Meredith Corp. posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by growth in advertising revenue, Reuters reported. The media company’s net income in its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31, increased to $33.3 million, or 73 cents a share, from $25.4 million, or 56 cents a share, a year ago. Revenues rose 5 percent to $353 million. Meredith’s national media group saw a 4 percent growth in advertising revenues for the quarter, with non-political ad sales surging 16 percent at the company’s local media group. The company forecasts its advertising revenues will increase by 7 to 8 percent in its fourth quarter, and anticipates fiscal 2010 earnings in the $2.13 to $2.18 per share range.

Principal Financial Group Inc. CEO Larry Zimpleman, whose company holds more than $30 billion of real estate assets, said new buyers are entering the U.S. commercial market and pushing up prices. “Smart capital is starting to queue up,” Zimpleman said Tuesday in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York City. “Prices have now sort of bottomed out and have actually started to slowly move back up again.” To read the full article, click here.

Dice Holdings Inc. today reported first-quarter net income of $3.3 million, or 5 cents per share, compared with $3.9 million, or 6 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2009. Revenues for the first quarter declined by 9 percent, to $26.8 million, from $29.6 million in the corresponding quarter of 2009. The provider of specialized professional career Web sites, which has operations in Urbandale, said recruitment activity improved at both its Dice.com and eFinancialCareers.com Web sites compared with the first and fourth quarters of 2009.

Sen. Tom Harkin announced Tuesday that a total of $525,000 will be awarded to eight universities across the country for wind turbine technology and development, including $65,000 to Iowa State University. These awards are made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The competitive awards are meant to advance wind turbine technology research and development, enhance wind technology curricula for university coursework and provide students with opportunities for hands-on wind technology research.

ARAG Insurance Co., a Des Moines-based legal insurance provider, will partner with Drake University to sponsor educational and networking events for students, legal professionals and the community to celebrate Law Day 2010 on May 1. ARAG will sponsor the annual Court to Court 5K Run and Walk to benefit Iowa Legal Aid, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to low-income Iowans, and is co-sponsoring Drake Law School’s Small Firm Networking Event and Starting Your Own Law Firm panel.

The Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) on Tuesday announced the launch of its redesigned financial literacy education Web site, www.MyMonyey.gov. The new site has enhanced interactive features and utility to provide more resources to help people make better-informed financial decisions. The redesigned site provides an online point of access to financial information from the 21 federal agencies, departments and bureaus that make up the FLEC.