Banks launch campaigns to sooth jittery customers about the safety of their deposits, following an economic crisis that has brought down investment banks and sent stock values plummeting.
While many banks were getting drunk on loose lending in the last few years, most credit unions stuck to conservative lending
and other plain-vanilla banking practices.
After a 17-year run in Indianapolis, National City’s trademark green signs are set to be replaced with the blue of Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial. The $5.6 billion deal raises questions about the government’s growing involvement in banking.
The stock market rout that began in September and picked up steam in October has taken some quality companies to prices that
are the cheapest they have been in decades.
In September, Jeff Bockelman launched CareerScribe LLC, a local Web forum where users can "virtually" manage their
resumes.
Indianapolis-area hospitals have suffered a double whammy of spiking interest rates on their bonds and heavy losses in their
investment portfolios and are trying to save cash any way they can.
A corporate recruiter says employers in Indianapolis arenâ??t acting like their counterparts elsewhere in the
country, if headlines are to be believed.
The employment market here has stayed fairly resilient, says Steve Mattei, a partner in Pinnacle Partners
Inc.
Pinnacle specializes in…
Over the years, the city has made a name for itself by hosting a handful of large conventions and a bevy of small and midsize
gatherings. But as companies and other organizations tighten their belts, the number of conventions
held nationwide is expected to shrink in the months ahead.
You think the recent stock-market gyrations have been g u t – w r e n c h i n g ? Imagine if you’re responsible not just for your own money, but for millions of dollars others have entrusted to you. That’s the reality for Indiana’s professional money managers, who collectively oversee billions of dollars. In good times, top-performing managers of mutual funds and individual accounts are treated like heroes, heralded with features in Barron’s or appearances on CNBC….
As real estate professionals well know, a troubled economy is making it harder to negotiate and close deals. However, buying or leasing real estate in a troubled economy also provides great opportunities for buyers and tenants. Real estate brokers often talk about it being a buyer’s and renter’s market and focus on selection and price; however, there are several other benefits when buying or leasing commercial real estate in a troubled economy. These additional benefits include tax abatements or credits…
The week of Halloween at the Hicks household is also the week we learn about taxes. It is a natural combination-they are both kind of scary and involve giving up something you’ve worked for to someone else. Having three kids of different ages and interests is especially instructive. My fourth-grader is all about the experience of trick or treating with friends. She is likely to savor every minute chatting, holding hands and skipping along. She is not trying to maximize…
The Indiana Pacers are ratcheting up sales and marketing initiatives while cutting costs elsewhere in an effort to simultaneously
ride out the economic storm and boost attendance. The team has little hope of being profitable this year-or even breaking
even, said Pacers President Jim Morris, but he added that within three years the franchise’s financial status should be much
improved.
Joe the Plumber has been getting plenty of attention in recent weeks, but what about Kimberly the Merchant or John the Manufacturer? For all the talk about whether this year’s presidential candidates favor Wall Street or Main Street, there’s little discussion of the fact that neither Democrat Barack Obama nor Republican John McCain may be perfect for all small-business owners. Indianapolis manufacturing firm owner John Raine is backing McCain because of his stance on taxes and labor unions. Local shop…
The big debt payments on the $1.1 billion midfield terminal at Indianapolis International Airport start coming due in January–just
as a recession hits and the battered airline industry cuts capacity. Despite the likely prospect of fewer passengers than
projected in the next year or two, airport managers say they don’t anticipate problems shouldering the roughly $40 million
a year in debt burden over the next 30 years for the new facility.
Although the spigot of bank financing has slowed to a trickle, money to fund commercial development projects remains available from alternative sources. Just ask David Amick, executive director of Premier Capital Corp., a local lender that uses federal funds to help finance expansions. “We’ve got money to lend,” he said. “I’ve got that [message] hung on the door.” The fragile credit markets have nearly diminished the ability of companies to borrow. But lenders such as Amick insist the money is…
As the economy slows and money gets scarce, banks arenâ??t the only organizations that should consider merging.
Thatâ??s how United Way of Central Indiana CEO Ellen Annala sees the landscape.
The Indianapolis area has a whopping 16,000 not-for-profits, she says, one for…
Waves of layoffs are going to hit the country as banks tighten lending and companies cut costs, BusinessWeek
predicted in an article this week.
Unlike the dot-com and housing busts of recent years, this time just about every industry…
After a tumultuous and historic couple of weeks, culminating Oct. 10-when stocks dropped 800 points as the market opened-investors stood on the edge of the abyss and stopped selling. Market participants arrived at the conclusion that, over that coming weekend, financial chiefs around the world would do whatever it took to rescue the financial system. And they did, by formulating measures to be undertaken by finance leaders across the globe that are unprecedented and wideranging, from supporting the commercial paper…
I was uncomfortably challenged when Faye of the Forest landed on my deck a few days ago wanting to know what all these economic goings-on meant. “I’m responsible for teaching the elves,” she said, “and I don’t know what to tell them.” “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “But here’s what seems to me has happened.” “Some people,” I said, “are unable to make the payments on their mortgages. These mortgages are not held by the banks…
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson promises to buoy Indiana’s slumping rural counties with a three-tiered
incentive plan. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has a different vision for stoking the state economy. He wants to build on Indiana’s
strengths–such as world-class research at universities–to innovate and create jobs.
