BUSINESS

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Oct. 20, up 84 to $12.97

13.0 12.5 DOLLARS 12.0 11.5 11.0 10.5 10.0 9.50

WINNER
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Shares in the Akron tire maker rose 6.9 percent to $12.97.
SOURCE: Bloomberg 8/31 9/30

7.00 6.90 6.80 6.70 6.60 6.50 6.40 6.30 6.20

Oct. 20, down 2 to $6.65

LOSER
CBIZ Inc.
Shares in the Cleveland accounting service fell 0.3 percent to $6.65.

8/31

9/30

TUESDAY: County unemployment reports from Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Business Editor Larry Pantages 330-996-3810 lpantages@thebeaconjournal.com, or fax 330-996-3052

SUNDAY: Consumer writer Betty Lin-Fisher looks at protection from viruses for cell phones

COMPANIES

BEAMING FOREVER

CONSUMERS
AUTO INDUSTRY Ford expands in U.S.
Ford confirmed its plan to build a North American version of its popular European commercial Transit van, saying it would spend $1.1 billion on upgrading its Claycomo, Mo., plant to build the new model. The move will add 1,600 jobs at Claycomo, where Ford hopes to have the Transit ready to join its North American lineup in 2013. The $1.1 billion will pay for various improvements and expansion, including a new stamping plant and a second line for the F-150 pickup. Separately, Fords credit rating was lifted to within one level of investment grade, making it cheaper for the automaker to borrow, after it secured a new labor contract with the United Auto Workers union. Standard & Poors Ratings Services raised Ford two levels to BB+ from BB-, saying the agreement will allow its North American operations to remain profitable. Fords credit sank to so-called junk status in 2005, when it was deeply in debt. It borrowed $23 billion in 2006 to get through the recession and fund a huge restructuring. The company had $14 billion in debt as of June 30.

Jobless figures for Ohio stagnant

National unemployment rate also 9.1% for September. State reports nearly 22,000 jobs lost
From staff and wire reports

LABOR Union turned down

A majority of production and maintenance workers for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have voted against union representation, the company said. The subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. said that a preliminary count of ballots cast show workers chose not to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. Reynolds is the second-biggest U.S. cigarette company and makes Camel and Pall Mall brand products. The Winston-Salem, N.C., company said the preliminary vote count stands at 686 against and 556 for collective bargaining representation. About 1,320 employees at cigarette facilities in North Carolina were eligible to vote. Workers at other tobacco companies like Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco Co., and Commonwealth Brands Inc. have union representation.

NATURAL GAS City studies options

Officials in economically struggling Niagara Falls, N.Y., are considering going into the business of treating toxic wastewater from fracking, the natural gas drilling technique that involves pumping chemicallaced water into the earth. The citys water board says its specialized wastewater treatment plant can handle more business since the decline of the chemical industry it was designed for. Once treated, the fracking wastewater would either be discharged into the Niagara River upstream of Niagara Falls or be reused in drilling. Critics say importing the wastewater should be the last thing Niagara Falls should consider, given its experience with the Love Canal environmental disaster in the 1970s. Some have expressed concern about the environmental impact to the river and adjoining lakes and possible adverse effects on human health.
KAREN SCHIELY/Akron Beacon Journal

Ohio jobs dropped by nearly 22,000 in September, while the states unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, unchanged from August. The national unemployment rate for September was also 9.1 percent. Ohios greatest job losses were in the leisure and hospitality industries, education and health, and manufacturing. The Labor Department said Ohio was one of 11 states where unemployment rates stayed the same; rates dropped in 25 states and rose in 14. Thats an improvement from August, when unemployment rose in 26 states. The nation added 106,000 jobs in September and has added an average of 72,000 jobs per month in the past five months; however, jobs must increase by at least 125,000 to keep pace with population growth. A year ago, Ohio had a 9.8 percent unemployment rate. The number of Ohio residents counted as unemployed also dropped last month, from 536,000 in August to 543,000. The lack of change in Ohios unemployment rate followed three consecutive months of rising joblessness. There were 5,097,100 Ohio residents counted as employed last month, down 21,600 from 5,118,700 in August, based on the latest business establishment survey by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. There were 66,800 more people working in September than a year ago, the state reported. Jobs in Ohio goods-producing industries fell 4,600 to 816,200 in September. Manu-

Please see Jobless, D7

Goodyear employees take a break Friday to sign the final steel beam that will be placed in the lobby of the companys new headquarters in Akron. It weighs about 1,500 pounds

hen Goodyears new headquarters is finished, employees will have one thing in particular to beam about. And that would be a beam. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employees had the chance Friday to sign a big piece of steel. The steel beam with their names will be the last beam that will be put into place in the headquarters building that is under construction next to the companys technical center off

Innovation Way (formerly Martha Avenue) in East Akron. The beam, which weighs about 1,500 pounds, will be used in the headquarters lobby and will be exposed so that the signatures will be visible to people in the lobby and those on the floor above. The groundbreaking for the $160 million, seven-story headquarters took place in April, with the project expected to be completed in 2013.

Bridgestone to increase production in U.S., China

Emerging markets spark demand for aircraft and fuel-efficient tires
By Anna Mukai
Bloomberg News

EARNINGS Southwest sees loss

While its airline business did well during the peak travel season, Southwest posted a $140 million third-quarter loss because its fuel-hedging bets turned sour when oil prices fell this summer. It was Southwests first loss in two years. Southwests quarterly revenue rose 35 percent to $4.31 billion, thanks largely to the May addition of AirTran Airways. That beat the $4.17 billion forecast among analysts surveyed by FactSet. Southwest boosted its average fare 7.4 percent, to $142.31, and still packed more people into its planes, selling 82 percent of its seats, a high average for the Dallas-based airline. Southwest will become the largest carrier at Akron-Canton Regional Airport with the completion of the AirTran acquisition.

Dow climbs 267 points on solid earnings reports

Optimism on European debt crisis adds fuel to surge on Wall Street
By Daniel Wagner and Matthew Craft
Associated Press

FOOD New labeling proposed

Just like that Energy Star tag helps you choose your appliances, a new report says a rating symbol on food containers could help shoppers buy the healthiest foods. The report urges the Food and Drug Administration to adopt labeling that gives consumers a fast way to compare their choices. It wouldnt replace the in-depth Nutrition Facts panel. The Institute of Medicine says its time to put up front the most important information for health: how many calories per serving and just how big that serving is along with stars or some other symbol to show at a glance how the food rates for certain fats, sodium and added sugars.
Compiled from wire reports

NEW YORK: A broad rally swept through the stock market Friday after McDonalds and several other large companies reported solid earnings. The Standard & Poors 500 index closed higher for the third straight week, its best run since February, as hope builds

that a weekend meeting will bring European leaders closer to easing the regions debt troubles. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 267.01 points, or 2.3 percent, to 11,808.79. The Dow is now up 2 percent from where it started 2011. Before Fridays surge, it was down for the year. The Dow has risen for four weeks straight, the

first time that has happened since January. The combination of stronger earnings, better economic news and a sense that European officials were taking the debt crisis more seriously have helped lift stocks, said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated

Please see Markets, D7

Wal-Mart scales back health benefits

Some part-timers wont get medical coverage
By Anne DInnocenzio
Associated Press

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nations largest private employer, is scaling back health coverage for future part-time workers while raising premiums for many of its full-time workers, particularly tobacco users. The discounter, which em-

ploys more than 1.4 million workers, said rising medical costs are forcing it to eliminate health coverage for future part-time employees who work less than 24 hours a week. Many workers will also see their premiums rise, and the company will reduce by half the amount it contributes for medical expenses that are

not covered under their plan. Tobacco users will particularly be hit hard, seeing premiums increase by about 40 percent, the company said. Greg Rossiter, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the decision was not in response to the new health-care law but was the result of escalating medical costs.

Please see Benefits, D7

Bridgestone Corp., the worlds largest tire maker, will spend a record $3.9 billion next year to expand production to meet rising demand from emerging markets. Bridgestone will build a factory in South Carolina to produce aircraft tires and increase manufacturing capacity in China, Bridgestone Chief Financial Officer Akihiro Eto said Friday. In emerging markets right now, demand is topping supply, Eto said in Tokyo on the companys midterm business plan from 2012 to 2016. We plan to expand our capacity to meet demand as soon as possible. Bridgestone and Michelin & Cie. are among tire makers investing in new factories as rising auto and aircraft sales in what are called emerging markets spur demand. Global tire sales are expected to climb 50 percent in the decade to 2020, according to Michelin, the worlds second-largest maker of the product. Emerging markets are expected to make up 30 percent of Bridgestones fuel-efficient tire sales by 2016 from less than 20 percent now, Eto said. The company aims to boost overall annual sales to $47.3 billion by 2012 and set capital spending at $3.3 billion a year until 2016, he said. The targets are based on an exchange rate of 85 yen to the dollar. Michelin, which already has four Chinese plants, said last month it will invest $103 million in a Chinese venture with Double Coin Holdings Ltd. and Shanghai Huayi Group Co. Separately, Bridgestone President Shoshi Arakawa told reporters the companys facilities in Thailand havent been flooded. Bridgestone is assessing the costs from disruptions to its Thai output, which are caused by shortages of materials and workers inability to commute around flooded areas, he said.