Foreclosures down

Foreclosures down

YOUNGSTOWN

Foreclosure rates decreased 27 percent in the first quarter of 2011 over the same period last year, according to RealityTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released Thursday.

Ohio ranked 12th among states, as there were 24,697 foreclosure filings in the first three months of 2011, representing a 25 percent decrease from 2010.

Overall, there were 681,153 foreclosures throughout the U.S., a 27-percent drop from last year and a 15-percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Gaming analysis

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services has selected two companies to advise the state on how to better organize gaming operations.

Spectrum Gaming Group of Linwood, N.J., and Moelis & Company of Los Angeles will each be paid about $400 an hour to conduct a comprehensive analysis of how different forms of gambling — such as horse racing and video-lottery terminals — will affect the state.

Cruze named Car of the Year

Pasay City, Phillipines

The Chevrolet Cruze was named Car of the Year by the Car Awards Group at the 7th Manila International Auto Show.

The Cruze beat out the Subaru Impreza, Jaguar XF, Mitsubishi ASX and Hyundai Sonata for the distinction.

Ford widens recall of F-150 pickup

DETROIT

Ford bowed to pressure from regulators Thursday and widened a recall of America’s top-selling vehicle, the F-150 pickup, because its air bags can deploy at the wrong time.

The recall now covers nearly 1.2 million F-150s built for the 2004 and 2005 model years and some built for 2006. An electrical short can cause the air bags to inflate without a crash and could injure drivers.

Ford Motor Co. in February said it would fix the problem in 150,000 trucks but had resisted the government’s wishes to expand the recall.

The widened recall shows how regulators have become more aggressive since being criticized last year for a slow response to unintended acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles. It’s also a sign that it will be harder for Ford and other automakers to limit the size of future recalls.

Financial stocks fall

NEW YORK

Financial stocks fell broadly Thursday, left out of a late lift that pared earlier losses for most major stock indexes.

Goldman Sachs dropped nearly 3 percent after Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that a panel he leads found new evidence that Goldman misled investors. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. each fell more than 1 percent.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index added 0.11 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to close at 1,314.52. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.16, or 0.1 percent, to 12,285.15. The Nasdaq composite lost 1.30, or 0.1 percent, to 2,760.22.

From staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .62, 21.94 .09

Avalon Holdings,2.95.06

Clear Channel, .63 58.09 .84

Cortland Bancorp, 6.25.00

Farmers Nat., .12, 4.75 .00

First Energy, 2.20, 38.11.39

FirstMerit Corp., .64,16.87 —.07

First Niles Financial, .32,7.50.00

First Place Fin., 2.00.10

FNB Corp., .48,10.43.08

General Motors,30.58—.28

General Electric, .56,20.00.06

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .04, 6.50—.04

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,44.97—1.28

Key Corp, .04,8.75—.10

LaFarge, 16.54 .06

Macy’s, .20, 24.44—.24

Parker Hannifin, 1.28, 93.91.33

PNC, .40,61.87—3.2

RTI Intl. Metals,29.80.00

Rural/Metro, 17.04 .01

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,107.452.40

Stoneridge 14.25 .19

United Community Fin. 1.17—.04

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