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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: How variable annuities can ruin a good vacation

As I’m sitting on a sunny Mexican beach during vacation enjoying yet another all-inclusive beverage, all I can think about is how much I hate variable annuities. I despise them. Whether you are north or south of the Rio Grande, you should understand that variable annu ities, or VAs as they’re called in the industry, are typically lousy investments for just about everyone. This vacation was almost ruined by my associate, who put in my stack of reading materials an…

INVESTING: Outlook bright long term, but look out for potholes

Bull markets can take many forms, depending on the investor’s perspective. Terms like secular and cyclical get thrown around, along with more obscure references to Kondratief Waves and Fibonacci sequences. I know day traders who think a bull market lasts only two hours. Then there’s Warren Buffett, who still has a few positions he bought in 1974. I remember cruising around Indianapolis eight years ago looking for a home so my family could move from Florida and seeing gas at…

Gorilla exhibit to be one of nation’s largest: Apes and new oceans area designed to boost attendance, conservation

Fresh off the debut of a $9.5 million Oceans exhibit, the Indianapolis Zoo is already laying the groundwork for its next blockbuster. But it may come with a beastly price tag. A gorilla and bonobo habitat scheduled to open in 2013 is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars. “I can’t tell you if this is a $30 million project or a $50 million project,” said Indianapolis Zoo President Michael Crowther. “What I can tell you is that we’re…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is techno-speak making your mind spin?

A BBC online story from November got me thinking about funny looks. I get those a lot, and not just because most mornings I look like a poorly repaired sidewalk. I get them because of the words I use. But I can’t help it. Nobody in technology can help it. When we talk about technology, we always sound like we’re mumbling jargon, even when we’re not. The article (news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6118828.stm) dealt with the frustration workers have with supposedly cool business jargon,…

Insurer stays on roll by hitting the brakes: Baldwin & Lyons profits more despite revenue drop

But that axiom doesn’t seem to apply to Baldwin & Lyons Inc. The quiet trucking-fleet insurer headquartered in Indianapolis happily let its revenue slide last year 7 percent, ending a four-year run of rapid growth. Why? Because new competitors have aggressively entered Baldwin’s traditional trucking market with lower prices. The industry’s margins have been slashed by half or more. Most businesses would call that trend a threat. But not Baldwin. President Joe DeVito disdainfully calls these new competitors “naive capital,”…

City gained momentum with Super Bowl bid

Indianapolis’ bid to host the 2011 Super Bowl missed by inches, but observers said the city nevertheless scored major points
that still could result in a victory. But not without suiting up again.

Taurel draws fire for getting rich while stock struggles

Eli Lilly and Co. stock has returned just 1 percent per year in the nine years since CEO Sidney Taurel took office. Meanwhile,
Taurel has taken home $44 million in pay and been given stock options valued at $114 million more. But most Lilly shareholders
aren’t raising a call for Taurel to hit the trail.

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: ‘Rip’ is just right for CICP

It’s been 15 months since Central Indiana Corporate Partnership CEO Mark Miles wrote in these pages that he felt like Rip Van Winkle when he returned to the city after being away for 15 years. Miles has done anything but sleep since he got back. Neither has the CICP board of directors. That group should be congratulated for making an outstanding choice of a new leader and for taking bold steps forward. This seems to have been a perfect match…

NOTIONS: From a father to his sons upon their graduation

Dear Austin and Zach: Well, my sons, it’s milestone week: your last day of high school; your 19th birthday; your mom and stepdad’s move to new digs designed for you as occasional guests rather than fulltime residents. Next up: “Pomp and Circumstance,” forgettable oratory and lots of unsolicited advice. And, of course, your big reward for 12 years of educational servitude: You get to move a tassel from the right to the left side of a rented mortar board. Inevitably,…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Missing the market rally: state retailers slumping

It’s a great stock market for many companies, but Hoosier retailers like The Steak n Shake Co., Finish Line Inc. and Shoe Carnival Inc. are being left in the dust. You know a retailer’s having a tough time when it says it was hurt by stormy weather, high gas prices and housingrelated woes-all at once. Steak n Shake CEO Peter Dunn put it succinctly in a conference call with analysts this month: “As gas prices go up and as interest…

Law lets small employers band together for insurance: Experts disagree on whether associations will take off

The Healthy Indiana Plan, which enacts a system to bring affordable health insurance to low-income Hoosiers, is one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation to arise from the General Assembly this spring. The noble cause could provide coverage to about 15 percent of the state’s population. Yet it could affect the small-business community as much as the state’s growing number of uninsured. House Bill 1678, introduced by State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, and signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels May…

Plan calls for mixed-use giant

A local developer is planning an ambitious project called Woodfield Crossing that would add 1.8 million square feet of development to the southwest corner of 86th Street and Keystone Avenue. The project,…

Venu

Venu calls for a mall roughly the size of The Fashion Mall at Keystone, a 575-room hotel that would be the city’s third largest after a new JW Marriott and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, and an office building with nearly…

Jury finds Harcharik liable in Brightpoint case

A federal jury in Manhattan Friday afternoon found former Brightpoint Inc. manager Timothy Harcharik aided and abetted securities fraud at the company in the late 1990s. After a four-day civil trial, the jury found against Harcharik on three counts of aiding and abetting. The jury found in his favor on another aiding-and-abetting count and on […]

Appeals court upholds ruling tossing out F1 claims

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago today upheld a court decision that tossed out a class-action lawsuit brought by disgruntled Formula One fans. The unanimous decision affirmed a 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who said the suit failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted, according […]

Restaurant bonanza

A local businessman has plans for two new independent restaurants downtown near the corner of Ohio and East streets. One of them, Cabo’s Mexican Grill, is slated to open next week at 132 East St., across from Fifth Third Bank….

April home sales slip, new listings increase

Central Indiana home sales fell to 2,577 in April, down 3.8 percent from the same month last year, the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors said today. For the year, the sales are off 7.9 percent. New listings for April increased 5.5 percent from a year earlier, and prices held steady despite the slow sales and […]

Lilly buys Kansas animal drug company

Eli Lilly and Co. said today it has bought Ivy Animal Health Inc. for an undisclosed price. The Overland Park, Kan., company, which primarily sells cattle growth promotants, will compliment Lilly’s Elanco animal health arm, Lilly said. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter and result in a charge to earnings of […]