Hot finance topics

Enterprise Financial Corp. said its first-quarter profit rose 50 percent, to $6.2 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with $4.1 million, or 23 cents per share, in the corresponding period of 2011. Clayton-based Enterprise Financial, the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust, said non-performing loans totaled $47 no fax payday loans.2 million, or […]

Tired of waits to fill orders and lack of control over his Asian factories, Pierrick Haan, chief executive officer of Dupont Medical, decided last year to return production of some wheelchairs and medical equipment to France.
The 150-year-old Dupont Medical created 20 jobs making custom devices at a plant in central France — and will […]

Pinnacle Airlines Corp., a regional carrier that flies under contract for Delta, United, Continental and US Airways, has filed for bankruptcy protection to deal with its mounting debt.
The Memphis, Tenn.-based airline said late Sunday its current business model isn’t sustainable. In its filing Sunday, it lists $1.42 billion in debt and $1.54 billion in assets. […]

General Electric Co. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s compensation fell 24 percent in 2011 after it spiked in 2010.
GE, which makes products ranging from jet engines to light bulbs, as well as financing projects around the globe, gave Immelt a pay package valued at nearly $11.4 million, according to an analysis of regulatory documents filed […]

Iran’s foreign minister has called for other countries to chose engagement over confrontation in resolving their differences over his nation’s nuclear program.
Ali Akbar Salehi told the U.N.-hosted Conference on Disarmament that “nuclear energy is not equated with nuclear weapons” and Iran has no intention to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Iran claims its nuclear program is […]

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said slower inflation gives policy makers room to increase bond purchases to aid the U.K. economy and guard against a

South Korea

The United States will hold talks with North Korea in Beijing Thursday on the possibility of providing food aid to the impoverished country, the State Department said.
The Obama administration has been deliberating on the issue for months. The United Nations and U.S. charities say aid is badly needed, but it remains a controversial issue. North […]

Livestock farmers are demanding a change in the nation’s ethanol policy, claiming current rules could lead to spikes in meat prices and even shortages at supermarkets if corn growers have a bad year.
The amount of corn consumed by the ethanol industry combined with continued demand from overseas has cattle and hog farmers worried that if […]

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