Wall Street slips, weighed by Wells Fargo, banks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Friday after Wells Fargo & Co , the first major bank to kick off fourth-quarter earnings season for the financial sector, reported a decline in net interest margin despite a record profit in the latest quarter.

Wells Fargo, the fourth-biggest U.S. bank and the nation's largest home lender, said its fourth-quarter net interest margin - a key measure of how much money banks make from loans - fell, even as profit jumped 24 percent. The bank also made fewer mortgage loans than in the third quarter.

"It (Wells Fargo results) is weighing on the sector. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this won't be a sector thing and more confined to Wells Fargo, but it's definitely playing a factor today," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC in Boston.

The bank's shares fell 1.4 percent to $34.92. The S&P 500 financial sector index <.gspf> fell 0.6 percent and the KBW Banks index <.bkx> fell 1 percent. Bank of America Corp , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc are due to report results next week.

Overall earnings were expected to grow by 1.9 percent in this earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 6.12 points, or 0.05 percent, at 13,477.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was down 2.37 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,469.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 2.19 points, or 0.07 percent, at 3,119.56.

Also keenly watched Friday were shares of Dow component Boeing , which fell 2.6 percent to $75.11 after a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan compounded safety concerns about its new 787 Dreamliner. The U.S. Department of Transportation said the jet would be subject to a review of its critical systems by regulators.

Best Buy shares rallied after its results showed a bit of a turnaround in its U.S. stores, though same-store sales were flat during the key holiday season. Shares jumped 12 percent to $13.69.

Basic materials shares were pressured after China's annual consumer inflation rate picked up to a seven-month high, narrowing the scope for the central bank to boost the economy by easing monetary policy. The S&P basic materials sector <.gspm> fell 0.6 percent.

Dendreon Corp shares jumped 14.7 percent to $5.85 after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the drugmaker's stock to "outperform" from "market-perform" and said it could be one of the best performers in 2013.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski)

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Eager Chudzinski takes over new-look Browns

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns have always been a part of Rob Chudzinski's life. Now, he's the man in charge.

Chudzinski, who spent the past two seasons as Carolina's offensive coordinator, was introduced as the club's sixth fulltime coach on Friday, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 44-year-old who as a kid pretended he played tight end for the Browns during games in his backyard in Toledo, Ohio.

"It is a dream come true," Chudzinski said. "I can't wait to get started."

Chudzinski will inherit a young roster he'll try to develop into a contender with the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs only once since 1999.

Chudzinski previously worked as an assistant with the Browns, most recently as their offensive coordinator in 2008. Although he has no previous head coaching experience, owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner are confident they hired the best possible candidate available to turn their club into a consistent winner.

"I would not miss the chance for the world." Chudzinski said. "We're going to win here."

The Browns hauled their search to find the 14th coach in franchise history to Arizona and back. They talked to high-profile college coaches, NFL assistants and a fired pro coach who took a team to a Super Bowl.

None of them was hired.

Instead, Chudzinski became their pick.

"I believe we came back with the best coach for the Cleveland Browns," said Haslam, who flew to Charlotte, N.C. on Thursday night with Banner to offer Chudzinski the job. "He is one of the brightest young coaches in the business."

Chudzinski's first move will be to hire his staff. He will immediately meet with the assistants currently working for the Browns. Chudzinski would not comment on any possible candidates to become his coordinators. There are reports he is considering former San Diego coach Norv Turner to run his offense. Chudzinski worked for Turner with the Chargers.

"I have a plan in place," he said. "We're going to get a great staff. We have a young group of players. This is going to be about the process. Lots of people are worried about the end result, but this is going to be the right process to get us where we want to be."

Now that they've hired their coach, Haslam and Banner will focus on finding a new general manager to help pick players for Chudzinski, who will be involved in finding the GM.

The new coach — "Chud," as he's known to players and friends — worked with the Browns' tight ends in 2004 and was their offensive coordinator in 2007, when the team won 10 games — their most since an expansion rebirth in 1999. He was released when Romeo Crennel was fired in 2008.

Chudzinski said when he walked off the field after the final game that season he knew he would be coming back to Cleveland "someday, somehow."

Chudzinski replaces Pat Shurmur, another first-time coach when he was hired, who was fired on Dec. 31 after a 5-11 season. For the past two years, Chudzinski has worked with talented Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and resuscitated Carolina's offense, which was one of the league's worst before he arrived.

When Haslam and Banner embarked on their coaching search as 2013 began, the pair vowed they would wait as long as necessary to find "the right coach" for Cleveland. They promised to give their new coach final say over the roster and planned to pair him with an executive to help pick players.

Chudzinski wasn't seen by many as an option.

And then he became the choice.

Haslam said Chudzinski's passion for the Browns was a bonus, but he had all the credentials and characteristics they were looking for in a new coach.

"If Rob was from Plano, Texas, we would have hired him," Haslam said.

Chudzinski said he wants a team that attacks on both sides of the ball. He would not comment on any of Cleveland's players, and sidestepped a question about rookie Brandon Weeden, who had an uneven first season with the Browns.

Chudzinski interviewed with the team on Wednesday, when the club also visited with Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Chudzinski appeared to be a long shot for the job, not because he wasn't qualified, but because it was thought Haslam wanted to make a big splash with his first coaching hire.

However, Chudzinski wowed Haslam and Banner during his meeting and the team decided it was time to end its search in its second week. Haslam said 10 minutes into the interview that he nodded at Banner that they had found their man.

In his first season in Carolina, Chudzinski turned Newton, the No. 1 overall draft pick, loose and the Panthers set club records for total yards (6,237) and first downs (345). Carolina also scored 48 touchdowns after getting just 17 in the season before Chudzinski arrived. The Panthers jumped from last in the league in total yardage to seventh, the biggest improvement since 1999.

Haslam pointed out the Panthers scored 88 touchdowns the past two seasons. Cleveland scored 44.

Following last season, Chudzinski interviewed for head coaching jobs with St. Louis, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay before returning to Carolina.

In getting the Browns' job, Chudzinski was picked over Zimmer, Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman, fired Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt and Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Whisenhunt was in Cleveland for a second interview on Thursday, and appeared to be the front-runner. The Browns also were expected to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

Chudzinski's hiring may have shocked some Cleveland fans, many of whom at fantasies about Nick Saban or Jon Gruden or Kelly brining his supersonic offense to the NFL.

But his selection is in keeping with at least one of Banner's past moves. When he was in Philadelphia's front office, Banner went outside the box and hired Green Bay assistant Andy Reid, a relative unknown who spent 14 seasons with the Eagles.

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Why global labor reforms are vital

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Saudi authorities beheaded Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan woman


• She was convicted of killing a baby of the family employing her as a housemaid


• This was despite Nafeek's claims that the baby died in a choking accident


• Becker says her fate "should spotlight the precarious existence of domestic workers"

Jo Becker is the Children's Rights Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch and author of 'Campaigning for Justice: Human Rights Advocacy in Practice.' Follow Jo Becker on Twitter.

(CNN) -- Rizana Nafeek was a child herself -- 17 years old, according to her birth certificate -- when a four-month-old baby died in her care in Saudi Arabia. She had migrated from Sri Lanka only weeks earlier to be a domestic worker for a Saudi family.

Although Rizana said the baby died in a choking accident, Saudi courts convicted her of murder and sentenced her to death. On Wednesday, the Saudi government carried out the sentence in a gruesome fashion, by beheading Rizana.

Jo Becker

Read more: Outrage over beheading of Sri Lankan woman by Saudi Arabia

Rizana's case was rife with problems from the beginning. A recruitment agency in Sri Lanka knew she was legally too young to migrate, but she had falsified papers to say she was 23. After the baby died, Rizana gave a confession that she said was made under duress -- she later retracted it. She had no lawyer to defend her until after she was sentenced to death and no competent interpreter during her trial. Her sentence violated international law, which prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed before age 18.

Rizana's fate should arouse international outrage. But it should also spotlight the precarious existence of other domestic workers. At least 1.5 million work in Saudi Arabia alone and more than 50 million -- mainly women and girls -- are employed worldwide according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Read more: Indonesian maid escapes execution in Saudi Arabia

Again according to the ILO, the number of domestic workers worldwide has grown by more than 50% since the mid-1990s. Many, like Rizana, seek employment in foreign countries where they may be unfamiliar with the language and legal system and have few rights.

When Rizana traveled to Saudi Arabia, for example, she may not have known that many Saudi employers confiscate domestic workers' passports and confine them inside their home, cutting them off from the outside world and sources of help.

It is unlikely that anyone ever told her about Saudi Arabia's flawed criminal justice system or that while many domestic workers find kind employers who treat them well, others are forced to work for months or even years without pay and subjected to physical or sexual abuse.

Passport photo of Rizana Nafeek

Read more: Saudi woman beheaded for 'witchcraft and sorcery'

Conditions for migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are among some of the worst, but domestic workers in other countries rarely enjoy the same rights as other workers. In a new report this week, the International Labour Organization says that nearly 30% of the world's domestic workers are completely excluded from national labor laws. They typically earn only 40% of the average wage of other workers. Forty-five percent aren't even entitled by law to a weekly day off.

Last year, I interviewed young girls in Morocco who worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for a fraction of the minimum wage. One girl began working at age 12 and told me: "I don't mind working, but to be beaten and not to have enough food, this is the hardest part."

Many governments have finally begun to recognize the risks and exploitation domestic workers face. During 2012, dozens of countries took action to strengthen protections for domestic workers. Thailand, and Singapore approved measures to give domestic workers a weekly day off, while Venezuela and the Philippines adopted broad laws for domestic workers ensuring a minimum wage, paid holidays, and limits to their working hours. Brazil is amending its constitution to state that domestic workers have all the same rights as other workers. Bahrain codified access to mediation of labor disputes.

Read more: Convicted killer beheaded, put on display in Saudi Arabia

Perhaps most significantly, eight countries acted in 2012 to ratify -- and therefore be legally bound by -- the Domestic Workers Convention, with more poised to follow suit this year. The convention is a groundbreaking treaty adopted in 2011 to guarantee domestic workers the same protections available to other workers, including weekly days off, effective complaints procedures and protection from violence.

The Convention also has specific protections for domestic workers under the age of 18 and provisions for regulating and monitoring recruitment agencies. All governments should ratify the convention.

Many reforms are needed to prevent another tragic case like that of Rizana Nafeek. The obvious one is for Saudi Arabia to stop its use of the death penalty and end its outlier status as one of only three countries worldwide to execute people for crimes committed while a child.

Labor reforms are also critically important. They may have prevented the recruitment of a 17 year old for migration abroad in the first place. And they can protect millions of other domestic workers who labor with precariously few guarantees for their safety and rights.

Read more: Malala, others on front lines in fight for women

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jo Becker.

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Seattle bankruptcy hearing to decide Tully’s sale

SEATTLE (AP) — The auction for beleaguered coffee company Tully’s will likely conclude Friday in federal bankruptcy court, with an ownership group led by actor Patrick Dempsey in position to take over the chain. But Starbucks isn’t’ out of the running.

Dempsey — dubbed “McDreamy” in the “Grey’s Anatomy” hospital TV drama — claimed victory last week after an auction.

But a company that teamed up with Starbucks to bid for the Tully’s chain filed an objection Wednesday. AgriNurture Inc. says it’s still willing to proceed with its combined bid with Starbucks of about $ 10.6 million. The bid from Dempsey’s company, Global Baristas LLC, was for $ 9.2 million.

Tully’s has 47 shops in Washington and California with more than 500 employees. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.

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Jobless claims rise, but jobs market recovery intact

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, but details of the report suggested the jobs market continued to grow at a moderate pace.

Other data suggested the economy remained on a steady growth path, with sales at wholesalers rising by the most in more than 1-1/2 years in November, keeping inventories balanced.

Initial claims for state jobless aid increased 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 371,000. The prior week’s figure was revised to show 5,000 fewer applications than previously reported.

Claims tend to be very volatile around this time of the year because of the holidays and seasonal layoffs, making it difficult to get a clear picture of the labor market’s health.

While claims increased last week, there was nothing in the data to suggest a deterioration in labor market conditions.

“Jobless claims data continue to suggest steady but modest U.S. employment gains,” said Robert Kavcic, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.

The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, increased 6,750 to 365,750, still at a level consistent with steady job gains.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.

GRADUALLY IMPROVING LABOR MARKET

A Labor Department analyst said there was nothing unusual in state level claims data and that no states had been estimated. He noted, however, that jobless claims on an unadjusted basis tend to peak in the second week of January and the rise in the week ended January 5 was a build-up to that.

Economists said it would take several more weeks before the data are free of seasonal distortions.

The labor market has been gradually improving, with job gains last year averaging 153,000 per month, little changed from 2011. That has not been enough to significantly cut the unemployment rate which ended the year at 7.8 percent.

A second report from the Labor Department showed job openings were unchanged at 3.7 million in November. Layoffs, however, declined and there was an increase in the number of people voluntarily leaving their jobs — both signs of improving labor market conditions.

Job growth has been hobbled by uncertainty over fiscal policy. Economists said a last-minute deal by the U.S. Congress to avoid some of the $ 600 billion in deep government spending cuts and higher taxes, or the fiscal cliff, only eliminated part of the uncertainty.

“A sharp increase in hiring seems unlikely as the spending side of the debate remains unresolved and higher taxes on most households are likely to weigh modestly on consumer spending in the near term,” said Jim Baird, chief investment strategist at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

A second report from the Commerce Department showed sales at wholesalers rebounded 2.3 percent in November, the largest gain since March 2011, after falling 0.9 percent in October.

Wholesale inventories rose 0.6 percent after advancing 0.3 percent in October.

Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product changes and accounted for almost a quarter of the economy’s annual 3.1 percent growth pace in the third quarter.

Economists expect a drawdown on inventories in the fourth quarter, which would be a drag on growth. They largely left their GDP forecasts, ranging from 0.5 percent to 2.9 percent, unchanged after the wholesale inventory data.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid tumbled 127,000 to 3.11 million in the week ended December 29, the lowest level since July 2008.

Highlighting the typical volatility at the start of the year, the last time the so-called continuing claims fell so much was in January 2011 and economists expect some correction in coming weeks.

The insured unemployment rate fell to 2.4 percent, its lowest since July 2008.

“The good news is the underlying jobs market is improving,” said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio. “The bad news is we have a large number of people who are unemployed for a long time and unemployment insurance does not go on forever. So, some people might be falling off the rolls.”

(Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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NXP Connects the Smart, Energy-Efficient Home With ZigBee and JenNet-IP

EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS and LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – Jan 10, 2013) – NXP Semiconductors N.V. ( NASDAQ : NXPI ) today announced the availability of the JN516x family of wireless microcontrollers for the Internet of Things, as well as a new evaluation kit which simplifies commercial development of ZigBee®, JenNet-IP™ and other IEEE 802.15.4 applications. The JN516x-EK001 evaluation kit provides all the hardware and software components required for product design, and includes several demos such as a smart lighting system based on JenNet-IP; several energy metering applications using ZigBee Smart Energy; ZigBee Light Link; and an RF4CE remote control system. NXP is showcasing its ultra-low-power, high-performance wireless microcontrollers at the 2013 International CES (Central Plaza 8). One of the many smart home and energy products using NXP’s wireless microcontrollers is a wireless energy harvesting switch from Cherry, which operates without a battery and can be used for any application in the home requiring an on-off switch.

“For smart lighting, home automation and energy management applications, the JN516x wireless microcontroller family brings together the optimal combination of price/performance, on-chip memory and ultra-low power consumption, along with a choice of software stacks. The release of our latest development kit, as well as our demos at CES, highlight the innovative yet practical ways in which NXP’s JN51xx platform is bringing the Internet of Things into the home,” said Marcel Walgering, general manager, Smart Home and Energy product line, NXP Semiconductors.

Accelerating Commercial Development of ZigBee, JenNet-IP and 802.15.4 Applications
The JN516x evaluation kit is specifically designed for use with the NXP JN5161, JN5164 or JN5168 wireless microcontrollers, which feature an enhanced 32-bit RISC processor with best-in-class memory options — up to 256 kB of embedded flash, 4 kB of on-chip EEPROM and 32 kB of RAM. The JN516x series devices also include an IEEE802.15.4 2.4-GHz transceiver and extensive analog and digital peripherals.

Providing all the components required for system development, the JN516x evaluation kit includes a series of wireless carrier boards; plug-in expansion boards; USB dongles; a remote control; a specially programmed Internet router running enhanced OpenWRT firmware; and a complete software design kit. This comprehensive development kit makes it easy to design solutions for the Internet of Things using ZigBee, JenNet-IP or RF4CE. A list of the complete contents of the JN516x-001 evaluation kit is available on NXP.com, and a video is available here: http://youtu.be/AnoGqZuqJIs 

Using the various demos included in the kit, designers can quickly produce proof-of-concept systems, with software that can then be used for end products using JN516x ICs or modules. The demos include:

• A JenNet-IP-based Smart Lighting demo which uses the router to support connection to a WLAN or the Internet


• A ZigBee Smart Energy demo that lets the user experiment with an energy service portal (via the USB dongle), an in-premise display (using the display expansion board), standalone meters for electricity and gas, or a range extender


• A ZigBee Light Link demo that gives the designer remote control of color LEDs on the lighting expansion board


• An RF4CE demo that lets the user select, play, forward, stop, pause, or change the volume on a Windows Media® Player application

Smart Home and Energy Products at 2013 International CES
At CES this week, NXP is showcasing several new customer products using its wireless microcontrollers, including a wireless energy harvesting switch created by Cherry — a compact, batteryless alternative to conventional wired switches. The required RF energy is created by the mechanical actuation of the switch, and the data is transmitted wirelessly via RF technology, eliminating the need for complex, expensive connection systems. Wireless energy harvesting is ideal for controlling a wide range of applications, such as lighting, windows, door locks, and alarms — and is the perfect complement to any system using smartphones or tablets for wireless control in the home. NXP’s wireless smart lighting demonstration at CES 2013 is available here: http://youtu.be/J4I9E1F7mbY

Other customer products featured in the NXP booth include Rainforest Automation’s EMU-2™ Energy Monitoring Unit — a simple and affordable in-home display that communicates wirelessly with smart meters using the ZigBee Smart Energy standard, and shows homeowners their energy consumption information in real time. Further information is available at http://www.rainforestautomation.com

Links

About NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. ( NASDAQ : NXPI ) provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions that leverage its leading RF, Analog, Power Management, Interface, Security and Digital Processing expertise. These innovations are used in a wide range of automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. A global semiconductor company with operations in more than 25 countries, NXP posted revenue of $ 4.2 billion in 2011. Additional information can be found by visiting www.nxp.com.

Note to editors: JenNet-IP is a trademark of NXP Semiconductors. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Forward-looking Statements
This document includes forward-looking statements which include statements regarding NXP’s business strategy, financial condition, results of operations and market data, as well as other statements that are not historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except for any ongoing obligation to disclose material information as required by the United States federal securities laws, NXP does not have any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after NXP distributes this document, whether to reflect any future events or circumstances or otherwise. For a discussion of potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the risk factors listed in NXP’s SEC filings. Copies of NXP’s SEC filings are available from the SEC website, www.sec.gov.

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Wall Street slightly higher on China data; S&P near resistance level

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched higher on Thursday, helped by stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, but gains were capped as the S&P 500 hovered near a 5-year high.

Financial and telecommunications stocks were the day's top gainers, while the material sector was the biggest drag. The S&P 500 material sector index <.gspm> was off 0.3 percent. The financial sector index <.gspf> rose 0.6 percent and the telecom sector <.gspl> was up 0.5 percent.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index was near a five-year closing high of 1,466.47. On Friday, the index had ended at the highest close since December 2007.

"The market is technically right at the level of resistance, near 1,465-1,467. A solid breakthrough above the level would be the start of a next leg higher, but it looks like it is going to be difficult to break above that level for now," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. He cited concerns about the earnings season and upcoming debt ceiling talks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 9.84 points, or 0.07 percent, at 13,400.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 2.55 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,463.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 2.01 points, or 0.06 percent, at 3,103.80.

In company news, shares of upscale jeweler Tiffany dropped 3.6 percent to $60.98 after it said earnings for the year through January 31 will be at the lower end of its forecast.

U.S.-traded Nokia shares jumped 17.3 percent to $4.40 after the Finnish handset maker said its fourth-quarter results were better than expected and that the mobile phone business achieved underlying profitability.

Herbalife Ltd stepped up its defense against activist investor Bill Ackman, stressing it was a legitimate company with a mission to improve nutrition and help public health. The stock was up 1.4 percent to $40.47.

Data showed China's export growth rebounded sharply to a seven-month high in December, a strong finish to the year after seven straight quarters of slowdown, even as demand from Europe and the United States remained subdued.

In the U.S., claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, though seasonal volatility made it difficult to get a clear picture of the labor market's health.

Also, U.S. wholesale inventories rose more than expected in November and sales rose by the most in more than 1-1/2 years. The market's reaction to both reports was muted.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Jaguars fire Mularkey after team's worst season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Mike Mularkey on Thursday after just one season, the worst in franchise history.

New general manager David Caldwell made the announcement two days after he was hired, giving him a clean slate heading into 2013. Caldwell said he wants to immediately explore every avenue possible to turn the Jaguars around.

"For that to happen as seamlessly as we want, and as quickly as our fans deserve, I feel it is in everyone's best interests for an immediate and clean restart," Caldwell said.

Mularkey, who went 2-14 this season, became the eighth head coach fired since the end of the regular season. He looked like he would be one and done when owner Shad Khan parted ways with general manager Gene Smith last week and gave Mularkey's assistants permission to seek other jobs. Even though Khan ultimately hired Mularkey, Smith directed the coaching search last January that started and ended with the former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator.

"Mike Mularkey is leaving our organization with my utmost respect," Khan said. "Mike gave the Jaguars everything he had on and off the field, and his efforts as our head coach will always be appreciated."

Mularkey's brief tenure — he didn't even last a year — was filled with mistakes. His biggest one may have been his loyalty to Smith, who assembled a roster that lacked talent on both sides of the ball.

Mularkey probably stuck with Smith's franchise quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, longer than he should have. And the coach's insistence that the team was closer than outsiders thought and his strong stance that he had the roster to turn things around became comical as the losses mounted. The Jaguars lost eight games by at least 16 points, a staggering number of lopsided losses in a parity-filled league.

Mularkey would have been better served had he said publicly what he voiced privately: that the Jaguars didn't have enough playmakers or a starting-caliber quarterback.

Instead, he never conceded that Jacksonville was a rebuilding project that needed time.

Mularkey signed a three-year contract on Jan. 11, 2012, getting a second chance to be a head coach six years after resigning with the Buffalo Bills.

His return was shaky from the start.

His best player, running back Maurice Jones-Drew, skipped offseason workouts as well as training camp and the preseason in a contract dispute. His first draft pick, receiver Justin Blackmon, was arrested and charged with aggravated DUI in June. And his team was riddled with injuries, including key ones to linebacker Daryl Smith and Jones-Drew.

Even things he had control over went awry.

He had to backtrack after saying Chad Henne would compete with Gabbert for the starting job in March. He created a stir by threatening to fine players up to $10,000 for discussing injuries. He initially played rookie receiver Kevin Elliott over Cecil Shorts III early on. And he really irked some players with tough, padded practices late in a lost season.

Throw in the way he handled injuries to receiver Laurent Robinson (four concussions before going on IR) and Jones-Drew (admittedly should have had foot surgery sooner), and there were reasons to doubt whether Mularkey was cut out to be a head coach. Dating back to his final season in Buffalo, Mularkey has lost 20 of his last 23 games.

Nonetheless, if Khan really wanted to fire Mularkey, he would have done after the season finale along with Smith.

So this was Caldwell's call.

Caldwell and Mularkey spent four years together in Atlanta, getting to know each other well enough that Caldwell didn't need a sit down with Mularkey after he got the GM job Tuesday.

Caldwell and Khan have a news conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Potential replacements for Mularkey include former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith, Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Schottenheimer was up for the Jacksonville job last season, and Roman has been linked to the Jaguars since Caldwell became the leading candidate to replace Smith.

Roman and Caldwell were teammates and roommates in the 1990's while attending John Carroll University.

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Architecture writer Ada Louise Huxtable, awarded first Pulitzer for criticism, dead at 91

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Ada Louise Huxtable, the architecture critic who was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for criticism, has died. She was 91.

Huxtable, who was the architecture critic for the New York Times from 1963 to 1982 and, later, the Wall Street Journal, died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Journal reported.

Huxtable was a firm believer in the power of tall buildings to enhance a city and decried the cookie-cutter suburban developments springing up around New York in the 1960s.

“The promise of… a new, improved suburbia in the greater metropolitan area, the dreams of beauty and better living are mire in mud,” Huxtable wrote in Newsweek magazine. She added that these suburban landscapes – including those in Staten Island “could not be better calculated to destroy the countryside if….planned by enemy action.”

In her final piece for the Journal – a look at the renovation plans for the landmark New York Public Library, dated December 3, 2012 – Huxtable wrote: “Buildings change; they adapt to needs, times and tastes. Old buildings are restored, upgraded and converted to new uses. For architecturally or historically significant buildings with landmark protection, the process is more complex; subtle, subjective and difficult decisions are often required. Nothing, not even buildings, stands still.”

A native New Yorker, Ada Louise Landsman was born March 14, 1921, the daughter of a doctor. She graduated from Hunter College in 1941. A year later, she married L. Garth Huxtable, an industrial designer, and together they produced tableware for the Four Seasons Hotel.

Throughout the 1940s, she continued graduate school at New York University but was more interested in her work as a curatorial assistant for architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art.

From 1950 to 1963, she contributed articles to “Progressive Architecture” and “Art in America.” She became the first architecture critic of the Times in 1963. She wrote more than 10 books. Her early essays were collected in the book “Will They Ever Finish Bruckner Boulevard?”

She was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1970. In 1981 she was awarded a MacArthur genius grant.

She also served for a time a juror for the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor.

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Business leaders warn UK PM against leaving EU

LONDON (AP) — Top executives have warned U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron that he could damage Britain‘s economy if he seeks to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the 27-country European Union.

In a letter published in the Financial Times Wednesday, Virgin Group’s Richard Branson, London Stock Exchange head Chris Gibson-Smith, WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell and seven other business leaders challenged Cameron’s plan to renegotiate the U.K.’s membership terms of the 27-country EU and put the matter to a referendum.

The executives warn that such a plan could fail, pushing the U.K. out of the EU and hurting business in the process.

Membership of the EU has given the U.K. access to the massive European market as well as a say in how the region should govern itself and run its financial markets. The country has also benefited from EU funds to build infrastructure such as broadband networks.

However, popular distrust of the EU has grown in Britain — one of the 10 countries in the region that doesn’t use the euro. The British public shows no interest in moving closer to the rest of Europe, and most can’t even seem to stomach the current control the EU, which many Britons see as meddlesome and inefficient.

Though the business leaders urged EU reform in their letter, they argued “we must be very careful not to call for a wholesale renegotiation of our EU membership, which would almost certainly be rejected.”

“To call for such a move in these circumstances would be to put our membership of the EU at risk and create damaging uncertainty for British business, which are the last things the prime minister would want to do,” they said.

Tough economic times are forcing the 17 EU countries that use the euro to move ever closer, creating a more powerful union that could leave non-euro members like Britain with less negotiating power.

But while Cameron wants Britain to remain in the EU and to retain influence in the body, he is also resisting a push by many member states, like France and Germany, to grant central authorities in Brussels greater powers over financial and legal affairs for the whole of the EU. In the long run, many EU countries want to turn the bloc into a United States of Europe, an idea British politicians, particularly among Cameron’s Conservatives, abhor.

Cameron is due to make a speech in mid-January to outline his position and the requests he will make. On Wednesday, he told lawmakers that Britain could get the changes it wanted.

“We’re active players in the European Union but there are changes we would like in our relationship that would be good for Britain and good for Europe and I think, because of the changes in eurozone which is driving a lot of change in the European Union, there’s every opportunity to achieve that settlement and seek consent for it,” he said.

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