The Internet icon that bought email to the masses with its classic “You've got mail” slogan now wants to help people organize the flood of messages in their Gmail, Yahoo mail and other accounts.

Stocks fell, snapping a three- day advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as Google Inc. pulled down technology shares after reporting third-quarter profit and sales that missed estimates.

This is the time of the small car. The car you want to own, the one you’ll brag about. The rock ‘n’ roll small car.

The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has fallen to near its record low set earlier this month.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius hybrid is the best-selling vehicle line this year in California, the biggest U.S. auto market, topping Ford Motor Co.’s F-Series pickups and Toyota’s own Camry sedan, perennial U.S. leaders.

Newsweek, owned by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, will become an online-only publication next year, ending 80 years as a print magazine.

SAN FRANCISCO — As far as unpleasant surprises go, Google hit Wall Street with a double whammy Thursday.

Flush with the promise of cash from a Japanese investor, Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday said that it wants to buy out the founder of Clearwire Corp. to gain majority control of the wireless network operator.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. reached a six-month high last week as more Americans said it was a good time to shop.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the hospitality group founded by Barry Sternlicht, will introduce its four-plus-star Aloft brand in Australia and expand the presence of its Four Points by Sheraton in the nation.

Redwood Trust Inc. sold $297 million of bonds tied to new U.S. home loans without government backing as issuance accelerates after a slump that began in 2007.

Wells Fargo & Co., the most valuable U.S. bank and largest mortgage lender, said third-quarter profit increased 22 percent as the cheapest interest rates in history spurred refinancing.

Josh Payne spent seven years in San Francisco, where a technology boom has pushed office rents to the highest level in a decade. He headed south to Los Angeles’s Venice area when starting his Internet firm, StackSocial Inc.

Select Comfort Corp. shares fell Thursday after the mattress company issued a disappointing revenue prediction for the full year.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose for a third day in New York, erasing an earlier drop.

The presidential campaign, heavy on finger-pointing and recrimination, is taking a brief detour so President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can play politics for laughs.

Markets faltered Thursday after a surprisingly big rise in weekly U.S. jobless claims and ahead of a meeting of European leaders.

European Union leaders are tussling over how much power they want to cede to central authorities during a summit meeting in Brussels focused on how to ensure their debt crisis never repeats itself.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is awarding a $300,000 grant to a public-private partnership aiming to revitalize the neighborhood around Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes in Honolulu.

The Carlyle Group LP on Thursday completed its acquisition of a controlling stake in Getty Images Inc. in a deal worth about $3.3 billion.

Stock futures are falling on mixed quarterly earnings from companies like Verizon, Morgan Stanley and Southwest Airlines.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, reflecting an unwinding of adjustments for seasonal swings at the start of a quarter.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Spain’s bonds rose for a third day as the nation raised more than planned at a debt sale, while European stocks fluctuated before a two-day summit of leaders in Brussels. Then yen weakened after Chinese data signaled Asia’s biggest economy is stabilizing.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar fell in New York and touched the lowest in more than a month in London on signs that supplies will be ample to meet demand. Coffee also dropped.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A gauge of U.S. corporate credit risk rose for the first time in six days before a summit of European Union leaders.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoline barges for loading in northwest Europe traded below $1,000 a metric ton for the first time in more than two months. The fuel’s crack, or premium to Brent, dropped to the least in nine months.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- John Reade, senior vice president at Paulson & Co., made the following comments at the SALT conference in Singapore today.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s central bank signaled it will keep interest rates on hold for an extended period after ending the biggest easing cycle in the Group of 20 nations.

Newsweek will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc.'s third-quarter net income fell more than 6 percent, despite higher prices, as the company sold fewer cigarettes.

While Southwest rolls out the occasional sale to fill planes _ they were 82.1 percent full, a record for the quarter -- it has also been aggressive about trying to raise fares in recent months.

Medical device maker Boston Scientific said Thursday it swung to a third-quarter loss, as legal fees and restructuring expenses weighed down already-sluggish sales of the company's implants.

Packaging maker Sonoco Products Co. said Thursday that its third-quarter net income slid 24 percent from a year earlier on higher costs, a stronger dollar and a switch to some less profitable products.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. mortgage rates declined, pushing borrowing costs back toward record lows as homebuilders step up construction to meet rising demand.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s energy- trading unit admitted making mistakes in filings to state and federal regulators as it sought to avoid losing its authority to trade electricity.

The extraterrestrial invaders in “XCOM: Enemy Unknown” (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99; PC, $49.99) aren't exactly benevolent _ they have come to Earth to enslave humanity -- but their advantage is more technological than physical. Indeed, the first aliens you encounter, the Sectoids, are so scrawny they look like a stiff breeze could snap them. But their laser guns can disintegrate human flesh, and some of them can take over helpless Earthling minds.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., the company that agreed to sell 70 percent of itself to Softbank Corp., plans to acquire telecom pioneer Craig McCaw’s stake in Clearwire Corp., gaining control of the wireless carrier.

Citing health reasons, Shoe Carnival CEO and President Mark Lemond is retiring from the footwear and accessories company after 16 years leading it.

The nation's two largest breast cancer charities have adopted guidelines for fuller disclosure by those selling pink products and services in their names, New York's attorney general said Thursday.

Republican Sen. Scott Brown is apologizing for suggesting Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren used paid actors in political ads defending her legal work in an asbestos lawsuit.

Google and Samsung are introducing a lightweight laptop computer with a price similar to smaller tablet computers.

Growth in third-quarter profit and revenue drove up shares of eBay Inc. Thursday, although some analysts called the e-commerce company's outlook cautious.

A mixed batch of earnings and economic reports pulled the stock market lower on Thursday. Google plunged 9 percent after it accidentally released a weak earnings report hours ahead of schedule.

Travelers' net income more than doubled in the third quarter as the insurer paid out less money for weather-related catastrophe claims.

but they're a little unnerved by the impending fiscal crisis.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The worst U.S. drought in more than five decades shows a global need to improve water management to prevent crop disasters, university researchers and policy experts said.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. reported profit and sales that missed analysts’ estimates, a signal that its tools are becoming less valuable to advertisers as more users access the world’s largest search engine via mobile devices.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The court calendar in AMC Networks Inc.’s $2.4 billion lawsuit against Dish Network Corp. over a scuttled programming deal had an Oct. 22 entry for a “poss. settlement.”

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks climbed the most in two weeks, tracking Asian equities, amid signs the recovery in the world’s two biggest economies may be picking up.

Harley-Davidson Inc. rose Thursday after a Goldman Sachs analyst upgraded the shares, telling investors that the low price and looming motorcycle sales increases make the shares attractive.

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- With Europe’s auto market in a nosedive, Fiat SpA’s Italian operations are running at just half capacity. Chrysler Group LLC’s are flat out as its sales boom. So why not build Chryslers in Italy?

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- SanDisk Corp., a maker of flash memory for mobile devices, reported quarterly profit and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates on strong retail sales and high demand for mobile devices.

Union Pacific said Thursday that its third-quarter profit climbed 15 percent because price increases and more automotive and chemical shipments helped the railroad offset a 12 percent drop in coal shipments.

Grocery store operator Supervalu lost money in its latest quarter, but the struggling company said it is in active discussions with several parties over a possible deal.

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. says it will cut nearly 1,800 jobs, about 15 percent of its workforce, by the end of the year in order to reduce spending in the face of dwindling sales.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Luxury automakers are moving up their annual year-end discounts earlier in 2012 in a bid to outsell one another in the U.S., said Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.’s president of the Americas.

Shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. plunged in after-hours trading Thursday after the computer chip manufacturer lowered its fiscal third-quarter outlook and said its finance chief has resigned.

Macy's is firing its first salvo at the millennials.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley, the top global equity underwriter this year, reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as revenue from fixed-income trading climbed from a year earlier.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Certified Emission Reduction credits for December declined to a record as greenhouse-gas cutting projects in developing countries boosted their requests for supply.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Pan Pacific Copper Co., Japan’s biggest copper producer, expects demand in China will grow by 4 percent to 5 percent next year because of infrastructure and transportation, said Yosuke Murao, general manager in the company’s marketing department.

Britain's Court of Appeal has affirmed a lower court ruling that Samsung's Galaxy tablet computer is “not as cool” as Apple's iPad and therefore doesn't infringe Apple's rights.

Nucor Corp.'s third-quarter net income plunged 39 percent on lower sales and prices as demand for steel fell in the sluggish global economy.

A measure of U.S. economic activity designed to give signals about the future posted a solid gain in September, rebounding after a dip in August. The index is still signaling weak growth, however.

The price of oil is falling on expectations that China is less likely to roll out a stimulus program for its improving economy.

Yelp says it will alert users if it suspects that a business has tried to buy fake, misleading reviews on its site.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday the state's $15 billion tourism industry is reaching new levels and garnering worldwide attention despite the troubled economy.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest private-equity firm, reported a third-quarter profit as the value of its holdings gained at a quicker pace and its assets exceeded $200 billion for the first time.

Talks to sell Hawker Beechcraft's operations to China's Superior Aviation Beijing Co. have collapsed and the Wichita plane maker said Thursday that it now plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection as a slimmed down company in the first quarter of 2013.

Verizon's Share Everything plan looks like it's good for the company's shares.

The first abortion clinic on the entire island of Ireland opened Thursday in Belfast, sparking protests by conservatives from both the Catholic and Protestant sides of Northern Ireland.

One of the two Taliban militants suspected of attacking a teenage girl activist was detained by the Pakistani military in 2009 but subsequently released, intelligence officials said Thursday.

a significant jump from last month's figure of 95,000.

A Bangladeshi man accused of trying to bomb the Federal Reserve building in New York City is a banker's son from a middle class neighborhood whose family members said Thursday that they were stunned by his arrest.

Hundreds of youths pelted riot police with petrol bombs, bottles and chunks of marble Thursday as yet another Greek anti-austerity demonstration descended into violence.

More than 80 percent of people living in a conflict zone in Sudan's southern region are eating only one meal a day, compared with 10 percent one year ago, a U.S. advocacy group said Thursday, citing research collected from a region where aid groups aren't allowed to operate.

Confidential files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on men they suspected of child sex abuse are set to be released after a two-year-long court battle.

The stock market headed slightly lower on Thursday, following a leap in claims for unemployment benefits and weak results from American Express. The morning slump put a four-day winning streak for the Dow Jones industrial average at risk.

The business partner of a Maine woman accused of using her Zumba dance studio as a front for prostitution says the charges against him are untrue.

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Does President Barack Obama have the next, and final, debate in the bag? Politico’s Mike Allen said yesterday that the town-hall debate at Hofstra University on Oct. 16 represented “Governor Romney’s last, best chance, because the next debate is foreign policy, where President Obama is strong.”

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The eldest son of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid died of a heroin overdose at the team’s preseason training camp, a Pennsylvania coroner said today.

Former President Bill Clinton says Republicans have tried to keep the nation's unemployment rate high for political gain.

Earlier this month, NBA rookie Royce White disclosed that he is afraid to fly and said he expects to travel by bus to play in at least some of the basketball games for his team, the Houston Rockets.