What to watch: Will Santa be nice to investors?

(Photo: Ben Hider, AP) NEW YORK -- It's part lore, part statistical sensation. We're talking about stocks rising around Christmas, a late-year seasonal surge that Wall Street dubs the "Santa Claus Rally." The Stock Trader's Almanac claims it discovered the phenomenon more than 40 years ago. The definition of the Santa Claus Rally differs depending on to whom you talk. From the Almanac's...

Hotel websites embrace TripAdvisor, bad reviews and all

(Photo: Red Roof Inn) It's getting harder to avoid reading TripAdvisor hotel reviews on hotel chain websites. Last week, the 350-location budget hotel chain Red Roof Inn announced it will incorporate TripAdvisor reviews - whether good, bad or ugly - on its redroof.com website. The average customer pays about $60 a night to sleep in a Red Roof Inn property. The chain joins a group of about...

Ex-Olympian says escort work related to depression

Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton sent shock waves through the running community Thursday by admitting she led a double life, secretly working as a call girl who earned $600 an hour for a Las Vegas escort service. In a story first reported by The Smoking Gun, the 44-year-old wife and mother from Wisconsin described her call girl work as "exciting." She used an alias but revealed her...