Business Today: Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles

	Click to View in Browser 10/30/2013 Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, sounding a bit less optimistic about growth and saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. Facebook tops analyst revenue targets as mobile ads surge SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc topped Wall Street's revenue targets on Wednesday, as robust growth in its mobile advertising business drove a 60 percent increase in revenue. Batista's OGX files for bankruptcy protection in Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA, the Brazilian oil company controlled by former billionaire Eike Batista, sought court protection from creditors on Wednesday in Latin America's largest-ever corporate bankruptcy filing. U.S. private hiring slows, inflation stays muted WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. private-sector employers hired the fewest workers in six months in October while tepid domestic demand kept inflation benign last month, suggesting the economy was still in need of stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Visa profit falls 28 percent due to higher tax provision (Reuters) - Visa Inc , the world's largest credit card company, reported a 28 percent fall in quarterly profit due to a higher income tax provision. NSA intercepts Google, Yahoo traffic overseas: report SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The National Security Agency has tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move huge amounts of email and other user information among overseas data centers, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. It was unclear how the NSA accessed the links. Twitter hit with $124 million lawsuit over private stock sale NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter Inc was sued for $124 million on Wednesday by two companies claiming the social media darling fraudulently had them organize a private sale of its shares to stoke investor interest for an initial public offering then canceled it. Qatar seeking to build $1 billion stake in Bank of America (Reuters) - Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's most prolific investors, is building a $1 billion holding in Bank of America , seeking to benefit from the U.S. economic recovery, the Financial Times reported, citing sources close to the plans. S&P 500's four-day rally ends after Fed's weak view NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 snapping a four-day streak of gains after the Federal Reserve said it had a weaker growth outlook for the economy, even as it held steady with its stimulus program for the time being. Allstate profit falls 57 percent after life insurance sale (Reuters) - Home and auto insurer Allstate Corp's quarterly profit more than halved as the company took an estimated $475 million after-tax loss on the sale of one of its life insurance businesses. Related Video U.S. health secretary on the hot-seat over healthcare website Daily Digit: Fiat cuts targets Economic News Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles U.S. private hiring slows, inflation stays muted A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend