Recovery likely strengthening after weaker 3Q

WASHINGTON (AP) _ All signs suggest the economic recovery will end the year on firmer footing despite a report Tuesday that the economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, less than previously thought.

The Commerce Department's new reading on gross domestic product for the July-to-September quarter was weaker than the 2.8 percent growth rate estimated a month ago. Economists had predicted this figure would remain the same in the final estimate of the quarter's GDP _ the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.

The main factors behind the downgrade were that consumers didn't spend as much, commercial construction was weaker, business investment in equipment and software was softer and companies cut back more on their stockpiles of goods.

___

Stocks rise for 3rd day after jump in home sales

NEW YORK (AP) _ Stocks pushed higher for a third straight day after a surprisingly strong report on housing provided the latest evidence that the economy is picking up speed.

All major indexes gained less than 1 percent Tuesday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite index closing at new highs for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 50 points, bringing its three-day point gain to 156.

Stocks got off to a positive start after a report from the National Association of Realtors said home resales jumped 7.4 percent in November. That was much more than the 2.5 percent increase analysts expected. The government's tax breaks have spurred sales to their highest level in nearly three years.

___

Court bans sale of Word; Microsoft has fix ready

SEATTLE (AP) _ A federal appeals court ordered Microsoft Corp. to stop selling its Word program in January and pay a Canadian software company $290 million for violating a patent, upholding the judgment of a lower court.

But people looking to buy Word or Microsoft's Office package in the U.S. won't have to go without the software. Microsoft said Tuesday it expects that new versions of the product, with the computer code in question removed, will be ready for sale when the injunction begins on Jan. 11.

Toronto-based i4i Inc. sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind a tool in the popular word processing program. The technology in question gives Word users an improved way to edit XML, or code that tells the program how to interpret and display a document's contents.

___

Community bankers get Obama's soft touch