News money 2008-07-01 Andanh.com

June truck, auto sales paint a grim picture Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:54:00 EST
Around this time three years ago, Bill Collins Ford moved 100 new Ford F-150 trucks and 40 F-Series Super Duty trucks a month off its Bardstown Road lot.

Carbon-storage partnership formed Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:42:00 EST
The Kentucky Geological Survey and three energy companies have formed a partnership to test storing carbon dioxide permanently underground.

Stocks battered in first half Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:45:00 EST
NEW YORK -- Wall Street ended a grueling first half of the year quietly yesterday, closing mixed as investors again based their trades on what has become the dominant force in the market: the price of oil.

Oil prices slip after jumping to $143 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:47:00 EST
NEW YORK -- The price of crude oil traded at yet another record yesterday, spurting past $143 a barrel before ending lower on demand fears and a resilient dollar.

Humana agrees to buy Medicare plan provider Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:49:00 EST
Humana is buying Metcare Health Plans, a Florida company that provides Medicare managed-care coverage, for about $14 million.

Q: Is it OK to take photos of a house you're thinking about buying? Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
Sure. It's a good way to remember what you liked and didn't like about a house as you're comparing it with others.

Chrysler closing St. Louis plant Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST
DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC said yesterday that it will indefinitely close one Missouri plant and cut production at another due to slumping demand for pickup trucks and minivans.

Floods' effect on corn may ease Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Midwest floods may not contribute as much to food inflation as was feared.

Business people Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:50:00 EST

Fazoli's restaurants name new CEO Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30 EDT

Carl Howard, the former president and chief executive of Damon's International, has been named CEO of Lexington-based Fazoli's restaurants.

Howard succeeds Bob Weissmueller, who retired.

A 35-year veteran of McDonald's Restaurants, Weissmueller was nearing retirement in 2006 when the Sun Capital Partners investment-banking firm bought Fazoli's and offered him a chance to end his career as a CEO.

.I have had nothing but fun from the day I walked in,. he told Herald-Leader business writer Karla Ward in 2007.

Chicken processor to build Marion County plant Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:25 EDT

A poultry-processing company plans to build a plant that would bring 250 jobs to Marion County.

Rancho Poultry LLC plans to invest more than $43 million to build a 100,000-square-foot plant on 25 acres in Lebanon, according to an announcement from Gov. Steve Beshear and Economic Development Cabinet Secretary John Hindman.

Two processing lines will be installed that will be capable of producing 60 million pounds of partially cooked, battered and breaded chicken products, according to the announcement. The company is already considering an additional third product line, which would add an additional 50 jobs.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority granted final approval to Rancho Poultry in June 2008, for tax benefits of as much as $7.5 million under the Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act, a program designed to increase manufacturing employment in the state.

Taylor County lands new auto-related project Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:40 EDT

FRANKFORT . A South Korean-owned company has picked Taylor County for a distribution and sales center expected to employ about 75 people within two years in the central Kentucky county.

The company, INFAC Corp., expects to begin manufacturing emergency brake cables at the Campbellsville Industrial Park sometime during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Gov. Steve Beshear's office announced the project Tuesday.

The company is a producer and worldwide supplier of mechanical cables and electronics components for the auto industry. The company's director of North American operations, Jay Choi, says the central location and workforce were among the factors in Taylor County being chosen.

State's jobless rate increases Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:53 EDT
Jobless rates have increased in 108 of Kentucky's 120 counties over a one-year period ending May 31.

The Kentucky Office of Employment and Training reported lower unemployment rates in 12 counties. The unemployment statistics were released Tuesday.

Woodford County recorded the lowest jobless rate at 4.6 percent. Jackson County had the highest at 11.3 percent. Magoffin and Clay counties also had jobless rates in excess of 10 percent.

June car sales plummet for nearly all automakers Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:44 EDT
Nearly all the major automakers reported steep sales declines for June, but for General Motors at least there was consolation: Toyota, its leading international competition, had it worse.

Even Toyota, with its flexible, efficient factories, couldn't make the shift from trucks to cars as quickly as American drivers. Its sales for June shrank 21 percent.

So the Japanese automaker fell short of some analysts' predictions that it would overtake GM as the U.S. sales leader. June sales at GM had a still-dramatic drop of about 18 percent.

The overall market fell 18.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp. It was the worst June for the industry in 17 years, said Jesse Toprak, chief industry analyst for auto information site Edmunds.com, who predicted more misery ahead.

Toprak said automakers simply did not react quickly enough to the staggering rise of gas prices.

English IPA reigns in brew contest Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:23 EDT

An English India Pale Ale recipe concocted by a Lexington architecture intern will compete against other entries in the pro-am division of the Great American Beer Festival in October in Denver.

On Monday night, Kevin Patterson's English IPA was announced the winner of the Alltech Lexington Brewing Co.'s amateur homebrewer contest. A panel of judges tasted 13 homebrew entries on Friday.

They noted that Patterson's entry had citrus notes and was easy to drink. In late August, the brewery will take Patterson's recipe and brew 1,200 gallons, brewer Adam McCraith said.

Patterson, 33, and brewery officials will head to Denver for the competition. Last year's contest winner, Bill Caldwell, took second place.

Wall Street zigzags on first day of 3rd quarter Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:49 EDT
Wall Street began the third quarter with an erratic session and modest gain Tuesday after a mix of news made it clear the country is still deep in economic problems but may have some positive trends - including some better than expected sales for General Motors Corp.

Prices rose early in the session, then turned sharply lower for much of the day and then recovered in late afternoon. The uneven performance wasn't surprising - some bargain hunting was to be expected after a dismal first half, and in particular, a dismal June.

The session brought more discouraging news for investors: Oil rose again toward record high levels, a report showed that U.S. manufacturers are still under duress and Ford Motor Co. said its June sales tumbled. This all raised the market's fears that the economy - still reeling from soaring commodities prices and the lingering credit crisis - is not any closer to turning around.

Yet GM's sales, while falling 18.2 percent during June, came in above analysts' forecasts, retaining Detroit's lead over Toyota Motor Corp. and sending the automaker's shares higher. GM's news was in sharp contrast to the dismal results reported earlier by Ford Motor Co., where a 27.9 percent plunge in sales for the month sent the company's stock to its lowest point in decades.

And while the Institute for Supply Management had an overall disappointing report on manufacturing in June, it also reported strong exports for U.S. factories.

Construction spending drops 0.4 percent in May Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:33 EDT
Construction spending fell in May for the 11th time in the past year as a continuing slump in housing offset strength in nonresidential building.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction spending dropped 0.4 percent in May, slightly less than had been expected. There was strength in spending on hotels and office buildings but continued declines in housing, which has been in a slump for two years.

Residential construction dropped 1.6 percent in May, the 25th decline out of the past 26 months.

Home builders have been frantically slashing back on their production in the face of the worst slump in housing in more than two decades. Analysts believe housing activity will keep falling for some time because even with the cutbacks in production, the backlog of unsold homes is remaining near record levels. The problem is that a rising tide of foreclosures is forcing even more properties onto the already glutted market.

Private nonresidential construction rose by 0.2 percent in May to an all-time high of $405.3 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. The small increase followed even bigger 1.6 percent gains in both April and March.

Tempur-Pedic names new CEO Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT

Tempur-Pedic International named Mark Sarvary, a former head of Campbell Soup's North America division, as its chief executive officer and president on Monday.

The Lexington-based mattress and pillow maker said Sarvary will work with CEO H. Thomas Bryant until his retirement on Aug. 4 to ensure a smooth transition. Bryant will continue to serve on the company's board.

In a news release, Tempur-Pedic Chairman P. Andrews McLane called Sarvary .exceptionally well-qualified. and said he has the .ability and experience to lead Tempur-Pedic beyond the $1 billion sales level into its next phase of growth and development..

Sarvary is a partner with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, having joined the firm after years at Campbell Soup, J. Crew Group and Nestl..

Floods might not boost food costs as much as feared Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa . Midwest floods might not fuel as much food-price inflation as was feared.

Corn prices fell Monday after the government surprised traders by reporting that farmers tried to cash in on soaring corn demand for ethanol by planting more acres of the crop than the market expected.

That could be good news for shoppers, although food prices still have to contend with rising costs for distribution and for fuel.

Farmers will harvest nearly 9 percent fewer acres of corn this year than last year, in part because of Midwest flooding that has damaged a portion of the crop, the government reported.

Personnel file Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:29 EDT

Architecture

Ricci Greene Associates: Stacey Wiseman has joined the justice design and planning firm's Lexington office as a designer.

Education

Campbellsville University: Joe Walters, a member and associate member of the Campbellsville University Board of Trustees for nine years, has joined the university's office of development as senior campaign officer.

Iraq opens bidding on 8 oil, natural gas fields Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT

BAGHDAD . Iraq opened international bidding for eight enormous oil and gas fields Monday, paving the way for investment in a nation with some of the world's largest petroleum reserves.

If approved, contracts to update and manage those fields could involve the biggest foreign stake in Iraq since its oil industry was nationalized more than 30 years ago and help Iraq reach its goal of nearly doubling petroleum production by 2013.

That could be good news with the price for a barrel of oil breaching $143 for the first time ever Monday. But the contracts won't be signed for a year, and if Western firms win a dominant role, it could feed perceptions that U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein to get at Iraq's natural resources.

Those concerns were heightened by expectations that Iraq would announce short-term no-bid consulting contracts with five Western oil firms Monday. The New York Times reported about two weeks ago that the firms included Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron and Total.

Business notes Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:29 EDT

Kentucky

State-mandated minimum wage increase to take effect

Kentuckians earning the minimum wage will receive a raise from $5.85 an hour to $6.55 an hour, effective Tuesday. The nearly 12 percent raise is the second of three state-mandated raises. The third raise will bring the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour and will take effect July 1, 2009. Many Lexington area employers who already pay above the minimum wage still plan to raise employee wages. .We re-evaluate our wages every year and we're aware of the minimum-wage raises coming along,. said Rich Johnston, general manager of the Radisson hotel. .We try to keep ahead of the curve in order to stay competitive.. The first raise was June 26, 2007, which brought the minimum wage up from $5.15 to $5.85. Tipped employees will see no change in their base wages.

Spindletop shares figure facing jail time

Start spending smarter Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT

Given all the recent economic malaise, there's a good chance you're trying to lower your spending.

One way to do that is to cut back. Another way is to spend smarter.

From Consumer Reports Money Advisor, here are tips for finding the best price on all kinds of purchases:

Check online first. You can compare prices to make sure you're getting a good deal before you buy. There are numerous online shopping .bot. sites that gather information from a variety of retailers. Popular .bot. sites to check include MySimon.com, NextTag.com, and BizRate.com. You can also search the Web for coupons and coupon codes.

Maker's Mark makes fuel from byproducts Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT

Bourbon gives off some heat . usually in the back of the throat.

Now, a Kentucky distiller has found a way to literally make some heat.

At the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, company executives are touting a process where they can produce and use methane gas from byproducts in the distilling process.

Already used by food and beverage producers like Coca-Cola and Kraft as well as some wineries, the anaerobic wastewater treatment system is a first for the tradition-bound bourbon and whiskey distillers in North America.

Blockbuster withdraws plan to acquire Circuit City Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:59 EDT
Blockbuster Inc. said Tuesday it is withdrawing its proposal to buy Circuit City Stores Inc., the big-box electronics retailer whose sales have tumbled this year.

Chief Executive James Keyes said in a written statement that the proposed deal, at a price of more than $1 billion, didn't make sense because of market conditions. Blockbuster shares jumped nearly 12 percent on the news, while Circuit City shares continued their fall.

Blockbuster, the nation's largest movie-rental chain, will still try to merge content such as movies and games with the sale of electronic devices under one roof - but it will be at Blockbuster's own stores, Keyes said.

Circuit City Chief Executive Philip J. Schoonover said his board was still exploring strategies to help shareholders, which he said didn't require Blockbuster's presence.

The retailer's stock has dropped below $3 from its peak near $31 in May 2006, and the shares have lost about half their value since a one-day rally spurred by Blockbuster's bid. Blockbuster shares have fallen 20 percent since the bid was announced in April.

Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:58 EDT
For a decade it appeared there was no such thing as too many Starbucks for U.S. coffee drinkers, whose willingness to buy its $4 lattes and dark drip brews rationalized a second green-and-white mermaid awning just down the street - and sometimes even a third.

But in a sign that those days are over, Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year as the faltering U.S. economy hastened the pain caused by the company's own rapid expansion.

Starbucks did not say which stores will be closed, only that they are spread throughout the country. But it did say 70 percent of those slated for closure had opened after the start of 2006.

To put it another way, Starbucks is closing 19 percent of all U.S. company-operated stores that opened in the last two years, Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said during a conference call.

About 12,000 workers, or 7 percent of Starbucks' global work force, will be affected by the closings, which are expected to take place between late July and the middle of 2009, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said.

Campbell Soup buys Wolfgang Puck soup business Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:03 EDT
Campbell Soup Co. has bought the Wolfgang Puck soup business in a move that quickly expands the company's organic soup options.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Campbell said the cash deal with Country Gourmet Foods is not expected to have a material effect on its fiscal 2009 financial results.

Campbell entered a licensing agreement with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc. to use the Wolfgang Puck brand on soup, stock and broth products in North America. The deal includes an option to extend the brand into other related categories and channels.

Campbell says the acquisition and licensing agreement extend the company's offerings in the growing organic and natural segment of the market.

Denise Morrison, president of Campbell's North America soup, sauces and beverages division, says the newly acquired soups help meet the company's dual goals of adding healthy and premium foods.

Loose change Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:58 EDT

Chinese Dir