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U.S. markets stall

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. markets wavered Tuesday after a strong rally Monday that sent the Dow Jones industrial average up 203 points.

A day with no major government reports to ponder leaves investors to fend for themselves. Reports positive and negative -- the gross domestic product up 3.5 percent in third quarter versus rising unemployment -- have not stopped markets from steaming ahead in recent sessions.

In late morning trading Tuesday, the DJIA was off 0.13 percent, 12.92 points, to 10,214.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.35 percent, 3.84 points, to 1,089.24. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 036 percent, 7.72 points, to 2,146.34.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose 8/32 to yield 3.454 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4976 from Monday's $1.4988. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 89.84 yen from Monday's 90.01 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.63 percent, 61.74, to 9,870.73.

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Google buys mobile ad business

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet giant Google said it would purchase AdMob, a mobile device advertising start-up, for $750 million in stock.

AdMob is an industry leader in selling banner ads that are viewed on the iPhone or appear on Web sites that mobile phones can handle, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

"The deal shows that Google is serious about becoming a major player in the mobile advertising ecosystem," Neil Strother, an analyst with Forrester Research, told the Times.

While the purchase, "puts Google in the front-runner position," Strother said, the company paid more for the company than the entire mobile ad industry was worth in 2008, market researcher Kelsey Group said.

Kelsey Group estimates the mobile ad sales industry generated $160 million in revenue last year.

Google said it was looking at growth.

"We see mobile as a huge growth opportunity for us. We see an opportunity working with AdMob to really accelerate our efforts in an important industry for Google," said Susan Wojcicki, Google's vice president for product management.

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Picower's estate to help Madoff victims

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The death of Jeffrey Picower, an investor with disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, may mean several billion more dollars for Madoff's victims, attorneys say.

Picower, who died last month in his Palm Beach, Fla., swimming pool, left an estate worth more than $1 billion and attorneys for victims of Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme say Picower's estate should go to compensate them, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said Picower's will -- expected to be filed Tuesday -- leaves most of his money to charity, but is large enough for both charitable contributions as well as restitution for Madoff victims.

Picower attorney William Zabel refused to comment to the Times about settlement talks with Irving Picard, the trustee for the Madoff victims. But he did say figures under discussion range from $2.4 billion to $7 billion -- enough to least double the amount of restitution that Picard has been able to gather so far.

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Lawmakers seek to speed up credit card law

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Legislators in Washington are pursuing options to close the grace period lawmakers gave credit card companies when they passed the credit card law in May.

When the law was passed, lawmakers gave credit card companies until Feb. 22 before the law was to take effect.

The law provides consumers with a mandatory 45-day warning before lenders can change rates and extends the period between when a bill is sent and when a company can declare the minimum payment overdue, among other measures.

Now lawmakers are seeking to have the bill take effect immediately. The House approved such a step last week, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is backing a bill that would make it illegal to raise interest rates on existing credit accounts until the law takes effect.

Lawmakers are seeking changes as consumers have complained of sharply rising interest rates. In advance of the new law, some interest rates have jumped as high as 29.99 percent, the Times said.

Banks are facing increased defaults on accounts and fewer customers. In the past year, the number of accounts at four major companies dropped by 72 million, said David Robertson, who publishes The Nilson Report.