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INVESTING: Slip in home-builder stocks signals market weakness

The big, bad wolf has been huffing and puffing against homebuilding stocks, and for a while it didn’t look as if he’d blow the house down. The outlook changed in early August, however, and the wolf now is seeing results. Residential real estate became the talk of the cocktail party circuit after the market topped in 2000. Over the next five years, the stories became more and more fantastic. Condos in south Florida doubling in price. Shacks in California tripling….

BULLS & BEARS: Slowing inflation may mean good news ahead for stocks

Despite natural disasters, war and oil shocks, the U.S. economy has had a good year, with the gross domestic product posting growth of 3.8 percent. Corporate profits will grow this year at a doubledigit rate. And yet the U.S. stock market, as measured by the Dow Jones industrials, has done next to nothing. Here’s one big reason: fear of inflation. It’s slowed the economic sprint and caused investors to reach for their worry beads. We all know Alan Greenspan has…

Race against crime: As public safety becomes a business issue, much is riding on battle for prosecutor

The dust has settled on Mayor Bart Peterson’s failed police merger. Meanwhile, local crime is surging, up 11 percent from 2002 to 2004. The next bellwether on how to turn the tide will be the 2006 Marion County prosecutor’s race. The contest, pitting Melina Maniatis Kennedy against incumbent Carl Brizzi, already is drawing the attention of community and business leaders, who say the stakes are huge: Rampant crime can cripple a local economy. “Where there’s crime-scene tape, there are not…

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Setting an example for Sacramento

“To improve Sacramento, learn from Indianapolis” was the headline of a column in the Nov. 18 Sacramento Business Journal. It’s always nice to get a compliment and some good PR. Turns out a delegation of nearly a hundred Sacramentonians-or is it Sacramentites?-were here in October on a three-day study mission to learn how to become a great city. It was the seventh year in a row for them to make a learning visit to another community. Tom Stallard, head of…

BEHIND THE NEWS: After bout of indigestion, Galyan’s buyer on the rebound

Just in time for Christmas, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. finally has its arms around its biggest acquisition ever, last year’s $305 million purchase of Galyan’s Trading Co., the 48-store chain that was based in Plainfield. Pittsburgh-based Dick’s rattled investors in August, reporting Galyan’s stores had posted disappointing sales after adopting the Dick’s moniker and store merchandise. In a single day of trading, Dick’s shares plunged $6.33, or 16 percent, to close at $32.90. In the ensuing weeks, investors continued to…

Fledgling Music Mill finding its beat: Venue strikes chord with local concert fans

On its opening night late last year, Music Mill started off with a bang. The first concert at the northside venue was the Scissor Sisters, an energetic New York band whose self-titled debut album includes a disco-flavored cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” More than 400 people showed up for the Dec. 15 show. More than half of them were lastminute arrivals who bought their tickets the day of the show. “We got to find out on our first big…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Lesson from Sony mess: Don’t toy with consumers

You know, I understand the need to protect one’s intellectual property assets. I do. And I understand the frustration of those companies in the entertainment business that put out a product electronically only to have it instantly copied and distributed. But I think it’s going a little far for a recording label to load a piece of software onto a user’s computer that is supposedly only for controlling and playing a protected music CD, but actually hijacks parts of the…

Center offers courses in global adjustment: Programs help companies learn cultural differences

In India, where cricket is the sport of choice, telling an employee he knocked the ball out of the park with his latest proposal most likely would confuse him. The communications gap and other cultural contrasts between the United States and a country such as India can be as vast as the 10-hour time difference. So, as local software developer Sigma Micro Corp. prepared to launch operations at what it refers to as an off-shore development center in the city…

WestClay moves retail to the fringe: Brenwick modifies commercial part of plan

As land is cleared for the final major sections of Carmel’s Village of WestClay, the developer of the Indianapolis area’s most-heralded example of new urbanism is discovering an age-old truth: Plans change. WestClay Uptown and the West Village, as they will be called, represent major changes to Brenwick Development’s plan and reflect changing demand from inside and outside the borders of the 686-acre development. Staying are WestClay’s guiding concepts-a mammoth subdivision designed in the style of a 19th century village…

EYE ON THE PIE: Growth disparity challenges Indiana

But to understand, we need to do some work, to dig into some numbers. How is Indiana’s economy doing? In May 2000, we had 3.01 million jobs in the state, an all-time high, according to the Indiana Department of Work Force Development. This number bottomed out in July 2003 at 2.89 million (a loss of 4.3 percent). This September, we had 2.97 million jobs, so we had regained 65 percent of what we had lost. But we are still 45,000…

Industry races to promote itself: Statewide motorsports group hopes to thwart competition from other U.S. markets

Area motorsports leaders are gearing up for another run at unifying the industry and assuring the region retains its status as one of the world’s leading motorsports markets. Organizers of the latest effort promise they won’t spin their wheels this time around. They’re casting a wider net-going statewide with a motorsports association-to attract more members and build more clout with the media, local and state lawmakers, and service providers, such as banks and insurance companies. The Indiana Motorsports Association Inc….

Health care: big problem for small business: Wyoming lawmaker’s proposed legislation could end 10-year Senate impasse on controversial solution

More than 45 million Americans lack health insurance. And more than half of them are employed or dependent on someone who works for a small business, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. It’s a big problem-especially in Indiana. Between 2000 and 2004, 5.6 percent of Hoosier workers lost employer-provided health care, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s a higher percentage than any state except Wisconsin. Legislation just introduced in Congress by Wyoming Sen. Michael Enzi, however, may…

Underdog WKLU-FM rocks the rating charts: Independently owned radio station moves to third among coveted demographic

After a year spinning classic hits, WKLU-FM 101.9 is itself a hit among Indianapolis adults, moving up a coveted ratings chart and into the No. 3 spot behind longtime radio powerhouses WFBQ-FM 94.7 and WFMS-FM 95.5. The station had hovered near the 20th spot among Indianapolis listeners ages 25-54 before its sale to radio entrepreneur Russ Oasis in October 2004. “That’s a fast turnaround,” said Tom Taylor, editor of industry publication Inside Radio. After switching from an eclectic format, WKLU…

SPORTS: Final Four director takes readers on inspiring ride

For six years, he was a part-time resident of our city. Believe me when I say Indianapolis was full-time better for it. Not many folks here know this fellow named Bill Hancock, or the integral behindthe-scenes role he has played in the NCAA’s staging of its showcase event, the men’s basketball tournament and the Final Four. I’ll sum it up this way: The NCAA’s tournament manual is about 4 inches thick. Hancock, who served as the tournament director, could quote…

Food assembly hot: Franchises hope to capitalize on make-it, take-it meal trend

Put the pots and pans in the trash. Cooking at home belongs with the mastodons. At least that’s the premise of local franchisees rushing to get a stake in central Indiana’s burgeoning food-assembly business. Naysayers, however, worry the industry is growing too fast. The concept is simple: Nobody has time in today’s BlackBerry-toting society to go to the grocery store, let alone cook a decent meal. That’s where franchises like Dinner by Design, Dream Dinners and Super Suppers come in….

States crimp Zyprexa access: Medicaid restrictions cutting into sales of Lilly’s top drug

Eli Lilly and Co.’s top seller Zyprexa, pummeled in recent quarters by concerns over side effects, now faces a growing challenge from some of its biggest customers: state Medicaid programs. Citing high costs, more than a half dozen states have moved Zyprexa and other pricey anti-psychotics off preferred drug lists or made it harder for doctors to prescribe them for patients on Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health care coverage for the poor and disabled. Georgia, for instance, saved…

Plan to let affiliate use gas field sparks opposition: Citizens Gas industrial customers say recent hurricanes show potential for supply disruption, price spikes

Big manufacturers have asked regulators to reconsider allowing an unregulated affiliate of Citizens Gas & Coke Utility to use the Indianapolis utility’s Greene County gas storage facility. General Motors Corp., Reilly Industries and Rolls-Royce Corp. warn that Citizens Gas & Coke Utility’s supply of gas it buys during warm-weather months could be at risk if gas marketing firm Pro-Liance Energy LLC is allowed to control the underground gas storage field. ProLiance sells natural gas to utilities and large-volume gas customers…

INVESTING: Annuities have a bad reputation, but some are golden

The concept of an annuity has been around a few thousand years. Wealthy Roman citizens would often establish these longterm income streams for their children so they wouldn’t have to work. The tradition carried through to the British Empire, as rich parents crafted plans to take care of their spoiled kids. Annuities are popular in America today, although the reasons are somewhat different. For a long time, the IRS has treated the deposit of funds into an insurance company as…

NOTIONS: Putting human rights bill to the test

A few weeks ago, my son Zach was named a Student Rotarian by his high school in Fort Wayne. He was invited to be honored at a downtown Rotary Club luncheon in that city, and asked me to attend. The Rotarians met on the second floor of the Summit City’s downtown Holiday Inn. Zach and I went through the buffet line and sat down at a round table with the superintendent of his school system and four other Rotarians. The…

Hispanic market his target: Ponce Publicidad founder focuses on fast-growing demographic group

The Bank of Central America is moving into Florida and other parts of the southeast United States. While this development might not seem significant for central Indiana business operators, Roberto Ponce thinks it’s a sign. “The burgeoning Hispanic market within the U.S. is becoming a major factor,” said Ponce, president of Indianapolis-based Ponce Publicidad. “If domestic businesses don’t realize that and reach out to this segment, others from beyond our borders will.” Ponce thinks his firm is uniquely positioned to…