Business and Finance

Cox Communications is embracing its social media side with a contest that could give someone a free year of cable, Internet and phone service.

Cox in Arizona has developed a Digi’s Summer Vacation application on Facebook that allows users to upload their photos and place them where the company’s jump-suited and helmeted mascots took their summer trips.

The grand prize is a year of free cable, but there are weekly prizes as well. Each week the company is giving away a “staycaction” at the Loews Ventana Canyon resort in Tucson, 10 $100 Cox gift certificates and 100 plush Digi dolls.

Cox started the social media campaign after garnering 21,000 Facebook members who like the company’s site.

“Social media has become a very important piece of our marketing mix,” said Ivan Johnson, vice president of community relations and televideo for Cox Arizona.

For more: www.facebook.com/CoxArizona.

Source

Get free instant insurance rates for universal, whole, variable and term life insurance from the nation's leading Insurance companies.

Epic Energy Resources Inc. CEO John Ippolito resigned unexpectedly on Friday.

In addition, Tamar El-Rayess resigned from Epic’s board of directors.

Epic Chairman Alan Carnrite will serve as interim CEO, according to a statement by the company issued after market close on Friday.

In the statement, Carnrite offered no explanation for the sudden departures, saying only: "On behalf of the board and the company we want to thank Mr saving account payday loan. Ippolito and Mr. El-Rayess for their service and contribution to the company and wish them the very best."

Epic (OTC BB: EPCC) is an integrated energy services company based in The Woodlands.

Source

Apply for our overnight cash loan from $100 to $1500, deposited instantly in your bank account.

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

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

Shopping mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. is willing to settle for a slice of its biggest rival, just two months after it had a buyout offer rejected as too low.

Simon, the nation’s largest mall operator, on Wednesday offered to help finance General Growth Properties Inc.’s exit from bankruptcy in exchange for a quarter stake in the No. 2 mall owner.

Analysts suggested Simon may have backed off a bid for a complete takeover because of antitrust concerns.

But a person familiar with the talks said Wednesday that General Growth has made clear it prefers a strategy that would give it the financial means to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, rather than to be taken over. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly easy pay day loans.

General Growth issued a brief statement noting it would study the latest Simon offer.

General Growth operates more than 200 shopping malls in 43 states, including the St. Louis Galleria, and is the nation’s second-largest shopping mall operator.

Among Simon’s eight properties in Missouri are the Regency Plaza center in St. Charles and the St. Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood. Most of Simon’s 20 Illinois properties are in the Chicago area. Its lone Metro East center is Lincoln Crossing in O’Fallon.

Source

About 4,000 laid off workers from companies including Freescale Semiconductor Inc. are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Program is designed to help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade.

The workers in 10 states are covered by the latest TAA certifications and will be contacted by state officials with instructions on how to apply for individual benefits and services, officials said.

Those who apply may receive case management and re-employment services, training in new occupational skills and trade readjustment allowances that provide income support for workers enrolled in training. Some workers may also receive job search and relocation allowances, and the health coverage tax credit.

Austin-based Freescale, which manufactures semiconductor chips, employs about 19,500 workers nationally, including 5,000 in Austin. The company was founded in 2004 as a Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) spinoff. In early 2009, Freescale cut about 700 local jobs as part of companywide reduction of 2,400 positions.

Although Trade Adjustment Assistance is open to eligible workers of all ages, workers 50 and older may elect to receive Re-employment Trade Adjustment Assistance instead. If a worker obtains new employment at wages less than $55,000 and less than those earned in adversely affected employment, the RTAA program will pay 50 percent of the difference between the old wage and the new wage, up to $12,000 during a two-year period, officials said.

Source

Mattress and pillow maker Tempur-Pedic International Inc. has purchased its Canadian distributor, Tempur Canada Inc.

Financial terms of the purchase, which closed April 1 but was not announced until Monday morning, were not disclosed.

Tempur Canada will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Lexington, Ky.-based Tempur-Pedic (NYSE: TPX), according to a news release.

Tempur-Pedic officials said they will update the company’s financial guidance when they announce first-quarter financial results on April 20.

In the release, Tempur-Pedic CEO Mark Sarvary said the Canadian market is large and Tempur-Pedic’s share is “relatively low.” Company officials hope they can gain market share by increasing the company’s investments in sales and advertising in the market.

The company has taken similar actions in Austria, Australia, China and New Zealand over the past four years, according to the release.

Tempur-Pedic makes mattresses and pillows using a proprietary pressure-relieving foam material. It sells its products in more than 80 countries under the Tempur and Tempur-Pedic brand names.

Source

Federal regulators on Wednesday imposed new curbs on the practice of short-selling, hoping to prevent spiraling sales sprees in a stock that can stoke market turmoil.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, divided along party lines, voted 3-2 at a public meeting to adopt a new rule. Investors and lawmakers have clamored for the agency to put such brakes on trading moves they say worsened the market’s downturn in the fall of 2008.

The rule puts in a so-called circuit breaker for stock prices, restricting short-selling of a stock that has dropped 10 percent or more for the rest of a trading session and the next one. The new curbs will take effect in about 60 days, but stock exchanges have six months after that to implement them guaranteed approval cash loans.

Short-sellers bet against a stock, in a practice that is legal and widely used on Wall Street. They borrow a company’s shares, sell them and then buy them when the stock falls and return them to the lender — pocketing the difference in price.

The SEC move followed months of wrestling with the controversial issue. The SEC asked for public comment last April on several alternative approaches to restraining short-selling, and a bipartisan group of senators have pushed the agency to act or face legislation. The agency got more than 4,300 comments on the issue.

Source

After days of speculation, Houston oil service companies Schlumberger Ltd. and Smith International Inc. jointly announced today plans to merger in a stock transaction valued at about $11 billion.

Smith shareholders will receive 0.6966 shares of Schlumberger in exchange for each Smith share. Based on the closing stock prices for both companies on Feb. 18, the agreement places a value of $45.84 per Smith share – 37.5 percent higher than Smith’s Feb. 18 closing price of $33.35.

Upon closing, Smith stockholders collectively will own approximately 12.8 percent of Schlumberger's outstanding shares of common stock.

Andrew Gould, Schlumberger’s chairman and chief executive officer, said that Smith’s drilling technologies, other products and expertise complement those of Schlumberger.

Smith CEO John Yearwood predicts accelerated technology development for the combined company’s customers.

Said Yearwood: “Schlumberger offers Smith's various segments enhanced engineering and design capability to place our products and expertise at the center of the total drilling system of the future.”

The deal, which is subject to regulatory and Smith stockholder approvals, is expected to close in the latter part of the year. It will create an industry giant with revenues double that of rival Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL).

For 2009, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) and Smith (NYSE: SII) reported revenue of $22.7 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, Halliburton posted 2009 revenue of $14.7 billion.

Schlumberger expects to realize incremental pretax synergies — after integration costs –of approximately $160 million in 2011 and approximately $320 million in 2012. Schlumberger expects the combination to be accretive to earnings per share in 2012.

On Feb. 19, Smith’s stock shot up by more than 14 percent to a new 52-week-high of $38.16 in heavy trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in advanced talks to be acquired by Schlumberger.

There was no word yet as to how many jobs might be impacted by the transaction.

Source

Early reports from stores on the holiday shopping season looked good. But it turns out retail sales actually fell in December, leaving economists scratching their heads about the state of the recovery.

Sales dropped 0.3 percent from November, mostly because people spent less on cars and appliances, the government said Thursday. For the year, sales fell 6.2 percent. Economists said the monthly decline could just be a blip and suggested looking at the past two months together, which would show spending rising modestly. But with unemployment high and credit tight, the report shows the recovery remains tentative.

"I wasn’t expecting this. It’s a bit of a puzzle," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody’s Economy.com. "Consumer spending is growing very weakly, but the key thing is that it’s growing."

Retail sales have now fallen two years in a row. The decline in 2008 was much smaller, 0.5 percent. They are the only two years sales have fallen since the government started keeping records in 1992 bad credit unsecured personal loans.

For December, there was a 0.8 percent decline in auto sales, even as automakers report higher sales. That could be because fewer luxury cars were sold and automakers offered more incentives, said Jeff Schuster, executive director of automotive forecasting for J.D. Power.

The next few months still look scary for retailers. Stores are finding shoppers have little reason to buy now that the holidays have passed. January sales are off to a weaker-than-expected start, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

People "don’t see the best in front of them," said Eric Bender, retail analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co. "There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty."

Source