http://http://www.kentucky.com/101/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2009 Kentucky.com Business 60 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:18:22 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647760.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647760.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:42 EST
Inspector General H. David Kotz said he is so concerned about the SEC's failure to uncover Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme that the IG is expanding the inquiry called for last month by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Cox had pushed the blame squarely onto the SEC's career staff for the failure to detect what Madoff was doing.

At the first congressional hearing on the scandal, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., called for Congress to create a regulatory structure "for the 21st century."

The House Financial Services Committee is trying to determine how, despite warnings back to at least 1999 to SEC staff members, Madoff continued to operate his alleged scheme. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647759.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647759.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:42 EST
The recession is liable to tone down the flashiness of this week's International Consumer Electronics Show, but the lineup of innovative products probably will measure up to those of past years.

Competition is still fierce, and innovation counts. Name-brand manufacturers still need to differentiate themselves by introducing features that keep them ahead of value-price brands.

For instance, Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. will introduce new flat-panel TV sets that provide smoother-looking action scenes, 3-D capabilities and Internet connections that can download movies, weather data and screen savers. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647758.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647758.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:42 EST
Jobs, 53, said in a public letter that his thinness had been a mystery even to him and his doctors until a few weeks ago, when tests confirmed that he has "a hormone imbalance that has been 'robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy."

Jobs said he will undergo a "relatively simple" treatment and will remain in charge of Apple.

Speculation about his health percolated in 2008 as Jobs appeared gaunt. Those worries intensified after Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said in December that Jobs would not be making his annual keynote address Tuesday at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647730.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/647730.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:41 EST
No question.

Automakers reported their sales figures for December on Monday and 2008 became the worst year for the industry since 1992. Dealers in Central Kentucky said they felt optimistic for the future but relayed tales of just how difficult it is to persuade people to drive away in a new car.

It was a year that claimed nearly a thousand dealerships nationally, with about 50 closing in Kentucky. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646780.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646780.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:12 EST
Schools and health care providers, information technology firms and customer service firms, although not thriving, are at least still hiring.

U.S. Labor Department statistics show the growth despite the overall negative numbers. The education and health care industries added 140,000 jobs from July to November.

Meanwhile, the non-farm sector lost nearly 1.4 million jobs during those five months, with the heaviest losses hitting professional and business services, which includes temporary employment agencies and waste management, the Labor Department figures show. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646724.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646724.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:45 EST
One bright spot in Central Kentucky's economic picture is health care: Lexington's hospitals are hiring, and their administrators anticipate a continuing need for trained professionals.

"In almost every area of medicine, there's a shortage" said Dr. Michael Karpf, executive vice president for health affairs at the University of Kentucky.

According to the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, health and educational services was one of three major sectors to see increases in the number of jobs between November 2007 and November 2008. The other sectors adding jobs were government and natural resources. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646785.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646785.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:47 EST
Forester's Forester Value Fund (FVALX) focused on stocks that typically do well in recessions to roughly break even for the year, declining just 0.82 percent through Tuesday easily making it the top-performing large-cap value fund of the year, according to Morningstar Inc. data.

The second-place Copley Fund was down nearly 17 percent, still well above the average decline of 38 percent in the category.

Ellison's FBR Small Cap Financial Fund (FBRVX) also stood out in 2008, ranking No. 2 among financial sector funds. FBR shed just 10 percent of its value, easily beating the category's average decline of 45 percent. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646776.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646776.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:42 EST
Despite cutbacks at many facilities last year, the state said that 41 facilities announced expansions through November of last year. The companies planned to invest $377 million in those expansions or new locations and employ 1,484 workers as a result. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646782.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/646782.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:47 EST
1. With so many job-seekers around, what can a person do to stand out?

"Rather than expending energy trying to 'stand out,' a job-seeker must place emphasis on confidently 'standing tall' with a skill set. Intentionally being able to articulate your top five skills and how they match an organization's need can naturally differentiate you from the pack."

2. What is perhaps the most valuable component of a r sum or accomplishments to tout? ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/539683.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/539683.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:07 EST http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645887.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645887.html Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:10 EST
On one positive side, President George W. Bush recently approved a $13.4 billion loan that could save the company from bankruptcy and failure. The Treasury Department handed over the first installment of that loan Wednesday, to the tune of about $4 billion.

"From the time that the president actually made that decision, people felt at least some relief knowing that the company they've worked for the past 30 years isn't going bankrupt," said Eldon Renaud, president of the local United Auto Workers.

Still, the Corvette production plant is closed until Feb. 23, and about 154 workers will be indefinitely laid off by March 1. The plant stopped production after the holidays as part of a company-wide strategy to conserve money; about 25 workers were laid off before the holidays, and the plant issued 51 layoffs in October. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645333.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645333.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:56 EST
The Dow rose 258.30, or 2.94 percent, to 9,034.69, finishing the week up 6.1 percent.

It happened despite the Institute for Supply Management saying its manufacturing activity index fell to the lowest level in 28 years in December. But the market held to its recent pattern of taking bad economic news in stride.

"Over the last month you've started to see a change in sentiment and this certainly advances that," said Carl Beck, partner at Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Va. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645380.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645380.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:57 EST
Three organizations that invested heavily with the Wall Street money manager lowered their estimated losses this week as it became apparent that much of the money that vanished from their balance sheets probably never existed in the first place.

Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 after allegedly telling investigators he lost as much as $50 billion in client money in a giant Ponzi scheme in which money from new investors was used to pay profits to older ones.

This week, Yeshiva University, The American Technion Society and Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, released statements clarifying their losses. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645338.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645338.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:56 EST
Lafley, who was named CEO more than eight years ago as P G's earnings and stock were sliding, has helped the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers become a steady producer of profits and sales growth by emphasizing innovation and a "consumer is boss" focus.

He has repeatedly insisted he has no plans to step down anytime soon. However, he turns 62 in June, and analysts and investors are speculating about and scrutinizing changes in P G's upper management over the last two years. "We have to be like Florida's football team," Lafley told analysts at a Dec. 11 meeting in New York. "We just have to be strong and deep."

P G officials have said the board has a succession plan, but refuse to discuss any names or details. And questions from investors have grown. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645337.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645337.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:56 EST
For the year, auto industry tracker Edmunds said its expects sales numbers to come in at their lowest level since 1992, according to data from Ward's AutoInfoBank. Sales peaked at 17.4 million in 2000.

And J.D. Power expects the sales decline to continue, forecasting 2009 sales of 11.4 million units.

Annual U.S. auto sales figures ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/644906.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/644906.html Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:12 EST
A who's who of historians including filmmaker Ken Burns and Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough sent a letter last month to H. Lee Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., urging the company to build somewhere farther from the Wilderness Battlefield.

"The Wilderness is an indelible part of our history, its very ground hallowed by the American blood spilled there, and it cannot be moved," said the letter from 253 scholars and others.

Wal-Mart and its supporters point out that the 138,000-square-foot store would be right behind a bank and a small strip mall, a full mile from entrance to the site of the 1864 clash that left thousands dead and hastened the war's end.

Local leaders also want the $500,000 in tax revenue they estimate the big box store will generate for rural Orange County, a gradually growing area about 60 miles southwest of Washington.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645332.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/645332.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:56 EST
Digital TV subsidy program running out of money

The arm of the federal government that is distributing converter box coupons for the Feb. 17 transition to digital television is about to run out of money. Any day now, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration expects to hit a $1.34 billion funding ceiling set by Congress for the pool of $40 coupons, two of which are available to each home. The pool includes coupons that have already been redeemed; unexpired coupons that have been mailed out but not yet redeemed; and coupons that have been requested but not yet mailed out. The NTIA estimated the pool could cover 51.5 million coupons through March 31, which is the last day consumers can request them. But consumers had already requested 44.9 million as of Wednesday, and if such demand continues, the program would hit 51.5 million coupons by late January. To remedy the problem, Congress can either waive accounting rules that require the NTIA to wait for unredeemed coupons to expire before issuing new ones, or it can approve more money for the program.

Failed IndyMac sold for $13.9 billion ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/644470.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/644470.html Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:44 EST
To live in Las Vegas is to stake your future on this enterprise, for better or worse.

In Las Vegas, average people are versed in the statistics that impress relatives from back East and testify to the success of this enterprise: 39 million visitors, almost 140,000 hotel rooms, 10 new schools a year. It was a place that not only believed its own hype, but depended on it.

And so it has been a shock as, quietly and slowly, everything has changed. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/643787.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/643787.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:51 EST
'SpongeBob,' 'Colbert' could be unavailable

A spat between Time Warner Cable Inc. and Viacom Inc. could knock SpongeBob SquarePants and The Colbert Report off the air for about 80,000 cable subscribers in the counties around Lexington and elsewhere in Kentucky and 13.3 million around the nation. The dispute, centering on how much the cable company pays to carry channels such as MTV and Comedy Central, headed down to the wire on New Year's Eve with little apparent chance that a 12:01 a.m. blackout would be averted. A Viacom spokeswoman called Time Warner's proposed increase "a pittance," while Time Warner Chief Executive Glenn Britt called Viacom's demand for a 12 percent increase extortion and outrageous.

GM gets first loan installment ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/643786.html http://www.kentucky.com/101/story/643786.html Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:45 EST
Financially struggling universities, factories and even hospitals are requiring employees to take unpaid "furloughs" temporary layoffs that amount to one-time pay cuts for workers and a cost savings for employers. This year, the number of temporarily laid off workers hit a 17-year high.

State governments, facing lower revenues but stymied by the long process required to cut public-sector jobs, are using furloughs as a quick way to trim payrolls. Private-sector businesses from automakers to small businesses are shutting down factories and offices as sales drop.

The temporary layoffs are "kind of employment purgatory, but it's better than the alternative," said Carl Van Horn, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University. They're a typical response to decreasing demand in a recession, although this round is slightly worse than past bad recessions, Van Horn said. ]]>