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A.M. Best ponders Nationwide cut
By wire services
Published October 29, 2005
In its first alert since Hurricane Wilma hit Monday, insurance rating agency A.M. Best warned it may cut the financial strength rating of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.'s Florida unit.
A.M. Best listed the Florida unit's rating of B (Very Good) as under review with negative implications. The agency won't make changes until further discussions with Nationwide about recapitalization, said analyst Anthony Diodato.
Accentia sells 2.4M shares in public debut
Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc. went public Friday, selling 2.4-million shares at $8 a share. The Tampa company is beginning or conducting trials on two drugs, SinuNase to treat chronic sinusitis and Biovaxid to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The stock will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol ABPI. It closed at $7.25, down 75 cents, Friday. The company had hoped to go public in July and raise considerably more money, but ran into snags including a change in underwriters. GunnAllen Financial of Tampa is one of the offering's co-managers.
Insurers banned from canceling policies
Florida insurance regulators issued a broad emergency order Friday banning insurers from canceling or not renewing policies for 30 days in counties affected by Hurricane Wilma. The order, effective through Nov. 19, covers commercial or residential property, automobile, health, life, health maintenance organizations and continuing care retirement centers in 20 counties: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, St. Lucie and Sarasota. The order doesn't apply to policies issued Monday or later.
FCC doesn't vote on phone mergers
Federal regulators failed to reach agreement Friday on whether to approve SBC Communications' takeover of AT&T and Verizon Communications' purchase of MCI. The Federal Communications Commission set another meeting for Monday.
EU offers to reduce agricultural tariffs
The European Union offered on Friday to reduce average agricultural tariffs by 46 percent, its steepest farm-tariff cuts, in a proposal aimed at breaking a deadlock in world trade talks. The EU said it would reduce the highest tariff rates by 60 percent and eliminate subsidies for farm exports if trading partners made similar moves at a World Trade Organization meeting in December.
Berkshire gets $23M
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to pay billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company more than $23-million in taxes and interest for disallowing certain deductions. The ruling ended three years of legal wrangling between Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and the IRS.
You just knew that Jared wouldn't like steak
The world's largest sandwich chain is threatening to sue a father-and-son sandwich shop, claiming the name Steakways Famous Philly Cheese Steaks is too similar to the Subway trademark.
Steakways, a small shop on a street corner about 2 miles from Subway world headquarters in Milford, Conn., has been open for a year. It caters to local businesses and, in the summer, attracts visitors of the nearby beach.
Recently, Steakways received a letter from Subway's lawyers, arguing that the names were confusingly similar and demanding the store change its name within two weeks or the company would sue.
"Regardless of the size, if there looks like there may be a copyright infringement we've got to protect the name," Subway spokesman Kevin Kane said.
... and don't get your Duds mixed up
The double meaning may be clever, but the Hershey Co., maker of Milk Duds candy, is trying to stop a California company from using a sound-alike name for a line of clothing designed to make breast-feeding easier.
Hershey said in a complaint to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the name of the Milkdudz nursing wear is confusingly similar to the name of the round chocolate-covered caramels Hershey sells.
Milkdudz - "not your mommaz nursing wear" - sells garments for nursing mothers from "Goddess Gowns" to tank tops.
In a filing with the Patent Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Hershey said, "The clothier is trying to capitalize on the name recognition of Milk Duds to avoid having to build up its own brand."
Kiersten Wall, who co-founded Milkdudz with Stephanie Schulte in March 2004, said the Temecula, Calif., company would fight any name change, and that Hershey had a trademark only for candy, not clothing.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
[Last modified October 29, 2005, 01:44:11]
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