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Market news on your cell Go to courier-journal.com/mobile for daily market news or stock quotes. Business KY TUESDAY MARCH 6, 2012 B4 MONEY & MARKETS NEXT PAGE THE TICKER t S&P 500 1,364.33 -5.30 DOW t NASDAQ t 2,950.48 -25.71 12,962.81 -14.76 Average price per gallon of regular gas in Louisville GAS COSTS HOW MUCH 4 5 1 2 3 March $3.65 $3.65 $3.65 $3.66 $3.67 THE COURIER-JOURNAL SOURCES: AAA (Data from Oil Price Information Service with Wright Express) BUSINESS WATCH NEWS FROM THE REGION Thoroughbred betting up 7.6% in February Favorable winter weather and an extra day helped spur an increase in thoroughbred wa- gering for February, according to statistics released Monday. The $884 million bet on U.S. races last month increased 7.6 percent over the same period a year ago. The 332 racing dates increased 6.41 percent over the prior year, while the nearly $71 million in purses awarded in- creased 6.41 percent. Combined with January, the $1.7 billion bet in the first two months increased 3.24 percent over 2011. Purses of $136.8 mil- lion are up 8.26 percent, while the number of racing dates — 647 — is up 0.78 percent. Apple: Over 25 billion apps downloaded More than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from Apple’s app store. A statement from Apple on Monday said the downloads went to more than 315 million iPhones, iPads and iPod touch- es. The app store has more than 550,000 apps, some of which are free. Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China, downloaded the 25 billionth app and won a $10,000 iTunes gift card. The app store launched four years ago. Apple says the store has paid out more than $4 bil- lion to developers. New U.S. agency hears student-loan gripes The government’s new con- sumer protection agency start- ed accepting complaints Mon- day about student loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it ex- pects complaints about billing, confusing advertising and col- lection by private student lend- ers. It will relay complaints about federal student loans, such as Stafford and PLUS loans, to the Department of Education. Americans owe more to stu- dent lenders than they owe to credit card issuers or any other category of unsecured lender, the CFPB said. Mortgages are considered secured loans be- cause banks can foreclose on the house if a borrower stops making payments. The CFPB was created by Congress to oversee parts of the financial industry that were poorly regulated before the fi- nancial crisis. It will serve as a single contact point for con- sumers with complaints about most financial products. Consumers wishing to lodge a complaint can visit www.con- sumerfinance.gov or call (855) 411-2372. — From staff and wire reports WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy is improving faster than economists had expected. They now foresee slightly strong- er growth and hiring than they did two months earlier — trends that would help President Barack Obama’s re-election hopes. That’s among the findings of an Associated Press survey late last month of leading economists. The economists think the unem- ployment rate will fall from its current 8.3 percent to 8 percent by Election Day. That’s better than their 8.4 percent estimate when surveyed in late December. By the end of 2013, they pre- dict unemployment will drop to 7.4 percent, down from their ear- lier estimate of 7.8 percent, ac- cording to the AP Economy Sur- vey. The brighter outlook for jobs follows five straight months of declining unemployment. One reason the rate has fallen so fast is that fewer out-of-work Ameri- cans have started looking for jobs. People out of work aren’t counted by the Labor Depart- ment as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking jobs. Many economists have been surprised that the stronger econ- omy hasn’t led more people with- out jobs to start looking for work. If many more were looking, the unemployment rate would likely be higher. On Friday, the government will issue the jobs report for Feb- ruary. Economists expect it to show that employers added a net 210,000 jobs and that the unem- ployment rate remained 8.3 per- cent. The AP survey collected the views of two dozen private, cor- porate and academic economists on a range of indicators. Among their forecasts: » Americans will save gradu- ally less and borrow more, re- versing a shift toward frugality that followed the financial crisis and the start of the recession. » Obama deserves little or no credit for declining unemploy- ment. Only one of the 19 econo- mists who answered the question said Obama should get “a lot” of credit. They give most of the credit to U.S. consumers, who ac- count for about 70 percent of eco- nomic growth, and businesses. » The economy has begun a self-sustaining period in which job growth is fueling more con- sumer spending, which should lead to further hiring. » European leaders will man- age to defuse their continent’s debt crisis and prevent a global recession. But the economists think Europe’s economy will shrink for all of 2012. » The economy will grow 2.5 percent this year, up from the economists’ earlier forecast of 2.4 percent. In 2011, the economy grew 1.7 percent. For months, the U.S. economy has shown signs of steady im- provement. Employers added more than 200,000 net jobs in both December and January. The un- employment rate is at its lowest level in nearly three years. Optimism on economy up Survey: Forecasters more upbeat about ’12 By Christopher S. Rugaber Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. — Federal reg- ulators have rejected Merck & Co.’s new combination cholester- ol drug, which includes a generic version of the mega-blockbuster Lipitor — at least for now. It’s unclear how long the rul- ing, announced Monday, might delay approval of the drug, as the Food and Drug Administration is requiring additional study data on the compound. It combines ge- neric Lipitor, the top-selling drug of all time, with Merck’s choles- terol medicine Zetia. Approval could boost Merck’s sagging cholesterol franchise by essentially replacing its existing combo pill, Vytorin, with one like- ly to be seen as more powerful. Vytorin sales have been dwin- dling for the last few years be- cause of concerns about how well it works — and now Merck has to contend with patients possibly defecting to the generic versions of Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor, which came onto the market at the end of November. Merck said Monday that com- pany officials will talk with the FDA to determine the next steps, adding that some new data ex- pected later this year may ad- dress the FDA’s concerns. Wall Street seemed unfazed by the news, perhaps because the FDA increasingly asks for addi- tional data before approving many new drugs. In morning trading, Merck shares were up 38 cents at $38.31. The experimental drug, MK-0653C, contains medicines that fight high cholesterol in two different ways to reduce risk of heart attack and stroke. Sales of Vytorin and Zetia were hurt when Merck, under pressure from a congressional in- quiry, in early 2008 finally re- leased unfavorable results from a study it’d hoped would bolster Vytorin sales. Instead, it showed that Vyto- rin was no better at reducing plaque buildup in neck arteries than just Zocor, which had been available as a cheap generic since 2006. Zetia, also known as ezeti- mibe, is protected by patent in the U.S. until 2017. FDA rejects Merck’s new bid Combo cholesterol drug would replace Vytorin By Linda A. Johnson Associated Press The Jockey Club announced Monday that more than a dozen racetracks — including two in Kentucky — that participate in a horse industry racing fatality database have agreed to release the statistics for their proper- ties. But the four tracks owned by Louisville-based Churchill Downs Inc. are not among them. The Kentucky tracks that agreed to release their data in The Jockey Club’s Equine Inju- ry Database are Keeneland Race Course in Lexington and Turfway Park in Florence. A Jockey Club spokesman said Churchill was invited to re- lease the data and declined. Churchill spokesman John Asher said that figures for the company’s Louisville track are provided to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and that “anyone wishing to review the information we disclose can eas- ily obtain it from the KHRC.” Asher’s statement did not deal with the availability of the information for the other three states where the company owns tracks. Those tracks are Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Calder near Miami and Arlington Park near Chicago. The Churchill tracks partici- pate in the database — as do all of Kentucky’s thoroughbred tracks — which was launched af- ter the breakdown of 2006 Ken- tucky Derby winner Barbaro in the Preakness Stakes highlight- ed the lack of reliable fatality statistics in racing. To encourage participation by tracks, the database organiz- ers hadn’t previously disclosed fatality rates for individual tracks. The tracks whose individual data is now available through The Jockey Club’s Website, jockeyclub.com, agreed to pub- lish their results. Keeneland, which races pri- marily on the synthetic Poly- track surface, already had made its statistics public. James L. Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club, said in a state- ment that the database, which recently completed its third year, covers 93 percent of North American racing days. Posting the data from indi- vidual tracks “is designed to en- courage other racetracks to fol- low their lead and make public their data in a standard, summa- ry fashion,” he said. Besides Keeneland and Turf- way, other tracks participating include those owned by Frank Stronach’s racing company and the three major New York tracks, Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga. “We are committed to mak- ing our racetracks as safe as possible for our human and equine athletes,” Greg Avioli, chief executive officer of the Stronach Entertainment Group, said in a statement. The Stronach tracks are San- ta Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Portland Meadows. “Sharing information through the Equine Injury Data- base is an important step in the industry’s ongoing effort to bet- ter understand the causes of on- track injuries and take neces- sary steps to reduce these inju- ries in the future,” Avioli said. The Equine Injury Database was created and is maintained by The Jockey Club, through its commercial subsidiaries In- Compass Solutions Inc. and The Jockey Club Technology Ser- vices Inc., as a service to the in- dustry. Reporter Gregory A. Hall can be reached at (502) 582-4087. Churchill Downs personnel try to hold down Eight Belles after the 2008 Kentucky Derby. The horse had to be euthanized. The Louisville racetrack is not one of those releasing data on fatalities. BRIAN BOHANNON/AP Tracks to release horse fatality data Churchill not among them By Gregory A. Hall [email protected] The Courier-Journal BRUSSELS — A dozen banks, insurers and investment funds holding Greece’s bonds will par- ticipate in a massive debt relief plan for the country, the group representing private creditors in the talks said Monday. The statement from the Insti- tute of International Finance comes amid concern that not enough investors will voluntarily swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with a much lower face value, longer repay- ment deadlines and lower inter- est rates. Private creditors have until Thursday night to sign up for the bond swap, which could slice as much as $141.5 billion off Greec- e’s $462.7 billion debt pile. Inves- tors who participate would lose around 75 percent of the value of their overall bond holdings. However, without the debt re- lief, Greece won’t get a second, $172 billion bailout from the other euro countries and the Interna- tional Monetary Fund and default on its debts, likely leaving inves- tors with much bigger losses. The 12 big investors that have promised to participate in the plan include German insurer Al- lianz, French bank BNP Paribas, Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, as well as Greec- e’s Eurobank EFG and National Bank of Greece, the IIF said. The banking group did not say how much Greek debt these institu- tions hold. Key investors signed up for Greek debt relief Some fear not enough investors will join plan Associated Press Q. What should I look for in deciding on a health insurance plan? A. People shopping for insurance should first consider how they used their health coverage in the past year and how they plan to use it in the year ahead. That will help determine which plan fits best. For example, think about whether you are planning any surgeries or physical therapy. SPENDING & SAVING SPENDING & SAVING Q&A Q&A Time: 03-05-2012 21:29 User: dalbrecht PubDate: 03-06-2012 Zone: KY Edition: 1 Page Name: B4 Color: Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
