Study: Slaughter rate same for US horses

July 6, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

fort worth, texas

More than 100,000 U.S. horses a year are still being turned into chops and steaks for Europeans and Asians since three slaughter plants in Texas and Illinois were closed in 2007.

“From 2006 through 2010, U.S. horse exports for slaughter increased by 148 percent to Canada and 660 percent to Mexico,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

“Nearly the same number of U.S. horses was transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter in 2010 — nearly 138,000 — as was slaughtered before domestic slaughter ceased,” said the GAO’s study on the “unintended consequences” of stopping domestic horse slaughter, released in June.

Factory orders rise

washington

Businesses requested more airplanes, autos, and oil drilling equipment in May. The jump in factory orders after a sluggish spring suggests supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis are fading.

Factory orders rose 0.8 percent in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That followed a downwardly revised drop of 0.9 percent in April.

The rise pushed factory orders to $445.3 billion. That’s almost 32 percent higher than the low point during the recession, reached in March 2009.

Much of the increase was driven by a 36.5 percent increase in orders for aircraft.

Oil settles near $97 per barrel

new york

Some major investment banks are still betting that oil prices will grow next year despite an emergency injection of crude on world markets from the U.S. and other countries.

Higher oil prices should eventually push gasoline prices up as well.

Benchmark crude climbed as high as $97.48 per barrel Tuesday after Barclays Capital raised its 2012 price forecast for Brent crude, used to price many international types of oil. Goldman Sachs said the International Energy Agency’s decision at the end of June to release 60 million barrels of oil from its reserves won’t cool off prices as much as originally thought.

Independent oil analysts say prices still could head lower this year.

Suit: GM failed to fix many Impalas

detroit

A lawsuit claims General Motors Co. treated the police better than it did average citizens when taking care of a defective part in 2007 and 2008 Chevrolet Impalas.

The lawsuit alleges that Impalas from the two model years have defective spindle rods, which connect the suspension to the rear wheels. The defect causes the wheels to misalign, which makes the tires wear out faster. The tires could also wear out unevenly, increasing the risk of a blowout.

GM fixed the part on police versions of the Impala three years ago but didn’t correct the same problem in hundreds of thousands of other Impalas, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Detroit.

Vindicator wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .62, 22.31 —.06

Avalon Holdings,2.76—.04

Clear Channel, .63 57.94 —.57

Cortland Bancorp, 7.15.00

Farmers Nat., .12, 4.93 —.01

First Energy, 2.20, 44.09—.54

FirstMerit Corp., .64,16.76 —.23

First Niles Financial, .32,7.17.00

First Place Fin., 1.25.00

FNB Corp., .48,10.45—.06

General Motors,30.86.28

General Electric, .60,19.04—.16

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .04, 6.575—.06

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,41.03—.55

Key Corp, .12,8.30—.14

LaFarge, 15.00 —.41

Macy’s, .40, 29.60—.28

Parker Hannifin, 1.48, 90.66—.92

PNC, 1.40,60.27—.62

RTI Intl. Metals,38.42.04

Rural/Metro, NA NA

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,119.24.67

Stoneridge 14.82 —.10

United Community Fin. 1.22.00

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.