Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Social Media Marketing a forward thinking Way of Online marketers ...

The strategies to do your organization has and it is changing. The dynamics of business and the preferences on the consumers are changing just how businesses end up being maintained, subsequently emerged, Social media. Today the pathways during which spending budget and customers reach each-other aren?t fenced to merely the standard current market. Perhaps the much important consumer insights are not only only acquired through the regular marketing research. Innovative method to every little thing is demanded today.

Social Media Marketing (SMM), simply understanding it as being, letting people learn about your organization in a manner that was generated for socialization. People, or prospects in the commercial language, want to do their dealings not simply using the businesses only. Today customers require personalization in every little thing, becoming a really need to create the business environment suitable to feeding their needs. Banks, as an example, possess a dedicated personnel exploring the task of personalizing clients. Precisely the same pertains to various businesses today. People make use of various channels to locate interesting things and innovative of what they deal for.

Social Media Marketing is a such manner in which results in a win-win situation with regards to clientele. In SMM, the business house opens up innovative channels for his or her prospects to get to them. They, in usual practice, end up with various social networks web spaces for attaining this method. The standard hot-spots for SMM are:

Social Networking Sites ? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Orkut. Today businesses are going for personalized services, and the more good terms the service staff are along with prospects, a lot more beneficial do you find it for the business. Multi-media content have triggered the center to attract youth segment with the prospects. Dedicated web spaces for contribution towards arts, photography, audio-video sharing, and presentation have elected it an upmarket arena to be in and reap the huge benefits. Interaction Platforms: Blogger, ExpressionEngine, Forum creations, are some of the buzzed spaces for interaction. These interaction platforms are helpful to businesses due to the sole reason of human behavior that searchers are inclined to start or share more within a friendly and informal interactional environment. Their latent needs, shifting preferences might be uncovered while in the slightest of affable talks, which may make fortunes for any business. Collaborative tools are also in increasing tends towards getting back in your hands on the prospects. Is essential coming together on the internet may be excessively made simple together with the advent and capability of technology. Submitting of social bookmarks and Wikis are making this activity a way easier plus in business terms a whole lot cheaper and efficient source to attain for the target audience. Assessment and Outlook: Since the active customerization, web spaces giving analytical and conclusion oriented content for products are of great insist directory of consumers. Customers are grown intelligent while using passage of one?s and can expect many resources to assess the product in the pre-buying stage.

Reading and discovering how much can SMM helps; the subsequent task for a new marketer is always to have a very clear comprehension of what has to be done. Here it about exactness of understanding and also to be inventive.

But here it will be a fun time to let it?s known that, worldwide over, businesses of all are attempting to firm their grip to the people, and thus mass promoting hammering are actually being done. More often than not businesses rather than to optimize, over-optimize themselves which could hinder their brand that way, and subsequently be tagged as naggers!

So the key to success towards SMM program is to try using this two pronged sword after having a plentiful of homework to make sure the entire program gets a b ? grade.

Source: http://www.coolyourmyspace.com/myspace-marketing/social-media-marketing-a-forward-thinking-way-of-online-marketers.html

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Cracks appear in GOP resolve on higher tax rates (San Jose Mercury News)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/266982087?client_source=feed&format=rss

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U.N. committee expresses concern for Myanmar's Muslims

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A committee of the U.N. General Assembly expressed serious concern on Monday over violence in Myanmar between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists and called upon the government to address reports of human rights abuses by some authorities.

The 193-nation General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on rights issues, approved by consensus a non-binding resolution, which Myanmar said contained a "litany of sweeping allegations, accuracies of which have yet to be verified."

Outbreaks of violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingyas have killed dozens and displaced thousands since June. Rights groups also have accused Myanmar security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas after the riots. Myanmar said it exercised "maximum restraint" to quell the violence.

The U.N. resolution "expressing particular concern about the situation of the Rohingya minority in Rakhine state, urges the government to take action to bring about an improvement in their situation and to protect all their human rights, including their right to a nationality."

At least 800,000 Muslim Rohingya live in Rakhine State along the coast of western Myanmar. But Buddhist Rakhines and other Burmese view them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh who deserve neither rights nor sympathy.

The Myanmar mission to the United Nations told the Third Committee that while it accepted the resolution, it objected to the Rohingya being referred to as a minority.

"There has been no such ethnic group as Rohingya among the ethnic groups of Myanmar," a representative of Myanmar's U.N. mission said. "Despite this fact, the right to citizenship for any member or community has been and will never be denied if they are in line with the law of the land."

NOT PERSECUTION

A Reuters investigation into the wave of sectarian assaults painted a picture of organized attacks against the Muslim community. [ID:nL3E8M7ADZ] During an historic visit to Myanmar last week, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an end to incitement and violence. [ID:nL5E8MJ00Y]

"Violence in Rakhine state was just a violent communal clash affecting both sides of the community. It is not an issue of religious persecution," the Myanmar representative told the Third Committee.

During the past year, Myanmar has introduced the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. A semi-civilian government stacked with former generals has allowed elections, eased rules on protests and freed dissidents.

"Any shortcomings in the human rights field are being addressed through legal reform processes and legal reform mechanisms, including the national human rights commission," said the Myanmar representative.

The U.N. resolution also "urges the government to accelerate its efforts to address discrimination, human rights violations, violence, displacement and economic deprivation affecting various ethnic minorities" and expresses deep concern about an armed conflict in Kachin state.

Myanmar President Thein Sein has ordered troops in Kachin State not to attack the rebels, but has allowed them to defend themselves. The conflict there resurfaced in June 2011, scuttling a 16-year truce and displacing an estimated 50,000 people.

The Third Committee, which includes all members of the General Assembly, is also scheduled to debate resolutions on Iran, Syria and North Korea. A special General Assembly session next month is expected to formally adopt all recently approved committee resolutions.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-committee-expresses-concern-myanmars-muslims-220221213.html

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A Real Estate Christmas? Decorating Client's Homes For the Holidays

Home ? National News christmas-decorations-holiday-decorations-real-estate

Should clients be allowed to decorate their homes for the holidays? We look at a few perspectives on the topic.

By Peter Ricci

We all get a kick out of walking around our neighborhoods and surveying everyone?s holiday decorations, and indeed, few things looks nicer than a brightly-lit, tastefully-decorated home in the wintry months.

But what about homes you are planning to list? Do you allow clients to decorate their homes as they please, or caution restraint?

A Real Estate Christmas ? Decorating Client?s Homes

As with most topics involving the buying and selling of real estate, there is no ?right? answer on whether clients should decorate their homes or not, but here are three perspectives to consider:

1. Keep ?em modest ? If you do allow your clients to decorate their properties for the holidays, it would be wise to caution modesty with their decorations. The examples we linked to above featured nothing more than bright lights and garlands, and they were enormously appealing for their restraint, whereas properties with overwhelming amounts of lights and blow-up decorations will likely scare away any prospective homebuyers.

2. Keep ?em AWAY from the MLS!?? Regarding interior decorations, be similarly intent on modesty and restraint, and be absolutely certain that decorations do not show up in your MLS photos for the property. Aside from the potential corniness of such photos, keep in mind that the home may not sell in December, and what looks more appealing than a photo of this in February?

santa-toilet-bad-christmas-decorations

3. Avoid ?em altogether ??Rather than beat around the bush and try to incorporate Christmas decorations, some agents think it better to avoid them altogether, and admittedly, that approach does have some appeal. After all, you avoid offending any potential buyers, you don?t risk obscuring some of the property?s most impressive features (decorations can be great at covering up fireplaces, columns, etc.) and you allow those buyers to better envision how they would look in the home as its owners.

Source: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/a-real-estate-christmas-decorating-clients-homes-for-the-holidays/

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

New Congress: Fewer moderates make deals harder

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When the next Congress cranks up in January, there will be more women, many new faces and 11 fewer tea party-backed House Republicans from the class of 2010 who sought a second term.

Overriding those changes, though, is a thinning of pragmatic, centrist veterans in both parties. Among those leaving are some of the Senate's most pragmatic lawmakers, nearly half the House's centrist Blue Dog Democrats and several moderate House Republicans.

That could leave the parties more polarized even as President Barack Obama and congressional leaders talk up the cooperation needed to tackle complex, vexing problems such as curbing deficits, revamping tax laws and culling savings from Medicare and other costly, popular programs.

"This movement away from the center, at a time when issues have to be resolved from the middle, makes it much more difficult to find solutions to major problems," said William Hoagland, senior vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a private group advocating compromise.

In the Senate, moderate Scott Brown, R-Mass., lost to Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who will be one of the most liberal members. Another GOP moderate, Richard Lugar of Indiana, fell in the primary election. Two others, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Olympia Snowe of Maine, are retiring.

Moderate Democratic senators such as Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Jim Webb of Virginia are leaving, as is Democratic-leaning independent Joe Lieberman.

While about half the incoming 12 Senate freshmen of both parties are moderates, new arrivals include tea party Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, conservative Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and liberals such as Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Hawaii's Mazie Hirono.

There's a similar pattern in the House, where 10 of the 24 Democratic Blue Dogs lost, are retiring or, in the case of Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., are moving to the Senate. That will further slash a centrist group that just a few years ago had more than 50 members, though some new freshmen might join.

Among Republicans, moderates like Reps. Judy Biggert of Illinois and New Hampshire's Charles Bass were defeated while others such as Reps. Jerry Lewis of California and Steven LaTourette of Ohio decided to retire.

"Congress seems to be going in the opposite direction of the country, just as the country is screaming for solutions to gridlock," said Democratic strategist Phil Singer.

Whether the changes are good is often in the eye of the beholder.

Seventy-one of the 83 House GOP freshmen of 2010 were re-elected Nov. 6, but 11 lost, including one of the group's highest profile members, conservative Rep. Allen West, R-Fla. Another faces a runoff in December.

"Some of the people who are the anti-government ideologues, some of them are gone," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "And that message has been rejected by the American people."

Sal Russo, strategist for the Tea Party Express, said such departures would be balanced by newly elected conservatives, including the Senate's Cruz and GOP Reps.-elect Ted Yoho of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

"Pretty much everybody that ran in 2012 was talking about the economic woes we face, stopping excessive spending, controlling unsustainable debt," he said.

Overall, the new House is on track for a 234-201 Republican majority, a narrowing of their 242-193 advantage today, which includes five vacancies. Democrats will control the Senate 55-45, up from 53-47.

A dozen of the 100 senators and at least 81 of the 435 House members, almost one-fifth, will be in their first term, slightly above historic averages. The Associated Press hasn't declared winners in two House races.

Many newcomers, in Washington for orientation sessions after their election, described a need to compromise. Some also made it clear there will be plenty of fuel for partisan clashes.

"I'm going in open-minded," said conservative Rep.-elect Roger Williams, R-Texas. "But I have certain core values like we all do and I'm not going to waver on that."

All together, there will be 73 women in the House and 20 in the Senate. Both are records.

For the first time, more than half of House Democrats ? 105, in this case ? will not be white males.

One white male will be Rep.-elect Joseph Kennedy III, a Massachusetts Democrat whose father was Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., and grandfather was New York Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. When the newest Kennedy takes office, it will end the only two years since 1947 without a member of his family in Congress.

Those leaving include several who have been in the middle of recent years' policy battles.

Among them are Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the GOP's No. 2 Senate leader; Indiana's Lugar, a longtime GOP power on foreign policy; North Dakota's Conrad, the Senate Budget Committee chairman and one of his party's chief deficit foes; and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Gone from the House will be California Democratic Reps. Pete Stark, a major force on health issues, and Howard Berman, long influential in foreign affairs, plus liberal Massachusetts stalwart Barney Frank, whose name is on the new law overhauling the government's regulation of banks and other financial institutions.

Also leaving: House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., and Ron Paul, 77, who charted his own libertarian course in Congress and long-shot campaigns for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and 2012.

"The status quo will continue," Paul, who sees little difference between the two political parties, said of the new Congress. As for his own departure, he said, "Nobody will notice."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congress-fewer-moderates-deals-harder-092942465--politics.html

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Researchers study cry acoustics to determine risk for autism

Researchers study cry acoustics to determine risk for autism [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Blustein
ablustein@wihri.org
401-681-2822
Women & Infants Hospital

Autism is a poorly understood family of related conditions. People with autism generally lack normal social interaction skills and engage in a variety of unusual and often characteristic behaviors, such as repetitive movements. While there is no specific medical treatment for autism, some success has been shown with early behavioral intervention.

Understanding the importance of early diagnosis, researchers at Women & Infants' Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk in collaboration with researchers at University of Pittsburgh have been studying the cry acoustics of six-month-old infants. Their research has recently been published in Autism Research.

"Because we can measure various aspects of babies' cries from the earliest days of life, it may be possible to use this technique to identify risk for neurological problems such as autism long before we can detect behavioral differences," said Stephen J. Sheinkopf, PhD, lead researcher, psychologist at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, and assistant professor (research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

The study examined ways in which infants at risk for autism produced cries as compared to the cries of low-risk infants. Recordings of babies' cries were excerpted from vocal and video recordings of six-month-old infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with low risk. Infants were considered to be at risk if they had an older sibling with a confirmed ASD diagnosis.

Cries were categorized as either pain related or non-pain related based on observations of the videotapes. At-risk infants produced pain related cries with higher and more variable fundamental frequency (commonly referred to as "pitch") as compared to low-risk infants. A small number of the at-risk infants were later diagnosed with an ASD at 36 months of age. The cries for these babies had among the highest fundamental frequency values and also differed in other acoustic characteristics.

"These findings demonstrate the potential of this approach for babies as young as six months of age," said Dr. Sheinkopf.

###

The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk was established at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital in 2005. The mission of the Center is to stimulate outstanding interdisciplinary research, education and clinical services on the biological and social factors that determine the developmental outcome of at-risk children.

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the eighth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Researchers study cry acoustics to determine risk for autism [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Blustein
ablustein@wihri.org
401-681-2822
Women & Infants Hospital

Autism is a poorly understood family of related conditions. People with autism generally lack normal social interaction skills and engage in a variety of unusual and often characteristic behaviors, such as repetitive movements. While there is no specific medical treatment for autism, some success has been shown with early behavioral intervention.

Understanding the importance of early diagnosis, researchers at Women & Infants' Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk in collaboration with researchers at University of Pittsburgh have been studying the cry acoustics of six-month-old infants. Their research has recently been published in Autism Research.

"Because we can measure various aspects of babies' cries from the earliest days of life, it may be possible to use this technique to identify risk for neurological problems such as autism long before we can detect behavioral differences," said Stephen J. Sheinkopf, PhD, lead researcher, psychologist at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, and assistant professor (research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

The study examined ways in which infants at risk for autism produced cries as compared to the cries of low-risk infants. Recordings of babies' cries were excerpted from vocal and video recordings of six-month-old infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with low risk. Infants were considered to be at risk if they had an older sibling with a confirmed ASD diagnosis.

Cries were categorized as either pain related or non-pain related based on observations of the videotapes. At-risk infants produced pain related cries with higher and more variable fundamental frequency (commonly referred to as "pitch") as compared to low-risk infants. A small number of the at-risk infants were later diagnosed with an ASD at 36 months of age. The cries for these babies had among the highest fundamental frequency values and also differed in other acoustic characteristics.

"These findings demonstrate the potential of this approach for babies as young as six months of age," said Dr. Sheinkopf.

###

The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk was established at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital in 2005. The mission of the Center is to stimulate outstanding interdisciplinary research, education and clinical services on the biological and social factors that determine the developmental outcome of at-risk children.

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the eighth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/wih-rsc112712.php

Hurricane Isaac

Stocks cut losses to end the day mixed

9 hrs.

Stocks eased off their lows to close mixed Monday, but gains were limited as concerns over the "fiscal cliff" and Greece resurfaced.

?Going out and making big bets in any one direction is probably not fruitful until we get some kind of clearer road," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management. But the good news is that [the fiscal cliff] is so big that they can?t just sweep it under a rug.?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 42.31 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 12,967.37, led by AmEx and Coca-Cola . The blue-chip index was down more than 100 points in its session low.

The S&P 500 slid 2.86 points, or 0.20 percent, to finish at 1,406.29. The Nasdaq edged up 9.93 points, or 0.33 percent, to end at 2,976.78.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended above 15.

Among the key S&P sectors, telecoms and energy led the laggards, while utilities gained.

"Unfortunately for the last 10 days, with the House and Congress gone for the Thanksgiving recess... much progress hasn't been made," said Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat.?

Serious negotiations are expected to resume this week as policymakers return to Washington from the Thanksgiving holiday. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been trying to convince the public that they are willing to compromise and can reach a deal before year end.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with a second group of CEOs on Wednesday to discuss the deficit plan, according to the Wall Street Journal, two weeks after he met with a dozen chief executives including Jeff Immelt of GE and Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo.

"[The] pending U.S. fiscal restraint is likely to be hurdled by a late-year compromise, but that the expected agreement likely will only resolve the short-term fiscal cliff issue," wrote Citigroup in its latest research note.

U.S. stocks rallied more than 1 percent last Friday in a holiday-shortened session amid encouraging signs on the "fiscal cliff" and following some positive economic reports. Major averages soared more than 3 percent last week, logging their best weekly performance in more than five months.

Knight Capital shot higher after news that trading firms Getco and Virtu are pursuing purchase of the entire company. While exact financial terms of the deal is unclear, sources told CNBC that the price for Knight Capital will likely range between $600 million and $700 million.

Europe shares closed lower, dragged by financials, ahead of a meeting of Greece's lenders to decide when it will receive its next tranche of emergency funds.

Euro zone finance ministers, the ECB and the IMF plan are meeting in Brussels to finalize the second bailout package for Greece worth 31.2 billion euros ($40 billion).

Apple rose after Citigroup initiated coverage of the tech giant with a "buy" rating and a $675 price target. Separately, the iPhone maker said it is adding new Samsung devices to its patent-infringement lawsuit.

Facebook jumped after Bernstein upgraded the social-networking giant to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised its price target to $33 from $23. Despite the stock's 40 percent spike in the last three months, the company is still trading well below its IPO price of $38 a share.

Yahoo gained after Goldman Sachs added the Internet company to its "conviction buy list" and upped its price target to $24 from $22.

And Research In Motion was upgraded to "sector outperformer" from "sector underperformer" at CIBC World Markets. The brokerage also lifted its price target on the struggling BlackBerry maker to $17 from $8.

Google edged lower after the CEO of ICOA claimed that the press release announcing the search-engine giant has acquired the small tech company for $400 million was a "hoax," adding his firm has never been in acquisition talks.

A survey by the National Retail Federation showed a record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 226 million last year. U.S. retail sales jumped an estimated 12.8 percent on the previous year over the four-day holiday weekend, according to the organization.

Amazon.com , Best Buy and Ebay traded higher.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said it had its "best ever" Black Friday events, selling 1.8 million towels, 1.3 million televisions, 1.3 million dolls and 250,000 bicycles.

McGraw-Hill rallied after the publishing company announced it will sell its education business to Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $2.5 billion.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-cut-losses-end-day-mixed-1C7209897

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