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Insurance

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Building a billion dollar bank

Developers who venture into abandoned industrial sites with the ambition to turn them into apartments and hotels need to carry more than their big ideas and a pile of lumber into the project.

They also …

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Coopera partners in national immigrant outreach effort

Des Moines-based Hispanic consulting firm Coopera and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions have launched a national campaign to reach unbanked and underbanked immigrants in the United States with credit union products and …

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Insurance agents could practice in multiple states under federal bill

In one of its first votes of the new Congress, the House of Representatives revived and overwhelmingly approved a bill that would help insurance agents practice in multiple states, InvestmentNews reported. The bill establishes the National …

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Gerhart pledges prompt action on CoOportunity

 

Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart said Wednesday he expects to reach a decision soon on whether CoOportunity Health will be liquidated.   

 

“My hope is we’re going to be able to make a …

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Trade deficit shrinks, hiring up at end of 2014

The smallest trade deficit of the year in November and increased company hiring last month provided hints the U.S. economy is rising above a global slowdown, Bloomberg reported.

 

The trade gap, or the difference in …

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Veridian distributes $1.83 million in bonus dividends

Veridian Credit Union announced today that it distributed $1.83 million in bonus dividend payouts last week to more than 173,000 member accounts. The payments were made to holders of member equity savings accounts, representing a …

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Afternoon Business Headlines

Russia slashing vodka prices as its economy reels

CNNMoney: The Russian economy is in a tailspin, but hey, its vodka is about to get cheaper! The state agency that regulates the alcohol market said this month that it will …

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Berko: Negative interest rates and municipal bonds

Dear Mr. Berko: 

I’m 71 and retired. I own a duplex with no mortgage, and I live in one side and rent the other. I have $186,000 in my individual retirement account ($88,000 of which …

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Berko: Stocks priced under $10

Dear Mr. Berko: 

In early 2012, you recommended Flagstar Bank at 80 cents a share, and I bought 3,000 shares for $2,400 as a speculation. Flagstar had a 1-for-10 reverse split, and I now have …

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Profits up at West Bank as board announces dividend

West Bancorporation Inc., parent company of West Bank, reported fourth-quarter net income of $4.3 million, up from $3.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, the company reported today. Interest income increased 13 percent to …