Pa. bank chosen as one of 25 all-stars

Pa. bank chosen as one of 25 all-stars

Hermitage, PA.

F.N.B. Corp. is one of 25 banks and thrifts named to the 2011 Sandler O’Neill & Partners All-Stars, the corporation said Thursday.

A total of 486 publicly-traded banks and thrifts applied for the distinction. To qualify, a bank needed to have a market cap of less than $2 billion. F.N.B. has a market cap of $1.08 billion, according to the latest Yahoo! finance data.

The analysis focused on growth, profitability, credit quality and capital strength.

Wheatland workers will vote on contract

Sharon, PA.

Nearly 400 Wheatland Tube workers will vote on a contract this weekend. Members of United Steel Workers Local 1660 will vote on a new five-year extension.

Details of the contract won’t be released until after voting. An extension was granted until Monday to avoid a possible strike.

GM will debut first front-center air bag

DETROIT

General Motors Co. said Thursday it will introduce the industry’s first front-center air bag to help protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes.

GM said the air bag will be introduced on the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse models in 2013. It will be standard on Acadias and Traverses with power seats and all Enclaves.

GM said the front-center air bag deploys from the right side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the front row seats near the vehicle’s center.

The “tethered, tubular” air bag is designed to provide restraint during passenger-side crashes when the driver is the only front occupant.

It will also act as an energy-absorbing cushion between driver and front passenger in both driver- and passenger-side crashes.

GM analysis found that far-side impact crashes account edfor 11 percent of belted front occupant fatalities in nonrollover accidents between 2004 and 2009.

Auto-parts firm to pay $200M fine

detroit

Carmakers were forced to pay more for auto parts because a group of suppliers conspired to raise prices for more than a decade, the Justice Department said Thursday. The scheme, revealed in documents filed with the federal court in Detroit, likely raised prices that consumers paid for cars.

In the documents, federal prosecutors charged a Japanese company and three of its executives with conspiracy to restrain trade. Prosecutors said the company, Furukawa Electric Co. of Tokyo, agreed to plead guilty and pay a $200 million fine, while the executives also will admit guilt and serve prison time in the U.S.

Debit-card fees await

new york

Bank of America will start charging debit-card users $5 a month to pay for purchases. The move comes as the cards increasingly replace cash and as banks look for ways to offset the loss of revenue from a new rule that will limit how much they can collect from merchants.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 21.67 .44

Avalon Holdings,2.26.00

Clear Channel, .65 51.65 .68

Cortland Bancorp, 7.45.00

Farmers Nat., 4.40 .05

First Energy, 2.20, 45.41.61

FirstMerit Corp., .64,11.64 .49

First Niles Financial, .32,7.40.00

First Place Fin., .88.00

FNB Corp., .48,8.61.40

General Motors,20.76.35

General Electric, .60,15.86.41

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 4.99.15

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,31.39.92

Key Corp, .12,6.23.44

LaFarge, 8.70 .33

Macy’s, .40, 27.26.08

Parker Hannifin, 1.48, 65.371.08

PNC, 1.40,49.791.89

RTI Intl. Metals,24.11.74

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,112.581.31

Stoneridge 5.62 .03

United Community Fin. 1.30.15

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.