Oil prices could soar nearly 40 percent, to $105 a barrel, within a few months, according to analysts quoted by Bloomberg. While some skeptics doubt such a dire scenario, other experts fret that rising demand, military conflict in Iran and continued chaos in Iraq suddenly could cause supplies to tighten and prices to spike. “The […]
Ball State University announced today that veteran economist Michael Hicks has been hired to direct its Bureau of Business Research. Hicks most recently was associate professor of economics at the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He replaces Patrick Barkey, now director […]
Noblesville-based SafetyComm Solutions has agreed to be bought Paradigm Liaison Services LLC of Wichita, Kan., for an undisclosed price, according to Wichita Business Journal. SafetyComm offers safety awareness training programs for the oil and gas industries. Paradigm is a direct mail, public awareness campaign that targets households affected by pipelines or transmissions lines.
Ten-ounce cans of Steak n Shake chili have been included in an expanded recall of canned meat products blamed for botulism. Steak n Shake’s chili is made by Castleberry’s Food Co. of Augusta, Ga. The Food and Drug Administration last week recalled three hot dog chili sauces and seven other canned products made Castleberry’s after […]
Voracious demand for corn from ethanol plants springing up across Indiana and elsewhere in the Midwest is expected to swell this year the so-called Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico to a record 8,543 square miles-about the size of New Jersey. The zone at the end of the Mississippi River has little fish or […]
Shares in Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc. increased $1.09, or 8.4 percent, following its initial public offering this morning at $13. The IPO price was less than the $15 to $17 Gregg anticipated July 9. In announcing today’s IPO, Gregg didn’t discuss why it pared back the price. Today’s trading launched Gregg on […]
Job cuts are on the way at Boston Scientific Corp. after the Boston company missed analysts’ profit estimates in part because of a 5.3-percent decline in sales of implantable defibrillators manufactured by Guidant Corp., the Indianapolis company that Boston Scientific acquired last year. Boston Scientific officials told analysts during a conference call this morning that […]
Eli Lilly and Co. may have found a new use for its osteoporosis drug Evista, according to Bloomberg. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Evista reduced the risk of certain invasive breast cancers in post-menopausal women. However, studies from Indianapolis-based Lilly provided weaker support for Evista’s ability to help women at high risk of […]
Indianapolis developer Paul Kite Co. has offered the Highland Springs Homeowners Association in McCordsville more than $3 million to support Kite’s plans to build a retail center with a Target store nearby. The offer hasn’t been accepted. To get the money, association board members would have to testify in support of the 63-acre project, and […]
Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc. announced today that it would price its initial public offering at $13 per share, less than the $15 to $17 it anticipated July 9. In announcing today’s IPO, Gregg didn’t discuss why it pared back the price. The event launches Gregg on the New York Stock Exchange under […]
Fort Wayne-based Tower Financial Corp. said today that second-quarter profit tumbled to $217,000 from $912,000 a year earlier because of costs to build loan loss reserves and a decision to retreat from plans to start a bank in the Indianapolis area. Tower announced in October that it would enter the Indianapolis market by opening a […]
Russell Investment Group has included Indianapolis-based Interactive Intelligence Inc. in its Russell 2000 Index of small-cap companies. Interactive, a local business-communication software developer, said being added to the index offers exposure to mutual funds and other buyers that might be interested in its stock. Interactive shares trade on NASDAQ. The company regained its footing after […]
France Cordova, who took over as Purdue University’s new president this week, said she plans to stress communication while trying to boost faculty salaries, research funding and student financial aid. In some of her first public remarks about her goals, Cordova said she will assemble committees to fix problems on campus, the Journal & Courier […]
Whirlpool Corp. is closing a 150-worker warehouse in Milan, Tenn., and moving the operations to an existing Maytag Corp. warehouse in Plainfield, according to The Jackson Sun of nearby Jackson, Ala. Whirlpool, which has 400 workers at the Plainfield site, told Milan Mayor George Killebrew that a larger pool of available workers in the Plainfield […]
Allison Transmission has sold $1.1 billion of unsecured notes to help pay for Carlyle Group and Onex Corp.’s acquisition of the transmission maker from General Motors Corp., according to Bloomberg. General Motors said June 28 that it would sell Indianapolis-based Allison for $5.6 billion to Carlyle, based in Washington, D.C., and Onex, of Toronto. Allison […]
The economy will improve slightly in 2008 and inflation will edge down slightly, Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Bernanke told Congress this morning. Growth will rise 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent this year, according to a forecast issued today by fed governors and presidents of district banks. Next year, the economy will expand 2.5 percent […]
Jim Alling, a 1983 graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, has been named president of Starbucks Coffee International, the Seattle company announced today. Alling takes over for Martin Coles, who was promoted to chief operating officer of the Starbucks parent company. Alling, who jumped to Starbucks from Nestle USA in 1997, most recently was president […]
Odds of house prices in the Indianapolis area dropping further in the next two years are low, according to a report by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. The metro area has an 8.4 percent chance of seeing its average sale price decline by the middle of 2009, the Walnut Creek, Calif., company said. That’s optimistic compared […]
