AP Business NewsBrief at 12:38 p.m. EST

(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Buying stocks now may be less risky than you thinkNEW YORK (AP) _ Is it too late If you've stayed out of stocks recently, you might be worried that you've missed your chance to get back in. After all, they must be expensive now that the Dow Jones industrial average has risen 120 percent in four years to a record high.

Time spin-off highlights risks facing magazinesLOS ANGELES (AP) _ From Sports Illustrated to People to its namesake magazine, Time Inc., was always an innovator. But now when the troubled magazine industry is facing its greatest challenge, the company Henry Luce founded is struggling to find its way in a digital world. Time Warner Inc.'s decision to shed its Time Inc. magazine unit last week underscores the challenges facing an industry that remains wedded to glossy paper even as the use of tablet computers, e-readers and smartphones explodes.

Report: EU to propose controls on bosses' payBERLIN (AP) _ A top European Union official says he plans to propose that company shareholders across the continent be given the power to set managers' pay _ an approach similar to an initiative recently approved by voters in non-EU Switzerland. EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier was quoted Sunday as telling Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper he plans to make his proposal by the end of this year.

Class of 2012: Young Spaniards launch startupsMADRID (AP) _ In a cramped office in downtown Madrid, five young architects who found themselves jobless in Spain's wrenching economic crisis sit almost elbow to elbow _ glued to computer screens as they create 3-D videos of construction proposals for far-flung sites in Britain, Panama, Malaysia and Zambia. The founders of the Factoria 5 digital design company last month took home (EURO)2,000 ($2,700) each for the projects they are delivering. That's good money for professionals in a field so blighted by Spain's building bust that many of Factoria 5's fellow architecture grads are either unemployed, have given up on architecture or moved abroad. One, who considers himself lucky, became a train conductor.

Cause of off-color, fetid water eludes Pa. townPITTSBURGH (AP) _ What causes clear, fresh country well water to turn orange or black, or smell so bad that it's undrinkable Residents of a western Pennsylvania community have been trying for more than a year to get that question answered in their quest to get clean water back.

Sandy-damaged homes hit market at bargain pricesLONG BEACH, N.Y. (AP) _ It sounds like the premise for a new reality TV series: "Hurricane House" _ people scouring waterside communities looking to buy homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy at a deep discount. While there are bargains out there, ranging from 10 percent off pre-storm prices for upscale homes on New York's Long Island and the Jersey Shore to as much as 60 percent off modest bungalows Staten Island and Queens, it's still very much a game of buyer beware.

Stringer leaving Sony in June, hands over to HiraiTOKYO (AP) _ Howard Stringer, who fought to bring a divided and struggling Sony Corp. together as the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's first foreign president, is retiring as chairman in June. He announced his departure in New York in a speech at the Japan Society on Friday, which was confirmed by Tokyo-based Sony on Sunday. His retirement will come at an annual general shareholders' meeting in June.

China's leaders take aim at Railways MinistryBEIJING (AP) _ In the annals of Chinese bureaucratic power, the Railways Ministry stood apart. Running everything from one of the world's busiest rail systems to a special police force, the ministry was so pervasive and powerful it resisted government reform efforts for years. Chinese called it "Boss Railway." On Sunday, the government gave notice it was firing the boss.

Qatar announces large natural gas discoveryDOHA, Qatar (AP) _ Qatar says it has discovered as much as 2.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in an offshore field. Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sadah told reporters Sunday the discovery was made at the field known as Block 4 North, off the shore of the Gulf island nation. The field is operated by Qatar Petroleum along with its partners Mitsui Gas Development Qatar and Germany's Wintershall.

Politicians look for credit in a rising economyWASHINGTON (AP) _ Increased hiring, lower unemployment, stock market on the rise. Who gets the credit It's a hotly debated point in Washington, where political scorekeeping amounts to who gets blame and who gets praise.

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