Investors Business Daily:
Business

• Parents Run Risks Helping Kids Buy A Home (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:45:00 GMT)
  The end of the federal tax credit for homebuyers is fast approaching. That means crunch time for parents who want to help their kids buy a place as inexpensively as possible. First-timers comprised 47% of all buyers last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's the highest percentage on record. Many young buyers are getting down payment money from parents, some of whom are co-signing loans too. But parents, grandparents and
  
  
  
• Top Mall Owner Unruffled In Bid For Rival (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:30:00 GMT)
  Simon Property Group's CEO says a revised plan by General Growth Properties to emerge from bankruptcy would not pressure his firm to sweeten its own $10 billion offer. Simon (SPG) chief David Simon, who spoke at a New York University conference Thursday, said GGP's proposal lacks certainty despite its new financial backing. Top U.S. mall owner Simon last month offered to buy No. 2 GGP in a plan supported by many GGP unsecured creditors. Monday GGP
  
  
  
• FHA Chief: Reserves Rebuilding, No Repeat Of 'Subprime' Crisis (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:30:00 GMT)
  Capital reserves of the Federal Housing Administration have fallen too swiftly, but loans backed by the agency are not the next crisis waiting to happen, Federal Housing Administration chief David Stevens says. "While its Capital Reserve Account has decreased too quickly, FHA is not 'the next subprime' as some have suggested," he said in prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. The panel
  
  
  
• Server Maker Pushes Performance, Not Price, To Profit (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:39:00 GMT)
  The tech industry had a bad year in 2009. But the server sector, which was not a fast grower to begin with, had a really bad year. "I don't know if there's ever been a worse year in the period we've been tracking it," said Gartner analyst Jeffrey Hewitt. According to IDC, worldwide server revenue fell 18.9% last year to $43 billion. But the fourth quarter showed signs of hope. Sales were still down from a year earlier, but they rose from the
  
  
  
• Hardware Maker Offers A Less-Traveled Road To The Internet (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:12:00 GMT)
  Some great tech rivalries end in total victory, others in coexistence. VHS annihilated Betamax, but we still have both Microsoft and Apple. The battle of interconnects seems to be falling into the latter category. If your computer hooked up to the Internet or a local area network lately, it probably used an ethernet card. Ethernet is the dominant architecture that computers and servers use to connect to each other. But it's not the only one.
  
  
  
• J. Crew Smashes Profit, Sales Forecasts (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:19:00 GMT)
  Clothing retailer J. Crew easily beat expectations once again late Tuesday and gave rosy projections as consumers become more comfortable spending again. Sales at the upscale chain rose 19% — the best gain in nine quarters — in the fiscal Q4 to $460.6 million. Analysts had expected $443.1 million. Sales at stores open at least a year climbed 17%. And J. Crew (JCG) did not have to offer the deep discounts and promotions that it did a year ago to
  
  
  
• Bargain-Seeking Shoppers, Cost Control Help Discounter Thrive (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:50:00 GMT)
  The combination of growing sales and shrinking costs is a merchant's dream. And that's what Columbus, Ohio-based discounter Big Lots (BIG) managed in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2009, which ended Jan. 31, 2010. With consumers still in bargain-hunting mode, Big Lots was able to increase sales at stores open two years or more by a very healthy 5.1%. That easily blew through the chain's own guidance of 3.5% to 4.5%. New store additions swelled total
  
  
  
• Economic Optimism Falls To 1-Year Low As Jobs Lag Growth (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:33:00 GMT)
  Consumer sentiment fell in March to a year low on job worries and uncertainty about the future, according to the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index out Tuesday. The gauge dropped 1.4 points from February to 45.4, the lowest since March 2009 and just 1 point above the level in December 2007, when the recession began. Readings below 50 signal pessimism. The six-month outlook sank 2.3 points to 46.4, also a year low. The economy grew at a 5.9% annual
  
  
  
• Acquisition, Cost Management Help Hospice Operator Grow Profits (Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:28:00 GMT)
  End-of-life is a distressing subject. And it's one that every person will face. The best one can expect is a comfortable passing, if possible, in familiar surroundings. Providing those services is a delicate mission, made complicated by Medicare's limitations on reimbursement. Odyssey HealthCare (ODSY) has managed to do it, showing revenue and earnings growth in a field with small margins and constrained reimbursements. The firm is the only
  
  
  
• Tables Turn For Restaurants (Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:09:00 GMT)
  They might not have hit the soup lines, but consumers suffering through the worst recession in decades certainly weren't splurging on restaurant meals, either. Through the end of December, the restaurant industry suffered through six straight quarters of traffic declines, according to the NPD Group. It was the weakest and longest running downturn the research firm has seen since it began tracking the industry in the mid-1970s. The good news is
  
  
  
• AMAG Anemia Drug Eyes Growing Market (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:22:00 GMT)
  Most biotech firms bet their future on only one drug. AMAG Pharmaceuticals is no exception. The company relies heavily on Feraheme, a new IV injection treatment for iron-deficiency anemia in adult patients with chronic kidney disease. People with chronic kidney diseases often suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. Without enough iron, the body can't produce enough hemoglobin in red blood cells. That makes people tired and pale because of a lack of
  
  
  
• Estee Lauder Puts On Its Best Face Through Ugly Economic Times (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:07:00 GMT)
  Lindsey Ryan spares no expense when it comes to pampering her skin. She spends $200 a year on pricey Estee Lauder (EL) brand moisturizer and eye cream. But the big bucks stop with skin-care products. Once the economy tanked, Ryan stopped buying the expensive Estee Lauder-brand makeup and switched to cheaper labels. "As soon as the recession hit, I kept using the good skin-care product because it lasts long," said New York-based Ryan. "But the
  
  
  
• InterMune Shoots Higher On FDA News (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:42:00 GMT)
  Shares of InterMune surged mid-Friday after the drug developer said it will meet with a Food and Drug Administration panel Tuesday to discuss its drug candidate pirfenidone, which is designed to treat a rare and chronic lung disease. The FDA's Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee will discuss results from clinical studies and make a recommendation to the FDA on whether pirfenidone should be approved as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary
  
  
  

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