News money 2008-07-13 Andanh.com

Worldwide rush slows device's activation process Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:21:00 EST
As soon as the doors opened yesterday at Oxmoor Center, about 150 people surged in, all headed for the same place: the Apple Store, to get the iPhone 3G. A global problem with Apple Inc.'s iTunes servers prevented the phones from being fully activated at the store.

GE profits off 5.8% for quarter Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:38:00 EST
General Electric's profits fell 5.8 percent in the second quarter, hurt by a sharp profit drop in the Louisville division it plans to cut loose. The overall results were in line with expectations, however, potentially easing some of the widespread investor worries that had been stoked after the conglomerate's stunning first-quarter earnings shortfall.

Aid for Fannie, Freddie studied Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:38:00 EST
Wall Street and Washington wrestled yesterday with how to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two troubled pillars of the economy whose failure would deal a devastating blow to the already crippled housing market.

Ashland stock drops on deal Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:38:00 EST
Ashland Inc.'s stock plummeted yesterday after the Covington, Ky.-based company said it would buy specialty chemical maker Hercules in a $2.6 billion cash-and-stock deal that includes a hefty debt load.

Does the agent work for the buyer? Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:39:00 EST
A: Unless you enter into a buyer brokerage agreement, the agent is obligated to treat you as a customer, but not a client. An agent could represent the seller and only owes you honesty and fair dealing as the customer. To the seller, the agent's client, he or she owes disclosure, loyalty, accounting, confidentiality, reasonable care and diligence.

Business People Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:50:00 EST
HEALTH CARE ResCare has announced the following hires: Mary Kay O'Connell as a tax assistant, Drew Schaefer as a financial reporting manager, India Vinson as an accounts payable specialist, Gabrielle Watson as a payroll assistant and Andrew Young as a payroll assistant. Mark El-Tawil has been appointed market president of Louisville-based Humana's Arizona operations. El-Tawil will be responsible for the overall management and strategic planning for Humana's commercial, consumer-driven and self-insured health benefit products sold to employer groups in Arizona, from the Phoenix offices. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Kathleen Albers Renda has joined the Middleton Reutlinger law firm. Her practice concentrates on commercial litigation and business law. MISCELLANEOUS In Every Language, a Louisville-based translating and interpreting company, has hired Arezu Elias as bilingual executive assistant. AWARDS Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana President Debra Hoffer has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2008 in the Support of Entrepreneurship category in the south-central Ohio and Kentucky region. According to Ernst & Young, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses. Hoffer was selected by an independent panel of judges for the award, which was recently presented at a Cincinnati ceremony. — Stephanie Zeller Items can be submitted at courier-journal.com/businesspeople. Color photos should be in jpeg format (200 dpi). Photos should be at least 2 inches by 3 inches and bear the person's name.

Business Digest Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:44:00 EST

Business Watch Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:43:00 EST

iPhone glitch thwarts customers Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:37 EDT

NEW YORK . The launch of Apple Inc.'s much-anticipated new iPhone turned into an information-technology meltdown on Friday, as customers were unable to get their phones working.

.It's such grief and aggravation,. said Frederick Smalls, an insurance broker in Whitman, Mass., after spending two hours on the phone with Apple and AT.T Inc., trying to get his new iPhone to work.

In stores, people waited at counters to get the phones activated, as lines built behind them. Many of the customers had already camped out in line for several hours to become among the first with the new phone, which updates the one launched a year ago by speeding up Internet access and adding a navigation chip.

A spokesman for AT.T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the United States, said there was a global problem with Apple's iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store as planned.

Business Notes Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

Kentucky

Securities broker pleads guilty in forged-documents case

A Lexington securities broker-dealer has had his registration permanently revoked after pleading guilty in a case involving forged documents, the state announced Friday. Michael Ray Ecton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor criminal intent charge in Fayette District Court this week, the state's Department of Financial Institutions said. The charge was downgraded from four charges of second-degree forgery filed after state and local authorities said Ecton forged signatures on at least seven clients' insurance .documents. Ecton's one-year sentence was probated, the state said. Ecton, who worked for Northwestern Mutual Investment Services from September 2002 to October 2007, paid restitution to the insurance companies, which covered the customers' losses, the state said.

Kentucky Bancshares' earnings drop 22%

Freeing frozen home equity lines of credit Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

If your home equity line of credit has been frozen . and you need access to the funds . here are some steps you can take:

Call your lender. Ask why the available credit has been reduced and explain why you think it shouldn't have been. It's helpful to know your loan-to-value ratio, your credit score and your debt-to-income ratio before discussing your individual situation.

Be prepared to have your home reappraised. If you argue that the value of the home hasn't dropped as much as others in the area, be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars on having your home appraised. You'll need that for verification that your situation is different.

Take your business elsewhere. There are still lenders out there for those with good credit and equity built up in their homes.

Ashland to acquire chemical firm Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

WILMINGTON, Del. . Ashland Inc. announced Friday it will acquire Wilmington-based specialty chemicals maker Hercules Inc. in a $2.6 billion cash-and-stock deal.

The offer represented a 38 percent premium over Hercules' Thursday closing price, but the premium was narrower than Thursday's Dow Chemical Co. deal for Rohm and Haas Co.

The companies value the deal at $3.3 billion, including the assumption of $700 million of Hercules debt. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2008.

Shares of Covington, Ky.-based Ashland were down $6.48, or 13.7 percent, to $40.93 in afternoon trading Friday. Hercules shares were up $4.18, or 25 percent, to $20.84.

Oil sets another trading record Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

NEW YORK . It's only July, but it might be time to start loading up on blankets and sweaters. Oil spiked to a new trading record as hostilities rise between the West and Iran . raising the likelihood that this winter's heating bills will be the priciest yet.

Crude oil's brief jump past $147 a barrel Friday arrived not only as the United States and Israel view Iran as a growing threat, but also as the U.S. dollar fell and worries erupted over possible supply disruptions in two other major oil-producing nations: Nigeria and Brazil.

Those factors contributed to all-time trading highs in crude, gasoline and heating oil. It looks like $4-a-gallon gasoline might be here to stay, and that heating-oil costs might cause further problems for consumers as the weather gets colder. Futures prices for natural gas turned lower Friday, but are still about twice as high as a year ago.

.If you think your gasoline bills are expensive now, wait till you get your home heating bill this winter,. said Stephen Schork, an analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa.

Federal regulators seize assets of IndyMac Bank in California Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

LOS ANGELES . IndyMac Bank's assets were seized by federal regulators on Friday after the mortgage lender succumbed to the pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures.

The bank is the largest regulated thrift to fail and the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, regulators said.

The Office of Thrift Supervision said it transferred IndyMac's operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. because it did not think the lender could meet its depositors' demands.

IndyMac customers with funds in the bank were limited to taking out money via automated teller machines over the weekend, debit card transactions or checks, regulators said.

No bailout of mortgage lenders, for now Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:12 EDT

WASHINGTON . The Bush administration on Friday ruled out a nationalization of troubled government-sponsored home lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but left the door open for a future bailout of these critical mortgage-market entities.

Fannie and Freddie help ensure that money for mortgages is widely available. They own or guarantee almost half of outstanding U.S. mortgages, and they pool mortgages into investment securities that are widely held by U.S. and foreign investors. This pooling has helped lower borrowing costs for millions of American homeowners.

Meanwhile, a mortgage rescue to help hundreds of thousands of struggling home.owners avoid foreclosure and get more affordable, safer loans passed the Senate overwhelmingly Friday, but it faces a bumpy road amid continuing turmoil in the housing market.

The nationwide housing slump has resulted in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posting losses since last July of nearly $13 billion. James Lockhart, their chief federal regulator, said this week that they've raised more than $20 billion in new capital and have adequate cash in reserve.

Dawahare's closing sales likely to begin July 18 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:07 EDT

A .global settlement. reached Friday between Dawahare's of Lexington LLC and its creditors clears the way for the clothing retailer's going-out-of-business sale to begin as early as July 18 and end about Aug. 31.

Earlier, Dawahare's announced that the sale would begin Monday, but that plan was derailed by objections from creditors that were filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lexington, where Dawahare's is in reorganization.

A definite start date will be set next week if the court approves a liquidator for the remaining 22 Dawahare's stores that are spread across Kentucky. The liquidator will be chosen in an informal auction Tuesday.

By starting the final sale in July, there is .a high probability. that enough cash will be raised to pay off Dawahare's largest creditor, Fifth Third Bank, Dawahare's bankruptcy attorney, W. Thomas Bunch, told the court Friday.

Venezuela to supply Guatemala with oil Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:24 EDT
President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that he is expanding his Venezuela's Petrocaribe oil-supply pact to include Guatemala.

Through Petrocaribe, oil-rich Venezuela provides nations with oil under preferential terms, including long-term loans and the option of paying for at least some of the costs with services or goods such as rice, bananas and sugar.

"It is an obligation to help the weakest" countries, Chavez said in a televised address.

"The United States would pay us US$200 a barrel for oil - give it to me then," said Chavez, whose nation is the world's 10th largest oil producer. "Now Haiti, no. Haiti gets preferential treatment. Socialism says: To everyone according to their needs."

Chavez said nearly 20 heads of state are attending a Petrocaribe summit in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo this weekend, where Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom will formalize his country's membership.

Yahoo spurns Microsoft again as bad blood boils Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:43 EDT
Yahoo Inc. has rejected Microsoft's latest attempt to buy its online search operations in a "take or leave it" proposal that Yahoo said would have dismantled its Internet franchise.

As described by Yahoo in a statement released late Saturday, Microsoft packaged its latest offer with activist investor Carl Icahn, a billionaire who is seeking to overthrow Yahoo's board of directors in a shareholder meeting scheduled for Aug. 1.

Without providing many specifics, Yahoo said Microsoft renewed an earlier bid to buy the company's search engine and proposed turning over the remaining pieces to a board controlled by Icahn.

Yahoo said it received the complex proposal Friday and was given less than 24 hours to respond.

Backed into a corner, Yahoo lashed out in a blunt manner likely to inject even more bad blood into its already venomous relationship with Microsoft and Icahn.

Government shuts down mortgage lender IndyMac Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:04 EDT
IndyMac Bank's assets were seized by federal regulators on Friday after the mortgage lender succumbed to the pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures.

The bank is the largest regulated thrift to fail and the second largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, regulators said.

The Office of Thrift Supervision said it transferred IndyMac's operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation because it did not think the lender could meet its depositors' demands.

IndyMac customers with funds in the bank were limited to taking out money via automated teller machines over the weekend, debit card transactions or checks, regulators said.

Other bank services, such as online banking and phone banking were scheduled to be made available on Monday.

Washington, Wall St. weigh Fannie, Freddie help Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:29 EDT
Wall Street and Washington wrestled Friday with how to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two troubled pillars of the economy whose failure would deal a devastating blow to the already crippled housing market.

As investors grew more convinced that only some type of government bailout could rescue the firms, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the focus was to support the pair "in their current form" without a takeover.

The government was considering giving Fannie and Freddie access to the Fed's emergency lending program as one option to prop up the firms, said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., citing conversations with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Paulson.

A Fed spokeswoman said the central bank had not talked with Fannie and Freddie about the emergency lending program. The spokeswoman declined to discuss any other options being considered.

Both companies issued statements late Friday calling their financial positions solid. Freddie Mac said it did not see an immediate need to raise fresh money, and said other options included cutting its annual shareholder dividend, which costs $650 million a year.

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