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INVESTING: The bearish American shopper will punish retail stocks

I don’t like to shop. I do know, however, that I am in the tiny minority in this regard. We’ve elevated shopping in this country to a level that probably ranks higher in importance than family, religion and health. The American consumer is such a force that we make up 20 percent of global GDP. That’s right, for the entire world! I should think, then, that slowdowns announced by companies like Wal-Mart and Target would be headline news. Of all…

New fiscal year, no cuts for IU School of Medicine: But concern remains about funds for future growth

No layoffs. No seven-figure budget cut to sweat through. IU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Craig Brater had many reasons to raise a toast this month, when a new fiscal year began and the school left behind an old one marked by the worst budget cuts in decades. Indeed, Brater said he is breathing a little easier as the school starts fiscal 2006-2007 with a budget of more than $815 million. An increase in clinical revenue and grant money helped…

Ivy Tech to offer mortuary science degree

Ivy Tech Community College will train students in mortuary sciences, filling a void left when Indiana College of Mortuary Science kicked the bucket several years ago.

Investment firm taps local talent: Riderwood opens office, targets mid-size companies

An East Coast investment-banking firm is opening an Indianapolis office and has recruited three high-profile professionals who bring a wealth of experience to manage operations. Towson, Md.-based The Riderwood Group Inc. wants to help midsize companies raise $5 million to $200 million in capital, a range largely ignored here by outside rivals, firm executives said. “There really is not a national mid-market investment bank [in Indianapolis],” company President Mitchell Fillet said. “This is a place where the big firms have…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is becoming a podcaster dream marketing?

Imagine that your customers are so eager to hear from you that you don’t even need to send them newsletters or e-mails, that they check each day, or even several times a day, to see if you have anything to tell them. What a dream marketing campaign, eh? There are catches, of course. Lots of them. But in the right circumstances, this come-and-get-it approach can work. It’s known as “podcasting,” a name that’s a linguistic weld job so common in…

MIBOR under scrutiny by FTC

The Federal Trade Commission recently slammed the Austin Board of Realtors for how the Texas organization runs its multiple-listing service, charging that a policy change barring certain homes from Web search engines runs afoul of federal antitrust laws.

Hotel art adds more than ambiance: Local gallery offers work from Picasso to Perrin for sale at Conrad Indianapolis

An international crowd in for the Formula One race milled through a sold-out Conrad Indianapolis downtown on a recent weekend. As they jutted off to their spa appointments and dinner reservations, some may have spared a glance at artwork that sprinkles the walls of the first and mezzanine floor-an interesting mix of modern art from the likes of Pablo Picasso to Indianapolis artist Lois Main Templeton. The collection of 18 pieces was selected under an agreement between the hotel and…

BULLS & BEARS: Read the fine print to identify conflicts

Let’s say you need advice and you are going to pay a fee to someone to provide sound, unbiased counsel on any number of s u b j e c t s – f r o m plumbing to taxes. After you meet with the kind, presentable and seemingly competent adviser, you decide to use his services. The adviser’s contract has a lot of small print, like all contracts do. But before you just sign it, you heed your dad’s…

Hitching its wagon to central Indiana: Wells Fargo quietly lassoes big share of local loans

How big is the portfolio? Very big. How does it stack up to its rivals? Nobody knows for sure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. requires banks to report the deposits they hold at branches, but it doesn’t require banks to spell out how much commercial business they’re generating geographically. “It’s one of the biggest frustrations of the bank information that we [compile],” said Karen Dorway, president of Bauer Financial Inc., a Coral Gables, Fla.-based bank rating service that tracks market…

Conseco takes fresh look at product development: New strategy emphasizes shared resources, efficiency

Conseco Inc. rolled out a fresh blueprint for product development earlier this year, and it was high time the insurer did so, say analysts who follow the company. The Carmel-based holding company is combining the resources of its subsidiaries and developing a corporate-wide system to pump out products more efficiently for its two main operating segments, Conseco Insurance Group and Chicago-based Bankers Life. It hopes to see results soon. Conseco Insurance Group launched only four new products in 2004 and…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Will telecom reform bring cell service to remote areas?

Those of us who spend a lot of time in airports get an effective education in the economics of competition by observing-and paying-the fares charged by airlines. It’s really quite simple. Fly a route served by several airlines, especially if one of them is a low-cost, no-frills carrier such as Southwest, and fares will be reasonably low. But if you are unlucky enough to fly to or from a smaller city, or even a large one where a single carrier…

Mass transit’s catch? Paying for it

The idea of rapid transit is popular locally, but there’s no consensus on how to finance it. For construction alone, it would cost at least $546 million for suburban express bus service up to $1.4 billion for an "automated guideway" system similar to a monorail. And that's for only one corridor.

FUNNY BUSINESS: Customer service may be modern-day fairytale

Gather ’round, kids. Let me tell you a little story about how things work nowadays. Or maybe how they don’t. Once upon a time, there was a customer named Mike. He had two accounts with a credit card company known as-well, let’s just say it’s the card you don’t want to leave home without, according to the TV commercials. Mike had recently closed one of the accounts, with a balance due of about $100. However, he left the other account…

Australian-born luxury ‘healing’ spa opens in Conrad: Spa Chakra touts healthy benefits of its treatments

A world-renowned, high-end luxury spa that originated in Australia and partners with a Parisian skin-care and fragrance company has chosen Indianapolis for its second U.S. facility. Spa Chakra, which uses Guerlain SA products exclusively, opened in the new Conrad Indianapolis Hotel in May. There are 16 Spa Chakra locations worldwide, but only one other in the United States-in Portland, Ore. Locations are expected to open in Bal Harbour, Fla., later this year and in Washington, D.C., in 2007. The spa,…

TOM HARTON Commentary: Driving the distance for the basics

I recently called my doctor’s office hoping he could squeeze me in to diagnose a minor, but annoying, health problem. His nurse informed me I wouldn’t be able to get an appointment for at least three days. She suggested I go to an immediate-care facility if I needed attention right away. I was surprised the doctor couldn’t see me, but I appreciated the nurse’s candor. She knew better than to cheerfully suggest an appointment days in the future, by which…

Dow AgroSciences seeks better vaccine: Plant-based preventive measure loaded with potential

Imagine a vaccine that kills salmonella bacteria in chickens long before they reach the food-processing center, possibly reducing the chance of a food-borne illness landing on your dinner plate. That’s one of the possibilities researchers are thinking about on the northwest side of Indianapolis, where Dow AgroSciences has become a pioneer in the new frontier of plant-based vaccines. Earlier this year, the subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co. received the world’s first regulatory approval for a plant-made vaccine from the U.S….

SPORTS Bill Benner: Giving up the corner office to follow your passion

My friend, former boss and fellow Jimmy Buffett Parrothead, Dale Neuburger, asked that I not turn this into one of those “Where are they now?” pieces because (A) he hasn’t been gone that long and (B) he hasn’t gone that far. With regards to the latter, Neuburger still occupies an office in Pan Am Plaza, though not the top-floor corner office with its dramatic view of the city skyline, one of the perks associated with the presidency of the Indiana…