| Home| News | Money | Sports | Entertainment | Food | Lifestyle | Travel | Health | Politics | Technology | Science | Opinion | Garden | Youth | Community | Video | |
| Ford posts news about jobs on Web site Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:19:00 EST Ford has unveiled a new job search Web site this week to urge workers to take its latest buyout offer that expires in September. |
| Long lines remain week after iPhone 3G release Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:27:00 EST A week after Apple's new iPhone was released, customers were still lining up yesterday at the company's store in Oxmoor Center. About 20 customers queued up, seeking an iPhone 3G, in a line stretching from the back of the store and nearly out the door after the 10 a.m. opening. |
| Stock Yards gets new president Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:25:00 EST S.Y. Bancorp's David Heintzman, who has led the parent of Stock Yards Bank & Trust since 2005 as chairman, chief executive and president, has turned over the president's role to James A. Hillebrand, a 12-year bank veteran. |
| Task force urges restrictions on idled engines Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:28:00 EST Louisville is moving toward restrictions on idling motor vehicles as a way to curb pollution. As a task force prepares to wrap up several months of work, the group focused yesterday on ways to enforce the anticipated restrictions. |
| How much does it cost to hire a mover? Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:26:00 EST A: Interstate moving companies have to publish their rates in a tariff that spells out the services and the prices they charge. In 2005, the Federal Trade Commission unanimously upheld a decision that the Kentucky Households Goods Carriers Association cannot set rates for all movers in the state. Such action amounted to price fixing, the FTC ruled. |
| Business People Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:08:00 EST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES The board of the Louisville Visual Art Association has appointed Shannon Westerman as the group's executive director. Chris Painter has been appointed CEO of Transfreight's group of five North American companies in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Painter is based in Erlanger, Ky. RESTAURANTS Veteran restaurant operator and executive Carl Howard has been named chief executive officer for Fazoli's "fast Italian" restaurants, a Lexington, Ky.-based chain. TRANSPORTATION The following were promoted to part-time UPS supervisors: Mark Fulner and Matthew Tuemler, Worldport Freight Facility; Robert Baumgardner III, Justin Bickett, Gray Budd Jr., Katrina Goodman and Nicholas Webb, Worldport ramp; Michael Atkinson, Christopher Merrifield, William Smith, Blake Stowell and Dustin Weber, Worldport hub; and Jessica Clark, Christopher Dilley and Kyle Strader, Load Planning. — Chris Quay Submit items at courier-journal.com/businesspeople. Color photos should be in jpeg format (200 dpi). Photos, with name, should be at least 2 inches by 3 inches. |
| Business Watch Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:27:00 EST |
| Central Kentucky's housing market shows resiliency Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:37 EDT Fewer people in The Bluegrass are signing their names to home mortgages, but if you have the money, now might be the perfect time to buy. A report released this week by the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors showed some resiliency in the Central Kentucky housing market. The existing home sale median sale price dropped only 2 percent for June 2008. The latest national figures for existing home sale median sales price showed a drop of 6.3 percent in May 2008, while locally the same figure was unchanged. The Central Kentucky market also outpaced the in home affordability. The Lexington Bluegrass Area Realtors says sales closed have increased over the past six months while average days on market are trending down. .Where the bubble popped in other areas, here it didn't,. LBAR president Judy Craft said. |
| Building starts on new senior citizens' apartments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:32 EDT Sayre Christian Village broke ground Thursday on a $4.6 million expansion of its affordable housing complex that will provide 42 new apartments for senior citizens. Sayre and city and federal officials broke ground at the village at 3816 Camelot Drive in south Lexington. Sayre Christian Village already provides affordable housing and long-term care to over 300 low-income senior citizens. Christian Benevolent Outreach, the parent organization that operates Sayre Christian Village, worked with the city and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. |
| Fruit of the Loom challenge rejected Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:37 EDT LOUISVILLE . A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt to set aside a $42 million settlement between Fruit of the Loom Inc. and one of its stockholders. A unanimous 6th Circuit Court of Appeals quashed an attempt by shareholder James J. Hayes of Annandale, Va., to set aside the settlement. Hayes said he didn't receive notification in time to object to the deal. Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, writing for the three-judge panel, said Hayes wasn't hurt by the lack of notice because he filed an objection that the judge in the case turned down. .Indeed, in the instant action, it does not appear that Hayes himself suffered prejudice as a result of the untimely notice, as the district court considered and rejected his objection to the settlement on the merits,. Gibbons wrote. |
| Oil falls again: Is the bubble bursting? Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:37 EDT NEW YORK . A stunning sell-off dragged oil prices to their biggest weekly drop ever, and gas at the pump slipped by more than it has in months, giving consumers a rare breather in a year of record fuel prices. The national average for a gallon of regular fell the most since February, AAA data show, and could ease further in the days to come. So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped? Experts won't go that far just yet. |
| VW, Toyota latest to buy TVA megasites Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:03 EDT KNOXVILLE, Tenn. . The Tennessee Valley Authority's .megasite. economic development program is proving to be a megahit with major manufacturers. The plan hatched by the nation's largest public utility in 2004 to lure vehicle manufacturers to large consultant-certified, ready-to-go sites in the Southeast is paying off . four sites have sold since 2005, including three in just over a year. Volkswagen's decision Tuesday to build a $1 billion, 2,000-employee auto plant at the Enterprise South industrial site in Chattanooga is the latest. Previously announced and lured by the same program: |
| Wall Street mixed after earnings reports Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:09 EDT Wall Street closed out an impressive week with a mixed performance Friday after disappointing high-tech earnings punctured some of investors' enthusiasm over better-than-expected bank earnings reports. But the major indexes still ended the week with big gains, the result of rising optimism about the troubled financial sector. The market was clearly pleased when Citigroup Inc., while reporting a second-quarter loss Friday morning, beat analysts' forecasts and joined Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in delivering stronger results than the market anticipated. But investors who ecstatically sent the Dow Jones industrials soaring by more than 480 points over Wednesday and Thursday were brought back down to earth by results from Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Google's results were lower than expected, the result of the weakening economy hurting advertising revenue, while Microsoft missed forecasts by a penny. Also, AMD's chief executive stepped down after the chip maker posted a wider-than-expected loss. Still, the market that has hungered for good news about financial companies after a year-long credit crisis got it from Citi. The banking company reported a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss due to write-downs tied to deteriorating credit markets. The results surpassed projections, and helped to mitigate some of the market's concerns following a big loss from Merrill Lynch & Co. reported late Thursday. It was a good sign to some analysts that the market didn't sell off sharply after two straight days of hefty gains. |
| Dawahare's store-closing sales approved Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:46 EDT A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved store-closing sales for the remaining Dawahare's locations, as the company prepares to shutter operations within the next few months. Liquidator Gordon Brothers Retail Partners can begin the sales, which will continue through the end of August at all locations and might extend into September at select ones. In a five-hour auction to determine the liquidator, Gordon Brothers agreed to pay 41.5 percent of the retail value of Dawahare's merchandise. Court filings said the percentage payment was based on the inventory being no less than $8.6 million. Gordon Brothers also has committed to pay a fixed $15,000 for the sale of fixtures, furniture and equipment at each of no fewer than 17 Dawahare's stores and as many as 22. |
| Wall Street heads to higher open on mixed earnings Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:19 EDT Wall Street headed for a higher open Friday after Citigroup Inc. issued a better-than-expected earnings report, offsetting disappointing results from several other big comapnies. Futures began the day lower after Google Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., and Microsoft Corp. had all posted quarterly results that missed analysts' expectations after the closing bell on Thursday. Meanwhile, oil prices moved higher after falling $15 over three days amid news of an output cut in Nigeria. But Citi's better-than-expected results helped assuage nervous investors. The largest U.S. bank by assets reported a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss due to write-downs tied to deteriorating credit markets. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 24 points, or 0.21 percent, to 11,425. Citi's report followed stronger-than-expected reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. that helped relieve some of investors' worries about the health of the banking sector. Wall Street has grown concerned that souring mortgage debt would force some banks to go under. The Dow had triple digit gains Wednesday and Thursday in response to the banks' reports. |
| Higher costs hurt Yum's 2Q profits Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:46 EDT LOUISVILLE . Shares of Yum Brands Inc. tumbled more than 6 percent Thursday, a day after the fast-food company blamed surging commodity costs for taking a bite out of U.S. profits. Yum's CEO, speaking on a conference call with analysts Thursday, expressed frustration with a slumping U.S. performance at KFC, one of the company's core chains along with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. .KFC is taking the bloom off of what could have otherwise been a very good year,. David C. Novak said. .That, along with commodities, have taken the fun out of the U.S. business this year.. Despite commodity inflation and weakness at KFC, Yum beat Wall Street forecasts in the second quarter. Novak said Yum's brand and geographic diversity lets it weather tough times. |
| Bad news, Chapter 2: Consumer costs jump Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:12 EDT WASHINGTON . The price of a quart of milk, a plane ticket and a host of other products rose in June at nearly the fastest pace in a generation, taking an even bigger-than-expected bite out of the buying power of Americans. In the latest shock wave to hit the economy, consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in June from the month before, far faster than the expected rate of 0.7 percent and almost double the reading from May, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The news was the back half of a one-two punch on inflation. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that prices at the wholesale level were rising by the highest annual rate in 27 years. The only time in the past quarter-century that monthly inflation in consumer prices has increased so much was in September 2005, when prices jumped 1.3 percent, mostly because Hurricane Katrina shut down oil refineries and energy prices spiked. |
| Don't always cut corners Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:37 EDT MSN Money's Liz Pulliam Weston lists some circumstances where skimping on costs doesn't make sense: Car maintenance: Follow your car manual and bring it in for tune-ups at the recommended mileage. Don't ignore any potential problems, strange sounds or oil leaks. Safety for home: To be prepared for a fire, most experts say homes need a smoke detector outside every bedroom and carbon-monoxide detectors on every floor. Also have escape ladders for every room above the first floor. Faster internet : Prices for high-speed internet have decreased recently. Spending more is worth the time saved. |
| Business Notes Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:37 EDT Kentucky Starbucks to close six stores in Kentucky, one in Lexington Starbucks has released a full list of the 600 company-owned stores it plans to close starting this month. Six are in Kentucky, including one each in Lexington, Danville, Paris and Somerset. Two Louisville Starbucks will be closing. |
| To be a better investor: Look at the business; don't be afraid to do nothing Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:46 EDT There are some common tenets that many great investors follow that you can use, too. From Whitney Tilsen and John Heins, contributing editors at Kiplinger's magazine, here are four tips to become a better investor: Invest in businesses, not in stock. Don't spend too much time poring over the stock pages or obsessing over stock-price movements. What you should be focused on is the business fundamentals behind the stock price. Put some time into researching a company's strengths and weaknesses, how competitive it is within the industry and how it might grow in the next 10 years. Don't go outside your comfort zone. Many great investors, Warren Buffet included, emphasize the importance of investing in what you know. If you invest in something you understand, then you will be better informed about how the company should perform in the future. |
| Scam uses text messages to lure victims Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:32 EDT It seems that con artists who want to steal people's personal information are keeping up with technology. Last month, hundreds of people received an automated telephone message that states it is from Commonwealth Credit Union and claims the person's account has been suspended because of suspicious activity. The message told the people across the state to call a phone number, which asked people for bank account numbers. The Better Business Bureau thought that scam evolved from an e-mail scam reported a few days earlier. |
| Oil prices sink; gas, crude supplies increase Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:12 EDT NEW YORK . Oil prices settled sharply lower for the second time in a row Wednesday, leaving crude more than $10 cheaper in just two days of frenzied trading and prompting speculation that the hard-charging market might be running out of steam. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $4.14 to settle at $134.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier sinking as low as $132. The drop follows a $6.44 sell-off Tuesday, the biggest since the Gulf War. The two-day slide of $10.58 a barrel marks a dramatic turnaround in crude prices, which as recently as Friday traded at record highs above $147 a barrel. But even with this week's sell-off, prices remain about 80 percent above levels a year ago and up about 40 percent from the start of the year. Analysts are unsure whether the drop represents a long-term shift or simply a brief correction to crude's monthslong bull run. But the decline is prompting market veterans to ask how much support remains for such high prices. |
| Ore producer buys coal firm Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:12 EDT COLUMBUS, Ohio . The buying spree by Cleveland-Cliffs continued Wednesday with a nearly $10 billion acquisition of Alpha Natural Resources, broadening the onetime Midwest company's international reach as well as its exposure to a global steel industry clamoring to fuel its mills. Its biggest acquisition to date, the cash-and stock deal will create a company with the largest reserves of iron ore and metallurgical coal in the United States. The company will be named Cliffs Natural Resources, and own nine iron ore facilities and more than 60 coal mines in North and South America and Australia. The iron ore business will operate from Cleveland and the coal business from Abingdon, Va. Alpha Natural Resources has a division in Roxana, Ky. |
| Furniture: You can sit pretty for less Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:12 EDT If you've been in the market for some new furniture, you might have noticed that it's not cheap. But, with a little homework, you can find some great discounts. Here, from Consumer Reports Money Advisor, are ways to find discounts on new furniture: Look for closeouts and damaged items. Many times furniture that is only slightly damaged will be marked down considerably. If you can live with a small spot on a cream-colored cushion, you might find yourself a nice deal. Don't be afraid to negotiate. Just because there is a price on the label doesn't mean it's final. Often the salespeople are willing to offer discounts to move their inventory. If you can't haggle for a better price, you might be able to get free delivery or something extra like a mattress cover. |
| Avalon's future questioned Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:17 EDT An automotive trade publication is casting doubt on the future of Toyota's Avalon, which is produced in Georgetown. Edmunds Inside Line has reported that Toyota is .studying whether to cancel the planned replacement for the Camry-based Avalon.. Attributed to unidentified Toyota insiders, the publication's story said Toyota might instead build a long-wheelbase Camry in Georgetown, beginning in about 2010 or 2011. Toyota spokesman Rick Hesterberg in Georgetown said Toyota does not release information about future product plans .for obvious competitive reasons.. |
| What if my bank fails? Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:17 EDT CHARLOTTE, N.C. . The government's seizure of IndyMac Bank raises concerns for many consumers about whether their banks might be next. Although it is unlikely the nation will see thousands of banks fail as they did during the savings and loan industry collapse in the late 1980s and early '90s, analysts predict there will be more battered financial institutions unable to survive in today's marketplace. Here are some questions and answers about the government's role when a bank fails and if other banks are at risk: Q: What happens when the government takes over a bank? |
| Nestl. recalls plastic-tainted Lean Pockets Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:17 EDT Mount Sterling's Nestl. plant is recalling a variety of Lean Pockets that may contain pieces of plastic. About 350,000 packages of the products, a spinach artichoke chicken package with two sandwiches, are affected. At this point, the company is uncertain how the pieces of white plastic of various sizes managed to get into the products, said spokeswoman Roz O'Hearn. Three consumers have complained and two injuries have been reported, O'Hearn said. |
| Strategies for getting best deal on new car Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:17 EDT With the economy stumbling and prices at the pump at record highs, it may be a great time to buy a new car. Manufacturers are trying extra hard to unload their fleets and they are offering incentives totaling in the thousands of dollars for some new cars. Still, if you are in the market for a new car you'll want to be smart about your purchase. From Kiplinger.com, here are three strategies for getting a good deal: Set a target price. It's important that you set a target price for all models that you consider. Your target price should be between the sticker price and the dealer cost. What you end up paying will most likely depend on the demand for the vehicle you're looking at. Various publications will help you set a target price. Consumer Reports and .Edmunds.com are two. Also, conduct a search on the Web to aid you in your research. Choose the right discount. If given the choice between a cash rebate or low-rate financing, a $1,000 rebate will be worth more if the financed amount is less than $15,000. Cut-rate financing becomes more advantageous at higher loan levels. |
| National City plunges amid broad bank fears Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:17 EDT CLEVELAND . Shares of National City Corp. plunged Monday amid broad fears about the health of the nation's regional banks, and the company was forced to issue a statement reassuring investors of its soundness. The Cleveland-based bank, which is the largest bank in Kentucky, said it has experienced no unusual depositor or creditor activity and has more than $12 billion in excess short-term liquidity. National City has been among those hit hardest by rising mortgage defaults. It recently raised $7 billion in cash to shore up its capital base. Shares of National City tumbled 65 cents or 14.7 percent to $3.77 late Monday. They had reached as low as $2.99 during the day, their lowest level in decades. |
| Sale of Anheuser-Busch means more cost-cutting Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:17 EDT ST. LOUIS . Executives from InBev laid out their plans Monday to expand cost-cutting already under way at Anheuser-Busch Cos., and to build the world's dominant brewer around its new flagship brand: Budweiser. InBev chief executive Carlos Brito, hours removed from the announcement of a $52 billion deal to buy the iconic St. Louis brewer, told analysts the merged company will be the leading provider of beer in the world's five biggest beer markets and the third-largest consumer-products company in the world. Anheuser-Busch InBev will be 62 percent larger in terms of revenue than its next-largest brewing rival, SABMiller. The deal will open up new markets for Budweiser, which Belgian-based InBev will push in 19 countries from Brazil to Ukraine where it is strong but A-B is not. The company's North American headquarters will remain in St. Louis, Brito said. |
| Bank stocks look cheap, but buyers remain cautious Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:33 EDT Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive John Thain is making a pitch to Wall Street: Buy the brokerage's shares while they're still cheap. But investors don't seem ready to listen. In spite of a nearly 400-point surge in the Dow Jones industrials this past week, the market is expected to remain on edge for the foreseeable future. The reasons are varied: The economy is stumbling, the price of oil is still high and the housing slump that triggered the year-old credit crisis is not yet abating. The market was clearly relieved by the upbeat financial sector earnings reports from Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. this past week. But while the old rule on the Street is that financials tend to be the group that leads the broader market higher in any rebound, investors are taking a cautious approach, waiting for more positive signs that the worst of the credit crisis is behind financial companies. Thain, like many of his colleagues, believes badly beaten financials represent opportunity. "At what point do buyers realize that stock prices have gone too low and there's a real buy opportunity?" Thain said in an interview after Merrill released earnings on Thursday. "It for sure will happen eventually. Whenever we get these kind of crisis and panic type selling, they always present great buying opportunities for those who can overcome the fear." |
| Going small: A Smart driving experience Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:54 EDT Sometimes, I guess, timing is everything. When DaimlerChrysler AG announced in 2006 that it planned to bring the Smart fortwo micro car to the United States after nearly a decade in Europe, gas prices had reached about $2.80 a gallon. Now, Americans are paying more than $4 a gallon at the pump, SUV sales are plummeting and consumers are hungry for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The little Smart has been riding a wave of consumer interest, attracting thousands of car shoppers willing to put down $99 and wait about nine months for the two-seater. So when I sat in the driver's seat of a blue Smart fortwo last week, turned, and touched the back window with my finger tips, I had to wonder: Do Americans really want to go this small? Without question, the pint-sized, whimsical Smart makes a statement. At a traffic light near the Washington Monument, a group of school kids clad in blue T-shirts cheered when they walked past the car. One boy whipped out his digital camera. When I drove up 14th Street, a young girl screamed, "Nice car. Woo-hoo!" Near a construction site, a group of workers in green hard hats and reflective vests huddled around the car to take a closer look. "They're making the space age come real quick!" exclaimed another man, who pulled over in his SUV to ask me about the pod-shaped car. |
| Venture capital investments hold steady in 2Q Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:59 EDT The pace of U.S. venture capital investments remained steady at $7.4 billion during the second quarter despite a wobbly stock market that has made it increasingly difficult for the financiers of new ideas to cash out of startups. The amount of money spread across 990 deals in the April-June period was unchanged from the same time last year, according to figures released Saturday by the National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thomson Reuters. But all is not well in the venture capital industry, largely because the stock market has turned a cold shoulder to initial public offerings of unproven startups. Just five startups funded by venture capitalists have completed IPOs so far this year, and none of them made their stock market debut in the second quarter. It's the first time in 30 years that an entire quarter has passed without at least one IPO by a venture-backed startup. To make matters worse, fewer buyers appear interested in acquiring startups. Through the first half of the year, the number of acquisitions involving startups backed by venture capitalists had dropped by 28 percent from last year, according to the National Venture Capital Association, a trade group. |
| Chinese broker tried in insider trading Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:29 EDT The former president of a major Chinese stock brokerage has gone on trial on insider-trading charges in connection with the company's 2006 stock market debut, a state news agency reported Saturday. Dong Zhengqing, former president of Guangfa Securities, the country's sixth-largest brokerage, denied any wrongdoing and rejected an earlier confession at the trial Friday in China's southern business capital of Guangzhou, the Xinhua News Agency said. Dong is accused of tipping off his brother about Guangfa's plans to obtain a stock market listing by acquiring a company that already was publicly traded. Investigators say Dong's brother, Dewei, and a former schoolmate, Zhao Shuya, profited by buying the second company's shares in advance of an announcement. Chinese regulators are trying to clean up financial markets that are marred by accusations of insider-trading, poor corporate governance and other abuses. Reinforcing investor trust has become especially urgent for Beijing after the main market index plunged by some 50 percent since hitting a record high in October. |
| Tomato growers: Salmonella scare damages industry Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:49 EDT The 6,000 acres of tomatoes grown on Virginia's sea-swept Eastern Shore were never implicated in the national salmonella outbreak - they were still on the vine weeks after people starting getting sick. Still, that hasn't made much difference to tomato broker Batista Madonia III, who has seen sales and prices plummet in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that sickened people in 42 states and left the nation's tomato industry feeling woozy as well. Since the government announced it was investigating whether tomatoes caused the outbreak that began in April, the nation's tomato industry estimates it has lost more than $100 million. Health investigators have not able to find tomatoes that contained the salmonella strain that sickened 1,220 people, and the government on Thursday lifted its salmonella warning involving tomatoes. The move hasn't brightened the outlook of the $1.3 billion industry, and the stigma and uncertainty of the salmonella's origin are likely to add to its losses. "The damage has been done. I don't think we'll ever get over it," said Madonia, sales manager for East Coast Brokers & Packers, which grows 4,000 acres on the Eastern Shore. |
| Dollar Tree makes big change The Dollar has left the building. |
| LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS Lenneth Rich retires from RR Donnelley2009 Leadership applications are now available |
| 1 |
Copyright © Andanh.com 2008
Chinese Dir