http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/ All Business, Auto News en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 17:09:48 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208181-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml The monthly unemployment report contained undeniably good news Friday, but with bad statistics dappled in like dandelions in a lawn. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment was down to 8.3 percent for January from 8.5 percent in December, the lowest it has been since February 2009. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 16:07:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208184-84.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- Veterans who want to work as police officers and firefighters could get some help from the White House if Congress signs on to $5 billion in funding to spur the hiring of emergency responders. President Barack Obama on Friday offered a glimpse of some of the spending priorities he intends to lay out in his Feb. 13 budget address. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208051-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml A health advocacy group is questioning Pennsylvania's early designs for its public health insurance exchange, the statewide insurance policy clearinghouse mandated as part of the federal government's 2010 health care overhaul. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208053-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml ST. LOUIS -- For anyone who loves a good steak, a juicy burger or a nice Sunday roast, these are anxious times. Prices for beef, which have been climbing for months, hit a record high in December -- an average of $5 a pound -- and analysts predict they could climb 5 to 8 percent higher this year. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208054-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208058-53.stm?cmpid=business.xml For the former Allegheny County morgue, it no longer will be about corpses but habeas corpus. The county plans to convert the historic 110-year-old building, once a place for autopsies and tragic endings, into offices for its law department. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208212-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml BRUSSELS -- European governments, supported by the top justice official in the European Union, are pressing Google to halt coming changes to its privacy policies while they investigate the implications for personal data protection. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207777-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml After spending time in Iraq during the war, Regina Koetters isn't about to lose sleep over her latest endeavor -- opening a new market in the Strip District. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207849-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml The West Penn Allegheny Health System hopes to get regulatory approval for its affiliation with insurer Highmark by the fall and, if that goes through, it expects to be on solid financial footing within two to three years, interim president and CEO Keith T. Ghezzi said Thursday. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207896-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml The national unemployment rate fell in January to 8.3 percent from December's rate of 8.5 percent, an incremental decline, but the fifth straight month of increasing employment rates. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 08:51:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207775-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml The early 1920s were a good time for wheat, but by the 1930s, dust and drought were choking the Great Plains, depression was gripping the world and of particular interest to grain farmers -- and perhaps to today's natural gas producers -- the price of wheat was bottoming out. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207776-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Education Management Corp., which runs a group of for-profit colleges -- The Art Institutes, Argosy University, South University and Brown Mackie College -- saw enrollment drop by 9.3 percent in the most recent quarter. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207778-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Pennsylvanians can now choose their wind energy suppliers like they choose their corn and cabbage: from local "farms" involved in a new program, ChoosePAWIND. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207779-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207872-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Since the moment he dropped out of Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg has stayed remarkably focused on two things: Facebook, and being the boss of Facebook. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207873-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml TOKYO -- When Kazuo Hirai first joined the Sony family in 1984, the proud electronics maker was the definition of cutting-edge. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207879-185-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Peter Hoffmann started what is now the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter in 1986 and is the author of two books on this potential energy carrier for automobiles. "Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet" was published in 2001, but a revised and expanded edition is scheduled to be available from M.I.T. Press in March. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207738-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml West Penn Allegheny Health System hopes to get regulatory approval for its affiliation with Highmark by the fall and, if that goes through, it expects to be on good financial footing in two or three years, interim president and chief executive officer Keith T. Ghezzi said today. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207640-455.stm?cmpid=business.xml U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab ruled Wednesday that West Penn Allegheny Health System must provide UPMC with some of the information that its larger rival has requested, but not all of it. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207541-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml A former controller at Baierl Acura in Pine pleaded guilty last month to wire fraud after embezzling some $10.2 million from the dealership, money that she spent on living the high life. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:02:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207540-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207542-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml On this Groundhog Day, the J.C. Penney Co. may be trying to channel that Bill Murray movie in which the lead character keeps repeating the same day until he gets it right. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207543-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml There's little argument among small business owners and lawmakers that there are concerns surrounding the federal regulatory environment. But finding out whether regulations are a primary or secondary concern depends on who is answering the question. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207578-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml It seems Western Pennsylvania is the mythical Lake Wobegon of regional health insurance markets -- all the carriers were above average in 2011. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207621-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Texas has more gas drilling than any other state and on Wednesday it started requiring drillers to release the list of chemicals used on each well -- everything from the tetrakis hydroxymethyl-phosphonium sulfate that eliminates bacteria in water to the formic acid used to prevent pipe corrosion. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207633-84.stm?cmpid=business.xml Facebook has filed papers for what is expected to be the largest initial public offering ever to come out of Silicon Valley and one of the largest in U.S. history. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207654-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml SAN FRANCISCO -- The graffiti artist who took Facebook stock instead of cash for painting the walls of the social network's first headquarters made a smart bet. The shares owned by the artist, David Choe, are expected to be worth upward of $200 million when Facebook stock trades publicly later this year. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207655-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml At this point, the first rule of technology should be clear to everyone: as progress marches forward, gadgets get smaller. Our phones. Our cameras. Our laptops. Our savings. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207656-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml A few years ago I tried to use my fax machine. I hadn't used it in months and it failed. I didn't even think about replacing it. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207657-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Gene S. Morgan creates T-shirts with images of South Pacific tiki carvings. Each design is strikingly different, which he accomplishes by putting photos through a set of filters that add color, patterns and texture. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207658-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml TOKYO -- Sony on Wednesday picked Kazuo Hirai, a video game executive who led a turnaround of its PlayStation business, as its next president and chief executive, in a bid to regain some of its magic. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207420-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab ruled today that West Penn Allegheny Health System must provide UPMC with some of the information that its larger rival has requested, but not all of it. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 15:54:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207191-51.stm?cmpid=business.xml When Chad Cable was a toddler, his older brother, Clay, liked to mess with him by unplugging the controller from their video game console. "From the moment he saw his older brother playing, he would sit and want to play, too," said their mother, Kim. If the best revenge is living well, then mission accomplished. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 10:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207348-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. saw fourth-quarter revenues increase 15 percent to a record $3.13 billion, while for the year revenues grew 11 percent to $11.73 billion compared with $10.57 billion for 2010. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207225-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml More than one-third of residents in Pennsylvania are living so close to the edge financially they don't have enough saved to live at the poverty level for three months if they lost a job or had some other emergency. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207222-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207223-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Between a looming, drastic cut in Medicare reimbursements and the still-unknowns about how the UPMC-Highmark dispute will turn out, many independent physician practices have tightened their belts, cut staff and pumped up the number of patients they see. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207224-28-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml There are numerous "gaps and barriers" to implementing the health information technology reforms envisioned by the federal health IT act of 2009, according to a new report issued by the Bipartisan Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207226-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Shares of U.S. Steel jumped 5 percent Tuesday after the Pittsburgh steelmaker forecast first quarter results significantly better than the $226 million loss it recorded for the fourth quarter. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207313-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Facebook, the vast online social network, is poised to file for a public stock offering on Wednesday that will ultimately value the company at $75 billion to $100 billion, cashing in on the fuel that powers the engine of Internet commerce: personal data. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207314-96-0.stm?cmpid=business.xml Amazon.com's plans for world domination hit a slight bump on Tuesday. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500