On Wednesday September 22, 2010, 6:02 pm EDT
Insurers stop selling new
child-only health plans
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --
Several health insurers say they will stop selling new child-only individual
insurance policies as they face a health care reform provision that will
prevent them from excluding children with potentially costly pre-existing
conditions.
An insurance industry
representative said the decision affects a relatively small population and is
being made to keep costs down for all policyholders. But a Georgetown
University researcher said some middle-class children could be left vulnerable
by the ensuing lack of coverage options.
Several provisions of the
health care overhaul went into effect Thursday, six months after it was signed
into law.
Financial bailout chief
announces resignation
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Herb
Allison, the head of the government's $700 billion financial bailout program,
announced on Wednesday that he would resign. He is the latest in a series of
departures from President Barack Obama's economic team.
The Troubled Asset Relief
Program, the formal name for the bailout program that began during President
George W. Bush's administration, has been widely criticized by the public as a
rescue for wealthy bankers who took extraordinary risks.
Allison will be succeeded
as head of the program by Tim Massad, 54, who will become acting assistant
Treasury secretary for financial stability while the administration looks for a
permanent successor.
Stocks waver as traders
move into Treasurys, gold
NEW YORK (AP) -- Traders
put their September stock rally on hold and moved into Treasurys and gold
Wednesday, a day after the Federal Reserve said it was ready to take more
action to boost the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 21 points.
With no new economic data
out Wednesday and the Fed's announcement late Tuesday having a bigger impact on
the bond and currency markets, Bob Auer, portfolio manager of the Auer Growth
Fund, said it was natural for stocks to pause.
Novartis gains FDA approval
for new MS drug
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
health regulators have approved the first pill to treat the underlying causes
of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nervous system disorder that has
traditionally been treated with injectable drugs.
The Food and Drug
Administration approved Swiss drugmaker Novartis' treatment Gilenya to reduce
relapses in patients with multiple sclerosis, who experiences loss of balance,
muscle spasms and other movement problems.
There is no cure for the
disease, but steroids can reduce the duration and severity of symptoms in the
short term, and seven treatments on the market have had success in reducing
recurrence of symptoms.
Abbott recalls infant
formula on bug contamination
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it is recalling millions of
containers of its best-selling Similac infant formula that may be contaminated
with insect parts.
The voluntary action
affects up to 5 million Similac-brand powder formulas sold in the U.S., Puerto
Rico, Guam and some Caribbean countries. The company said the products may
contain a small beetle or larvae, which could cause stomach ache and digestion
problems.
The recall does not affect
any liquid formulas or other Abbott-brand products.
Geithner says US banks in
good position to meet new global capital standards
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that U.S. banks are in a good
position to meet new global capital standards because of the stress tests
conducted in the United States last year.
In testimony to the House
Financial Services Committee, Geithner said that stress tests conducted in the
spring of 2009 in the U.S. forced banks to raise needed capital, the cushion
that banks have to hold against losses.
Because of those tests,
Geithner said U.S. banks are in a strong position internationally and will be
able to meet the new requirements.
More than half exit
foreclosure-relief program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Obama administration's flagship mortgage-relief effort is failing to ease the
foreclosure crisis as more than half of those who have enrolled have fallen out
of the program.
As of August, approximately
680,000 homeowners who applied to get their mortgage payments lowered, or about
51 percent, have been disqualified, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
That's up from about 48 percent in July.
The report gives ammunition
to critics who say the program has failed to slow the tide of foreclosures.
They say it's better to let troubled homeowners lose their homes and home
prices fall.
J&J lawyers: FDA knew
of secret 2009 Motrin recall
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) --
Lawyers for Johnson & Johnson insist government regulators knew the company
was secretly pulling packets of ineffective Motrin from store shelves last
year, rather than announcing a public recall.
But the lawyers, responding
Wednesday to demands from a congressional panel probing the case, wrote they
have no documents from the Food and Drug Administration approving what's been
dubbed the "phantom recall" of Motrin in the first half of 2009.
Documents the J&J
attorneys turned over Wednesday to the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee seem to show the FDA received two brief company reports about the
effort to remove small containers of faulty Motrin caplets from convenience
store shelves. The committee has scheduled a hearing on the matter Sept. 30.
Stronger sales of key foods
lift General Mills 1Q
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --
General Mills Inc.'s first-quarter net income rose 12 percent on stronger sales
of key products such as Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Yoplait yogurts.
The company said it sold
more of its products all its operating segments and saw a shift by consumers to
some of its higher-margin products such as cereal. But the company's
performance was hampered slightly by higher costs for ingredients and
advertising.
General Mills reported that
it earned $472.1 million, or 70 cents per share, for the quarter. That's up
from $420.6 million, or 62 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last
year.
CarMax 2Q profit rises on
used car sales
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Used
car dealership chain CarMax Inc. said Wednesday its profit rose nearly 5
percent in its fiscal second quarter as a shaky economy continued to push
consumers toward previously owned cars and trucks.
CarMax, which operates more
than 100 stores, said its overall revenue climbed 13 percent while revenue at
stores open at least a year rose 4 percent even though last year's sales were
boosted by the government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program.
While used cars didn't
qualify under the federal program that gave rebates for junking older cars and
buying more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Richmond, Va.-based company has said
the program resulted in a spike in traffic.
New York Times expects 3Q
loss, lower revenue
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New
York Times Co. said Wednesday it expects to show a loss for the third quarter,
with newspaper advertising still in decline.
Unlike the prior quarter,
the Times Co. said that growth in digital ad sales will not make up for
declines on the print side. Making matters worse, the company expects a drop in
revenue from subscription and newsstand sales.
All of which adds urgency
to the company's efforts to find greater sources of revenue outside of printed
newspapers. Its flagship daily is set to impose fees for accessing material on
its website, NYTimes.com, beginning early next year. And the company has been
working to expand its audience on mobile gadgets like the iPad, where it also
hopes to find both subscription and advertising revenue.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 21.72, or 0.2 percent, to 10,739.31. The Standard & Poor's 500
index fell 5.50, or 0.5 percent, to 1,134.28, while the Nasdaq composite index
fell 14.80, or 0.6 percent, to 2,334.55.
Benchmark crude for
November delivery lost 26 cents to settle at $74.71 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
October contracts, heating oil fell 1.29 cents to settle at $2.1070 a gallon
and gasoline lost 1.82 cents to settle at $1.9014 a gallon. Natural gas rose
4.7 cents to settle at $3.966 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude fell
47 cents to settle at $77.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.