Business Highlights

The results were announced a week after Disney said it would buy Lucasfilm Ltd. and revive the "Star Wars" franchise with a new trilogy starting in 2015.

Net income in the three months to Sept. 29 rose to $1.24 billion, or 68 cents per share, from $1.09 billion, or 58 cents per share, a year ago.

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Wal-Mart raises stake for holiday season's start

NEW YORK (AP) ⿿ Attention, frustrated Black Friday shoppers who can never grab that hot product: Wal-Mart is hoping to relieve some of your anxiety.

The world's largest retailer is throwing its doors open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than a year ago. It's also guaranteeing shoppers that it will have three of the most popular items it sells if they line up inside the store during a one-hour event that day.

Those who are lined up inside the store between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving will be able to purchase the following items: an Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi for $399 plus a $74 Wal-Mart gift card; an Emerson 32-inch LCD TV for $148, marked down from $228; and an LG Blu-ray Disc player for $38, about half off the original price.

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Priceline to acquire Kayak in $1.8 billion deal

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) ⿿ Priceline.com Inc. plans to buy online travel-research company Kayak Software Corp. for $1.8 billion to expand its travel business.

Priceline will pay about $500 million in cash and $1.3 billion in stock and assumed options. The deal values Kayak at $40 a share, a 29 percent premium over its closing price Thursday.

Shares of Kayak ⿿ which also reported a 78 percent jump in third-quarter earnings ⿿ soared in after-hours trading while Priceline shares fell.

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By The Associated Press(equals)

The Dow closed down 121.41 points to 12,811.32. The Standard and Poor's 500 index fell 17.02 points to 1,377.51 and the Nasdaq composite slipped 41.70 to 2,895.58.

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