Archive for October 2012
Iowa unemployment falls to 5.2 percent
The state unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent in September, according to Iowa Workforce Development. Unemployment stood at 5.5 percent in August and 5.9 percent one year ago.
National unemployment fell in September to 7.8 percent …
Read MoreDefense attorney tried to extort nursing home officials, Supreme Court says
A West Des Moines defense attorney attempted to extort money from this ex-wife’s former employer and force the resignation of a company executive and a board member, according to a ruling today by the Iowa …
Read MoreIowa farms minting millionaires as rich-poor gap widens
Farmland auctions in Iowa now resemble a dressed-down spectator sport with Sotheby’s prices, a reflection of the yawning divide that has opened in some of the most bountiful stretches of rural America, Bloomberg reports.
Farm …
Read MoreBig ‘oops’ by Google drives down stock price
Google investors got a nasty surprise Thursday morning when the company inadvertently posted earnings ahead of schedule that were lower than expected, sending its stock down by 8 percent, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal …
Read MoreEMC raises earnings estimate
EMC Insurance Group Inc. on Thursday revised its third-quarter earnings estimate upwards, saying it expects lower third-quarter catastrophe losses will be partially offset by losses associated with its crop reinsurance program. The Des Moines-based property/casualty …
Read MoreTourism awards presented
The Iowa State Fair and Principal Financial Group Inc. were among 12 award recipients recognized with excellence awards Thursday during the Iowa Tourism Conference. The Iowa State Fair received the Outstanding Tourism Event/Festival and Outstanding …
Read MoreBERKO: Exchange-traded fund cautions
Dear Mr. Berko:
I have a mutual fund that is supposed to own only utility stocks, and another one should have only drug stocks. However, about 30 percent of their portfolios are in other industries. …
Read MoreA Closer Look: CLARE KELLY
Iowa native Clare Kelly returned from Washington, D.C., in August when she was hired as executive vice president of the Iowa Medical Society (IMS), the statewide professional association for Iowa physicians. She spent 13 years …
Read MoreTHE ELBERT FILES: It truly is the Civic Center
Have you ever wondered how downtown Des Moines got to where it is today?
The changes in recent decades are breathtaking. In the last 10 years alone, they include entertainment venues that stretch from the …
Read MoreGUEST OPINION: Gold medal lessons in leadership
Even though the summer Olympics are over for another four years, I still find myself reflecting on this summer’s many “Olympic moments.”
I particularly liked watching the interaction between the coaches and athletes. Together, they …
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