Business and Finance news

Texsan Heart Hospital in San Antonio has signed managed-care agreements with
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. The hospital is owned by Charlotte-based MedCath Corp. and physician partners.
The new contracts provide in-network access to Texsan Heart Hospital for about 200,000 Blue Cross members.
"We are pleased to reach an […]

The Consumer Price Index for the Midwest increased 0.6 percent in January, following a decline of 0.3 percent in December.
The index was up 4.3 percent from the January 2007 level, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
According to Regional Commissioner Stanley Suchman, all major expenditure categories […]

Sri Lanka's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at a 5 1/2-year high in a bid to cool inflation without jeopardizing economic growth.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka maintained its repurchase rate at 10.5 percent for a 12th straight meeting, the Colombo- based bank said in a statement today. All 12 […]

Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GHCC) President and CEO Sara González, 72, died of a heart attack late Feb. 18, the organization reported Tuesday.
Under González’ leadership, GHCC said it grew in endowment and membership, from 172 members in 1996 to nearly 1,500 members in 2007. González started the Hispanic American Center for Economic […]

International buying of U.S. financial assets in December slowed for a second month on weaker demand for Treasuries and debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Foreign holdings of equities, notes and bonds rose a net $56.5 billion, after a $90.9 billion increase in November, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. […]

Dunkin' Donuts announced Thursday it plans to bring more than 100 new restaurants over the next several years to the St. Louis market.
The baked goods and coffee chain is seeking new franchisees to own and operate a minimum of five new Dunkin' Donuts locations in St. Louis and surrounding counties on both […]

Comcast Spotlight said Monday it has acquired all of Vehix.com for an undisclosed sum.
The advertising sales division of Comcast Cable Communications Inc. already had a stake in Vehix, which provides information to car buyers and sellers over the Internet to computer and mobile phone users and via on-demand and other programming to cable-TV […]

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., which owns several St. Louis-area shopping malls, saw its net income fall in the fourth quarter and fiscal year on a noncash write-down of marketable securities, among other items.
The company reported net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 was $18.87 million, down more than 51 percent […]

In its latest quarterly financial report filed Monday, LSI Industries Inc. said large numbers of shareholders withheld votes for Chairman and CEO Bob Ready, for its executive vice president in charge of manufacturing James Sferra, and for Cincinnati lawyer Gary Kreider in voting for LSI's board of directors at its annual meeting in November. […]

Manufacturing in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, cooled in January as growth in shipments overseas slowed.
The Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 53 from 55.3 in December, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics said today in an e-mailed statement. A CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets PMI index […]