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Insurance

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West Bankcorporation reports increase in net income

West Bancorporation Inc., parent company of West Bank, declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share.

Net income for the first nine months of 2012  was $12.11 million, or 69 cents per share, up …

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Credit card interchange fee case nears settlement

The proposed settlement of a merchants’ lawsuit over credit card fees that may cost Visa Inc. MasterCard Inc. and banks as much as $7.25 billion is likely to receive preliminary approval, Bloomberg reported.

In an order …

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Principal earnings down, assets up

Principal Financial Group Inc. reported operating earnings of $134.8 million for the third quarter, a 30 percent decline from the $193.2 million it reported a year ago. Operating earnings were negatively affected by an adjustment known …

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Miles on Money: All eyes on the fiscal cliff

In March 1968, “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” first broadcast the International Cliff Diving Championships from Acapulco. I was captivated as each diver climbed to a height 130 feet above an inlet only 12 feet …

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BERKO: Sue the brokester

Dear Mr. Berko:

When my dad passed away in early 2008, he left his two teenage grandchildren (our children) more than $420,000 in blue-chip stocks, including AT&T, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Southern Co., Pfizer, Consolidated …

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BERKO: Quantitative easing: a prescription for inflation

Dear Mr. Berko:

I don’t recall that you ever commented on the first two rounds of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing. What do you think of QE3, and will it do the job? If it …

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Fired employee rejects Wells Fargo offer for rehire

Richard Eggers, the Des Moines man who was fired from Wells Fargo & Co. after the company discovered a 1963 arrest, declined an offer for rehire.

Eggers, a customer service representative, was fired after the …

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Iowa banks rank high in analyst’s stress test

Iowa banks would do better than their counterparts elsewhere should there be another collapse in the real estate market, according to a report by Trepp LLC, which analyzes the commercial real estate and banking markets. …

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Holmes Murphy a best place to work

Holmes Murphy and Associates Inc. has been named a best place to work by Business Insurance magazine. The West Des Moines-based broker placed No. 2 in the best medium retail agents/brokers category, according to a …

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When Buffett speaks, people listen

Warren Buffett, in an interview this morning on CNBC, said the global economy is slowing but that  the U.S. economy is “inching ahead,” according to a Reutersreport of the interview.  Buffett, who said he believes that…