Producer prices' drop most in half-centur
Thanks to dropping energy and new car prices, the threat of inflation is nonexistent, analysts say.
Health coverage options dwindle
Many large employers are consolidating their plans in an attempt to negotiate better deals from insurers.
Insurance offerings decline in bay area
Frank Brocato, president and chief executive of Employers Health Coalition, which represents 145 employers in central and west-central Florida, said some of his members have been cutting back on insurance offerings in the past 18 months.
Dynegy finalizes purchase of Enron
The energy marketer will buy its troubled rival, which has stumbled badly since revealing financial problems.
Top regulator outlines changes for SEC
The new chairman tells a Wall Street group that he wants more financial reports from companies and quicker prosecutions of fraud.
The Book of Buffett
A Tampa businessman's second book on investor extraordinaire Warren Buffett and his philosophy hit the shelves this month.
Business digest
SOUTHERN EXCHANGE ADDS BANK: Southern Exchange Bank has agreed to buy the Florida Bank of Commerce of Pinellas County, capping off a three-year growth spree for Tampa's oldest bank. Terms were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Southern Exchange will add Florida Bank's $60-million in assets, pushing its total assets to about $510-million. Florida Bank of Commerce has full-service branches in Largo and Palm Harbor and a loan processing office in Oldsmar. Southern Exchange, chartered in 1923, has grown from five branches to 19 since 1998.
