DealBook: After Mortgage Settlements, Bank of America's Profit Drops 63%

7:42 a.m. | Updated Bank of America continues to cope with the self-inflicted wounds it suffered during the financial crisis.The bank on Thursday reported a widely expected 63 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit after making huge payments to settle legal claims over its mortgage business. The bank’s earnings, a slim $732 million, amounted to 3 cents a share. That figure narrowly beat estimates of...

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Helicopter crashes in central London, killing at least two people

LONDON -- A helicopter apparently crashed into a crane atop a high-rise building in central London during the morning rush hour...

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Here They Are — The Best Comic Books of 2013!

Okay, fine: Comic books aren’t the most predictable things ever. We've seen fantastic comics take a sudden turn and become all but unreadable, and seen comics no one heard of until two seconds ago skyrocket to greatness. But we can still make some pretty good guesses about the most promising comics, graphic novels, and collected editions on the horizon -- or even if we can’t, we’re about to give it...

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A Minute With: Patti Smith on her photography show

TORONTO (Reuters) – Singer Patti Smith is best known for her rock ‘n’ roll songs from the punk era of the 1970s, but visitors to a new photo exhibition will see a different side of the musician, poet and artist.The 70 photos in Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) “Camera Solo” show, which runs from February 9 to May 19, include poetic images of gravestones, religious iconography and objects that...

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The New Old Age Blog: In Flu Season,Use a Mask. But Which One?

Do face masks help prevent people from getting the flu? And if so, how much protection do they give?You might think the answer to this question would be well established. It’s not.In fact, there is considerable uncertainty over how well face masks guard against influenza when people use them outside of hospitals and other health care settings. This has been a topic of discussion and debate in infectious...

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DealBook: JPMorgan’s 4th-Quarter Profit Jumps 53% to $5.7 Billion

JPMorgan Chase touted a strong quarter of earnings, although the bank opted to slash the chief executive’s pay in light of a multi-billion dollar trading loss last year.The bank reported a record profit of $5.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up 53 percent from the previous year. Revenues, too, were strong, rising 10 percent to $23.7 billion.“The firm’s results reflected strong underlying performance...

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SoCal Edison destroyed downed poles before inspection

A state probe into the widespread power outages caused by a furious 2011 windstorm was unable to determine whether toppled utility...

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Software That Gives a Voice to What You Love (and Hate) About Work

Every human-resources manager not trapped in some Mad Men time warp will tell bosses and employees alike to ask for, and offer, feedback on a frequent basis. Of course outside of infrequent performance reviews, it rarely happens. With inspiration from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, San Francisco-based startup 15Five was founded to make sure it does, and not just once a year, but once a...

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Variance Films Picks Up Jay-Z Produced ‘An Oversimplification of Her Beauty’

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Variance Films has acquired North American distributions rights to “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,” Terence Nance‘s debut film executive produced by Jay-Z, Dream Hampton, Joy Bryant and comedian Wyatt Cenac.Variance will release the movie in theaters April 12 while Cinema Guild handles downstream releases, such as DVD and digital.Nance’s film explores the relationship...

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The New Old Age Blog: Study: More to Meal Delivery Than Food

What’s a simpler idea than Meals on Wheels? Older, lower-income people who have trouble driving, cooking or shopping — or paying for food — sign up with a local agency. Each day, volunteers or paid staff come by and drop off a hot lunch. Federal and state dollars and local charities foot the bill.At the Mobile Meals of Essex headquarters in my town in New Jersey on a recent morning, staffers were...

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