Business Digest | Inventors to meet

Inventors to meet

liberty

The Youngstown & Warren Inventors Association will meet at 7 tonight at the Liberty Township administration building, 1315 Church Hill-Hubbard Road. Guest speaker is Stewart Lenox, owner of Lenox Design, an industrial design firm based in Wadsworth, Ohio. Stewart will give a presentation on toy design and product development. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Pfizer to buy King

new york

Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will buy a company specializing in pain drugs in a $3.6 billion deal.

The deal to buy King Pharmaceutical Inc. is Pfizer’s largest since it bought rival Wyeth for $68 billion in 2009. Pfizer already has a large stake in the pain-drug market with its drugs Lyrica and Celebrex, which combined for more than $5 billion in sales in 2009.

Apple nears $300

seattle

Apple Inc.’s stock flirted with $300 Tuesday as investors high on the iPad’s promise pushed shares to a record peak. Analysts believe shares won’t stop there.

As was the case with the iPhone, Apple’s iPad is setting the standards for this generation of tablet computers as competitors scramble to match design and functions. So far, no credible challengers have hit the market.

In the first quarter it was available, Apple sold 3.3 million iPads. That’s about three times the number of iPhones sold in the first full quarter they were on sale in 2007.

Dollar drops sharply

new york

The dollar dropped sharply Tuesday afternoon after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting raised expectations that policymakers were close to enacting a new plan to support the economy.

Investors have been selling the dollar broadly since the Fed’s Sept. 21 meeting. Many expect that the central bank will announce a big bond-buying program as soon as its Nov. 2-3 meeting. Such a move could drive record-low interest rates even lower. Lower rates might help pump up the economy, but they tend to weaken the dollar’s appeal for investors.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .62, 20.42 .02

Avalon Holdings,2.80.00

Clear Channel, 1.75 54.85 .44

Cortland Bancorp, 5.30.05

Delphi Automotive, .02 .00

Farmers Nat., .12, 3.60 —.05

First Energy, 2.20, 38.35—.09

FirstMerit Corp., .64,18.58 —.01

First Niles Financial, .327.50.00

First Place Fin., 3.63—.06

FNB Corp., .48,8.96.03

General Electric, .48,17.19.23

Motors Liquidation, .34.01

Huntington Bank, .04, 5.94.12

JP Morgan Chase, .20,40.40.67

Key Corp, .04,8.50.02

LaFarge, 14.17 .00

Macy’s, .20, 24.96.11

Parker Hannifin, 1.08, 70.53—.41

PNC, .40,53.05.21

RTI Intl. Metals,29.92—.40

Rural/Metro, 8.58 —.13

Simon Prop. Grp., 2.40,96.44.71

Stoneridge 11.02 .07

United Community Fin. 1.43.00

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.