(Reuters) – Pension charges wiped out more than $20 billion in fourth-quarter earnings at major American companies, as persistently low interest rates leave some of those with the largest retiree burdens no choice but to assume they need more money now to cove... More »
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) – A judge on Thursday sentenced the founder of Peregrine Financial Group to 50 years in prison for looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the brokerage, saying his customers would probably never recover the money they lost. R... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Shareholders must be hoping the removal of Aubrey McClendon as Chesapeake’s chief executive will end the corporate governance discount attached to the company’s share price and unlock superior returns. They are likely to be disappointed. Rem... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE ) plans further temporary halts in production of the Passat saloon car in Germany in the coming weeks as a result of the weak European market. Europe’s biggest car maker will halt assembly lines at the plant in Emden on... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The retreat by Republicans from threats to push the United States into a debt crisis has stayed the hand of at least one credit ratings agency, but that does not mean the United States is suddenly safe. The country has retained its top tri... More »
(Reuters) – Gregory Peters, Morgan Stanley’s chief global asset strategist, is leaving after 12 years with the investment bank and wealth manager to pursue opportunities on the buyside, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Peters, 46, whose last da... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Andrew Winfield applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2011, he realized he owed taxes on accounts he had left behind in his native England. So he paid what he believed he owed — $2,800 in back taxes, plus the estimated interest and pena... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s troubled Monte dei Paschi bank said on Monday it had no evidence of bribery in a 2007 takeover now under scrutiny over alleged corruption, but acknowledged accounting irregularities over derivatives deals under previous management. Fa... More »
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Netflix Inc impressed Wall Street with a surprisingly strong holiday quarter that eased near-term concerns about its costly international expansion and its movie and TV bill, sending its shares skyrocketing 42 percent. The jump... More »
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The United States and the European Union are wrapping up final preparations for talks on a free-trade agreement that would encompass half the world’s economic output, Europe’s trade chief said on Saturday, while warning of “difficult negot... More »
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur will exchange offers on opening up their markets by the end of this year, the EU’s trade chief said on Saturday as both sides try to unblock long-stalled free-trade negotiations. “A t... More »
(Reuters) – The European Central Bank has rejected Ireland’s preferred solution to a dispute over the cost of servicing money borrowed to rescue a failed bank, EU sources familiar with the talks said on Saturday. Dublin wants to avoid having to pay 3.1 billion... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The euro hit an 11-month high and global equity markets advanced on Friday on signs of a healthier European financial system and a brighter outlook for Germany, while U.S. stocks extended a rally to an eighth day, their best run since late... More »
SALZBURG, Austria (Reuters) – An Austrian provincial official accused of secret financial dealings more typical of hedge funds went public on Friday, saying her bosses knew all about the speculative investments and exotic currency trades. Monika Rathgeber, who... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Doug Haslam gets on his bike, it’s for personal as well as philanthropic reasons. Of course, the 44-year-old social media consultant from Newton, Massachusetts, derives intrinsic joy from riding his Specialized Allez Sport. But, havin... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Antitrust enforcers are increasingly scrutinizing the world’s major banks. The U.S. government’s investigation into a scheme to rig bids for investment contracts involving municipal bond proceeds has resulted in major monetary settlements ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc has combined its U.S. leveraged finance and syndication teams to improve its coverage of clients and capitalize on synergies, the bank said in a memo to employees. The move follows the successful model the bank has implemente... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – California hedge fund manager Doug Whitman was sentenced on Thursday to two years in prison after he became the first defendant in a broad U.S. crackdown on insider trading to take the stand to convince jurors of his innocence. U.S. Distri... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti weighed in on the scandal surrounding Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Thursday, rejecting suggestions that the authorities had failed to spot large trading losses threatening the bank. Already in need of ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. retail investors who have gone sour on Apple Inc after the drubbing the stock has been taking may want to think twice before trying to buy its main smartphone rival, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, at least in American markets. Apple’s ma... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – San Francisco-based entrepreneur Garrett Johnson is usually too busy with his messaging start-up for much travel, but one issue has inspired him to cross the country: immigration reform. On February 5, he and a dozen other entrepreneu... More »
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Manufacturing in China and the United States grew this month at the fastest pace in about two years while data suggesting German growth picked up boosted hopes for a swifter euro zone recovery. The business surveys released on Thurs... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The euro zone economy took a step closer to recovery this month as the rate of decline in the bloc’s private sector eased more than expected, a business survey showed on Thursday. The survey published by Markit supports European Central Bank... More »
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Encouraged by the euro zone’s resilience last year in the face of severe doubts about its survival, some outside investors have snapped up assets in the strongest corners of the region. Yet even the most enthusiastic euro propone... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fewer investors are taking corporate America to court for fraud. The number of new federal securities fraud lawsuits seeking class-action status fell to a 6-year low in 2012, according to a study by Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Re... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron is taking a “huge gamble” with the UK economy by pledging to renegotiate Britain’s role in the European Union and then call a referendum on any changes, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party said on Wedn... More »
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Business leaders in Davos have plenty to worry about, from the euro zone to global geopolitical upheavals, but at heart their problem is simple: how to find new revenue in a low-growth world. Half a decade on from the financial c... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Kellie and Michael May decided to refinance their home in the New York suburbs, they wanted to take advantage of historically low interest rates. But before landing a new 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, they had to get through a home a... More »
(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger got a 20 percent bump in his 2012 pay, totaling $40.2 million, regulatory filings showed. Iger’s package included $2.5 million in base salary, with an additional $9.5 million in stock awards, according to ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve felt for most of 2007 that problems in housing and banking were isolated and unlikely to tear down the U.S. economy as they ultimately did. Even as crisis signals started flashing red with the free... More »
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Momentum for a trade deal between the United States and European Union is a challenge to Britons who say London is better off without Brussels and hands Prime Minister David Cameron a strong argument to resist their pressure. Camero... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than two weeks after lawmakers reached a budget deal that preserved the tax exemption on the interest paid on municipal bonds, mayors from across the country remain worried the exemption could be at risk. Muni bonds are critical to ... More »
(Reuters) – If HBO cuts out on you in the middle of the latest “Girls” episode, and you have Charter Communications Inc as your cable provider, don’t try tweeting your dismay to their customer service department. Nobody will hear your lament. Charter, the four... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Squabbling in Washington over the debt ceiling is again raising the specter that the United States may be forced to delay payments on its debt. While the stigma of a default would be damaging enough to investor sentiment, the chaos from a ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced new rules for mortgage servicers on Thursday to help prevent the sloppy practices that aggravated the U.S. foreclosure crisis. Mortgage servicers collect monthly payments from borro... More »
(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp has named capital markets co-head Alastair Borthwick as its head of commercial banking, in a shuffling of veteran executives. Borthwick, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive who joined the bank in 2005, replaces Laura Whi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Fears of a backlash from shareholders and regulators are preventing major European banks from copying Credit Suisse and paying bonuses in exotic instruments such as specially created derivatives. Many bankers will see a sharp fall in the siz... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Renault (RENA.PA ) wants to cut 7,500 posts in France by 2016 to help boost competitiveness as its domestic and European markets continue to slump, a spokeswoman for the French carmaker said. The cuts, equivalent to 14 percent of French Renau... More »
(Reuters) – Mario Draghi has saved the euro, for the time being, but seems less inclined to help the economies in which it is used. After stepping in last summer to put the full faith and power of the European Central Bank behind the vulnerable euro zone commo... More »
WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) – The German economy was hit hard by the euro zone crisis in the final quarter of last year, shrinking more than at any point in nearly three years as traditionally strong exports and investment slowed, the Statistics Office said o... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Like the middle children they are, mid-cap stocks are often outshined by their mega-cap brethren. The largest two constituents of the S&P 400 Mid-cap Index are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Equinix Inc, an information technology firm. N... More »
WASHINGTON/BALTIMORE (Reuters) – The U.S. consumer watchdog on Thursday finalized new mortgage rules that are expected to have little short-term impact on the housing market but could prevent banks from returning to the pre-crisis practice of churning out risk... More »
(Reuters) – A unit of Wells Fargo Corp must pay $1.3 million to a California couple for losses tied to a strategy that included a $5 million loan and a risky type of exchange-traded fund, a securities arbitration panel has ruled. Wells Fargo Advisors LLC was f... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – When mother of three Angela Allyn takes to Facebook, it’s usually not to post pictures of her latest party, but to drum up business for her entrepreneurial teenage son, Alec. “Teenage boy available for schlepping, sitting and various cleanu... More »
PARIS — The man at the forefront of France’s fight against fiscal fraud is now one of those being investigated. Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac has spent months singling out corporate multinational tax dodgers, citizens who live abroad to avoid taxes and those ... More »
WASHINGTON — Too intimidated to fill out your tax return without help? Join the club. At nearly 4 million words, the U.S. tax law is so thick and complicated that businesses and individuals spend more than 6 billion hours a year complying with filing requireme... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.75 percent on Thursday, refraining from a cut as the euro zone economy shows some signs of stabilizing and inflation still tops its target. The 17-country e... More »
INDIANAPOLIS — The University of Southern Indiana is asking for an extra $5 million in funding for each of the next two years – and state lawmakers sound willing to listen. University president Linda Bennett delivered a 40-minute presentation on Thursday to ... More »
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear and legislative leaders are pushing a plan to authorize $363 million worth of construction projects at six of the state’s public universities, including a makeover for the Kentucky Wildcats’ Commonwealth Stadium. The top sel... More »
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve paid the federal government a record $88.9 billion in 2012. The central bank earned the money from the Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities it has purchased to drive interest rates lower and boost the economy. The Fed ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.75 percent on Thursday, refraining from a cut as the euro zone economy shows some signs of stabilising and inflation still tops its target. The 17-country e... More »
Facing a certain backlash from Washington and beyond, American International Group won’t be joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit against the U.S. government over the terms of its bailout at the height of the financial crisis. The suit was filed by Starr I... More »
EVANSVILLE — In the coming weeks, Vanderburgh County officials want to begin transforming Burdette Park from a “big swimming pool” to a destination location. In its first meeting of 2013, the Vanderburgh County Council supported the County Commissioners’ plan ... More »
EVANSVILLE — Vanderburgh County residents have two more days this week to take their old electronics to a local business and have them recycled for free. C & I Electronics, 1700 N. Lafayette Ave. in Evansville, has been offering the program for about three yea... More »
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday considered requiring police to get a search warrant before forcing drunken driving suspects to have blood drawn, in a case that will shape privacy rights on the road. The justices weighed Missouri’s contention that p... More »
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A public transportation advocacy group is asking a federal judge to allow its lawsuit over the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges project to proceed to trial The Louisville, Ky.-based Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation made... More »
DETROIT — General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said Wednesday he hopes the company regains investment-grade credit status this year. He told reporters that the company is working with credit rating agencies to raise its status from junk, where it’s been since 2005. ... More »
EVANSVILLE — After eyeing the Michigan market for some time, Old National Bank has decided it’s time to take the plunge. On Wednesday, the Evansville-based bank announced its plans to purchase 24 banking centers from Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America. The ... More »
NEW YORK — Stocks rose on Wall Street in early trading Wednesday after U.S. corporate earnings reports got off to a strong start. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75 points to 13,403 after the first hour of trading. The Dow is coming off of two days of lo... More »
TOLEDO, Ohio — A new defense spending plan will keep the nation’s only tank manufacturing plant working for at least the next couple of years. Fighting on Capitol Hill over funding had put the northern Ohio factory’s future in doubt. About 800 workers in Lima ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese officials remain worried about the state of the euro, the visiting French finance minister said on Tuesday, while repeating assurances the euro zone has stabilized and that France is on track for recovery. Pierre Moscovici, in Beiji... More »
WASHINGTON — Facing an end-of-the-month deadline, the Obama administration is calling gun owner groups, victims’ organizations and representatives from the video-game industry to the White House this week for discussions on potential policy proposals for curbi... More »
WASHINGTON — At the same time American International Group Inc. has been running high-profile ads thanking America for the bailout that saved the company, the insurance giant reportedly is considering joining a shareholder suit against the U.S. government for ... More »
SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — While growing up in Eckerty, near Patoka Lake in Southern Indiana, a highlight of each summer for Matt Eckert was a visit to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. “It has — and always will be — a great place for families,” he said Tuesday after... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Business morale in the euro zone improved again in December, but unemployment hit a new record and households held back from spending before Christmas, suggesting the bloc’s emergence from recession will be slow. Economic sentiment in the ... More »
EVANSVILLE — Vanderburgh County Commissioners plan to ask the County Council today to hire SMG, the company which manages The Centre, to help it promote activities at Burdette Park, the old Vanderburgh Courthouse and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum.... More »
MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (AP) A Coca-Cola plant and warehouse in southeastern Kentucky is expanding, with a company official saying more room is necessary to accommodate growing sales.The plant in Middlesboro will grow by about 24,000 square feet. Regional Sales Manag... More »
First there were McNuggets. Then there were Chicken McBites. Now McDonald’s could be adding “Mighty Wings” to its chicken menu. The world’s biggest hamburger chain is set to expand its test of chicken wings to Chicago this week, after a successful run in Atlan... More »
U.S. stocks opened mostly lower Tuesday as traders awaited the start of U.S. corporate earnings season. In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 26 points to 13,358. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost two to 1,459. The Nasdaq ... More »
HENDERSON, Ky. — One lane of the northbound U.S. 41 Twin Bridges will be closed starting at about noon today, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The lane closure is to allow required electrical work on navigational lighting. Northbound motorists... More »
FRANKFORT, Ky. — With the rise of new leaders, lawmakers convened a legislative session on Tuesday amid hopes for cooperation in Kentucky’s split Legislature, where a Republican-controlled Senate and a Democratic majority in the House have been butting heads f... More »
The Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana and The Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana were recently named 2012 Gold Winners of the international MarCom Awards for the collaboratively created “Southwest Indiana: The New Business Hotspot” tele... More »
The Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana will announce the recipients of the 5th Annual Small Business Awards on Thursday, July 11, at The Centre in Downtown Evansville, at the kickoff brunch for the 8th Annual Tri-State Business EXPO. Each year, The Chamb... More »
WASHINGTON — Ten major banks and mortgage companies agreed Monday to pay $8.5 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The banks, which include JPMorgan Chase, Bank ... More »
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America says it will spend more than $10 billion to settle mortgage claims resulting from the housing meltdown. Under the deal announced Monday, the bank will pay $3.6 billion to Fannie Mae and buy back $6.75 billion in loans that the... More »
WASHINGTON — Cheers, a standing ovation and a gag gift of protective headgear greeted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she returned to work on Monday after a monthlong absence caused first by a stomach virus, then a fall and a concussion and finall... More »
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A long-awaited plan to address Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation pension problem cleared an early hurdle Monday when an Illinois House committee approved a proposal that freezes cost-of-living increases and calls for higher employee contributio... More »
Your insurance brokers, agents, carriers and consultants, along with public health researchers and practitioners, all have something to say about the wellness programs recommended for your worksite. How do you know where to start or how to do it? Over the cour... More »
Christian Andersen has been working for Internet service provider companies for 15 years, and during that time, he has seen the field change in many ways. “It was dial-up Internet back then,” Andersen said. “A lot has changed.” He remembers when sending Intern... More »
Previously, it was unclear whether the new $2,500 statutory limit on health FSA contributions applied on a plan- or calendar-year basis. A reading of Section 10902 of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act appeared to mean the requirement would go into eff... More »
The 2013 Indiana General Assembly will begin the upcoming legislative session with a Republican supermajority in both the Indiana House, with 69 out of 100 seats, and state Senate, with 37 out of 50. Adding to the challenges that go along with a rather lengthy... More »
A2004 Harvard Business Review article titled “Launching a World-Class Joint Venture” noted that more than 5,000 joint ventures (JVs) and many more contractual alliances had been launched worldwide in the five years leading up to the article. The article went o... More »
Planning is under way for the 8th Annual Tri-State Business EXPO, to be held Thursday, July 11, 2013, at The Centre in Downtown Evansville. The 5th Annual Small Business Awards Brunch, an annual recognition of small businesses and entrepreneurs that have a pos... More »
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A scaled-back overhaul addressing Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation pension problem is ready for its first test, key House lawmakers said Sunday as they entered the final stretch of the lame-duck session. The amended measure — which would mean ... More »
HANOI, Vietnam — Nghiem Ngoc Thuy has been slinging coffees to thirsty Vietnamese for 20 years in her colonial-style villa with peeling shutters, and she and her customers aren’t too worried that the imminent arrival of U.S. giant Starbucks will alter their ti... More »
n a stretch of the Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard has been reduced to playing traffic cop. For eight hours a day, shipping is allowed to move one way in the 180 miles of river between St. Louis, Mo., and Cairo, Ill., depending on the hour. For the oth... More »
MINNEAPOLIS — An American Eagle pilot was suspended after failing a blood-alcohol test as he prepared to fly on Friday from Minneapolis to New York City, authorities said. Police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport said officers and a Transportation ... More »
WASHINGTON — Google chief Eric Schmidt’s plan to visit North Korea has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of opposing a champion of Internet freedom engaging with one of the most intensely censored countries. But the Obama administration is w... More »
NEW YORK — When lawmakers delivered a long-delayed, last-minute agreement on the budget, Wall Street celebrated. And it would be easy to think that the surge in the Dow the following day meant that investors had put their concerns about Washington’s political ... More »
NEW YORK — The ability to access a car quickly and give it back after a few hours is exploding in popularity among both college students and city dwellers. Zipcar created the car-sharing concept in 2000. By the end of the decade car-sharing had caught the atte... More »
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens. The long-overdue ... More »
UTICA, Ind. — The East End Bridge is getting a new look. With Indiana’s approval, the companies in charge of designing and building the span rejected the style selected by a committee of elected and community leaders more than six years ago. Instead of the nee... More »
Long-standing bridge project lawsuit settled LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed in Louisville in 2009 against the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges project has been settled after the states of Kentucky and Indiana agreed to provide funding for histor... More »
OWENSBORO, Ky. — Officials say private fundraising for the Bluegrass Music Center is going well. International Bluegrass Music Museum Terry Woodward says the drive has received pledges from large donors for $2.6 million and expects to reach a $7 million goal. ... More »
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year. The rules, the most sweeping food safe... More »
2012 continued a six-year run of below-par construction in Henderson and Henderson County. The city and county issued permits for the construction of just 38 new single-family homes in 2012, four more than the year before but far below the average of 138 new h... More »
Big Rivers Electric Corp. is appealing a recent ruling in its multi-million-dollar surplus electricity dispute with Henderson Municipal Power and Light to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The two power companies have been at odds since 2008 over which company ha... More »
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia led the nation in coal deaths in 2012, accounting for seven of the 19 miners killed on the job in U.S. coal mines, preliminary federal figures show.Kentucky had four coal mining deaths, followed by Alaba... More »
INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly and Co. forecasts its 2013 earnings will grow more than Wall Street expects even though the drugmaker will lose U.S. patent protection for two more key products in the new year. The Indianapolis company said Friday that it expects 2013... More »
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during the tense negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff. The solid job growth wasn’t enough to push down the unemployment rate, which remained 7.8 percent las... More »
