.5 percent have beaten profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6.2 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night
Label: World“Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).
Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.
William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.
“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.
Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”
The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.
The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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Wall Street inches up after data
Label: WorldMADRID, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi has rarely been accused of failing to deliver in big games, having scored in two European Cup finals, but after subdued performances against AC Milan and Real Madrid, questions are being asked. The four-times World Player of the Year and leading scorer in one of the greatest club teams of all time, was a shadow of his usual self at the San Siro in a Champions League last-16 first leg last week, when Barcelona slumped to a 2-0 defeat. ...
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‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night
Label: World“Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).
Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.
William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.
“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.
Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”
The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.
The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Title Post: ‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night
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‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night
Label: World“Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).
Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.
William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.
“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.
Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”
The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.
The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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Wall Street turns lower on Italian worries
Label: World(Reuters) - For the first time in decades, the United States is making steady gains in the number of high school students earning diplomas, putting it on pace to reach a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, according to a new analysis released Monday. But the good news comes with a big asterisk: students with learning disabilities and limited fluency in English face long odds to finish high school, with graduation rates for those groups as low as 25 percent in some states, the analysis found. ...
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Majority of Missouri Tan Salons Allow Preteens
Label: WorldMissouri. Call it the artificial sunshine state … at least for preteens allowed to enter tanning booths and beds there.
Missouri is one of 17 states that have no minimum age restrictions on tanning salon use and does not require parental consent, despite a proliferation of scientific evidence linking indoor tanning to skin cancers.
Now, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the majority of tanning salon operators in Missouri would allow children as young as 10 to 12 years old to use their tanning machines.
More disconcerting for the researchers, many tanning salon workers said in a survey that tanning beds pose no health risk and, in fact, prevent future sunburn, two patently false concepts. [10 Burning Facts About Sun-Tanning]
Findings from this survey, in which researchers secretly posed as prospective tanning clients, appear online today (Feb. 25) in the journal Pediatrics.
“This should serve as a wake-up call for parents in Missouri and other states that don’t regulate tanning beds,” said study co-author Lynn Cornelius, a dermatologist at Washington University. “With the absence of logical age restrictions, we are failing to protect our children, who are at an increased risk of developing skin cancer when exposed to the high-intensity levels of ultraviolet light that can be received in a tanning bed.”
Risks of indoor tanning
Frequent use of tanning salons can triple the risk of developing melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, according to a study by University of Minnesota researchers published in 2010. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has deemed ultraviolet rays from artificial tanning devices carcinogenic to humans, equivalent to tobacco.
The World Health Organization recommends that minors be prohibited from using tanning booths and tanning beds. The ultraviolet radiation generated by these machines is particularly dangerous for children and adolescents, because their bodies are still growing and cells are reproducing at a more rapid pace compared with adults. Also, early and frequent exposure can further increase the risk of developing skin cancer.
Yet more than a third of white, female adolescents in the United States have used a tanning salon at least once, according to a study published in 2003 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine by researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. And tanning salons often target teenagers through direct marketing, as documented in a commentary in Pediatrics in 2008. [Adolescent Angst: 10 Facts About the Teen Brain]
Restrictions on indoor tanning vary widely from state to state. California and one county in Maryland ban minors under age 18 from using tanning booths (in which one stands) and beds (in which one lies). A few more states maintain a ban for children under age 14. Other states allow children to tan indoors with parental consent.
Tanning in Missouri
The Washington University researchers conducted interviews at 243 tanning salons across Missouri twice, on different days, to assess consistency of answers. Operators at 65 percent of the participating facilities said they would allow children as young as 10 or 12 to use indoor-tanning devices. Employees at 43 percent of the salons claimed there were no risks associated with indoor tanning; and 80 percent of facility operators said indoor tanning would prevent future sunburns.
Some 55 percent of salon workers said that the customer could opt not to use goggles so to prevent “raccoon eye” tan lines. Tanning without goggles can cause arc eye, akin to snow blindness, essentially a burning of the cornea, and ultimately retinal damage and cataracts.
One point of confusion about the health effects of tanning concerns the type of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the machines. The sun emits three kinds of UV radiation: UVA, UVB and UVC. While UVC is the most energetic and deadliest, the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs nearly all of it. UVB causes sunburn and snow blindness, and it directly damages DNA, causing cancers.
UVA, the lowest-energy ultraviolet radiation — and the predominant radiation emitted in most tanning machines — does not cause sunburn and, in fact, has the beneficial property of making vitamin D in the skin. For this reason, some people believe that tans from tanning machines are safe.
Yet research over the last several decades has shown that UVA is indeed carcinogenic, creating certain chemicals in the skin such as free radicals that, in turn, damage DNA. Moreover, the radiation from a tanning machine can be 10 to 15 times more intense than the midday sun, according to studies from Europe.
One limitation of the Washington University study was that the interviews were conducted in 2007. Attitudes about the dangers of tanning salons might have changed since then.
But then again, in Missouri, House Bill 72, introduced earlier this year, merely proposes a ban on “any person younger than six years of age from using a tanning device.”
Christopher Wanjek is the author of a new novel, “Hey, Einstein!”, a comical nature-versus-nurture tale about raising clones of Albert Einstein in less-than-ideal settings. His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on LiveScience.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Investors face another Washington deadline
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.
Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.
Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.
"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.
Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.
But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.
National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.
"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS
The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.
Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp
Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.
"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.
The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.
If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp
General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.
EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE
The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.
U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.
Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.
On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.
(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Serious Stargazing: Spot Bright Star Sirius This Week
Label: WorldAround this time of year, I often get lots of inquiries concerning a certain very bright star-like object shining over toward the southern part of the sky. It’s Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.
Granted, the planet Jupiter currently shines three times brighter and appears much higher in the sky, but while Jupiter shines with a steady, silvery glow, Sirius will remind you of the famous early 19th century limerick, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” written by the English poet, Jane Taylor, for indeed, Sirius seems to shine “like a diamond in the sky.” Who knows? Maybe Taylor was inspired by gazing upon Sirius.
Not a few astronomy books suggest that you can locate Sirius by using the belt of Orion, as the belt points southeast directly toward Sirius — as if anyone needed a way to find this dazzling luminary! While it is true that Orion’s three-star belt will direct you toward Sirius, all anyone needs to do is simply cast a glance toward the southern sky during these cold winter evenings and they’ll immediately see it. It will be due south between 8:30 and 9 p.m. local time all of this week, and sets in the southwest between 1:30 and 2 a.m.
So bright, so near
Sirius is the brightest star of the constellation Canis Major, the “Greater Dog” in Latin.
According to Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, other names for it include “The Sparkling One” or “The Scorching One.” The star appears a brilliant white with a tinge of blue, but when the air is unsteady, or when the star is low to the horizon, it seems to flicker and splinter with all the colors of the rainbow.
At a distance of just 8.7 light-years, Sirius is the fifth-nearest known star. Among the naked-eye stars, it is the nearest of all, with the sole exception of Alpha Centauri. Sirius is gradually moving closer to the solar system, so it will slightly increase in brightness over the next 60,000 years. After that time its distance will begin to recede, but it will continue to be the brightest star in the Earth’s sky for the next 210,000 years. [The Nearest Stars to Earth (Infographic)]
The Dog Star has a pup
Over thousands of years, Sirius appears to move in a wavy line across the sky.
In 1862, Alvan G. Clark first saw Sirius B, also known as “the Pup,” the companion star responsible for the wiggle. Sirius B is only one ten-thousandth as bright as Sirius A, but by 1914, spectroscopic observations had demonstrated that its temperature was about the same. From physical laws it follows that B emits the same amount of light per unit surface area as A, and therefore to be so dim, it must be very small.
Later calculations have shown that A has just over twice the mass of our sun, but B has nearly one solar mass. Since it is so small, B must be exceedingly dense.
In fact, it packs 98 percent of one solar mass into a body just 2 percent of the sun’s diameter. To do that, Sirius B must have a density 90,000 times that of the sun. A teaspoon of this star material would weigh about 2 tons!
Look for Canopus
Now is also the time of the year for southerly observers to look for Canopus, in the constellation of Carina, the Keel (part of the now-defunct constellation of Argo Navis, the Ship).
Canopus still holds its rank as second only to Sirius in apparent brightness. The two stars differ by 0.8 magnitudes, so that Canopus is about half as bright as Sirius. But the former is more than 34 times as distant from us.
And, in fact, intrinsically, the luminary in Carina outshines the one in Canis Major by about 600 times. This week, if you are anywhere south of north latitude 37.6 degrees, you can get a glimpse of Canopus as it skims just above the southern horizon, almost directly south of Sirius around 8:30 p.m.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Investors face another Washington deadline
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.
Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.
Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.
"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.
Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.
But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.
National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.
"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS
The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.
Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp
Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.
"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.
The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.
If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp
General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.
EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE
The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.
U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.
Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.
On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.
(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Northern Lights Dance in Spectacular Time-Lapse Videos
Label: World
Jaw-dropping displays of the northern lights can be seen in a stunning series of time-lapse videos captured in Sweden this month by astrophotographer Chad Blakley.
Blakley has been filming in Sweden’s Abisko National Park, which offers a view of glowing aurora borealis over snowy mountains. Swooshing and swirling green northern lights can be seen glimmering in a deep purple sky in the videos, which were shot over a 13-day stretch.
“We have seen powerful auroras in the sky above Abisko for 13 nights in a row and it looks like there are more to come!” said Blakley, who runs the site LightsOverLapland.com. ”Last night I witnessed one of the finest aurora displays I have seen in many months.”
Auroras are caused when charged particles from the sun are guided by Earth’s magnetic field and slam into neutral particles in our planet’s upper atmosphere. The magnetic field steers solar particles toward Earth’s poles, so the northern and southern lights are best seen at high and low latitudes.
The aurora displays depend on weather conditions both on Earth and on the sun, where solar storms can send waves of charged particles our way. In the Northern Hemisphere, the cosmic light show is known as the aurora borealis. In the Southern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is dubbed the aurora australis.
Whatever the name, the aurora displays this month have been unforgettable, Blakley said.
“February 2013 is turning out to be one of the best months for aurora watching I have ever seen!” he added.
Experts predict more and more stunning aurora shows as the sun ramps up toward a period of maximum activity this year, the peak of its 11-year cycle.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
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Wall Street falls after raft of weak data
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks declined on Thursday as a ream of weak economic data did little to assuage some investors' concerns that the Federal Reserve may rein in its economic stimulus measures and amid uncertainty over ongoing budget talks in Washington.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week and consumer prices were flat in January, buttressing the argument for the Fed to continue its accommodative monetary policy.
On Wednesday, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent meeting suggested the central bank may slow or stop buying bonds sooner than expected. The news sent shares lower and the benchmark S&P 500 index dropped 1.2 percent, its biggest decline since November 14.
The Fed has used quantitative easing, or QE, since 2008 in a bid to stimulate the economy. The policy, which involves expanding the Fed's balance sheet to buy bonds, has been credited with pushing money into the stock market, and its withdrawal would remove a ballast for the markets.
The benchmark S&P index has dropped 1.9 percent over the past two sessions but is still up more than 5 percent for the year. That's led many analysts to believe that the Fed minutes, the upcoming sequestration in Washington and sluggish consumer spending may be triggers for an overdue pullback in equities.
The sequestration - automatic across-the-board spending cuts put in place as part of a larger congressional budget fight - are due to kick in March 1 unless lawmakers agree on an alternative.
"It's the sequester, it's the knee-jerk reaction to yesterday's Fed minutes and it's the realization the consumer is slowing," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist, at Federated Investors, in New York.
"I'd love to see a healthy 5 percent correction; let's wash out some of the weak hands and set up for a better move during the year."
Financial data firm Markit said its "flash," or preliminary U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index slowed to 55.2 this month from 55.8, which had been the best showing since April, 2012.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 64.01 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,863.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 10.33 points, or 0.68 percent, to 1,501.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> fell 25.93 points, or 0.82 percent, to 3,138.48.
In a positive sign, data showed home resales edged higher in January and left inventory of homes at its lowest level in 13 years as the housing market continues to steadily improve.
But the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of business conditions in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region fell in February to minus 12.5, the lowest level in eight months, from minus 5.8 in January.
VeriFone Systems Inc
According to Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning, of the 427 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 69.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.9 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
Berry Petroleum Co
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Wall Street little changed after data, Fed minutes on tap
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday after housing and inflation data pointed to a continuation of modest economic improvement and ahead of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting later in the session.
Groundbreaking to build new U.S. homes fell 8.5 percent in January but new permits for construction rose to a 4 1/2-year high while producer prices rose in January for the first time in four months.
The data should enable the Fed to maintain its easy monetary policy in its efforts to stimulate the economy.
Later in the session, investors will look to the minutes from the Fed's January meeting for any indication as to how long the current monetary policy will remain in effect.
"It's hard in any given data point to take a strong conclusion that we are moving dramatically forward, but over time, clearly things are getting better," said Robert Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.
Lutts described an economy that was addicted to stimulus.
"The bottom line is the economy is on heroin today and we will at one time move to a diluted form of heroin, but it's very important for people to remember we are still on an unbelievably aggressive, never-seen-before accommodative policy and this economy is going to improve."
The S&P 500 <.spx> is up more than 7 percent for the year, fueled by legislators' ability to sidestep an automatic implementation of spending cuts on tax hikes on January 1, better-than-expected corporate earnings and modestly improving economic data that has been tepid enough for the Fed to maintain its stimulus policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 5.99 points, or 0.04 percent, to 14,029.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 2.60 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,528.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> shed 3.12 points, or 0.10 percent, to 3,210.48.
U.S. oil and gas producer Devon Energy Corp
OfficeMax Inc
Toll Brothers Inc
SodaStream
According to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning, of the 391 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70.1 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
Ultrafast Stars Discovered Racing Through Milky Way
Label: WorldSix speedy stars rocketing through space at up to 2 million miles per hour were likely ejected from the giant black hole at the Milky Way‘s heart, astronomers say. They represent the first known “hypervelocity stars” with masses similar to that of our sun.
The discovery, unveiled last month, could shed light on how stars form in the dust-shrouded core of our home galaxy.
Black hole suns
The galactic center is cloaked in a halo of dust that obscures all but the brightest stars from astronomers’ telescopes. But hypervelocity stars could provide a window into the star formation going on at the Milky Way’s dark heart. [Video: Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole Caught Eating]
That’s because hypervelocity stars are thought to form when the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy devours one star in a binary system and ejects its twin, flinging it through space at superfast speeds, said study author Keith Hawkins, an astronomy student at Ohio University.
“These are incredibly fast-moving objects that are actually gravitationally unbound to the Milky Way,” he said during the 221st annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, Calif., last month.
Though these speed demons may be close to the black hole, they are not shrouded by dust and can be detected with telescopes.
Because speedy rogue stars have been ejected from the galactic center, identifying them can reveal the types of star formation occurring there.
But until now, astronomers searching for these hypervelocity stars looked for bright, blue stars in locations where they weren’t supposed to form. Those stars, while easier to find, are typically three to four times as massive as our own sun, while most stars forming in other regions of the galaxy are the size of our sun or smaller, Hawkins said.
Needle in a haystack
Because of the abundance of sunlike stars in the galaxy, finding hypervelocity stars of that mass is tricky, said Brad Hansen, an astronomer at UCLA who was not involved in the research.
“It really becomes a ‘needle in a haystack’-type problem,” Hansen told SPACE.com. “How do you search through a billion stars to find a couple that are moving in a strange way?”
To accomplish that task, Hawkins and Adam Kraus, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii, used data from the Palomar 5-meter telescope in California.
They found 130 stars on the edges of the Milky Way’s central black hole that had traveled a remarkable distance. They then narrowed that group to stars traveling at extreme speeds consistent with ejection from the Milky Way’s center. Six stars met those criteria.
While the new results are intriguing, they need to be confirmed, Hawkins said.
But if verified, they could shed light on the types of stars that form in the galaxy’s heart, and help astronomers estimate the size of the black hole lurking there, Hansen said.
Follow Space.com on Twitter @SPACEdotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Wall Street gains on M&A optimism, health insurers weigh
Label: WorldNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday after the long holiday weekend and a seven-week winning streak for the S&P 500 as merger activity buoyed investor optimism, but health insurer shares muted gains.
Office Depot Inc
OfficeMax shares jumped 28.8 percent to $13.85 while larger rival Staples Inc
"M&A is providing an enormous amount of enthusiasm in pockets and it is really a function of the cost of money, the cost of borrowing. It is a sign there is a shift going on in the economy that is very, very positive," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.
"At the same time, if you take the M&A activity out of the picture, you will see that many on the Street are expecting a pullback.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 59.94 points or 0.43 percent, to 14,041.7, the S&P 500 <.spx> gained 6.62 points or 0.44 percent, to 1,526.41 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 12.01 points or 0.38 percent, to 3,204.04.
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
Health insurer stocks tumbled, led lower by a 9 percent drop in Humana Inc to $70.98 after the company said the government's proposed 2014 payment rates for Medicare Advantage participants were lower than expected and would hurt its profit outlook.
UnitedHealth Group
The benchmark S&P index is up 7 percent for the year and is coming off its longest weekly winning streak since January 2011.
The strong start was fueled by legislators in Washington temporarily averting automatic spending cuts and tax hikes as well as by stronger-than-expected earnings and economic data. The Federal Reserve's stimulus policy has also been a major factor.
But further gains for the S&P 500 have been a struggle as investors look for new catalysts to lift the index, which hovers near five-year highs.
The compromise by lawmakers on across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration, only postponed the matter, and Democrats and Republicans have until March 1 to resolve differences or the cuts, which are predicted to damage the economy, will take effect.
The uptick in merger and acquisition activity, a sign of optimism about the outlook on Wall Street, has resulted in more than $158 billion in deals announced so far in 2013.
Last week, deals were reached for the acquisition of H.J. Heinz Co
Economic data showed the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index edged down to 46 in February from 47 in the prior month and below expectations of 48 as builders faced higher material costs.
Express Scripts
According to the Thomson Reuters data through Monday morning, of the 391 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70.1 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Barry)
Higgs Boson Particle May Spell Doom For the Universe
Label: WorldBOSTON — A subatomic particle discovered last year that may be the long-sought Higgs boson might doom our universe to an unfortunate end, researchers say.
The mass of the particle, which was uncovered at the world’s largest particle accelerator — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva — is a key ingredient in a calculation that portends the future of space and time.
“This calculation tells you that many tens of billions of years from now there’ll be a catastrophe,” Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., said Monday (Feb. 18) here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“It may be the universe we live in is inherently unstable, and at some point billions of years from now it’s all going to get wiped out,” added Lykken, a collaborator on one of the LHC’s experiments. [Gallery: Search for the Higgs Boson]
The Higgs boson particle is a manifestation of an energy field pervading the universe called the Higgs field, which is thought to explain why particles have mass. After searching for decades for proof that this field and particle existed, physicists at the LHC announced in July 2012 that they’d discovered a new particle whose properties strongly suggest it is the Higgs boson.
To confirm the particle’s identity for sure, more data are needed. But many scientists say they’re betting it’s the Higgs.
“This discovery to me was personally astounding,” said I. Joseph Kroll, a University of Pennsylvania physicist who also works at the LHC. “To me, the Higgs was sort of, it might be there, it might not. The fact that it’s there is really a tremendous accomplishment.”
And finding the Higgs, if it’s truly been found, not only confirms the theory about how particles get mass, but it allows scientists to make new calculations that weren’t possible before the particle’s properties were known.
For example, the mass of the new particle is about 126 billion electron volts, or about 126 times the mass of the proton. If that particle really is the Higgs, its mass turns out to be just about what’s needed to make the universe fundamentally unstable, in a way that would cause it to end catastrophically in the far future.
That’s because the Higgs field is thought to be everywhere, so it affects the vacuum of empty space-time in the universe.
“The mass of the Higgs is related to how stable the vacuum is,” explained Christopher Hill, a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. “It’s right along the critical line. That could either be a cosmic coincidence, or it could be that there’s some physics that’s causing that. That’s something new, which we didn’t know before.”
Strikingly, if the Higgs mass were just a few percent different, the universe wouldn’t be doomed, the scientists said.
But even if the universe is in for an unfortunate end, there is at least one reason for consolation.
“You won’t actually see it, because it will come at you at the speed of light,” Lykken said. “So in that sense don’t worry.”
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or LiveScience @livescience. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Yen resumes fall after G20, earnings worries hit stocks
Label: WorldLONDON (Reuters) - The yen resumed falling on Monday after Japan signaled it would push ahead with expansionist monetary policies having escaped criticism from the world's 20 biggest economies at the weekend.
European shares and industrial metals dropped on lingering worries about the economic outlook, especially for the euro zone. The risk of an inconclusive outcome in Italian elections at the weekend also added to investor concerns.
However, activity was curtailed by the closure of markets in the United States for the Presidents' Day holiday.
The yen, which has dropped 20 percent against the dollar since mid-November, fell further after financial leaders from the G20 promised not to devalue their currencies to boost exports and avoided singling out Japan for any direct criticism.
"Future yen direction will continue to be driven by domestic monetary policy from the Bank of Japan and improving international investor confidence, which are both driving the yen weaker," said Lee Hardman, currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe seized the opportunity to keep pressure on the central bank to loosen policy, telling the Japanese parliament that buying foreign bonds could be among options the Bank of Japan could adopt.
The result was the dollar rising 0.5 percent to 93.98 yen, near a 33-month peak of 94.47 yen set a week ago. The euro rose 0.2 percent to 125.32 yen, roughly midway between Friday's two-week low of 122.90 and a 34-month high of 127.71 yen hit earlier this month.
Strategists said that while the yen was likely to stay weak, its decline could lose momentum as investors wait for more clarity on who will be taking the helm at the Bank of Japan when the current governor steps down on March 19.
"The big unknown is who will get appointed as the new BoJ governor, so it is difficult to put on massive positions beforehand," said Saeed Amen, currency strategist at Nomura.
Abe is poised to nominate the new governor in the coming days. Sources have told Reuters that former financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto, considered likely to be less radical than other candidates, was leading the field.
Elsewhere in the currency market, sterling hit a seven-month low against the dollar, after a key policymaker made comments about the need for further weakness and recent poor data which has kept alive worries of another British recession.
Sterling fell 0.15 percent to $1.5492 having earlier touched $1.5438, its lowest since July 13.
DATA LOOMS
A big week for data on the outlook for the world's economy weighed on other riskier asset markets following the recent dire fourth-quarter growth numbers for the euro zone and Japan, along with Friday's soft U.S. manufacturing figures.
In European markets, attention is focused on the euro area Purchasing Managers' Indexes for February and German sentiment indices due later in the week. These could affect hopes for a recovery this year.
Analysts expect Thursday's euro area flash PMI indices, which offer pointers to economic activity around six months out, to show growth stabilizing across the recession-hit region, leaving hopes for a recovery in the second half of 2013 intact.
Concerns over an inconclusive outcome in the Italian elections on Sunday and Monday have added to the weaker sentiment as a fragmented parliament could hamper a future government's efforts to reform the struggling economy.
The worries about the outlook for Italy were encouraging investors back into safe-haven German government bonds on Monday, with 10-year Bund yields easing 3.6 basis points to be around 1.63 percent.
"Political uncertainty will keep Bunds well bid this week," ING rate strategist Alessandro Giansanti said, adding that only better than expected economic data could create selling pressure on German debt in the near term.
Italian 10-year yields were 7 basis points higher on the day at 4.44 percent.
EARNINGS HIT
European equity markets were taking their lead from corporate earnings reports which have been reflecting the sluggish economic conditions across the region.
Danish brewer Carlsberg
The 6.8-percent drop for shares in the world's fourth biggest brewery helped send the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> of top European shares down 0.3 percent at midday. Germany's DAX <.gdaxi>, France's CAC-40 <.fchi> and UK FTSE-100 <.ftse> ranged between 0.1 percent up and 0.3 percent lower.
Earlier, the effect of the G20 statement and the comments from Abe indicating a renewed drive to stimulate the Japanese economy lifted the Nikkei stock index <.n225> by 2.1 percent, near to its highest level since September 2008.
MSCI's world equity index <.miwd00000pus> was flat as markets extended a two-week period of consolidation that has followed the big run-up in January, when demand was buoyed by the efforts of central banks to stimulate the world economy.
Data from EPFR Global, a U.S.-based firm that tracks the flows and allocations of funds globally, shows investors pulled $3.62 billion from U.S. stock funds in the latest week, the most in 10 weeks after taking a neutral stance the prior week.
But demand for emerging market equities remained strong, with investors putting $1.81 billion in new cash into stock funds, the fund-tracking firm said.
CHINA RETURN
In the commodity markets, traders played catch-up after a week-long holiday last week in China, the world's second biggest consumer of many raw materials, which had kept activity subdued, with worries about the economic outlook weighing on sentiment.
Copper, for which China is the world's largest consumer, dipped to a near three-week low of $8,127.50 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) on the London futures market. Benchmark tin and nickel also touched three-week lows.
Bargain hunters helped gold rise from a six-month low to be up 0.2 percent to $1,611.87 an ounce with jewelers in China returning to the physical market after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Crude oil markets were mostly steady after some weak U.S. industrial production data on Friday [ID:nL1N0BF44A] was seen dampening demand, while tensions in the Middle East lent some support.
"We continue to see a mixed picture out of the United States. Industry output was lower than expected but that shouldn't affect the general upward direction," Olivier Jakob, analyst at Geneva-based Petromatrix, said.
Brent crude was flat at $117.66 a barrel after posting its first weekly loss since the first half of January. U.S. crude slipped 19 cents to $95.67.U.S. crude.
(Additional reporting by Marius Zaharia and Ron Bousso. Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Florida hit by "tsunami" of tax identity fraud
Label: WorldMIAMI (Reuters) - Bruce Parton was only a few weeks from retirement after 30 years as a mail carrier in sunny Florida.
He never lived to fulfill his retirement plan of moving back to a quiet life in the Catskill mountains of New York, not far from where he grew up on Long Island.
Instead, he was gunned down on his daily mail route in December 2010 by members of an identity theft ring who stole his master key as part of a scheme to claim fraudulent tax refunds.
Using stolen names and Social Security numbers, criminals are filing phony electronic tax forms to claim refunds, exploiting a slow-moving federal bureaucracy to collect the money before victims, or the Internal Revenue Service, discover the fraud.
Parton was a victim of what officials say has ballooned into a massive, and dangerous, illegal industry that could cost the nation $21 billion over the next five years, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
While that is a relatively small sum compared to the $1.1 trillion collected from individual tax payers in the last fiscal year, the crime has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last three years.
"We are on the top of a national trend that is causing a hemorrhage of tax dollars," said Wifredo Ferrer, United States Attorney for south Florida. "It's a tsunami of fraud."
While the IRS says it has detected cases in every state except North Dakota and West Virginia, the fraud's epicenter is Florida, and it is mostly concentrated in Miami and Tampa.
Miami has 46 times the per-capita rate of false tax refund claims than the rest of the country, and 70 times the national average in dollar terms, Ferrer told Reuters.
"For whatever reason, we always tend to lead the nation when it comes to fraud," he said, noting that his office has been battling massive Medicare fraud in recent years that has since spread to other parts of the country.
Florida's high proportion of older residents, who can be more vulnerable to fraud, may be one reason for the high levels of fraud in the state.
Nationwide, the number of cases of tax identity theft detected by authorities sky-rocketed to more than 1.2 million cases in 2012 from only 48,000 in 2008, according to the Treasury Department.
The real number of phony tax filings is likely much higher as the fraud is hard to track, according to a November General Accountability Office report.
GANG LINKS
The tax ID theft problem is particularly troubling as, unlike Medicare fraud, it is associated with violent crime and armed gangs.
Tampa police first detected it in 2010 when officers discovered wanted street criminals engaged in tax fraud. "They were holed up in hotels with laptops churning out tax claims," said congresswoman Kathy Castor, who represents the area and is pressing the IRS to get tougher on the fraud.
When agents raided a Howard Johnson in East Tampa in late 2010, they found suspects smoking marijuana and four laptop computers being used to file fraudulent tax returns on Turbo Tax, the tax preparation software, according to police records.
The suspects had lists of personal information containing more than 1,000 names and confidential personal information, multiple re-loadable debit cards, and records of numerous financial transactions. The investigation revealed that the suspects had been camped out in the hotel room for more than a week filing claims.
Tax identity fraudsters are apparently drawn by the ease of the crime, officials say.
"The scheme is very basic, it works virtually the same in almost every case," said Ferrer. "All they need is your name and the tax ID number."
Armed with that information a refund claim can be filed electronically, making up other details on the form, including addresses, employer data, income and deductions.
Criminals obtain the vital numbers using various tactics, often by bribing office workers with access to personnel files inside companies, as well as large public institutions such as hospitals and schools, according to prosecutors.
Last summer a hacker stole 3.8 million unencrypted tax records from the South Carolina Department of Revenue in what is believed to be the largest security breach of a U.S. tax agency. Authorities say they do not know the hacker's motive.
One North Miami man, Rodney Saint Fleur, was charged last year with using the LexisNexis research service account at the law firm where he worked to access names and Social Security numbers of 26,000 people as part of an identity theft scheme, according to court documents.
Victims in Florida have varied from hospital patients, to Holocaust survivors at an elderly Jewish community center, as well as active duty military serving overseas.
In December, a former U.S. Marine from North Miami was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing the identities of more than 40 fellow Marines stationed at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan as part of a plot to claim $54,000 in fraudulent income-tax refunds.
In Parton's case the criminals were after his master key that gives postal workers access to mail drop-off boxes and apartment mailboxes. He was shot twice in the chest by a gunman as part of a plot to steal identities in people's mail for tax refund fraud.
The gunman, Pikerson Mentor, 31, was sentenced last month to life plus 42 years.
More than 600 people turned up for Parton's funeral, including postal workers and people who got to know him on his route. "He had been doing that mail route for 10 years and he always had a smile for everyone," said his daughter, Nina Parton.
The criminals stay under the radar using identities of the elderly or the very young, who are unlikely to be filing for earned income, as well as the deceased. They typically claim small refunds, around $3,000, but use multiple identities, with payments often made to pre-paid debit cards.
FIGHTING BACK
The IRS said last week it is intensifying a crackdown on identify theft, with 3,000 agents devoted to tackling the problem, double the number assigned in 2011.
The number of IRS criminal investigations into identity theft more than tripled in the year to September 2012, and it was on pace to double again this year, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller told reporters.
The tax collection agency prevented $20 billion in attempted tax refund fraud in fiscal year 2012, up from $14 billion a year earlier, he said.
"It's one of the biggest challenges that faces the IRS today," Miller said. "We're doing much better on all fronts but we have much more to do."
Despite the increase in investigations, the agency still had a backlog of 300,000 cases of people waiting for legitimate refunds after they were victims of fraud. It takes an average of six months to resolve a case, Miller said.
"The IRS have put a lot of resources on it, but they always seem to be behind the curve," said Keith Fogg, a tax professor at Villanova University School of Law.
Electronic filing, which now accounts for 80 percent of returns and was introduced to speed up delivery of refunds, has made the system more vulnerable to fraud.
The IRS is seeking to speed up the loading of data from W-2 payroll forms issued at the beginning of the tax season, a time lapse which gives fraudsters a window of opportunity to file using false data.
The IRS is also looking for ways to authenticate the identity of tax filers at the time of filing to pre-empt fraud, as well as working with the Social Security Administration to limit access to a registry of social security data of deceased tax payers, the so-called "Death Master File", a frequent target of fraud.
"We will not be prosecuting our way out of this. That's not going to be the answer. We're going to have to make it more and more difficult for criminals to profit from this behavior," said Miller. "If they're not successful they will move onto something else."
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Claudia Parsons)
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