Consumer confidence index surges in Dec.

December 28, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

new york

Americans are gaining faith that the economy is on the upswing.

An improving job outlook helped the Consumer Confidence Index soar to the highest level since April and near a post-recession peak, according to a monthly survey by The Conference Board.

The second-straight monthly surge coincided with a decent holiday shopping season for retailers, though stores had to heavily discount to attract shoppers.

The rise in confidence jibes with a better outlook for the overall economy. An Associated Press poll of three dozen private, corporate and academic economists projects U.S. economic growth will speed up in 2012, if it isn’t derailed by upheavals in Europe.

Poll: Home prices down in many areas

washington

U.S. home prices fell in most major cities for the second-straight month, further evidence that the housing recovery will be bumpy and weigh on the broader economy in 2012.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in October from September in 19 of the 20 cities tracked.

The decline reflects the typical fall slowdown after the peak buying season.

New insurance fee

washington

Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health- insurance plan for research to find out which drugs, medical procedures, tests and treatments work best. But what will Americans do with the answers?

The goal of the research, part of a little-known provision of President Barack Obama’s health-care law, is to answer such basic questions as whether that new prescription drug advertised on TV really works better than an old generic costing much less.

But in the politically charged environment surrounding health care, the idea of medical effectiveness research is eyed with suspicion. The insurance fee could be branded a tax and drawn into the vortex of election-year politics.

Settlement in LCD price-fixing case

albany, n.y.

Seven companies based in Asia will pay $553 million to settle claims by officials in eight states that they conspired to inflate prices for liquid-crystal display screens used in televisions and computer monitors, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday.

The agreement provides $501 million for partial refunds for consumers in 24 states and the District of Columbia who purchased products with the companies’ LCD panels from 1999 through 2006.

In a group of lawsuits that eventually were consolidated into one federal case in the Northern District of California, officials in the eight states alleged that the Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese companies conspired along with certain affiliates of each corporation to fix prices on their thin-film transistor LCD panels.

Wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 22.30 +0.28

Avalon Holdings,2.76—0.01

Clear Channel, .65 62.50 +1.49

Cortland Bancorp, 6.50—0.80

Farmers Nat.44.83 +0.45

First Energy, 2.20, 44.83+0.45

FirstMerit Corp., .64,15.57 +0.13

First Niles Financial, .32,7.980.00

First Place Fin., 0.47+0.06

FNB Corp., .48,11.46+0.16

General Motors,20.09—0.41

General Electric, .60,18.01—0.22

Motors Liquidation, 0.422 0.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 5.55—0.10

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,33.03—0.54

Key Corp, .12,7.73—0.05

LaFarge, 8.53 —0.10

Macy’s, .40, 32.28+0.08

Parker Hannifin, 1.48, 77.93+0.51

PNC, 1.40,58.37—0.20

RTI Intl. Metals,23.440.00

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,131.00+0.74

Stoneridge 8.69 —0.01

United Community Fin. 1.25+0.05

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.