Rush of economic data likely to shape week

Wall Street's steep gains in the final days of October are leaving some investors optimistic that the market has put its scariest days behind it, but they're still wary about the landmines that could send stocks reeling again.

Tuesday's presidential election could help erase some unknowns over how the power structure in Washington will affect investors, but pressing economic questions could ultimately shape the week. Reports due on manufacturing, the service sector and, most important, employment, could determine whether the market stays above its mid-October lows and holds on to some stability or plumbs new depths.

Sunday evening, stock index futures …

Police & courts

Traffic stop leads

to narcotics arrest

A driver who was pulled over for faulty equipment was found to bein possession of more than 100 hydrocodone pills.

Kanawha Deputy R.D. Meadows was patrolling the Campbells Creekarea around midnight Saturday when he saw a car with a registrationplate light burned out. Meadows pulled over the driver, and when heapproached the car, he noticed a prescription pill bottle stashedbetween the front seats.

The driver, Samuel E. Harris, 53, of 844 Indiana Ave. onCharleston's West Side, told Meadows the pills belonged to hissister's boyfriend, but Harris couldn't recall that man's name forthe deputy.

As …

U.S. Stocks Head for Narrowly Mixed Open

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks headed for a narrowly mixed open Friday ahead of a handful of important corporate earnings reports and a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 14,000 mark for the first time.

Stock futures showed modest moves ahead of quarterly results from Citigroup Inc. and Caterpillar Inc., components of the Dow Jones industrial average. Boston Scientific Corp. and Wachovia Corp. are also expected to weigh in.

Technology shares could see weakness after a strong run Thursday. Google Inc. after the closing bell Thursday turned in a second-quarter profit that fell short of Wall Street's high expectations. In addition, Microsoft Corp. …

Stewart, Cook lead Rockies past Cardinals 10-1

Ian Stewart homered twice and matched a career high with five RBIs and Aaron Cook beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time in the Colorado Rockies' 10-1 victory on Saturday night.

Stewart has four homers and 12 RBIs the last five games, including all three three-run homers in the last four games. He hit a three-run shot to right on a full count in the fourth and a two-run shot to left-center on a 2-0 pitch in the sixth, both off Todd Wellemeyer (5-6).

A 10-for-17 surge with four straight multihit games has raised Stewart's average to .231, and he leads the Rockies with 11 homers. Two of his three multihomer games have come this season, the other against …

Beer fans enjoy a drop of good stuff

CARMARTHEN's annual beer festival was enjoyed by fans of real aleonce again at the town's St Peter's Civic Hall.

The event was held between Thursday evening and Saturday night,organised by the local branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale).

Live …

Less than Awesome

DESIGN

MOST SURFBOARDS were made from polyurethane foam before the main supplier, Clark Foam, ceased operations three years ago. Now several manufacturers are making what they call eco-friendly boards.

But are they any good? To find out, Virginia Tech engineering and science major Michael Porter (right) went on a surfin' safari last summer that took him to Baja California and up and down the East Coast. Wearing a backpack full of instruments to collect data, he …

Jordanian police: prison riot erupts in kingdom's largest jail

Jordanian police say a prison riot has erupted in the kingdom's largest jail, a day after three inmates in another jailhouse were killed in violence over the segregation of al-Qaida militants from other prisoners.

Police spokesman Maj. Mohammed al-Khatib says scores of prisoners convicted of murder and theft suffered from smoke …