TSX ends flat as RIM buckles, gold miners bounce

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada‘s main stock index ended little changed on Friday as gold miners gained on safe-haven buying amid U.S. budget uncertainty, while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plunged more than 20 percent.

The index’s materials sector, which includes miners, rose 0.4 percent. Even though the price of gold was near its lowest level in four months, the gold-mining sub-sector added 0.9 percent as investors fretted over stalled U.S. budget talks that could throw Canada’s largest trading partner back into recession.

“As our tiptoes are over the (U.S.) fiscal cliff and we’re looking over the abyss, the markets are upset obviously, and this is sort of putting a damper on the stocks,” said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada.

“But we’ve had a mixed reaction in Canada, mainly because the resources have been much better, like gold for example, which is hedging into the uncertainty (around the budget talks),” he said, noting gold miners had been under pressure for the last two weeks.

Miner Barrick Gold Corp edged up 0.2 percent to C$ 33.29. Centerra Gold Inc jumped more than 3 percent to C$ 9.10.

Gold miners are playing catch-up after underperforming throughout the year and could rise further in 2013, said Gavin Graham, president at Graham Investment Strategy.

Shares of RIM dropped 22.2 percent to C$ 10.86 on fears that a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment could put pressure on the business that has set the company apart from its competitors.

The Toronto Stock Exchange‘s S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> fell 3.01 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 12,385.70. It gained 0.7 percent for the week.</.gsptse>

Efforts to avoid the looming U.S. “fiscal cliff” were thrown into disarray on Friday with finger-pointing lawmakers fleeing Washington for Christmas vacations even as the year-end deadline for action edged ever closer.

Graham said that until a deal is reached in the U.S. budget talks, investors will avoid economically sensitive Canadian stocks and those most closely tied to the U.S. economy: auto parts manufacturers, forestry companies and resource stocks generally.

“The resource sectors in Canada, which is half of the index, is going to be adversely affected, correctly or not,” he said.

“Chinese demand is likely to pick up somewhat now with the new leadership there but people will be focused on the U.S. given that it is still by far the most important export market for Canada.”

($ 1=$ 0.99 Canadian)

(Additional reporting by Claire Sibonney, Julie Gordon and Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by Peter Galloway)

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Sam Champion Marries Partner

Love is in the forecast! Good Morning America anchor and ABC News weather editor Sam Champion wed partner Rubem Robierb on Friday afternoon at his New York City apartment.

On this morning's GMA, Sam said, "The whole family is at the house right now, so I should be able to walk in and have everything [done]."

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Co-anchors Robin Roberts, Lara Spencer, and Josh Elliott were present to witness the intimate exchanging of vows. Rubem's family wasn't there in person, but joined the festive occasion via Skype from Brazil. NY State Supreme Court Justice George J. Silver presided over the nuptials.

Recovering from her bone marrow transplant, Robin read a poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to give her blessing to the couple.

The newlyweds, who announced their engagement in October, were introduced a few years back by a mutual friend. They'll celebrate having tied the knot at a reception on December 31 in Miami, the city in which they met and where Rubem resides.

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Watch and remember some of the memorable stories of 2012

2012 is on its last hoorah as the New Year approaches.

To commemorate the changing of the guards, The New York Post took a look back at some of the most memorable moments we caught on video.

Actress Lindsay Lohan kept Page Six busy this year as she became a a frequent visitor of the NYPD. On one occasion, she allegedly clipped a pedestrian with her SUV on her way to a club. A couple of months later, a woman claimed the actress punched her at a Manhattan lounge.

But, it wasn’t all bad news for Lohan. She gained a sister when her father, Michael, officially discovered he was the father of 17-year-old Ashley Horn.

Lilo wasn’t the only celebrity allegedly behaving badly in New York. Witnesses say Hip-Hop stars Chris Brown and Drake were involved in a bottle-throwing melee at the club W.I.P. that led to some injuries.

In more somber news, Superstorm Sandy destroyed thousands of homes in the Northeast and killed dozens of people.

It was also a feel-good sports year in New York. The Giants won the Super Bowl, New Yorkers helped represent Team USA at the Olympics and, in a short NBA season, Linsanity rushed through the city. Then, just as fast, Jeremy Lin blew out of town.

The year also saw, the end of Twinkies, a man with the tallest Mohawk in history, the end of MTV’s Jersey Shore, nude body paint arrests, fights over a anti-Jihad subway poster and more.

Goodbye 2012. Hello 2013.

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Brazilian carrier now offering daily flights at MIA

Brazilian budget airline GOL is now offering daily flights between Miami International Airport and Sao Paulo. The scheduled service started Dec. 15.

The airline had been offering weekly charter flights since July.

GOL is the third airline to fly daily between Miami and Sao Paulo, along with American Airlines and TAM. Brazil is the airport’s top international market; last year, more than 1.4 million passengers flew between Miami and seven destinations in the country.

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Defense questions Graham&#x2019;s former cellmate

A day after telling jurors that Geralyn Graham confessed in jail to killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson, jailhouse informant Robin Lunceford repeatedly sparred Thursday with a defense lawyer who sought to portray Lunceford as a malcontent and opportunist who would say anything to get out of prison.

Lunceford testified that she befriended Graham in jail in 2004, and, while the two shared a cell before attending court hearings, Graham admitted smothering Rilya with a pillow. Lunceford said she was outraged by the child’s death — “anything that has to do with a child, that’s my pet peeve”— but over the years she balked at testifying because of the abuse she said she endured from inmates and guards after being labeled a “snitch.”

“I went back and forth” about testifying, Lunceford said Thursday. But “justice for Rilya always wins over.”

Graham, 66, is accused of killing Rilya, a foster child in her care, sometime around Christmas 2000, when the girl was last seen alive. State welfare workers, however, did not realize Rilya was missing until April 2002.

Rilya’s body was never found, making Lunceford’s testimony all the more crucial to the state’s murder case against Graham, who is also accused of child abuse and kidnapping.

Michael Matters, a defense lawyer for Graham, argued that Lunceford testified not for justice but so she “could get a break” — early release from prison. Lunceford was serving a life sentence — for a May 2004 armed robbery — until 2011, when her prison stint was reduced to 10 years in a deal with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony. Lunceford said she had also turned down a previous 15-year plea offer.

Lunceford — who has 26 felony convictions, and has spent 28 of her 50 years in prison — said she would have gladly served her life sentence and was content to stay in prison. “I was perfectly comfortable. Nice babes. I was fine,” she said.

But Matters noted that Lunceford had filed court appeals seeking to get a new trial or reduce her sentence — appeals Lunceford dropped as part of her deal with prosecutors. And Lunceford filed 20 different complaints against corrections officers at one Miami-Dade jail facility alone.

“I file grievances every time the wind blows,” Lunceford said. “All truthfully.”

Graham’s lawyers had hoped to show Lunceford’s desperation to get out of prison by telling jurors that Lunceford had escaped from three different prisons over the years. But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez disallowed any mention of the escapes.

Matters also questioned Lunceford about her role in other murder cases: Lunceford was listed as a witness in three other murder cases involving female defendants Lunceford had met in jail or prison — including Ana Maria Cardona, the defendant in the notorious “Baby Lollipops” child murder case.

Lunceford said another prosecutor tried to coerce her into testifying in the Cardona case, and accused the prosecutor of trying to seduce her. She insisted that she was not seeking a plea bargain by gathering information on other inmates. “I never willingly offered to testify ever,” Lunceford said.

The defense lawyer also tried to cast doubt on Lunceford’s testimony about Graham’s confession by questioning how much interaction the pair had in jail, and challenging Lunceford’s motivation for befriending Graham.

“I flirt with everybody,” Lunceford said, explaining that the relationship changed “as soon as [Graham] indicated there was a child that was murdered and tortured.”

Graham’s murder trial will recess for the holidays and resume in early January.

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Stars Reveal Their Plans for the Holidays!

Even the hardest working Hollywood stars take time off for the holidays and we caught up some of them to find out the ways they plan to celebrate!

NCIS: Los Angeles star LL Cool J said one must for his holiday will be enjoying the good food of the season. "You know what? I just want to eat a lot of stuff that I'm not supposed
to eat. Just stick my face as deep in the plate as possible -- and just
come out with a shiny face!"

Below are more stars revealing their holiday plans:

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Russell Crowe: "We'll just be at home. I've been away for most of this year -- me and my kids will just be hanging out together, pretty low key."

Kristen Stewart: "I don't know... I mean I love Christmas -- I'm looking forward to having some time off -- it's been a while."

VIDEO: Newlywed Blake Lively Reveals Holiday Traditions

Amanda Seyfried: "I'm going to be with my family, they're all here. And we're going to be opening presents -- same old traditional stuff -- which you know is kinda nice."

Katie Holmes: "We're really excited to be performing (in the Broadway play Dead Accounts) all through the holidays-- and ha--  it's exciting!"

VIDEO: Disney Stars Get Creative for the Holidays

Selena Gomez: "I'm going to go home and sleep -- and eat a lot of food with my grandparents." 

Liam Neeson: "Just be by my sons and some immediate members of the family. And do the traditional stuff -- argue over the turkey!" 

Kirsten Dunst: "Eating like everyone else! Eating a lot."

VIDEO: Do Presidents Do Their Own Holiday Shopping?

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Bernie Madoff's brother gets 10-year sentence

The brother of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff has been sentenced in New York to 10 years in prison for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling.

Peter Madoff was sentenced Thursday after victims described their anguish at losing their life savings in the Ponzi scheme. The sentence was announced in a crowded Manhattan courtroom by Judge Laura Taylor Swain six months after Madoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy and falsifying books and records. He agreed then to serve 10 years in prison. It was four years ago this month that his brother revealed his multi-decade fraud that cheated thousands of investors out of their $20 billion investment. Bernard Madoff is serving a 150-year prison term.

Peter Madoff says he did not know of the fraud but committed other crimes.

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John Fumagalli succeeds Sheldon Anderson at Northern Trust Florida

Northern Trust has named John Fumagalli President of Northern Trust in Florida. Fumagalli succeeds well-known banker Sheldon Anderson, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

A Northern Trust veteran, Fumagalli joined Northern Trust in Chicago in 1989. In the years since he was served as President and CEO of Northern Trust in Missouri, President and CEO for the Southwest Florida region and regional head of West Florida. In his new position, he oversees Northern Trust’s 22 offices across the state.

Anderson, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust’s Southeast Region since 2009, will retire on December 31, 2012. He will continue in a new capacity as Chairman of Northern Trust’s Florida Advisory Board.

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Miami-Dade elections report: County to blame for some problems

The waits of up to seven hours at some Miami-Dade polls during last month’s presidential election occurred in part because the county failed to estimate how much time it would take to fill out 10- to 12-page ballots, did not open more early-voting sites and decided not draw new precincts this year as planned, a report issued Wednesday concluded.

A last-minute surge in absentee ballots that overwhelmed the elections department staff, and a 12-hour Election Day breakdown of a machine that sorts the ballots also delayed the final results tally by two days, according to the department’s after-action report.

Wednesday’s report was the first comprehensive document outlining all of the factors that contributed to troubles in Miami-Dade. State officials, local elected leaders and county administrators have been piecing it together since the Nov. 6 election.

Some of the blame lies with Florida lawmakers, who placed 11 lengthy constitutional amendments on the ballot and cut the number of early-voting days to eight from 14.

But the 53-page report, while not providing any explicit mea culpas, also places responsibility on the county’s election department, run by Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s appointed elections supervisor, Penelope Townsley.

“It was a combination of factors,” Gimenez told The Miami Herald Wednesday evening. “But I can’t put the blame on any one person or one entity. The blame can go all the way around.”

The report points to seven key factors that affected the election, which was budgeted to cost $11.3 million:

• The length of the ballot: The ballot ran 10 to 12 pages, largely thanks to 11 state constitutional amendments and, though the report doesn’t mention them, 10 county charter questions.

• How long it took voters to fill out their ballots: While the department focused on educating voters, an estimate of the average voting time “may have yielded a better gauge for managing the wait times.”

• The number of early-voting sites: The state limits the sites to elections offices, city halls and public libraries. Miami-Dade could have opened more sites, but it budgeted for and stuck with its traditional 20 sites.

• Processing absentee ballots: Miami-Dade received a record number of absentee ballots — including more than 55,000 on Election Day and the day before — which take longer to tabulate because they require workers to verify individual signatures. There were glitches with the post office, only 60 of 150 hired seasonal workers assigned to open ballots showed up to work, and the machine that sorts ballots broke down for 12 hours beginning at 2:30 a.m. Election Day, further delaying the vote count.

• Delays at polling places: Miami-Dade checks in voters manually, using paper voter registries, on Election Day, instead of using quicker and more accurate (and more expensive) electronic registries available at early-voting sites.• Not reprecincting: Though the department had planned to draw new precincts, following once-a-decade legislative redistricting, it ultimately decided not to because the mayor and several commissioners feared new polling places would confuse voters. More than a quarter of the county’s voters would have been relocated, according to the report.

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The Gritty Sixties Will 'Not Fade Away'

The Sixties, music and teen rebellion are the subject of Not Fade Away, the first feature film from The Sopranos creator David Chase in theaters Friday, and the young stars of the film – including John Magaro, Jack Huston and Bella Heathcote – are refreshingly plugged in to the era of their baby boomer parents.

Video: Mini 'Sopranos' Reunion in 'Not Fade Away' Trailer

"I grew up listening to [Sixties tunes] and loving that music," says Magaro, listing his favorite bands of the era: "Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Beatles, Dylan – there are so many great ones."

Set in 1964, Not Fade Away kicks off with three best friends from the New Jersey suburbs who are inspired by The Rolling Stones and decide to form a rock band. What follows is a true coming-of-age dramedy as the Italian-American pals (played by Magaro, Huston and Will Brill) discover that chicks dig musicians -- but parents don't approve of long hair and "high-heeled" boots.

"In Jersey in the Sixties, if you were in a garage band -- we had pasty skin and really bad hair, and the car you drove and the things you drink … all the real stuff, the details … were so brilliant," says Huston. "It wasn't this sort of glamorized, Hollywood vision of the Sixties. [Our film is] just really honest, beautiful. It's real gritty."

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"David [Chase] is very detail-oriented and he has a very specific vision," elaborates Magaro. "I think he kind of modeled us all after people from the era. I think mine was Dylan, as you might be able to tell from the poster. … When you're a teenager you see these people and you kind of try and emulate them, and I think that's what he was going for."

Also starring Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald and James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away was also executive-produced by rocker/Sopranos star Steve Van Zandt.

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