Business and Finance

Stocks erased gains by the close Wednesday, with the Dow ending below 10,000 for the first time in three months, as worries about global growth and a slide in the euro overshadowed upbeat economic news.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost nearly 70 points, or 0.7%, ending at the lowest point since Feb. 8. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 6 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) lost 15 points, or 0.7%.

A global market rally and a strong housing market report gave stocks a boost in the morning, but trading was choppy through the rest of the session as the euro weakened. Stocks slipped in the last hour of trading.

Stocks have tumbled in May, with the three major indexes all losing more than 10% each, falling into "correction" mode as investors have worried that Europe’s growing debt crisis is going to cut into U.S. and global economic growth.

A $1 trillion aid package announced by European leaders helped temper, but not eliminate, worries about the threat of so-called contagion stemming from problems with debt-plagued nations.

Greece got the ball rolling, but concerns remain about the other so-called PIIGS — Portugal, Italy, Ireland and most recently, Spain. News that Spain’s central bank had to take over one of the nation’s oldest savings banks over the weekend ushered in the latest wave of European-crisis driven worries. Reports of heightened tensions between North and South Korea added to jitters Tuesday.

Whether the stock correction - a decline of more than 10% off the highs - becomes a bear market - a drop of 20% to 30% off the highs - remains to be seen.

"A lot of indicators I watch suggest there is a turnaround coming, but the problem is the pullback has been pretty dramatic," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

He said that a lot of investors who were skeptical of the huge rally off the March 2009 lows have been waiting for the ideal pullback to get back in, after several smaller pullbacks failed to cross the 10% threshold.

"That pullback is here," he said. "The question is whether they have enough nerve to come back in or will they look at it as evidence that the runup was a false rally."

Euro: The European currency has seesawed since falling to a four-year low of $1.2146 last week.

On Wednesday, the euro fell 1.4% versus the dollar but remained above that four-year low. The dollar lost 0.3% against the yen.

Volatility: The CBOE Volatility index, or the VIX (VIX), Wall Street’s fear factor, ended modestly higher after having fallen through most of the session. The VIX had dropped as much as 13% as the market initially rallied, but turned higher when stocks fell.

Economy: New home sales jumped 15% in April, thanks to still-low mortgage rates and a homebuyer tax credit that expired at the end of last month. Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 504,000 from a revised 439,000 in the previous month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected sales of 425,000.

Another report released before the start of trading showed that durable goods orders rose 2.9% in April, versus forecasts for a gain of 1.5%. Goods orders were flat in March, a revision on an earlier reading that showed a drop in orders.

However, orders excluding transportation fell 1% after rising 4.8% in the previous month. Economists thought orders excluding transportation would rise 0.7%.

World markets: Stocks around the world rebounded. Markets in Europe gained in late trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 2%, Germany’s DAX gained 1.6% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 2.3%.

Asian markets also bounced back following a steep sell-off Tuesday on increased tension between North and South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1%. China’s Shanghai Composite ended just above unchanged.

Commodities: U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose $2.76 to settle at $71.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of over 4%.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $15.40 to settle at $1,213.40 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.24% from 3.16% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Trading volume: Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers three to two on volume of 1.94 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners seven to six on volume of 3.08 billion shares. 

Source

Most executives running global companies are willing to relocate for the right career opportunity, according to a survey by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International.

Overall, 82 percent of global executives from 65 countries said they would be willing to relocate to a different region, state or country for job purposes.

Career acceleration is the primary reason to move according to 78 percent of those surveyed. However, compensation wasn¹t necessarily the No. 1 factor.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 42 percent, said that quality of life in the new location, or salary, was the top motivator. Eighteen percent cited the reputation of the company as the primary motivator payday loans.

In the survey, the Bayou City was singled out as a prime location for executives to relocate to.

"Houston provides candidates opportunities to direct their career to a higher level in market that¹s held relatively steady during the recession," said Eric Nielsen, managing director of Korn/Ferry - Houston. "We are now experiencing strong hiring activity due to the global strength of the energy/natural resources sector and the Texas regional economy."

Source

A key index of prices paid by consumers ticked lower in April but is still higher from a year earlier, the government said Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index, the Labor Department’s key measure of inflation, has increased 2.2% over the last year. But that is the smallest 12-month increase since January 1966.

"Inflation continues to be a non-issue," said Anika Khan, Wells Fargo economist, in a research note.

On a monthly basis, CPI fell by 0.1% in April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a 0.1% jump. The decline was largely due to a 1.4% drop in the energy index, the report said.

Despite its April decline, the energy index has soared 18.5% over the last year.

The small overall CPI increases "should continue to allow the Fed to keep short-term interest rates low," Khan said.

Core CPI: The even more closely watched core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.9% on an annual basis and was unchanged over the month.

Index-by-index: The food index jumped 0.5% on an annual basis. It rose 0.2% in April, the same increase as the previous month.

The indexes for recreation, new and used motor vehicles, and medical care also posted increases in April. Other sectors declined, including apparel and household furnishings.

CPI is based on prices of goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Prices are collected each month in 87 urban areas across the country, from about 4,000 residences and 25,000 stores. 

Source

Georgia Tech suspended four without pay after an internal audit revealed evidence of possible malfeasance including the misappropriation of university resources for the benefit of Sayana Wireless LLC, a company two Georgia Tech staffers own.

The suspended employees who co-own Sayana are Joy Laskar and Stephane Pinel. The other suspended staffers are Chris Evans and Amanda Scacchitti.

The total amount of the suspected malfeasance is under review, Georgia Tech said.

“The actions taken are an appropriate exercise of fiduciary responsibility to protect the interests of the Institute and GEDC’s research sponsors,” said James Fetig, Georgia Tech spokesman, in a statement. “Georgia Tech is cooperating fully with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation which is conducting the investigation.”

GEDC’s research is focused on designing integrated circuits — the chips that make computers, cell phones and other electronic devices possible.

Source

Alpin Haus Pools & Ski Shop will celebrate the opening of its new store in Clifton Park, N.Y., on May 14.

The 6,000-square-foot store is located at Clifton Park Center at 22 Clifton Country Road.

Alpin Haus President Andy Heck will be joined by local officials at 2 p.m. to mark the store’s opening.

The store sells pools, patio furniture, spas, skis, snow boards and winter apparel. It also offers computerized water testing, weekly pool cleaning and service for all makes of pools.

Alpin Haus recently closed its former store in town on Sitterly Road along the Northway that sold recreational vehicles and pop-up trailers. That property is for sale.

Alpin Haus continues to sell RVs at its headquarters in Amsterdam and in Wilton. The company is the largest, independently-owned RV dealer in the Northeast.

Source

For 18-year-old Stephanie Gielarowski, it was a school-sponsored trip to China that sparked her interest in Asia.

“I’ve always liked to travel,” she said, but it was that trip last summer where she saw first-hand the economic importance of the region.

“It’s important to be involved and educated in Asia,” she said, including understanding the region’s history and culture. It’s this newfound awareness that spurred her to pursue international business in college. So far, she says, her plan is to study at the University of South Carolina.

Gielarowski is one of hundreds of students who, over the years, have traveled abroad as part of one of the many programs offered by Upper St. Clair High School, which ranked No. 1 out of 123 high schools in western Pennsylvania, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Exam results conducted by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

The school’s Asian travel opportunities, which include a summer trip to China and an exchange to Thailand, are relatively new compared with some of the European programs, such as a German exchange that has been offered for 20 years.

Together, the school’s seven different language classes, its international and Asian studies, and its opportunities to travel prepare students for the world beyond western Pennsylvania.

“It really opens their eyes to their magnitude and place in the world,” in addition to preparing them for adulthood, said Principal Michael Ghilani.

Mary Eddins, an 18-year-old senior, participated in the Thai exchange her sophomore year and has taken the Asian Studies class offered by the school. Of her trip to Thailand, she says, “that opened my eyes up globally.”

Her previous foreign travel consisted of vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean, but that only offered the resort experience, whereas staying with a host family, “you’re immersed with the culture more, you learn the culture first-hand.”

That sentiment was echoed by Junior Rachel Amoroso, 16, who went on the exchange earlier this year.

“It was really a life changing experience,” she said. “I had never been out of the country before.”

But that cross culture taste has her hungry for more, and she is planning on studying abroad in college. In fact, she says, most of her questions at college fairs revolve around whether a school offers study abroad instant payday loan no telecheck.

In addition to sending students overseas, Upper St. Clair High School also has foreign students come to Pittsburgh. In the spring, the school hosts Thai students and teachers. This April, 38 Thai students and three teachers arrived in Upper St. Clair.

The Thai exchange not only exposes the students to a new culture, but it also offers the entire community a way to connect. Organizing the program has become a labor of love for Thai native and Pittsburgh transplant Luck Kosoladolkitt. She first put the program together when her son was a junior and she wanted him to have a study abroad experience. From there, it has grown.

“The high school level is the most important time for students to make a decision before they go to university,” she said of the experiences of both the Thai and Upper St. Clair students. “They are in their teens, and they don’t know exactly what they want to do with their own life; this gives them the opportunity” to see other possibilities.

As part of the exchange, all of the students, Thai and American, host a Thai Night Gala in Upper St. Clair where the Thai culture is celebrated. The event also is a fundraiser to help pay for the program.

Many of the students who have gone on the Thai exchange or the summer trip to China also take the Asian Studies class that is offered. The semester-long elective looks at modern Asia as well as Asian history, and the curriculum was developed with the help of the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center.

“We are a global society,” said Lauren Davidovich, who is teaching the current semester’s Asian Studies course. “Asia may not have been addressed as it should have been, and we would be remiss not to study it.”

In addition to personal growth offered by foreign travel, the school’s programs have students looking at careers in international business after they saw the economic importance of Asia.

Davidovich also noted that combining the class plus the real travel experience offers the students a unique perspective.

“Education breeds understanding,” she said.

For more, visit the Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools homepage.

Source

Those baggage fees really add up: The airline industry raked in nearly $8 billion from fees last year, according to a government report.

The revenue from so-called ancillary fees totaled $7.8 billion in 2009, according to U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s a 40% increase from 2008, when the revenue from ancillary fees totaled $5.5 billion, the bureau said.

The tally does not include air fares. It’s made up of the plethora of extra fees that airlines have tacked on over the last few years, including fees to transport checked bags, pets, and musical instruments.

The fees are also applied to other services, such as curbside check-in or ordering tickets over the phone. The fees vary from airline to airline.

In 2009, the airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees, $2.4 billion from reservation change fees and $2.7 billion from an assortment of other ancillary fees, such as frequent flyer award program mileage sales.

Delta Air Lines (DAL, Fortune 500) was the leading collector of ancillary fee revenue, bringing in more than $1.6 billion in 2009.

But the carrier that relies the most on extra charges is Spirit Airlines. In the fourth quarter of 2009, 21% of the airline’s operating revenue came from ancillary fees, a larger percentage than any of its rivals.

In April, Spirit Airlines began charging extra fees for carry-on bags. Because that that measure was imposed in 2010, it’s not included in the 2009 numbers. 

Source

The California Public Utilities Commission Thursday authorized a five-year solar photovoltaic program to develop up to 500 megawatts of solar photovoltaic facilities in the range of 1 to 20 megawatts in Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s service area.

The photovoltaic program allows for development of solar facilities owned by PG&E and also owned by third parties.

Under the utility-owned portion of the photovoltaic program, PG&E is authorized to install up to 250 megawatts of photovoltaic facilities from 1 to 20 megawatts in size in its service area at a rate of 50 megawatts per year.

Similarly, under the third-party owned portion of the program, PG&E can solicit energy from 250 megawatts of photovoltaic facilities from 1 to 20 megawatts in size located in its service area, also at a rate of 50 megawatts a year.

“This solar development program has many benefits and can help the state meet its aggressive renewable power goals,” said CPUC President Michael Peevey. “Smaller scale projects can avoid many of the pitfalls that have plagued larger renewable projects in California, including permitting and transmission challenges. Because of this, programs targeting these resources can serve as a valuable complement to the existing Renewables Portfolio Standard program.”

The CPUC authorized expenditures of up to $1.45 billion for the capital costs associated with the utility-owned portion of the photovoltaic program.

Source