January 31st, 2012
Apple Inc. has passed Hewlett-Packard Co. to become the world's No. 1 maker of personal computers, counting iPads, in the fourth quarter. Research firm Canalys said the global PC market grew by 16 percent to 120 million computers in the last three months of 2011. Becoming the worlds' largest PC company is another milestone for the tech company that has been known as an innovator in the tech industry for decades. Note: Click here to view the slideshow of Apple's innovations. But taking tablet devices like the iPad out, the market actually declined by 0…
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January 31st, 2012
Several months ago, I saw a young mother with a baby strapped to her in a sling walk through the front doors of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, wander up to the front desk and ask, “What do you guys do?” The people at the front desk stifled a laugh and clearly weren't sure what to say. They told her the foundation does a lot of things. They handed her one of the pamphlets sitting on the counter and she wandered away, apparently no more enlightened than when she walked in. Should the woman come back to visit the foundation next week, she would probably walk away with a better answer after a tour through the brand-new Gates Foundation visitors’ center, opening Feb…
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January 31st, 2012
Mayor Carl Brewer wants to get together and talk. In Monday night's State of the City address, Brewer ended by announcing what he calls a “public engagement process” to discuss important issues facing the city. The mayor outlined some of the city's successes over the past year, including landing Southwest Airlines, reducing the city's debt service and streamlining city government. He ended by asking a series of questions, including: • “How do we continue to fund our economic initiatives that allow us to keep jobs for our people?” • “How do we continue to reduce our reliance on manufacturing jobs and instead diversify into other industries?” • “Will we be left behind or will we step up, working together to protect our quality of life and our people?” He asked the capacity crowd in the City Council chamber if they would join him in “committing to finding long-term solutions to the challenges we face…
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January 31st, 2012
Wells Fargo & Co. is expanding into the investment banking business partially due to a 10-minute phone call between former Wells CEO Dick Kovacevich and Warren Buffett. Bloomberg Markets Magazine details that turning point in Wells Fargo's decision to embrace investment banking — something the bank has shied away from until now. That phone call was more than two years ago, but some analysts say the bank is now turning to investment baking to fuel growth because of new restrictions on overdraft and debit card fees…
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January 31st, 2012
Covington Mayor Chuck Scheper has outlined an expanded package of tax rebates to lure new jobs to the Kentucky's fifth-largest city. In his first state of the city address at the Madison Events Center Tuesday, Scheper said "the issue of white collar job loss is very serious" for Covington, which lost $1.2 million in tax revenue when Omnicare Inc. and Nielsen decided to relocate to downtown Cincinnati. "If you think we've lost our last business to our sister city to the north, you only need to know that Cincinnati has a 2 million-square-foot glut of office space…
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January 31st, 2012
Stonegate Bank boosted both its earnings and its loan production in the fourth quarter. The Fort Lauderdale-based bank (OTCBB: SGBK) reported net income of $2.8 million, up from net income of $1.6 million in the third quarter and net income of $925,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010. It has turned a profit for 24 consecutive quarters. The annual results were also positive as the bank earned $11.5 million in 2011, up from earnings of $3.5 million the year before. The 2011 results include $18.8 million in purchase gains from when Stonegate Bank acquired Southwest Capital Bank and the failed First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay…
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January 31st, 2012
The Kaiser strike became a numbers game Tuesday afternoon, with different numbers tossed from different sides. Whether 80 percent walked the line, honored the picket — or crossed the line — depends on who’s talking. More than 21,000 nurses, mental health providers, optical workers and others were called to strike against Kaiser Permanente Tuesday by three different unions. The National Union of Healthcare Workers called the one-day strike to draw attention to stalled contract negotiations at bargaining tables across the state…
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January 31st, 2012
Small business hiring in Seattle dropped by 0.9 percent in January compared with December, but pay edged upward by 0.3 percent, according to SurePayroll’s latest Small Business Scorecard. The national trend was that hiring dropped by 0.2 percent, and there was no growth for paychecks. Michael Alter, president and CEO of SurePayroll online payroll service provider, said the upcoming presidential election, the European economy and slow economic growth have small business owners wondering what direction the country will take…
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January 31st, 2012
The stock indices finished January on a down note after a slew of disappointing corporate earnings, however both the Dow and the S&P 500 managed to post their best January results since 1997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the trading day at 12,632.91, down 20.81 points (0.16 percent). For January, blue chips were up 3.4 percent, or 413 points, according to Dow Jones Indexes. Note: Click here for full ranking of Top 10 best performing Dow stocks. The S&P 500 closed at 1,312.4, down 0…
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iPad helps Apple gain new milestone
