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NEW YORK CITY, NY, Aug. 31 (TOTI) –

According to Barron’s, Citigroup Inc investors should take profits now that company shares have had a meteoric rise in such a short amount of time.

The financial newspaper said in its August 31 edition that further gains in share price for Citigroup are likely to be limited. The article also urged investors to take profits from C and put them into other, more attractive bank stocks.

Citigroup shares ended the trading week on Friday at $5.23 a share.

Certainly no one ever went broke taking profits, as the old saying goes, but investors in C should also be tempted to hold shares to see if the gains can continue, at least for awhile, contrary to what the report in Barron’s says.

The major concerns for anyone holding this stock are that credit quality for consumers and bu…

See the full post at Citigroup Investors Urged To Take Profits

TOKYO, Aug. 31 (UPI) –

The man who led the DPJ to a crushing win over the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan’s elections is the grandson of the man who founded the LDP.

Yukio Hatoyama — the president of the Democratic Party of Japan, who is expected to become the next prime minister — helped his party win 308 seats against the LDP, which was founded by his grandfather Ichiro Hatoyama in 1955, Kyodo News reported.

The election defeat, which reduced LDP’s strength to 119 seats, is the first time the LDP has lost its status as the leading party in the powerful lower house since its founding, the report said. It was also the second time in the past 54 years the LDP finds itself out of power.

Yukio Hatoyama broke from the LDP in 1996 to become one of the founders of the DPJ. The victory could help establish a true two-party system in Japan, Kyodo said.

The Kyodo report said many of the LDP’s leading candidates, including former state ministers and party executives, lost …

See the full post at Hatoyama\’s grandfather founded LDP

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Aug. 31 (UPI) –

Dueling experts will make it difficult to convict a former Kentucky high school coach in the death of a player from heat stroke, criminal law specialists said.

Jason Stinson goes on trial Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court, charged with reckless homicide and wanton endangerment, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal reported Sunday.

Medical experts hired by each side dispute whether a lack of water was the cause of death of Max Gilpin, 15,. He collapsed Aug. 20, 2008, after running sprints at football practice.

The heat index that day reached 94. Gilpin’s death certificate indicates he died Aug. 23, 2008, of complications from heat stroke.

Nine specialists told The Courier-Journal there are many reasons it will be hard to prove the charges. However, regardless of the outcome of the trial, both athletic trainers and lawyers say it is likely coaches will be more cautious about pushing players on hot summer days.

See the full post at Charges against coach said hard to prove

BALTIMORE, Aug. 31 (UPI) –

U.S. researchers, in studies involving mice, link a diarrhea-causing bacteria to a type of colon cancer.

Study leader Dr. Cynthia Sears of The John Hopkins University School of Medicine says strains of this common bacteria — Bacteroides fragilis — sometimes trick immune system cells into allowing colon tissue to be continuously inflamed and may set the stage for malignancy.

This could be the H. pylori of colon cancer, Sears says in a statement.

H.pylori is a bacteria known to cause stomach ulcers and is suspected of causing the majority of stomach cancers, she said. The studies in mice suggest Bacteroides fragilis may use tissue inflammation to cause colon cancer in a similar way that H. pylori causes stomach tumors, the study says.

Sears says enterotoxigenic bacterium — germs widely known to cause diarrhea in children and adults — have been linked in a previous study in Turkey to 40 percent of colon cancers. These bacteria can c…

See the full post at Diarrheal bacterial linked to colon cancer

DALLAS, Aug. 31 (UPI) –

More U.S. schools are banning peanut butter for school lunches because some children have allergies but a registered dietitian says there are alternatives.

Joyce Barnett, a registered dietitian and assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says there are tasty alternatives to peanut butter.

Spreads made from other nuts or seeds provide a nutritious alternative to peanut butter, Barnett says in a statement.

Barnett recommends parents have their children try different spreads including:

– Almond butter, which is high in protein and is a great source of potassium. Research has shown that almonds, which are tree nuts, can help reduce the risk of heart disease as well as total cholesterol levels.

– Soy nut butter, made from soybeans, which generally has as much fiber as its peanut counterpart. It’s peanut and tree-nut free, but children with soy allergies should avoid…

See the full post at Alternatives available for peanut butter

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) –

The U.S. government collected all of the aid it gave eight large and 14 smaller banks during the taxpayer-funded rescue new calculations indicated.

The government received about $4 billion from eight of the biggest banks and another $35 million from the smaller banks, The New York Times reported, citing calculations prepared for the newspaper by University of Louisiana at Lafayette Professor Linus Wilson.

In the year since the Troubled Asset Relief Program was put into effect, a hint of profits spurred hope the government might soon get out of the banking business, the report said.

The taxpayers want their money back and they want the government out of our banking system, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel examining the relief program, said.

The government faces long-term losses from other bailouts, such as those of American International Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, General Motors …

See the full post at U.S. goverment gets money back from banks

DENVER, Aug. 31 (UPI) –

Jay Cutler went 15-of-21 passing for 144 yards and a touchdown Sunday in the Chicago Bears’ 27-17 pre-season win over Denver.

Cutler — who was traded to the Bears from Denver during the off-season — was greeted with boos by Denver fans, who made so much noise he had to look to the sidelines for signals from the bench.

His successor in Denver, Kyle Orton — who came to Denver from Chicago in the trade — was 12-for-16 passing for 96 yards before leaving the game with a cut finger in the second quarter.

Adrian Peterson gained 68 yards on 12 rushes and Matt Forte rushed for one touchdown and caught a TD pass for the Bears.

Peyton Hillis and Darius Walker each scored a TD on the ground for the Broncos.

See the full post at NFL: Chicago 27, Denver 17

by Daniel Rook TOKYO (AFP) –

Investors on Monday cheered the Japanese opposition’s election landslide, chasing stocks up to the highest level of 2009 on hopes that a new government will get to work on reviving the ailing economy.

The yen hit a seven-week high against the dollar after a crushing win by the Democratic Party of Japan that ends more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule and clears the way for an end to legislative deadlock.

Investors drove the benchmark Nikkei-225 index up two percent in early deals to the highest intra-day level of the year but by lunch shares were down 0.35 percent amid worries about the stronger yen, which is bad for exports.

The dollar dropped to 92.59 yen in Tokyo midday trade, down from 93.29 in New York late Friday.

The initial rise in stocks “appears to reflect the market’s expectations for the new government,” …

See the full post at Investors welcome Japan\’s opposition landslide

ATLANTA, Aug. 14 (UPI) –

Ryan Howard hit a home run to lead off the ninth Friday, lifting Philadelphia to a 3-2 win over Atlanta.

The Phillies kept a 4 1/2 game lead over Florida at the top of the National League East and pushed Atlanta six games back.

The score had been deadlocked at 2-2 since the fourth inning when Atlanta’s Rafael Soriano (1-4) came on in the ninth as Atlanta’s third pitcher. Howard greeted Soriano by hitting a 2-1 pitch out to center for his 28th homer of the season.

Brad Lidge was called on to protect the lead in the bottom of the ninth and he gave up a one-out single to Adam LaRoche. Matt Diaz ran for LaRoche and stole second, but Lidge struck out Ryan Church and got Nate McLouth on a fly ball to left to earn his 22nd save.

The other two Philadelphia runs came on a homer by Chase Utley in the fourth.

Ryan Madson (4-4) got the win, needing just six pitches to work the eighth inning in relief.

See the full post at MLB: Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 2

SHANGHAI (AFP) –

New loans in China may fall to less than 300 billion yuan (43.9 billion dollars) in August as banks further tighten lending amid concerns over bad loans and asset bubbles, Chinese media reported Monday.

The big four banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China — lent less than 100 billion yuan in the first 25 days of August, the Economic Observer newspaper said.

It said the bulk of new lending had come from smaller banks, but added there were signs that lending by those banks and medium-sized institutions had fallen during the month.

The reported decline follows a sharp drop in July, when new loans fell to 355.9 billion yuan from 1.53 trillion yuan in June.

The Chinese economy expanded 7.9 percent in the second quarter after logging growth of 6.1 percent in the first quarter….

See the full post at New China loans in August may drop: report