http://finadviceblog.com Finance news. My opinion. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en CPI Corp. has named a new interim president and chief executive officer as it moves its stock to the over-the-counter market. James J. Abel, 65, a director of the company since 2004, is the new leader of the St. Louis-based company, which operates portrait studios inside Sears and Walmart stores. ... http://finadviceblog.com/cpi-corp-names-new-interim-ceo-as-stock-heads-to-over-the-counter-market/ Costs related to Ralcorp Holdings' spin-off of its branded cereal business and an October acquisition drove down first quarter profit by 8 percent. St. Louis-based Ralcorp posted a net income of $65.3 million, or $1.16 a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31,  down from $71.3 million, or $1.28 a share, ... http://finadviceblog.com/ralcorps-profit-slips-in-first-fiscal-quarter/ The spending cuts that helped the U.K. preserve its AAA credit rating last year and bolstered the pound are now weighing on the currency as investors lose confidence that Prime Minister David Cameron will revive economic growth. Sterling had its worst January since 2008, falling 0.6 percent, after ... http://finadviceblog.com/cameron-faith-in-ratings-that-dont-matter-hurts-pound-with-anemic-growth-bloomberg/ The jailed founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload is complaining that women inmates are giving him unwanted attention. In a New Zealand courtroom to appeal a decision denying him bail, Kim Dotcom said he's gotten unwanted letters from female prisoners and a phone call from a man posing as a ... http://finadviceblog.com/kim-dotcom-complains-about-women-inmates-letters/ Australia http://finadviceblog.com/australias-service-industry-grew-last-month-snapping-three-month-decline-bloomberg/ Fiat Group SpA, which controls Chrysler LLC, has reported that full-year earnings more than doubled as Chrysler posted its first profit since 1997. The company says it made euro1.3 billion ($1.71 billion) in net profit last year, compared with euro520 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 66 percent to ... http://finadviceblog.com/fiat-2011-earnings-double-as-chrysler-sales-rise/ Current and former Food and Drug Administration officials say in a lawsuit that the agency secretly monitored their private email after they raised concerns that approved medical devices might risk public safety. The doctors and scientists who researched the products approached members of Congress and the incoming Obama administration to ... http://finadviceblog.com/suit-says-fda-monitored-staffers-private-email/ WASHINGTON • The economy grew late last year at a pace that in normal times would suggest it's healthy. But the 2.8 percent annualized growth rate in the October-December quarter — the fastest pace since the spring of 2010 — isn't being cheered by most economists or investors. That's because ... http://finadviceblog.com/mixed-reviews-on-growth/ The Crowne Plaza hotel near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is facing foreclosure next month. An analyst said Thursday the hotel is among about 17 hotels, all owned by Columbia Sussex Corp., pushed toward default by Wachovia. Foreclosure of the Crowne Plaza is scheduled for Feb. 14. A hotel representative referred ... http://finadviceblog.com/crowne-plaza-facing-foreclosure/ The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it is unlikely to raise interest rates before late 2014, extending a period of record-low rates by more than a year. The Fed says it is keeping rates low to help lift a weak but modestly growing economy. The new timeframe hints at details ... http://finadviceblog.com/fed-unlikely-to-raise-rates-until-at-least-2014/