Brees: Focus on keeping Saints together

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees speaks at a postgame news conference after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, in San Francisco. The 49ers won 36-32. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees speaks at a postgame news conference after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, in San Francisco. The 49ers won 36-32. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

METAIRIE, La. (AP) ? Drew Brees has spent the past six years reinvigorating the Saints, rewriting NFL records and rebuilding New Orleans.

His contract may be expiring, but the Big Easy's biggest sports star doesn't see himself changing teams any time soon.

Brees said Friday he would be "beyond stunned" if he and the Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason, echoing comments by coach Sean Payton this week.

The former Super Bowl MVP added he doesn't believe his next deal will prevent the Saints from bidding for some other key members of their record-setting offense who will become free agents, including Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem.

"My No. 1 priority, and it always has been this, is keeping our team together and making sure we have the right guys in the right positions to make a run at this for a long time," Brees said by phone from his offseason home in San Diego. "We all kind of work together on this thing.

"Put it this way: I'm not worried one bit about my contract or our ability to keep guys at key positions."

At the same time, Brees acknowledged that his powers of persuasion only go so far as it pertains to teammates' decisions to stay or go, and the franchise's decisions regarding how much to offer other players.

"Is it realistic to think we can keep absolutely everybody? I don't know how realistic that is just because every year on a team there's turnover and I think that's just the business we're in," Brees said.

"That's the biggest reason why it's so sad when the season ends. It's not because the season is over and you don't get to play anymore games or you know you're not going to win a championship that year. The biggest sadness comes in because you're looking around the room and you know that there's guys you've become very close to that you might not be playing with anymore."

Brees is expected to command an annual salary in the range of $18 million, which would be commensurate with the average yearly pay of New England's Tom Brady and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.

Brees' agent is Tom Condon, who also represents Manning.

In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.

Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record and second NFC South Division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of their second-round game at San Francisco, which hosts the NFC title game on Sunday.

Brees has been invited to the Pro Bowl and plans to attend. By then, he hopes the emotional pain of losing in the playoffs will have subsided enough that he can look back fondly on New Orleans record-shattering season.

"I haven't been able to enjoy it yet to be honest with you. It's been tough this week. I really have tried not to turn on the TV," Brees said. "It's hard not to think about what could have been. But you know what? I take solace in the fact that we fought our heart out, we gave it our best and you know what? It just wasn't meant to be.

"If we're not playing for a championship, I guess there's no place I'd rather be than going to Hawaii for a week with the family and be able to enjoy the Pro Bowl and be around other guys that have earned that trip," Brees said. "And maybe that's going to be the time to decompress and reflect back on the season a little bit, but for now it still stings."

Brees arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina had struck. Since then he has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL (28,394) while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping a region heal from Katrina's devastation.

In addition to lifting the spirits of football fans, he and wife Brittany have worked through their Brees Dream foundation to sponsor about $8 million in projects primarily aimed at improving the lives of children in the area through the refurbishing of schools or renovation of athletic fields and facilities. His foundation also has supported the arts, along with hospital facilities for cancer patients.

He said his family's growing bond with New Orleans is another reason it would be hard for him to envision playing anywhere else.

"This is a place that is very special in our hearts. We've had two of our kids raised here and hopefully we'll have more in the future," Brees said, alluding to a third child that is expected this summer.

"It's been an unbelievable journey over the last six years to watch how far, not only our organization and our team, but just the mental psyche of the city" has improved, Brees said. "We're always going to have a strong connection with New Orleans. We're always going to give back to New Orleans, and I'm talking like 20, 30, 40 years from now."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-20-FBN-Saints-Brees'-Future/id-b79e0b2c276943e28b4c624b81da1133

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Google shares slide but analysts stay upbeat (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Shares of Google Inc fell 8 percent after the Internet giant posted a rare quarterly earnings miss and said money paid by marketers for its search ads decreased for the first time in two years.

The search giant underperformed on both revenue and earnings, despite record U.S. online commerce during the holiday season, prompting several brokerages to cut their price targets on the stock.

Google shares were down $50.77 at $588.80 in late morning trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $584.81. It was the stock's biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

About 5.2 million shares changes hands by 1120 ET, more than their daily average volume.

The broader Nasdaq composite index was down 0.25 percent.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising -- which has lower rates -- played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost per click (CPC) had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid click growth and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Google's heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives -- to stave off competition from rivals Apple Inc and Facebook -- and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings have also raised investors' concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as CEO in April, said in July that the company was moving to put "more wood behind fewer arrows."

Analysts said the company has seen growth in display advertising, its Android mobile platform and Google+.

Google+ -- its recently-launched social network -- has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago.

SOLID CORE

Wall Street analysts called the selloff an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The company's core results were solid as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JP Morgan said, adding Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said, "We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth-quarter of 2012."

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its "buy" rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JP Morgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting by Aditi Sharma and Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Tenzin Pema, Don Sebastian, Unnikrishnan Nair)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_google_research

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LomoKino Adapter Lets Your Phone Capture 35mm Movies Without an App [Video]

In addition to still cameras, Lomography also makes the LomoKino which lets retro enthusiasts capture 35mm movies in all their scratchy, grainy glory. But sharing those creations isn't easy, at least without this smartphone adapter which lets you digitize your flicks. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/TZqtyAwQfDY/lomokino-adapter-lets-your-phone-capture-35mm-movies-without-an-app

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Oil above $101 on hopes IMF to curb Europe crisis (AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ? Oil rose above $101 a barrel Thursday in Asia after the IMF promised to raise lending to mitigate a worsening financial crisis in Europe. Stronger U.S. economic data also gave oil a lift.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 88 cents at $101.47 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 12 cents to end at $100.59 on Wednesday.

"Trading has been choppy but the market recovered on news that the IMF will boost its lending capacity for Europe," said Natalie Robertson, commodities analyst with ANZ Banking Group in Melbourne.

The International Monetary Fund estimated countries around the world would need about $1 trillion in loans over the coming years and said it aimed to increase its financial firepower by around $500 billion so it can give out new loans.

The IMF has put up about a third of the financing for Europe's bailouts over the past two years, but there are growing worries that non-European countries will also need more help given the worsening economic outlook.

Robertson said prices were also supported by the American Petroleum Institute's report Wednesday showing an unexpected drop in crude inventory last week. The government is expected to release its weekly data later Thursday.

Strong U.S. housing figures, an improvement in U.S. manufacturing activity in December and increased orders and production also buoyed crude prices, she said.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicted limited upside, with crude prices to average $101 a barrel this year. it cited weak oil global demand after the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for oil demand growth to 1.1 million barrels a day, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3 million barrels a day.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.6 cent to $3.03 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 0.8 cents to $2.84 per gallon. Natural gas fell 5.3 cents to $2.42 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Actor Wahlberg apologizes for 9/11 comments (AP)

NEW YORK ? Actor Mark Wahlberg has apologized for asserting that he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11 if he had been on the plane.

The star of the film "Contraband" issued his apology Wednesday after comments he made to Men's Journal drew criticism.

He told an interviewer in the February issue that had he been on American Airlines Flight 11 with his children "it wouldn't have went down like it did." Terrorists flew the plane with 92 people aboard into the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his apology, Wahlberg said to speculate was "ridiculous to begin with." He said that to suggest he "would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_en_mo/us_people_mark_wahlberg

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BP seen agreeing $20-25 billion oil spill settlement (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? BP is likely to agree to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $20-$25 billion to settle all charges around the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a leading analyst, a prediction that is at least twice what the company has set aside.

Martijn Rats, head of European oil research at Morgan Stanley, said he saw a 70-80 percent chance that the two sides would agree a deal on civil and criminal charges surrounding the 2010 disaster sometime between BP's full year results on February 7, and the scheduled start of legal hearings in New Orleans on February 27.

BP sources have told Reuters that talks are ongoing with the Department of Justice about a possible settlement and that the London-based company's board has shifted to weekly meetings to discuss progress.

Chief Executive Bob Dudley has said BP would like to settle, although not at any price. When asked about the matter by reporters on Wednesday, he declined to make any comment, saying it was a sensitive time to be discussing it.

When contacted by Reuters, BP had no comment to make over the likelihood or size of a settlement of the charges surrounding the blast on the Deepwater Horizon and subsequent spill.

BP senses the U.S. administration would like to settle the matter, not least because it is a U.S. presidential election year, the sources said but any outcome is still seen as uncertain.

The estimated level of settlement in the Morgan Stanley note - the most detailed analysis Reuters has seen on the potential cost of the spill - is much higher than other analysts have predicted, and around double the amount BP has taken a provision for.

Senior company sources last year told Reuters that the company was prepared for a massive payout. One source predicted BP would offer "the mother of all settlements".

Another said the settlement would likely be the second-largest in U.S. legal history, putting it between the $206 billion the tobacco industry agreed to pay U.S. states for treating smoking-related illnesses and the $7.2 billion banks agreed to pay to settle litigation related to Enron's collapse.

SHARES LAG

BP has the money to pay a $20-25 billion settlement - it is sitting on cash pile of more than $20 billion and has billions of dollars worth of assets on the block as part of its restructuring.

Nonetheless, Morgan Stanley predicts the larger-than- expected size of the payout will weigh on BP's shares. It rates the shares "underweight" and has a target price of 435 pence, against a Wednesday close of 481 pence.

The shares traded down 0.6 percent at 0905 GMT, against a flat STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.

BP investors are expecting the company to announce a dividend hike at its full year results, after Dudley said late last year that it had reached a turning point after the oil spill and was now returning to growth mode.

A big settlement would limit BP's ability to lift the shareholder payout.

Morgan Stanley believes the DoJ deal will cover all criminal and civil proceedings being pursued by the government against BP under the Clean Water Act, Alternative Fines Act, other laws and BP's obligation to make good any natural resources damages.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and Mike Nesbit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/ts_nm/us_bp

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Heigl: I want to go back to 'Grey's Anatomy'

By Kristin Dos Santos, E! Online

Scott Garfield / ABC

Paging Dr. Izzie Stevens to Seattle Grace!

While promoting her new movie, "One for the Money," Katherine Heigl discussed whether she'd ever be open to returning to "Grey's Anatomy," and the answer may surprise you fans...

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According to Heigl, she has already asked to come back on the show.

"I've told them I want to," Katherine tells us. "I don't know... Being a showrunner and being a writer of a TV series like that is so
complicated that I mean she's got how many characters are there now? There's a lot and so she's balancing about 40 different storylines, so I don't know if it fits in to their sort of vision for this season or next or however many seasons it goes."

Katherine last appeared on "Grey's" in January 2010, when she left the series to raise her adopted daughter, Naleigh. And she tells us that if ABC or the "Grey's" producers were to call up and ask for her to return, she'd do it.

"Yeah totally. I really, really, really want to see where [Izzie] is. I just want to know what happened to her and where she went and what she's doing now. My idea is that she actually like figures it out, and finds some success and does really well in a different hospital. She was always floundering you know, and so she was always one step behind the eight ball and I want to see that girl take some power back."

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--Reporting by Farrell Roth

Would you like to see Katherine on "Grey's" again? Could poor Alex Karev's heart take it? Tell us what you think on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10185282-katherine-heigl-i-want-to-go-back-to-greys-anatomy

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