Business News
OPEC and Austrian officials applaud Wednesday in Vienna during a ceremony officially opening the organization’s new headquarters and celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary.
Photo by HANS PUNZ
Wal-Mart Bonuses Mean Business
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Some area businesses add staff, order extra inventory and see sales increases when Wal-Mart corporate employees start spending their annual bonuses. Read More »
Passengers Increase At XNA
AIRPORT OFFICIALS STOP SHORT OF CALLING HIKE A TREND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Paying passengers increased 7.6 percent so far this year at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Read More »
Wholesale prices dip the most in 7 months
WASHINGTON — Prices at the wholesale level fell in February by the largest amount in seven months as a drop in energy prices offset higher food costs. Read More »
2 plants called big mercury polluters
LITTLE ROCK — Two Entergy Arkansas coal-fired power plants remain among the 50 worst mercury polluters in the country, according to a report released Wednesday by a nonprofit environmental organization. Read More »
Trucker C. Bean ceases driving
Fort Smith site to remain open
LITTLE ROCK — C. Bean Transport Inc. of Fort Smith ceased over-the road operations Wednesday but will continue to operate its Fort Smith warehouse, according to Richard Bell of Bell Receivers LLC of North Little Rock. Read More »
OPEC leaves output unaltered
Move aims to signal stability during global recession
VIENNA — OPEC oil ministers on Wednesday opted to keep their output targets unchanged in a bid to keep prices at present levels and send a message of stability to energyhungry economies struggling to emerge from recession. Read More »
Fed argues to keep all bank duties
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged Congress on Wednesday to let the Fed keep all of its banking oversight, arguing that information gleaned from that process helps the central bank guide the economy. Read More »
Wachovia to settle money-laundering case
MIAMI — Banking giant Wachovia Corp. will pay $160 million to settle a federal investigation into laundering of illegal drug profits through Mexican exchange houses in the largest case of its kind ever brought against a U.S. bank, prosecutors said Wednesday. Read More »
NEWS IN BRIEF
LITTLE ROCK — Verizon: Cablevision infringing on patents Verizon Communications Inc. filed a patentinfringement complaint Tuesday with U.S. trade officials, seeking to block imports of television settop boxes for Cablevision Systems Corp. Read More »
Business news in brief
LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “Underlying price pressures in the United States remain very subdued.” Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics Article, 1D Read More »
MARKET REPORT: Stocks hit peaks unseen since ’08
NEW YORK — The stock market has a new formula for success: a slow and steady trek higher. Read More »
Infrastructure key, economists say
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ crumbling infrastructure needs to be addressed if the state wants to capitalize on the economic recovery when it comes, economists and state officials told those assembled for a teleconferenced breakfast briefing Wednesday. Read More »
LR faring well, report says
It’s in U.S. cities’ top 20 for jobs, other rankings
LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock has held a steady course during the recession, according to a study of the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the Brookings Institution. Read More »
Snowfall chills homebuilding
Hard-hit Northeast, South led February’s decline
LITTLE ROCK — Housing starts fell in February as record snowfall in parts of the U.S. hampered construction, while fewer building permits signaled the recovery in real estate will take longer to unfold. Read More »
Retailer adding money centers
Wal-Mart plans 500 more in ’10
LITTLE ROCK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to add money centers to 500 additional stores this year, the company said Tuesday after opening its 1,000th such center at a store in Chalmette, La. Read More »