Money - The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s Trolley Square surviving in face of challenges

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:54:56 MDT

Utah’s Trolley Square surviving in face of challenges

By LESLEY MITCHELL The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 11, 2012 03:54PM MDT

Trolley Square has survived it all: a shooting rampage that left five dead, the Great Recession and even a legal battle to keep one of its most important tenants, natural-foods behemoth Whole Foods. The Salt Lake City shopping mall also has endured years of construction — and reconstruction — in an effort to better its performance in the Wasatch Front’s increasingly competitive retail environment. Today, most of the work on Trolley Square is completed, Utah’s economy looks as though it’s on the ...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

How to fix your finances? Read on

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:53:39 MDT

How to fix your finances? Read on

By LESLEY MITCHELL The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 11, 2012 03:53PM MDT

Whether your finances need fine-tuning or a total overhaul, there’s a book for you. Works covering personal finance have proliferated during the economic downturn, with dozens of titles making their way to my desk each year. Here are a handful I’ve found to be the best at helping you learn more about financial and retirement planning, budgeting, living a frugal lifestyle and saving at the grocery store: — The “B” word • Newly released, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget is a good first book to rea...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For college bound, a look at financial aid changes

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:53:39 MDT

For college bound, a look at financial aid changes

By CANDICE CHOI The Associated Press

Published Feb 11, 2012 03:53PM MDT

The mad dash to cobble together college funding will soon be under way. In the weeks ahead, colleges will begin mailing out their much-anticipated acceptance letters and financial aid packages. The notices will alleviate pent up anxiety and finally give high school seniors a clearer idea of what their futures will hold. But amid all the emotions, students and families will also need to start sorting out how they’ll pay for tuition. The average bill now comes in at more than $17,000 to attend an ...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Corporate profits aren’t what they seem, thanks to Apple, AIG

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:53:39 MDT

Corporate profits aren’t what they seem, thanks to Apple, AIG

By BERNARD CONDON The Associated Press

Published Feb 11, 2012 03:53PM MDT

Is the great profit engine of corporate America running out of steam? While other parts of the economy struggled the past two years, large companies managed to rack up higher profits quarter after quarter. Now reality is catching up with big business. As companies close their books on the final three months of last year, the big ones that make up the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index appear likely to earn about $230 billion — $12.6 billion more than a year earlier. But the increase, 5.8 percent,...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tax reform in this election year? Not likely

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:53:39 MDT

Tax reform in this election year? Not likely

By TOM RAUM The Associated Press

Published Feb 11, 2012 03:53PM MDT

Washington • Tax reform sounds like a good idea to lots of people, but where to start? Eliminate the popular deduction for home mortgages? End the write-off for charitable contributions? How about expanding the Social Security payroll tax? Don’t bet on it. Politicians of all stripes in this presidential election year are clamoring for simplifying the tax code and closing loopholes. But that would mean Americans would lose some of their prized deductions. Not that Congress actually is likely to e...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Salomon to open first U.S. store in Utah’s City Creek Center

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:45:29 MDT

Salomon to open first U.S. store in Utah’s City Creek Center

By LESLEY MITCHELL The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 11, 2012 02:45PM MDT

Salomon USA said Friday it plans to open its first U.S. store in City Creek Center, the new downtown Salt Lake City shopping center opening next month. The store will carry Salomon-branded apparel, shoes, accessories and other so-called soft goods items sold on the Salomon website. Salomon hard goods, which includes skis, boots and other equipment, will still be sold by other, independent retailers. The store will refer those who inquire about Salomon equipment, such as skis and snowboards, to ...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Obama call for manufacturing revival a tough goal

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:01:05 MDT

Obama call for manufacturing revival a tough goal

By TOM RAUM The Associated Press

Published Feb 11, 2012 01:01AM MDT

Washington • President Barack Obama is making a strong election-year push for an economic revival “built on American manufacturing.” But he faces an uphill slog, with little consensus even within his own party on how to do it. For decades, the United States has gradually shifted from creating goods to providing services. Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Now they account for just 9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A manufacturing renaissance is be...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wagging tails replace sad eyes in Westminster ads

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:01:05 MDT

Wagging tails replace sad eyes in Westminster ads

By BEN WALKER The Associated Press

Published Feb 11, 2012 01:01AM MDT

New York • Pet lovers won’t have to look away anymore when those heart-wrenching TV ads appear during the Westminster dog show — the ones with the pitiful faces peering out from behind those rusted bars of a cage and wondering “how I ended up in here.” Happy dogs will rule the air waves this year, thanks to a new sponsor for America’s most prestigious dog competition and a decision to air ads that shift the focus away from sad-eyed animals in need of adoption. “The feedback we got from our prima...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Cost-cutting boosts quarterly earnings of Arch Coal

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:28:08 MDT

Cost-cutting boosts quarterly earnings of Arch Coal

By Mike Gorrell The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 10, 2012 06:28PM MDT

Cost-cutting measures, such as shutting down longwall mining at Carbon County’s Dugout Canyon coal mine, lifted earnings in the fourth quarter of 2011 for Arch Coal Inc., owner of Utah’s largest coal mining operation. St. Louis-based Arch reported Friday that its net quarterly income reached $70.9 million, or 33 cents per share, in the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared with $47.8 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Earnings were based on revenue of $1.2 billion, up 47 percent. For all...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Business Insight: Creating a culture of civility starts with us

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:28:08 MDT

Business Insight: Creating a culture of civility starts with us

Published Feb 10, 2012 06:28PM MDT

Sara Hacala, author of “Saving Civility, 52 ways to Tame Rude, Crude & Attitude for a Polite Planet,” says people can reverse incivility in the workplace and elsewhere, and make the world more pleasant. What power do individuals have to make the world more civil? Although, ultimately, we can control only ourselves, our behavior, manners, values, and attitudes can set a tone and create a ripple effect — positive or negative — flowing to those around us. Within every single interaction, we ha...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Stocks fall sharply as Greek deal goes sour

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:28:08 MDT

Stocks fall sharply as Greek deal goes sour

the associated press

Published Feb 10, 2012 06:28PM MDT

Greece’s future in the eurozone came under renewed threat Friday as popular protests again turned violent and dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts. In response, U.S. stocks had their worst day of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,801.23. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 finished down 9.31 points to 1,342.64. It was the first losing week for S&P this year. Just a day earlier, investors had ...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal judge: Texas law governs Utah foreclosures

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:28:08 MDT

Federal judge: Texas law governs Utah foreclosures

By Tom Harvey The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 10, 2012 06:28PM MDT

A federal judge has ruled that Texas laws, and not those of Utah, govern foreclosures by a unit of Bank of America. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart is the second to go that way in federal courts in this state, and the Utah Attorney General’s Office is asking to intervene to protect Utah’s ability to set its own laws regarding foreclosures. Stewart handed down the decision this week in dismissing a proposed class-action lawsuit against BofA and its foreclosure arm, ReconTrust, as w...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Turbo-traders take Bank of America stock for a wild ride

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:10:53 MDT

Turbo-traders take Bank of America stock for a wild ride

By PALLAVI GOGOI The Associated Press

Published Feb 10, 2012 06:10PM MDT

New York • On a normal day, 4 billion shares of stock change hands on the New York Stock Exchange. One in 10 belongs to a single company. It’s not McDonald’s or IBM, both of which have been on a tear. It’s Bank of America — bailed out by the government three years ago, reviled for being part of the mortgage frenzy that helped wreck the economy and selling for not much more than an ATM fee. When the market goes up because of positive news about the economy, Bank of America stock shoots up past t...

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Foreclosures deal aims to heal housing sector

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:54:03 MDT

Foreclosures deal aims to heal housing sector

By Jim Puzzanghera and Alejandro Lazo Los Angeles Times

Published Feb 10, 2012 05:54PM MDT

Washington • The landmark $25 billion settlement between major banks and state and federal governments is aimed at doing more than just helping people who lost their homes through improper foreclosures. It’s an attempt to fix the biggest weak spot in the nation’s economy, the housing sector. Although analysts are unsure the cure will take, the outcome could help determine whether voters give President Barack Obama a second turn in office next fall. By many measures, the economy is slowly improvi...

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah business briefs

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:21:03 MDT

Utah business briefs

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 10, 2012 04:21PM MDT

SLC’s Buckner buys Leonardson Insurance The Buckner Co., a Salt Lake City-based insurance brokerage that traces its beginnings back to the Great Depression, has purchased Leonardson Insurance in Rexburg, Idaho. President and CEO Terry Bucker, whose grandfather, Elmer Ray (E.R.) Buckner, founded the company in 1936, said Leonardson “is heavily involved in agriculture, and that is a market where we see some growth opportunities.” Utah Judge Thurman on bankruptcy panel Utah Bankruptcy Judge ...

Greek leader says default would lead to ‘chaos’

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:37:55 MDT

Greek leader says default would lead to ‘chaos’

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS The Associated Press

Published Feb 10, 2012 03:37PM MDT

ATHENS, Greece • Greece’s future in the eurozone came under renewed threat Friday as popular protests again turned violent and dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts. The country’s beleaguered coalition government promised to push through the tough new austerity measures and rescue a crucial (euro) 130 billion ($170 billion) bailout deal after six members of the Cabinet resigned. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos promised to “do everything necessary” t...

Watercooler: Tips for diversifying assets

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:36:03 MDT

Watercooler: Tips for diversifying assets

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Published Feb 10, 2012 02:36PM MDT

Asset allocation can help reduce the risk to an investor’s total portfolio. The concept involves distributing investment dollars among a variety of investment options, such as bonds and equities. A variety of websites offer insights about asset allocation. Here are a few: Bankrate.com • Provides four sample asset allocation plans for young and single investors, couples, middle-aged investors and seniors, http://bit.ly/xOoZXN Investing Daily • Breaks down asset allocation in a three-part series...

Whirlpool hurt by Korean, Mexican washer imports, trade panel says

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:39:02 MDT

Whirlpool hurt by Korean, Mexican washer imports, trade panel says

By Eric Martin Bloomberg News

Published Feb 10, 2012 12:39PM MDT

Whirlpool Corp. is being harmed by imports of large, residential washing machines made in South Korea and Mexico, a U.S. panel ruled in the first step toward imposing tariffs on the products. The U.S. International Trade Commission voted 4-1 today in Washington on Whirlpool’s petition for anti-dumping duties on LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. shipments, saying sales of the products below fair value are harming the Benton Harbor, Michigan-based company. The commission is scheduled...

Home foreclosures may rise before bank deal helps housing market

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:20:46 MDT

Home foreclosures may rise before bank deal helps housing market

By Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn Bloomberg News

Published Feb 10, 2012 12:20PM MDT

New York • The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may result in a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely. Lenders slowed the pace of foreclosures as they negotiated with attorneys general in all 50 states for more than a year over allegations of faulty and fraudulent paperwork used to repossess homes. With Thursday’s agreement, banks are likely to resume property seizures. “The be...

NTSB releases preliminary report on crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:34:47 MDT

NTSB releases preliminary report on crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton

The Associated Press

Published Feb 10, 2012 10:34AM MDT

BOISE, Idaho • The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on the plane crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton. Appleton’s experimental Lancair aircraft crashed shortly after his second takeoff at the Boise airport on Feb. 3. The report, released Thursday, says several witnesses saw Appleton take off, climb to 5 to 10 feet above the ground and touch back down. Appleton told air traffic controllers there was some sort of problem and that he was going to go ba...