Flu season puts businesses and employees in a bind

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half the 70 employees at a Ford dealership in Clarksville, Ind., have been out sick at some point in the past month. It didn't have to be that way, the boss says.

"If people had stayed home in the first place, a lot of times that spread wouldn't have happened," says Marty Book, a vice president at Carriage Ford. "But people really want to get out and do their jobs, and sometimes that's a detriment."

The flu season that has struck early and hard across the U.S. is putting businesses and employees alike in a bind. In this shaky economy, many Americans are reluctant to call in sick, something that can backfire for their employers.

Flu was widespread in 47 states last week, up from 41 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The only states without widespread flu were California, Mississippi and Hawaii. And the main strain of the virus circulating tends to make people sicker than usual.

Blake Fleetwood, president of Cook Travel in New York, says his agency is operating with less than 40 percent of its staff of 35 because of the flu and other ailments.

"The people here are working longer hours and it puts a lot of strain on everyone," Fleetwood says. "You don't know whether to ask people with the flu to come in or not." He says the flu is also taking its toll on business as customers cancel their travel plans: "People are getting the flu and they're reduced to a shriveling little mess and don't feel like going anywhere."

Many workers go to the office even when they're sick because they are worried about losing their jobs, says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employer consulting firm. Other employees report for work out of financial necessity, since roughly 40 percent of U.S. workers don't get paid if they are out sick. Some simply have a strong work ethic and feel obligated to show up.

Flu season typically costs employers $10.4 billion for hospitalization and doctor's office visits, according to the CDC. That does not include the costs of lost productivity from absences.

At Carriage Ford, Book says the company plans to make flu shots mandatory for all employees.

Linda Doyle, CEO of the Northcrest Community retirement home in Ames, Iowa, says the company took that step this year for its 120 employees, providing the shots at no cost. It is also supplying face masks for all staff.

And no one is expected to come into work if sick, she says.

So far, the company hasn't seen an outbreak of flu cases.

"You keep your fingers crossed and hope it continues this way," Doyle says. "You see the news and it's frightening. We just want to make sure that we're doing everything possible to keep everyone healthy. Cleanliness is really the key to it. Washing your hands. Wash, wash, wash."

Among other steps employers can take to reduce the spread of the flu on the job: holding meetings via conference calls, staggering shifts so that fewer people are on the job at the same time, and avoiding handshaking.

Newspaper editor Rob Blackwell says he had taken only two sick days in the last two years before coming down with the flu and then pneumonia in the past two weeks. He missed several days the first week of January and has been working from home the past week.

"I kept trying to push myself to get back to work because, generally speaking, when I'm sick I just push through it," says Blackwell, the Washington bureau chief for the daily trade paper American Banker.

Connecticut is the only state that requires some businesses to pay employees when they are out sick. Cities such as San Francisco and Washington have similar laws.

Challenger and others say attitudes are changing, and many companies are rethinking their sick policies to avoid officewide outbreaks of the flu and other infectious diseases.

"I think companies are waking up to the fact right now that you might get a little bit of gain from a person coming into work sick, but especially when you have an epidemic, if 10 or 20 people then get sick, in fact you've lost productivity," Challenger says.

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Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in Atlanta, Eileen A.J. Connelly in New York, Paul Wiseman in Washington, Barbara Rodriguez in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

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Stock futures little changed after S&P hit five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 hit a five-year high and following higher-than-expected results from Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo , the first major U.S. bank to post earnings this season, reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Friday as it set aside less money to cover bad loans and made more fees from mortgages. Still, its shares fell 1.1 percent to $35 in premarket trading.

Basic materials shares could be hurt after China's annual consumer inflation rate picked up to a seven-month high, narrowing the scope for the central bank to boost the economy by easing monetary policy.

"The bigger news lies ahead of us in terms of earnings and also reports on Christmas sales, which seem to be poor so far," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Best Buy shares were volatile in premarket trading after it reported flat holiday sales at established U.S. stores. Shares were last up 4.8 percent at $12.80.

Meckler said that in the absence of major news, the market will continue to absorb some of the money that comes in from institutional investors at the start of the year, which could give equities an upside bias.

S&P 500 futures dipped 1 point and were slightly below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 7 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1 point.

American Express said it would take a $600-million quarterly charge relating to 5,400 job cuts and payment of legal bills, a move likely to halve its net income. Its shares dipped 0.5 percent in premarket trading to $60.51.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jet was dogged by further incidents that tested confidence in the new plane. It suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday. The US Department of Transportation said the jet would be subject to a review of its critical systems by regulators. Boeing shares fell 1.5 percent to $75.90 in premarket trading.

In a move that could support US equities and boost the global economic outlook, the Japanese government approved a massive $117 billion of spending to revive the world's third-largest economy in the biggest stimulus plan since the financial crisis.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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IHT Rendezvous: Top Pirate Quits as Tide Turns Against Somali Raiders

LONDON — A notorious Somali sea raider known as Big Mouth is a pirate with a retirement plan.

He announced this week that he was quitting after an eight-year career in which he and his pirate crews plagued shipping in the Indian Ocean and raised millions of dollars in ransom.

Big Mouth — Mohamed Abdi Hassan — was named in a United Nations report last year as one of the most notorious and influential leaders of a Somali pirate network.

His decision to call it a day may be further evidence that international action, including patrols by European and other navies, is at last succeeding in containing the piracy scourge off the coast of east Africa.

“I have decided to renounce and quit, and from today on I will not be involved in this gang activity,” the pirate leader said in Somalia’s northern region of Adado on Wednesday. (You can watch his valedictory press conference here.)

He said he had also successfully encouraged many of his colleagues to quit.

Mr. Hassan’s decision came in the same week in which Koji Sekimizu of Japan, head of the International Maritime Organization, said 2012 saw a sharp reduction in successful piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean.

During the course of the year, the sea raiders only succeeded in capturing 13 vessels, as against 49 in 2010 and 28 in 2011, a year that saw a record number of pirate attacks.

The European Union’s naval task force in the region said last April that factors in the decrease included more armed security aboard merchant vessels and the presence of foreign navies.

Timo Lange, the spokesman for the force, said recently that anti-piracy efforts had been enhanced by a European decision to allow navies to destroy pirate supplies on shore, whereas previously that power was limited to the open waters.

In May, the force performed its first shoreline operation, sending an aircraft over the Somali coast to destroy pirate equipment that had been assembled for a mission.

In Big Mouth’s case, an additional factor in his decision to quit might have been the provision of a diplomatic passport by Somalia’s transitional government as an inducement. Last year’s U.N. report said the pirate boss had used it to visit his wife and family abroad.

The biggest anti-piracy victory of the year came last month, when naval police from the breakaway province of Puntland overran a pirate stronghold and liberated the MV Iceberg, a Panama-flagged cargo vessel, and its 22 crew members, who had been held for almost three years.

Mr. Sekimuzu cautioned this week that the scourge was not yet over. Twelve vessels and 159 people were still in the hands of Somali pirates, he said.

There are also concerns that the eventual scaling back of some naval forces might encourage a resurgence.

In Britain, which is facing naval cutbacks, a consortium of business executives has set up the country’s first private navy in 200 years. This year it will start protecting shipping in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere at a daily cost of $10,000 to $12,000 per vessel.

Meanwhile, the maritime authorities are warning seafarers that a decline in piracy off Somalia is being offset by an increase in incidents off West Africa. There were 32 attacks in the Gulf of Guinea in the first half of 2012, as against 25 in the same period the previous year.

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Skype founder browses globe for next tech earner

LONDON (Reuters) – Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of internet phone service Skype, believes the next hot tech business will just as likely spring from Istanbul or Sao Paolo as from Silicon Valley or the coolest districts of London.

And he is prepared to fly around the world to find it.

“Talent can pop up anywhere in the world, it’s not just one city block,” the Swedish entrepreneur and venture capitalist said at the headquarters of his Atomico fund, based on upmarket New Bond Street in central London.

Zennstrom, who retains faint traces of a Swedish accent despite his years of globetrotting, is looking for start-ups ready to shift up a gear into new markets and has the experience, gained from growing Skype into a service used by millions around the world, to help them.

Skype was sold to eBay Inc in 2005 for roughly $ 3 billion, before being bought back by a consortium including Zennstrom in 2009 and then two years later sold on to Microsoft Corp for $ 8.5 billion, leaving him a multi-millionaire.

“If you have a product that works it’s important to scale (up) the business as quickly as possible,” said Zennstrom, named by Time Magazine in 2006 as one of its 100 most influential people. “As entrepreneurs, usually you may not have that experience; how does Asia work? Europe? Latin America?”

Atomico, founded by Zennstrom in 2006, has invested in companies in northern Europe including Finland-based Rovio, developer of Angry Birds, and Hailo, a London-based startup that has developed an app that connects passengers with taxi drivers and has raised $ 20 million so far.

It also led a $ 105 million funding round for U.S. online retailer Fab in July.

FUTURE PORTFOLIO

The investment fund, whose London office reception is decked out with simple designer furniture and modern art pieces, has opened offices in Turkey and Brazil, emerging markets with growing middle classes eager to shop online and buy internet services.

Zennstrom wants to make these markets a large part of Atomico’s portfolio in future.

The firm in 2011 backed Brazilian online retailers such as car parts supplier Connect Parts and announced a $ 16 million investment in a Russian online travel agency in October.

Atomico is not necessarily looking for the latest gizmo or internet trend, but savvy businesses with talented leaders who can take advantage of growth in nascent sectors such as e-commerce.

And Zennstrom, softly spoken and wearing an open-necked shirt and dark jacket, believes emerging market growth is fuelling a new breed of optimism and ambition.

“It’s a much more of an entrepreneurial spirit (in Turkey and Brazil) compared to southern European where it’s a depressed mindset,” he said.

Zennstrom earned his stripes in the tech world after helping launch file-sharing service Kazaa more than a decade ago, which failed as a business but paved the way for Skype.

He said getting investment today was far easier than when he was starting Skype. It took him a year to secure funding, whereas today the most talented entrepreneurs with the best ideas could take their pick of investors.

There is also increasing recognition that entrepreneurs might want to realize some of the value of their creations, something he said was lacking when Skype became successful.

“There was really no IPO market and it was not really accepted for founders to sell some of their shares to get some money off the table,” he said, adding that before Skype was sold to eBay, he could not even secure a mortgage on an apartment.

“I think we made the right decision for the time in terms of selling (Skype),” he said. “Today as an entrepreneur you have more options.”

(Editing by David Holmes)

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Kate's Official Portrait Unveiled

By Simon Perry

01/11/2013 at 08:40 AM EST

From left: artist Paul Emsley, the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge

REX USA

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had an art outing early Friday – for the unveiling of her official portrait.

And they were not alone. Kate's parents and siblings also made the breakfast trip to the National Portrait Gallery – the Duchess's first official outing since she handed out awards at a sports honors evening in December.

Her reaction to her portrait? "I thought it was brilliant," Kate, who showed no sign of a baby bump in her burgundy Whistles dress, said at the reception.

She also thanked artist Paul Emsley, a Glasgow-born, South African-raised painter, while William pronounced the canvas – which happens to be located in the same gallery as a rendering of a naked David Beckham (it will soon be moved elsewhere) – "absolutely beautiful"

Kate sat for Emsley in two sittings last May and June, both at his studio in Bradford-upon-Avon, southwest England, and at Kensington Palace. Working from photographs he took, he spent 3½ months to create the painting.

Official portrait of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, by artist Paul Emsley

Sang Tan / AP

He says Kate wanted "to convey her natural self as opposed to her official self. I was always aware of the fact that we would use the hair very much as a kind of a frame for the face, and not too much jewelry apart from the earring, to try to create something of her natural warmth, her natural serenity without too much busyness in the portrait."

He told PEOPLE, "If you are working with someone who has whose face is just a lovely face, it's harder to find something in the portrait that gives it some sort of gravitas. In this case I've tried to do that with the smile and the dimples and the shadows around the face."

Director of the National Portrait Gallery Sandy Nairne, called the painting "very direct, simple. Modern contemporary portrait." As for the subject, "She was really positive about it," and, as he told PEOPLE, "She seemed very well, terrific."

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Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.

Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.

While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until late January or February, it is already widespread in more than 40 states, with about 30 of them reporting some major hot spots. On Thursday, health officials blamed the flu for the deaths of 20 children so far.

Whether this will be considered a bad season by the time it has run its course in the spring remains to be seen.

"Those of us with gray hair have seen worse," said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

The evidence so far points to a moderate season, Schaffner and others say. It looks bad in part because last year was unusually mild and because the main strain of influenza circulating this year tends to make people sicker and really lay them low.

David Smythe of New York City saw it happen to his 50-year-old girlfriend, who has been knocked out for about two weeks. "She's been in bed. She can't even get up," he said.

Also, the flu's early arrival coincided with spikes in a variety of other viruses, including a childhood malady that mimics flu and a new norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, or what is commonly known as "stomach flu." So what people are calling the flu may, in fact, be something else.

"There may be more of an overlap than we normally see," said Dr. Joseph Bresee, who tracks the flu for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most people don't undergo lab tests to confirm flu, and the symptoms are so similar that it can be hard to distinguish flu from other viruses, or even a cold. Over the holidays, 250 people were sickened at a Mormon missionary training center in Utah, but the culprit turned out to be a norovirus, not the flu.

Flu is a major contributor, though, to what's going on.

"I'd say 75 percent," said Dr. Dan Surdam, head of the emergency department at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Wyoming's largest hospital. The 17-bed emergency room saw its busiest day ever last week, with 166 visitors.

The early onslaught has resulted in a spike in hospitalizations. To deal with the influx and protect other patients from getting sick, hospitals are restricting visits from children, requiring family members to wear masks and banning anyone with flu symptoms from maternity wards.

One hospital in Allentown, Pa., set up a tent this week for a steady stream of patients with flu symptoms. But so far "what we're seeing is a typical flu season," said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

On Wednesday, Boston declared a public health emergency, with the city's hospitals counting about 1,500 emergency room visits since December by people with flu-like symptoms.

All the flu activity has led some to question whether this year's flu shot is working. While health officials are still analyzing the vaccine, early indications are that it's about 60 percent effective, which is in line with what's been seen in other years.

The vaccine is reformulated each year, based on experts' best guess of which strains of the virus will predominate. This year's vaccine is well-matched to what's going around. The government estimates that between a third and half of Americans have gotten the vaccine.

In New York City, 57-year-old Judith Quinones skipped getting a flu shot this season and suffered her worst case of flu-like illness in years. She was laid up for nearly a month with fever and body aches. "I just couldn't function," she said.

But her daughter got the vaccine. "And she got sick twice," Quinones said.

Europe is also suffering an early flu season, though a milder strain predominates there. Flu reports are up, too, in China, Japan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Algeria and the Republic of Congo. Britain has seen a surge in cases of norovirus.

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC. That's an estimate — the agency does not keep a running tally of adult flu deaths each year, only for children. Some state health departments do keep count, and they've reported dozens of flu deaths so far.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

Most people with flu have a mild illness and can help themselves and protect others by staying home and resting. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.

Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older. Of the 20 children killed by the flu this season, only two were fully vaccinated.

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AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

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Online:

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

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Stock futures gain as China data spurs growth hopes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday as stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, raised hopes for a more robust recovery in the global economy this year.

Data showed China's export growth rebounded sharply to a seven-month high in December, a strong finish to the year after seven straight quarters of slowdown, even as demand from Europe and the United States remained subdued.

Ford Motor shares gained 3.1 percent to $13.89 in premarket trading after it doubled its first-quarter dividend to 10 cents a share, despite a recent drop in market share.

Adding to the bullish sentiment, Spanish benchmark government bond yields fell below 5 percent to a 10-month low on the back of a strong bond auction that raised more than the targeted amount.

"The market's more positive and it owes a lot of that to the Chinese economic data," said Art Hogan, managing director of Lazard Capital Markets in New York, adding that the success of the Spanish auction was also of note.

S&P 500 futures rose 7.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 45 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 18 points.

Data showed new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, though seasonal volatility made it difficult to get a clear picture of the labor market's health. The market's reaction to the data was muted.

Looking ahead, traders await the release of wholesale inventories data for November by the Commerce Department at 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT). Economists expect inventories to rise 0.3 percent, against a 0.6 percent increase in October.

Several Federal Reserve speakers are due to speak Thursday, including Kansas City Fed President Esther George and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Market participants are likely to pay close attention to their remarks following indications, in the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, that the Fed may halt its highly simulative asset purchases this year. The program has been one of the pillars of the strength in the equity market.

Shares of upscale jeweler Tiffany dropped 8 percent to $58.21 in premarket trading after it said earnings for the year through January 31 will be at the lower end of its forecast.

Molycorp shares dropped 13 percent to $9.39 in premarket trading after the company said revenue and cash flow would be lower than expected this year due to lower rare-earth prices.

U.S.-traded Nokia shares jumped 18 percent to $4.43 after the Finnish handset maker said its fourth-quarter results were better than expected and that the mobile phone business achieved underlying profitability.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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IHT Rendezvous: The Last Man Asian Literary Prize

HONG KONG — The five shortlisted novels of what will be the last Man Asian Literary Prize were announced last evening at the Man Group’s offices here. The British investment firm will end its support of Asia’s most prominent literary prize after the final award is given at a black-tie dinner in March.

As usually happens, the shortlist announcement drew about two dozen people from the city’s relatively small English-language literary scene: a few publishers, agents and journalists mostly from the foreign or English-language press. With rather less fanfare than the Man Booker gets, we stood around a screen to watch Maya Jaggi, a literary critic and head of the judging panel, read the list via a video link from London, from what looked like an office cubicle.

Man’s involvement lent clout to the prize when it was introduced in Hong Kong in 2007 — it is often incorrectly referred to as the Asian Booker — and the $30,000 purse is extraordinarily generous in a region without many literary awards. More importantly, it gave global exposure to Asian authors writing in Asian languages. The 2011 winner, “Please Look After Mom” by the South Korean novelist Kyung-sook Shin, went on to sell two million copies worldwide.

Initially, the Man Asia accepted unpublished manuscripts (which it no longer does) and focused on unearthing unknown regional talent, like the Filipino writer Miguel Syjuco in 2008.

But as the prize grew in prominence, so have its recipients, causing more crossover with international awards. The Guardian called this year the “Booker re-match,” as two of the works shortlisted for the Man Asia – “The Garden of Evening Mists” by the Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng and “Narcopolis,” a debut novel by the Indian poet Jeet Thayil – were also shortlisted for the Man Booker.

Another author shortlisted for the Man Asia, Orhan Pamuk, was given the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. His submission, “Silent House,” is a 30-year-old Turkish-language novel that had only recently been published in English. Rounding out the short list are “Between Clay and Dust” by the Pakistani author Musharraf Ali Farooqi and “The Briefcase” by Hiromi Kawakami of Japan.

All but one – “Between Clay and Dust,” from the Delhi-based Aleph Book Company – are from Western publishers.

The prize’s organizers say that they have been in talks with potential new sponsors for months, after it was announced in October that Man would no longer support it.

“We have decided to concentrate our arts sponsorship on the world-leading Man Booker prize, where our support is about to go into its twelfth year,” David Waller, a Man Group spokesman, said at the time.

A new title sponsor is expected to be announced in April, and most chatter has been over whether it will be an Asian organization this time. It brings up a larger question:

Does Asia’s literary scene still need Western financing, publishing houses and publicity to succeed?

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It's a Girl for Lily Allen

Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog

01/10/2013 at 08:30 AM ET

PA Photos/Landov

Cue the lullabies: Lily Allen is a mom — again!

The “Smile” singer and her husband Sam Cooper welcomed her second daughter — and the baby girl shares her special day with rock legends Elvis and David Bowie. Marnie Rose arrived on Jan. 8, according to reports.

The couple — who wed in Gloucestershire, England in June 2011 — are already parents to 1-year-old daughter Ethel Mary.

Her rep declined to confirm the pregnancy in July, but after stepping out several times with a burgeoning belly, no official confirmation was needed when 27-year-old Allen appeared radiant on the red carpet during the British Fashion Awards in November.

On New Year’s Eve, Allen was anxious the tot would emerge soon, Tweeting she was “only planning on spending a few days of [2013] pregnant. Unlike the last 3 years.” And she said she had been sampling curries to try to force labor.

A rep for the singer (who goes by her married name Cooper) didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment or statement, but Allen appeared to acknowledge the news Thursday when she thanked fans, writing, “Quite overwhelmed by all the well wishing going on. THANKYOU everybody x x x”

One of those came from actor friend Charlie Condou, who Tweeted he had a “little cry” when Lily “told me Marnie Rose was born” on his birthday.

– Anya Leon and Simon Perry

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Wall Street set to open higher after Alcoa's positive results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised to open slightly higher on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year.

Alcoa Inc said it expects global demand for aluminum will continue to grow in 2013, though the company kept a cautious tone as worries lingered over a looming U.S. budget confrontation. Shares of Alcoa, the largest aluminum producer in the United States, rose 1.7 percent to $9.25 in premarket trade.

Still, investors are wary about the outcome of the fourth-quarter earnings season. Profits were expected to beat the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analyst estimates were down sharply from where they were in October. Earnings were expected to grow by 2.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Equities have pulled back over the last two sessions from last week's rally, which was spurred by the "fiscal cliff" deal in Washington.

"With the euphoria of the fiscal cliff deal wearing off, the market is looking for the next positive theme and the hope is that earning season can fill that need," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.

"With expectations muted, any semblance of decent numbers could provide a robust upside potential."

Among other earnings, Constellation Brands , whose labels include Robert Mondavi and Ravenswood wines, rose 4 percent to $37.50 after it reported higher profit.

But on the downside, Apollo Group Inc slid more than 10 percent after it reported lower student sign-ups for the third straight quarter and cut its operating profit forecast for 2013. Apollo's shares were indicated at $18.84.

S&P 500 futures rose 1.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 15 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.5 points.

Dish Network Corp late Tuesday announced a bid for Clearwire Corp that trumped Sprint Nextel Corp's $2.2 billion offer, setting the stage for a battle over the wireless service provider.

Clearwire was up 7.2 percent at $3.13, while Sprint lost 2.5 percent to $5.82.

Hard drive maker Seagate Technology rose 2.7 percent to $32.25 after it raised its second-quarter revenue forecast.

Apple Inc is working on a lower-end iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. The report comes as Apple's chief executive meets with partners and government officials in China.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are among a group of banks expected to agree as soon as this week to a $1.5 billion settlement with U.S. regulators over botched foreclosure claims, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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