LOCAL BUSINESS
PD changes delivery days
The Plain Dealer will reduce the frequency of home delivery from seven days to four days beginning the week of Aug. 5. The home delivery days will be Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The Cleveland newspaper will be available at single-copy locations seven days.
“These changes will enable us to meet the evolving needs of our print and digital audiences while continuing to provide Northeast Ohio with the most comprehensive and up-to-date news and information 24/7,” Senior Vice President of Circulation Robert Perona wrote in a front-page letter to readers Wednesday.
The Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions will offer additional food and dining, entertainment, arts and sports news, according to Perona. The Saturday edition will include an auto section and high school sports coverage.
A subscription to the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday issues will include “access to our new digital edition 7 days a week plus the Saturday home-delivered bonus edition,” Perona wrote.
The Akron Beacon Journal has no plans to alter its publication schedule and will continue to be available to subscribers for home delivery seven days.
Fair Finance hearings set
The next monthly status hearing in Akron U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Fair Finance Co. is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. June 18.
The court also set the hearing schedule for the rest of the year: 10:15 a.m. July 23, then 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, Sept. 17, Oct. 22, Nov. 19 and Dec. 17. The Sept. 17 hearing will be held in another courtroom in the federal building, not the regular bankruptcy court room.
Finance move at Allstate
Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer with a regional office in Hudson, said it plans to retire about $3 billion in debt and finance the transactions using a combination of preferred stock, bonds and cash.
The repurchases will reduce second-quarter earnings, the Northbrook, Ill.-based company said without specifying the amount.
EARNINGS
Lowe’s profits up
For the period ended May 3, home improvement retailer Lowe’s earned $540 million, or 49 cents per share. That compares with $527 million, or 43 cents per share, a year ago.
Analysts polled by research firm FactSet expected higher earnings of 51 cents per share. Revenue for the Mooresville, N.C.-based company dipped to $13.09 billion from $13.15 billion. Wall Street expected a rise to $13.45 billion.
RETAIL
Merchants object to deal
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Starbucks Corp. are among 19 companies opting out of a $7.25 billion antitrust settlement with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over fees charged to merchants to process credit-card transactions.
The proposed settlement maintains and strengthens an anti-competitive system that allows Visa and MasterCard to fix so-called interchange fees for banks, the companies said in a statement.
The proposed settlement, estimated to be the largest-ever U.S. antitrust accord, has drawn criticism from trade associations and retailers, which contend that it grants the card companies too much leeway to raise rates in the future.
Wal-Mart previously said it was “disappointed” in the settlement and would encourage merchants to reject the deal. Other companies include Gap, Lowe’s and Costco.
WALL STREET
Fed moves stocks
Stocks had a wild ride Wednesday as investors digested congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke and the release of the meeting minutes from the Fed’s April 30-May 1 gathering.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slumped 13.81 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,655.35. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 80.41 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,307.17. The Nasdaq composite fell 38.82 points, or 1.1 percent, to 3,463.30.
All three benchmarks logged their steepest point and percentage losses since May 1.
In the morning, stocks had rallied after the release of Bernanke’s prepared remarks, in which he said that premature tightening in policy could strangle the economic recovery.
But in the question-and-answer session, lawmakers tried to nail down when the Fed may taper its bond-buying program, with one official asking if it could occur before Labor Day. Bernanke responded that the Fed could take a step down in the pace of asset purchases in the “next few meetings.” That led stocks to pare gains.
Compiled from staff and wire reports