Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal.

The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations.

Sector indexes in transportation <.djt>, banks <.bkx> and housing <.hgx> this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well.

Michael Yoshikami, chief executive at Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California, said the key earnings to watch for next week will come from cyclical companies. United Technologies reports on Wednesday while Honeywell is due to report Friday.

"Those kind of numbers will tell you the trajectory the economy is taking," Yoshikami said.

Major technology companies also report next week, but the bar for the sector has been lowered even further.

Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices , which is due Tuesday, are expected to underperform as PC sales shrink. AMD shares fell more than 10 percent Friday after disappointing results from its larger competitor, Intel . Still, a chipmaker sector index <.sox> posted its highest weekly close since last April.

Following a recent underperformance, an upside surprise from Apple on Wednesday could trigger a return to the stock from many investors who had abandoned ship.

Other major companies reporting next week include Google , IBM , Johnson & Johnson and DuPont on Tuesday, Microsoft and 3M on Thursday and Procter & Gamble on Friday.

CASH POURING IN, HOUSING DATA COULD HELP

Perhaps the strongest support for equities will come from the flow of cash from fixed income funds to stocks.

The recent piling into stock funds -- $11.3 billion in the past two weeks, the most since 2000 -- indicates a riskier approach to investing from retail investors looking for yield.

"From a yield perspective, a lot of stocks still yield a great deal of money and so it is very easy to see why money is pouring into the stock market," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

"You are just not going to see people put a lot of money to work in a 10-year Treasury that yields 1.8 percent."

Housing stocks <.hgx>, already at a 5-1/2 year high, could get a further bump next week as investors eye data expected to support the market's perception that housing is the sluggish U.S. economy's bright spot.

Home resales are expected to have risen 0.6 percent in December, data is expected to show on Tuesday. Pending home sales contracts, which lead actual sales by a month or two, hit a 2-1/2 year high in November.

The new home sales report on Friday is expected to show a 2.1 percent increase.

The federal debt ceiling negotiations, a nagging worry for investors, seemed to be stuck on the back burner after House Republicans signaled they might support a short-term extension.

Equity markets, which tumbled in 2011 after the last round of talks pushed the United States close to a default, seem not to care much this time around.

The CBOE volatility index <.vix>, a gauge of market anxiety, closed Friday at its lowest since April 2007.

"I think the market is getting somewhat desensitized from political drama given, this seems to be happening over and over," said Destination Wealth Management's Yoshikami.

"It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what you want to base your investing decisions on."

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Letter From Washington: For Obama, Context for His 2nd Term

WASHINGTON — Here are two realities about U.S. second presidential terms: They aren’t cursed, as legend has it, and they are rarely better than first ones.

On Sunday, Barack Obama was to become the 17th U.S. president to be inaugurated for a second time, and historians offer useful context. “Obama has read the literature and understands overreach,” said Michael Beschloss, one of the more than half a dozen scholars who recently had dinner with the president. “This puts him one step ahead of most” re-elected presidents.

That sentiment contrasts with the mood of many Democrats these days. In conversations with a dozen Democratic politicians, with a few exceptions, there is a pervasive pessimism about the next several years. Almost all requested anonymity, not out of fear, they say, but to avoid giving solace to Republicans.

The political environment, they say, is as poisonous as it ever was.

The fiscal struggles won’t be settled in the next few months; more likely they’ll be prolonged through the year, crowding out most other issues, with the possible exception of immigration and conceivably gun violence legislation.

The president shows few signs of reaching out or broadening his horizon. If anything, Capitol Hill Democrats say, the inner circle is more closed. Mr. Obama, most recently at a news conference last week, deprecates the role of relationships in politics; he’s dismissive of the notion that all would be better if he would just drink whiskey with lawmakers, as Lyndon B. Johnson did. He’s right. Few will shift policy positions because of a good Scotch or bourbon. Yet his critics also are right when they point out that every successful president has forged crucial political relationships.

Some conditions are beyond a president’s control to influence. Saturation news coverage takes more of a toll in a second term. “One of the greatest threats to the modern presidency is overexposure,” said the historian Richard Norton Smith. “There will be Obama fatigue.”

Then there’s the supposed second-term curse: Johnson and the Vietnam War; Richard M. Nixon and Watergate; Bill Clinton and impeachment; George W. Bush and Hurricane Katrina.

Robert W. Merry, who has written about how presidents are evaluated, suggested “it’s almost impossible to find a president who had a second term better than his first.”

Presidents usually win re-election because they had a reasonably successful first term; that, some experts point out, distorts any comparisons, a state of affairs that became apparent with one of the earliest U.S. presidential re-elections: that of Thomas Jefferson in 1804.

“You can’t buy Louisiana every term,” Mr. Norton-Smith said. “That doesn’t mean there can’t be accomplishments.”

Ronald Reagan, in his second term, won sweeping tax changes and a historical arms-reduction treaty with the Soviet Union. Even some administrations known for conspicuous failings look better with perspective.

Franklin D. Roosevelt botched the economic recovery and tried to pack the Supreme Court in the late 1930s. He also, subtly, prepared the United States for World War II, a bigger achievement. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s party was clobbered in congressional elections, and he was embarrassed when a spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. He also sent U.S. troops to integrate the schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, a seminal moment. Mr. Clinton’s second term produced few tangible achievements, though he continued to reposition the Democratic Party.

Today, the second-term optimists among Democrats say the president is contending with a much stronger and stable economy than the one he inherited four years ago. They see a more self-assured chief executive. One outside operative contrasts a session he had with Mr. Obama four years ago with one a few weeks ago, saying the president is a different man, more confident, clearer on what he wants to do.

Mr. Obama no longer harbors illusions, these Democrats say, about Republican congressional leaders. He’s willing, even eager, for combat. Republicans, whose standing with the public continues its free fall, are one of Mr. Obama’s greatest assets.

Whatever the political limitations, historians say Mr. Obama needs to think big, starting with his second Inaugural Address.

“He has a chance to explain where America ought to be in 10 or 20 years,” said H.W. Brands of the University of Texas at Austin, who also attended the scholars’ dinner with the president. “He can rise above everyday politics and speak to history. Lincoln did it in 1865; F.D.R. in 1937. Now it’s Obama’s chance.”

Some Democrats say the president would be able to make a more compelling case if his inner circle weren’t so insular. The Team of Rivals of the early first term, when the president brought in diverse voices, has turned into the Band of Brothers, with a premium on personal loyalty. Top White House aides have let it be known that they will be making more personnel and policy decisions in the economics and foreign affairs arenas.

And while Mr. Obama may appreciate the dangers of second-term overreach, he’s quick to claim a mandate on issues, an assertion with a dubious historical resonance.

“Presidents should erase the word ‘mandate’ from their vocabulary,” Mr. Norton Smith said. “At best, it’s treacherous.”

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Galaxy S IV benchmarks may confirm 1.8GHz CPU and Android 4.2

Apple needs a new product targeting its next generation of customers which will be fueled by this newly announced product

“iPotty: Brilliant, or worst idea ever? Experts weigh in on new potty training device – Unveiled last week at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the base of the iPotty looks like a regular ol’ plastic toilet with removable bowl— but there’s an adjustable stand attached, specifically for an iPad.”

Something easy to clean which will survive toddlers dropping them into their training potty.

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Rob Lowe Acquits Himself Nicely in Lifetime's Prosecuting Casey Anthony (Review)

TV Watch

By PEOPLE TV Critic Tom Gliatto

01/19/2013 at 11:45 AM EST

Rob Lowe in Prosecuting Casey Anthony

Allen Fraser/Lifetime

    

When last we saw Rob Lowe in a Lifetime movie, he was playing murderer Drew Peterson with a sandy mustache that made him look like the world's most dangerous park ranger.

Lowe has a much better vehicle for himself in Prosecuting Casey Anthony (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET/PT), in which he plays Jeff Ashton, the Florida prosecutor who last year failed to win one of the country's most notorious capital cases.

As the court announces that Anthony, who had been charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, is guilty only of misdemeanor charges, Lowe clasps his hands in front of him and – in a fine, simple moment – appears to have all the life siphoned out of him. His face has the pallor of a wide smudge of cigarette ash.

The rest of the country, as you may recall, was more visibly stirred up at the stunning verdict.

Nancy Grace, clips of whose hectoring, furious TV commentary pepper the movie, famously declared: "The devil is dancing tonight."

Anthony has been living in seclusion since her release.

Prosecuting Casey Anthony basically tries to explain how public opinion and the deliberating jury responded so differently to the conflicting stories of prosecution and defense, one alleging that Anthony murdered the child and dumped her in a swamp, the other that the actual cause of death was accidental drowning in a swimming pool.

Even though this is based on prosecutor Ashton's book about the case, Imperfect Justice, in the movie he comes across as overly confident – Lowe laughs in derision during the defense's summation – even while his team's mistakes are quickly seized upon and exploited by opposing attorney Jose Baez (The Office's Oscar Nunez).

(Ashton, by the way, was sworn in Jan. 11 as Florida's new state attorney.)

The movie is shot with a stylistic blankness that does no harm to a compelling legal narrative, and the acting – like Lowe's – is unmannered, believable and to the point. Since most viewers will already come to this with memories from the endless news coverage, any other kind of acting would probably seem like scenery-chewing.

Not surprisingly, Anthony herself (Virginia Welch) has virtually nothing to say.

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Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study

Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.

The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.

Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's but it showed some promise against milder disease. Researchers think it might work better if given before symptoms start.

"The hope is we can catch people before they decline," which can come 10 years or more after plaques first show up in the brain, said Dr. Reisa Sperling, director of the Alzheimer's center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

She will help lead the new study, which will involve 1,000 people ages 70 to 85 whose brain scans show plaque buildup but who do not yet have any symptoms of dementia. They will get monthly infusions of solanezumab or a dummy drug for three years. The main goal will be slowing the rate of cognitive decline. The study will be done at 50 sites in the U.S. and possibly more in Canada, Australia and Europe, Sperling said.

In October, researchers said combined results from two studies of solanezumab suggested it might modestly slow mental decline, especially in patients with mild disease. Taken separately, the studies missed their main goals of significantly slowing the mind-robbing disease or improving activities of daily living.

Those results were not considered good enough to win the drug approval. So in December, Lilly said it would start another large study of it this year to try to confirm the hopeful results seen patients with mild disease. That is separate from the federal study Sperling will head.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer's. Current medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.

___

Online:

Alzheimer's info: http://www.alzheimers.gov

Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org

___

Follow Marilynn Marchione's coverage at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal.

The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations.

Sector indexes in transportation <.djt>, banks <.bkx> and housing <.hgx> this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well.

Michael Yoshikami, chief executive at Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California, said the key earnings to watch for next week will come from cyclical companies. United Technologies reports on Wednesday while Honeywell is due to report Friday.

"Those kind of numbers will tell you the trajectory the economy is taking," Yoshikami said.

Major technology companies also report next week, but the bar for the sector has been lowered even further.

Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices , which is due Tuesday, are expected to underperform as PC sales shrink. AMD shares fell more than 10 percent Friday after disappointing results from its larger competitor, Intel . Still, a chipmaker sector index <.sox> posted its highest weekly close since last April.

Following a recent underperformance, an upside surprise from Apple on Wednesday could trigger a return to the stock from many investors who had abandoned ship.

Other major companies reporting next week include Google , IBM , Johnson & Johnson and DuPont on Tuesday, Microsoft and 3M on Thursday and Procter & Gamble on Friday.

CASH POURING IN, HOUSING DATA COULD HELP

Perhaps the strongest support for equities will come from the flow of cash from fixed income funds to stocks.

The recent piling into stock funds -- $11.3 billion in the past two weeks, the most since 2000 -- indicates a riskier approach to investing from retail investors looking for yield.

"From a yield perspective, a lot of stocks still yield a great deal of money and so it is very easy to see why money is pouring into the stock market," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

"You are just not going to see people put a lot of money to work in a 10-year Treasury that yields 1.8 percent."

Housing stocks <.hgx>, already at a 5-1/2 year high, could get a further bump next week as investors eye data expected to support the market's perception that housing is the sluggish U.S. economy's bright spot.

Home resales are expected to have risen 0.6 percent in December, data is expected to show on Tuesday. Pending home sales contracts, which lead actual sales by a month or two, hit a 2-1/2 year high in November.

The new home sales report on Friday is expected to show a 2.1 percent increase.

The federal debt ceiling negotiations, a nagging worry for investors, seemed to be stuck on the back burner after House Republicans signaled they might support a short-term extension.

Equity markets, which tumbled in 2011 after the last round of talks pushed the United States close to a default, seem not to care much this time around.

The CBOE volatility index <.vix>, a gauge of market anxiety, closed Friday at its lowest since April 2007.

"I think the market is getting somewhat desensitized from political drama given, this seems to be happening over and over," said Destination Wealth Management's Yoshikami.

"It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what you want to base your investing decisions on."

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Cease-Fire in Myanmar With Kachin Rebels Fails to Take Hold

BANGKOK — A cease-fire ordered by the Myanmar government failed to take hold on Saturday, with rebels and the government blaming each other for fighting that continued through the day.

But ethnic Kachin rebels and at least one independent observer said that the fighting was less intense than in previous days and that the government’s aerial bombardments had stopped. Both the government and the rebels called for a negotiated settlement, although they seemed far from agreeing on the fundamental question of how much autonomy the Kachin ethnic group should have — the emotionally charged issue at the root of the fighting.

“We have been inviting the K.I.O. into the peace process, and here I would like to invite them again,” President Thein Sein said Saturday, referring to the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the group fighting the government.

Mr. Thein Sein spoke as representatives from at least two dozen countries and international organizations including the World Bank gathered in the Myanmar capital, Naypyidaw, for a conference on offering assistance to the country as it moves toward democracy after decades of military rule.

Many observers have said that the government may have decided to offer a unilateral cease-fire on Friday to coincide with the meeting since national reconciliation with Myanmar’s many ethnic groups is seen as a measure of the success of Mr. Thein Sein’s ambitious democratic reforms.

Although the government has signed cease-fire agreements with other minority groups, it has been fighting the Kachin for the last year and a half after an earlier truce collapsed. The conflict had intensified in recent weeks.

Despite the continued battles Saturday, there were some faint but encouraging signs of progress toward a peaceful settlement. The Kachin Independence Organization issued a statement calling for the cease-fire to include all of Kachin State, the mountainous, northernmost part of Myanmar and the homeland of the Kachin, suggesting it welcomed a halt to the fighting.

The government’s announcement on Friday mentioned only the area near the border with China known as Lajayang, but a government spokesman, Ye Htut, said by telephone on Saturday that the cease-fire would encompass “the whole conflict area.”

And yet the developments on Saturday followed a familiar pattern in Myanmar — a seeming disconnect between the orders of the president, who is not the commander in chief under the country’s new constitution, and the actions of the military. Mr. Thein Sein has said before that the army should only defend itself, but some analysts say that leaves it wide latitude.

On Saturday, Mr. Ye Htut acknowledged the fighting but said that it had been initiated by the rebels and that the troops had been acting in self-defense.

La Nan, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organization, said there were Myanmar artillery attacks and “skirmishes” on Saturday morning around Lajayang, at the very place and time the cease-fire was supposed to take effect.

Ryan Roco, an American photographer who was in the area, said there were no airstrikes and “minimal ground fighting” on Saturday. “But the shelling continued all day,” he said by telephone.

One fighter who is allied with the Kachin rebels, Min Htay, posted on his Facebook page that the Kachin were broadcasting a message over loudspeakers to government soldiers, telling them to stop fighting because the president had issued a cease-fire. Mr. Min Htay appeared to be suggesting that the government troops were not aware of the order, a possible sign of a rift between the military leadership and the president.

Mr. Ye Htut denied there was any such disagreement. “Government troops always obey President U Thein Sein’s order,” he said.

Myanmar’s many ethnic groups, which make up about one-third of the population, have called for a greater federal system, but Mr. Thein Sein appears to favor a more centralized union that would preserve the pre-eminence of the majority Burmese ethnic group. The current constitution calls for a hybrid system of local administrations and a powerful central government.

Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar.

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Dotcom says new site legal, no revenge for Megaupload saga

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Kim Dotcom, founder of outlawed file-sharing website Megaupload, said his new “cyberlocker” was not revenge on U.S. authorities who planned a raid on his home, closed Megaupload and charged him with online piracy for which he faces jail if found guilty.

Dotcom said his new offering, Mega.co.nz, which will launch on Sunday even as he and three colleagues await extradition from New Zealand to the United States, complied with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.

“This is not some kind of finger to the U.S. government or to Hollywood,” Dotcom told Reuters at his sprawling estate in the bucolic hills of Coatesville, just outside Auckland, New Zealand, a country known more for sheep, rugby and the Hobbit than flamboyant tech tycoons.

“Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors,” he said, referring to other popular cloud storage services.

His lawyer, Ira Rothken, added that launching the site was compliant with the terms of Dotcom’s bail conditions. U.S. prosecutors argue that Dotcom in a statement said he had no intention of starting a new internet business until his extradition was resolved.

CODES AND KEYS

Dotcom said Mega was a different beast to Megaupload, as the new site enables users to control exactly which users can access uploaded files, in contrast to its predecessor, which allowed users to search files, some of which contained copyrighted content allegedly without permission.

A sophisticated encryption system will allow users to encode their files before they upload them on to the site’s servers, which Dotcom said were located in New Zealand and overseas.

Each file will then be issued a unique, sophisticated decryption key which only the file holder will control, allowing them to share the file as they choose.

As a result, the site’s operators would have no access to the files, which they say would strip them from any possible liability for knowingly enabling users to distribute copyright-infringing content, which Washington says is illegal.

“Even if we wanted to, we can’t go into your file and snoop and see what you have in there,” the burly Dotcom said.

Dotcom said Mega would comply with orders from copyright holders to remove infringing material, which will afford it the “safe harbor” legal provision, which minimizes liability on the condition that a party acted in good faith to comply.

But some legal experts say it may be difficult to claim the protection if they do not know what users have stored.

The Motion Pictures Association of America said encrypting files alone would not protect Dotcom from liability.

“We’ll reserve final judgment until we have a chance to analyze the new project,” a spokesman told Reuters. “But given Kim Dotcom’s history, count us as skeptical.”

The German national, who also goes by Kim Schmitz, expects huge interest in its first month of operation, which would be a far cry from when Megaupload went live in 2005.

“I would be surprised if we had less than one million users,” Dotcom said.

A YEAR ON

Mega’s launch starts the next chapter of the Dotcom narrative, dotted with previous cyber crime-related arrests and whose twists and turns have been scrutinized by all facets of the entertainment industry, from film studios and record labels to internet service companies and teenage gamers.

The copyright infringement case, billed as the largest to date given that Megaupload in its heyday commanded around four percent of global online traffic, could set a precedent for internet liability laws and depending on its outcome, may force entertainment companies to rethink their distribution methods.

A year on, the extradition hearing has been delayed until August, complicated by illegal arrest warrants and the New Zealand government’s admission that it had illegally spied on Dotcom, who has residency status in the country.

Last January, New Zealand’s elite special tactics forces landed by helicopter at dawn in the grounds of Dotcom’s mansion, worth roughly NZ$ 30 million ($ 25.05 million) and featuring a servants’ wing, hedge maze and life-size statues of giraffes and a rhinoceros, to arrest him and his colleagues at the request of the FBI.

Police armed with semi-automatic weapons found Dotcom cowering alone in a panic room in the attic, while outside, a convoy of police cars and vans pulled up in the driveway. Around 70 officers took part in the raid.

They left with computers, files and some of Dotcom’s fleet of Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and a vintage pink Cadillac tricked with personalized license plates screaming “HACKER”, “EVIL”, and “MAFIA”.

“Every time you hear a helicopter, you automatically think, ‘Oh, another raid’, so it’s something that stays with you for a long time,” said Dotcom, who says he and his wife still panic when they hear sudden, loud noises in the house.

Dotcom was coy about the details of the launch party as builders put the finishing touches to a festival-sized concert stage in the mansion’s grounds, while two helicopters circled overhead.

But if the impromptu, Willy Wonka-styled ice cream social he threw in Auckland earlier in the week is any indication, the party could be a more wholesome affair compared with the well-documented soirees of Dotcom’s past, where nightclubs, hot tubs and scantily clad women were a common fixture.

“I had to grow up, you know, I was a big baby,” he said. “Big baby with too much money usually leads to baby craziness.

“I am going to be more of a person that wants to help to make things better and help internet innovation to take off without all these restrictions by governments. That is going to be my primary goal if this business is successful.”

($ 1 = NZ$ 1.2)

(Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Nick Macfie)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling Score Celeb Followers on Twitter

Want to get a celebrity following on Twitter? It's easy – just make 'em laugh.

Stars at the Golden Globes recently admitted that humor is what gets them to follow someone on Twitter, with Modern Family writer/executive producer Danny Zuker and Mindy Kaling scoring follows from celebs.

"I'm bad at knowing who I'm following. I recognize people from the color of their clothes and their avatar," Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet admitted. "There's some girl in a blue dress and a blue hat that's cracking me up right now." (A quick look at his account makes us think it's self-described "freelance rapper" Amber.

For Zooey Deschanel, Girls star Lena Dunham and New Girl costar Max Greenfield fill her Twitter feed.

Check out which other funny accounts have stars all a-twitter (ha!) and don't forget to follow PEOPLE on Twitter. (And while you're there, check out one of our favorite funny guys, George Takei.)

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Flu remains widespread in US; eases in some areas

Nine more children or teens have died of the flu, bringing the nation's total this flu season to 29, health officials reported Friday.

In a typical season, about 100 children die of the flu, so it is not known whether this year will be better or worse than usual.

So far, half of confirmed flu cases are in people 65 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

This year's season is earlier than normal and the dominant flu strain is one that tends to make people sicker. The flu is widespread in all states but Tennessee and Hawaii and is starting to ease in some areas, the CDC said.

Health officials say it's not too late to get a flu shot to help protect against the flu. Vaccinations are recommended for anyone 6 months or older.

Last week, the CDC said the flu again surpassed an "epidemic" threshold, based on monitoring of deaths from flu and a frequent complication, pneumonia. The flu epidemic happens every year and officials say this year's vaccine is a good match for strains that are going around.

The government doesn't keep a running tally of adult deaths from the flu, but estimates that it kills about 24,000 people most years.

___

Online:

CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

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