| Investors alert to more rises
INVESTORS will start their week scouring the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy statement tomorrow for clues of further interest rate rises. Competing for attention will be the BHP Billiton's hot pursuit of its smaller rival Rio Tinto, six years after its last push for a merger fell through. But neither of the two headline issues will sharpen shareholders' focus quite as much as the expected dive on the local bourse as the fall-out from the US sub-prime crisis continues. While Australian stocks ended last week higher, fuelled in part by investors piling into Rio Tinto, continuing volatility on Wall Street is expected to be felt locally. After a second week of significant losses in US share markets, the Australian market may open up to 80 points down, MFS chief executive Guy Hutchings says.
Tax bureau will repay some out-of-county debt
LEBANON l The Lebanon County Earned Income Tax Bureau might be able to reduce its $4.26 million debt to out-of-county tax bureaus before the end of 2008, but its leaders can't yet say how much local taxing bodies can expect to receive in the near future. Nancy Moran, acting EIT director, said Wednesday night the bureau will make a $1.26 million payment on its out-of-county debt this year. The bureau's former director, the late Donald Foltz Jr., who officials say embezzled $811,000 in tax funds, also is believed to have paid Lebanon County municipalities more tax receipts than they deserved, at the expense of out-of-county tax bureaus, said Gary Watts, president of the EIT board of directors. .
Weekend Beat: LIFESTYLE & MORE: Big Issue mag big help to homeless
Maybe you've seen them standing at street corners holding up a big glossy that calls itself the Big Issue? The magazine sports an eye-catching cover, features famous singers and celebrities, and the content targets younger readers. The vendors are all homeless. The street paper's mission is to provide an opportunity for the homeless to earn an income and become self-reliant. And thanks to the movement, there are success stories where homeless people have managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and off the streets. The magazine marked its fourth year on Sept. 11. The publisher, Big Issue Japan, set up in May 2003, also launched a Big Issue Foundation in September, which uses its resources to support the homeless. The next big issue for the Big Issue Japan is to find a way out of the red.
Independent Bank earnings down in 63% third quarter
IONIA - Independent Bank Corp. today said its third-quarter earnings plummeted nearly 63 percent from a year earlier. The bank said it earned $3.73 million, or 16 cents a share, for the three-month period that ended in September. That was down from a profit of $9.95 million, or 43 cents a share, during the year-earlier third quarter. Officials attributed much of the decline to an increase in its provision for loan losses. The move signals that bank officials expect some of its borrowers, particularly real estate developers, to continue to struggle. .
Apria Withdraws Debt Offering
Apria Healthcare Group Inc. said Thursday it canceled a planned debt offering because of "adverse" market conditions, but says its acquisition of Coram Inc. is not in jeopardy. The company intended to sell $265 million in senior notes to help fund the purchase, but said it will now draw on its $500 million line of credit to close the $350 million cash purchase of the privately held medical products provider. Lenders have been offering less favorable terms to borrowers since August, when a spike in mortgage defaults triggered a crisis on the credit markets. Apria shares fell 32 cents to close at $22.12. .
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