The stock listed as “AV” opened at $14.50 and headed up when trading began today on the New York Stock Exchange, and Aviva USA CEO Chris Littlefield saw it all happen. “We’re back on the Big Board,” Littlefield said. Aviva USA’s parent, Aviva plc, announced earlier this month that it had finalized details for listing on the NYSE. London-based Aviva also trades on the London Stock Exchange. The NYSE listing will allow the company to expand its investor base while also accommodating the 20 percent of Aviva shareholders located in this country, Littlefield said. Aviva is the fifth-largest insurance group in the world and the largest provider of indexed annuity and indexed life business in the United States. Aviva established a level 2 American Depositary Receipt program in conjunction with Citibank. No new Aviva ordinary shares will be issued in connection with the listing and Aviva will retain its current primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. In addition to providing more convenient service to U.S. shareholders, the listing will allow Aviva to further market its name and services in North America, Littlefield said. The stock was trading at $14.90, with 90,988 shares traded at 10:44 a.m. Iowa time.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said today that wholesale prices fell a larger-than-expected 0.6 percent in September after seasonal adjustments, with energy prices falling 2.4 percent, MarketWatch reported. The Producer Price Index has fallen 4.8 percent in the past year. The core index, which excludes food and energy prices, dropped 0.1 percent last month and has risen just 1.8 percent during the past year, the smallest year-over-year rise since July 2007. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a 0.3 percent drop in wholesale prices, with a 0.1 percent gain in the core rate.

The U.S. Commerce Department said today that housing starts rose 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 590,000 from a 587,000 pace in August, Bloomberg reported. Building permits, a sign of future construction, fell for the second time in the past three months.

Jon Crose, a principal and one of the founding members of RDG Planning & Design, will retire Oct. 23. A reception will be held that day from 4 to 6 p.m. at RDG Planning & Design, 301 Grand Ave., Des Moines. Crose started the architectural firm that eventually became RDG Planning & Design out of his home in 1956. Major projects that he has been involved in include the Blank Park Zoo master plan and revitalization, the Gray’s Lake master plan and improvements and the Principal Riverwalk master plan.

Three Central Iowa credit union representatives were among 12 people selected to serve on the Iowa Credit Union League board of directors during the league’s annual convention, the organization said. The new directors are Michael Whittie, Federal Employees Credit Union, Des Moines; Brent Helin, Des Moines Metro Credit Union, Des Moines; and Tim Wallin, Ace Community Credit Union, Ames. The trade association represents Iowa’s 138 credit unions and their nearly 1 million members.