TEL AVIV, Israel, April 26 (UPI) — Israel, which has the most advanced defense industry in the Middle East, is in the forefront of the rapidly expanding drone business that’s changing the…
Category: Business
The NorthIowaToday.com Business Section. Business stories and a directory of top North Iowa businesses.
Apple’s developer conference sells out like a rock concert in minutes
CUPERTINO, Calif., April 26 (UPI) — Ticket sales for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco set a new record, selling out in just 2 minutes Thursday, the company said. The…
China says battle against use of pirated software being won
BEIJING, April 26 (UPI) — A Chinese government drive to curtail the use of pirated software by government institutions as well as corporations has been successful, officials say. Since the effort was…
U.S. energy means clout, adviser says
NEW YORK, April 27 (UPI) — Developments in the U.S. oil and natural gas sectors are strengthening the country’s position in the world, national security adviser Tom Donilon said. U.S. crude oil…
Google to change search results after European Union probe
BRUSSELS, April 25 (UPI) — Google says it has agreed to change the way it presents search results in the wake of a European investigation of whether it unfairly promoted its own…
Mortgage rates at or close to record lows
WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) — U.S. mortgage rates hit record lows or close to them in the latest week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday. Rates slid for the fourth…
Microsoft sets May 21 as unveiling date for next-generation Xbox
REDMOND, Wash., April 25 (UPI) — Microsoft says it will unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 gaming console at an introductory event at its Redmond, Wash., campus next month. The May…
Apple celebrates 10 years of iTunes with digital timeline
CUPERTINO, Calif., April 25 (UPI) — Apple says a multimedia timeline posted to the music section of iTunes is a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the digital music store. Although the…
Jobless claims down sharply
WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) — The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims dropped by 16,000 to 339,000 in the week that ended last Saturday. The department revised last week’s estimate…
S&P on five-day streak
NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) — U.S. stock indexes rose modestly Thursday with an early boost provided by a drop of first-time unemployment benefits claims. The Labor Department said 16,000 fewer initial…
Winnebago Industries enters mid-size vehicle transportation market
FOREST CITY, IOWA, April 24, 2013 – Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO), one of the leading United States (U.S.) recreation vehicle manufacturers, is entering the mid-size vehicle transportation market with the introduction of…
Nissan Versa: Bragging rights, but few are bragging
FRANKLIN, Tenn., April 24 (UPI) — Japanese automaker Nissan said its 2014 Versa sedan would have a list price of $12,780, which ranks it as the lowest priced car sold in the…
Study says actuary is best U.S. job
NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) — An annual CareerCast report found that the top-ranked job in the United States in 2013 is an actuary — one who assesses risk through mathematics. Respondents…
NASA to foot the bill for U.S. production of nuclear spacecraft fuel
WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) — NASA says it will begin footing the bill for all production in the United States of plutonium-238 fuel used in satellites and spacecraft. Costs of plutonium-238 fuel…
Amazon said planning to enter streaming video arena with set-top box
SEATTLE, April 24 (UPI) — Amazon will introduce a set-top box this fall dedicated to streaming video over the Internet and into its customers’ living rooms, Business Week reported. The e-commerce company’s…
Outside View: Deceptively strong GDP report expected
By PETER MORICI COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 25 (UPI) — Forecasters expect the U.S. Commerce Department to report Friday the U.S. economy grew a brisk 3.1 percent in the first quarter but…
Some 25.6 million in U.S. defrauded by scammers
WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) — Eleven percent of U.S. adults, or 25.6 million, paid for fraudulent products or services in 2011, such as weight-loss products or bogus prizes, officials say. The Federal…
Banks scale back on top end bonus pay
NEW YORK, April 24 (UPI) — A study of compensation at U.S. banks found that seven of the largest financial firms in the country lowered maximum bonus pay for executives in 2012….
Mass layoffs dropped in March from February
WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) — The number of mass layoffs in March — layoffs involving 50 workers or more — fell by 85 compared to February, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday….
Home prices rose in February
WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — A U.S. home price index rose 0.67 percent January to February, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday. The agency said home prices rose 7.1 percent on…
Flights delayed again, blamed on air-traffic controller furloughs
NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) — Officials Tuesday blamed the sequester for delays in U.S. airline flights at New York airports. The Federal Aviation Administration reported delays of 30 to 44 minutes…
Netflix to offer ‘family’ plan with double the number of video streams
LOS GATOS, Calif., April 23 (UPI) — U.S. streaming video service Netflix has announced a new “family” plan that will allow up to four devices to play video from one account simultaneously….
United States funding biofuels research
WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — Nearly $18 million is available to help U.S. researchers develop biofuels that meet military specifications, the U.S. Energy Department announced. U.S. oil and natural gas production has…
Cimatron donates leading CAD/CAM software to NIACC
Novi, MI – April 18, 2013 – Cimatron Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Cimatron Limited (NASDAQ: CIMT), today announced that it will provide 25 seats of its leading CAD/CAM software CimatronE to…
New home sales tick higher
WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — Sales of new single-family homes rose 1.5 percent in March from February, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday. Sales for the month came to a seasonally adjusted…
Markets overcome a tweet and close higher
NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) — U.S. stock indexes rose Monday after a dramatic midafternoon dive triggered by a bogus tweet. The Wall Street Journal reported that the tweet posted on the…
Actor Matthew McConaughey starts clothing line
NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) — Actor Matthew McConaughey says he is working with Canada’s Grand National Apparel on a clothing collection inspired by his active lifestyle. A portion of sales from…
Study: Recession prompted slowdown in healthcare spending
MENLO PARK, Calif., April 22 (UPI) — Slower growth in U.S. healthcare spending can be traced primarily to the economic downturn, a study found. The study, if correct, settles the argument on…
Markets punch through for gains
NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) — U.S. stock indexes rose Monday with investors seemingly determined to win back some of last week’s losses. Shares of Dow component Caterpillar rose 2.83 percent despite…
Google head: Google Glass a year away, will need new ‘etiquette’
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 22 (UPI) — Google head Eric Schmidt says Google Glass, the wearable computer with display, is at least a year away and will require new social etiquette when…
Yahoo! to shutter China email service in August
BEIJING, April 22 (UPI) — Yahoo! has announced it will close its Chinese email service in August, advising users to register with a new service to prevent loss of emails and data….
Existing home sales slipped in March
WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) — Limited inventories held back U.S. home sales in March, a trade group in Washington said Monday. The National Association of Realtors, which tracks sales of existing homes,…
Florida attorney general files suit over Deepwater Horizon oil spill
PANAMA CITY, Fla., April 21 (UPI) — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a lawsuit against BP over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and economic losses caused by the spill. The…
Disney pledges $1M in Chinese earthquake aid
BEIJING, April 21 (UPI) — The Walt Disney Co. pledged $1 million in aid to China where an earthquake left more than 180 dead, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy said. Kennedy made the…
Economist: Energy reserves overvalued by global markets
LONDON, April 20 (UPI) — A British economist warns of a so-called carbon bubble, caused by investors betting countries will not meet international targets for cutting emissions. Nicholas Stern said investments based…
Honda to recall 204,500 vehicles to replace safety component
TOKYO, April 19 (UPI) — The Honda Motor Co. says it will recall 204,500 vehicles from the 2012 and 2013 model years to replace a safety component. The recall covers 128,000 Honda…
Markets turn higher Friday
NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) — U.S. stock indexes rose Friday, closing out a volatile week in which corporate reports knocked back initial enthusiasm. The latest corporate report to backfire came from…
26 states see unemployment rates fall
WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) — Unemployment rates rose in seven states and fell in 26 and Washington, D.C., from February to March, the Labor Department said Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics…
Long-term unemployed face hurdles
CHICAGO, April 18 (UPI) — Job seekers who have been unemployed long-term can be perceived as unemployable, making it even harder to find work, an employment firm based in Chicago said. John…
Market roller coaster closes lower
NEW YORK, April 17 (UPI) — U.S. markets went through another dramatic mood swing Wednesday, this one dropping stocks sharply after two days of triple-digit adjustments. The Dow Jones industrial average and…