FirstEnergy Corp. announces dividend

July 18, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

AKRON

FirstEnergy Corp. announced Tuesday that its quarterly per-share profit remained unchanged for investors as well as company insiders holding restricted shares and public stockholders. The dividend of 55 cents per share will be payable Sept. 1, 2012, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 7, 2012.

FirstEnergy Corp. owns Ohio Edison, Penn Power and West Penn Power, along with seven other electric companies. Based in Akron, it serves 6 million customers and is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electricity providers.

Farmers to open branch in Howland

HOWLAND

Farmers National Bank is slated to open a new location in Howland on Thursday with a ceremony to mark the occasion, beginning at noon. The new building is at 1625 Niles-Cortland Road.

The location will house both a traditional bank branch and the Trumbull County office of Farmers Trust Co., which offers a range of estate, trust, investment and pension services.

In all, Farmers National has 20 banking locations and two trust offices throughout Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Stark counties.

Bernanke: Congress must take action soon

washington

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a bleak picture of the U.S. economy Tuesday — and warned it will darken further if Congress doesn’t reach agreement soon to avert a budget crisis.

Without an agreement, tax increases and deep spending cuts would take effect at year’s end. Bernanke noted what the Congressional Budget Office has warned: A recession would occur, and 1.25 million fewer jobs would be created in 2013.

The Fed is prepared to take further action to try to help the economy if unemployment stays high, he said. Bernanke didn’t signal what steps the Fed might take or whether any action was imminent. And he noted there’s only so much the Fed can do.

But the Fed chairman made clear his most urgent concern is what would happen to the economy if Congress can’t resolve its budget impasse before the year ends.

FDA: Baby bottles cannot have BPA

washington

The federal government announced Tuesday that baby bottles and sippy cups no longer can contain bisphenol-A, or BPA, the plastic chemical which has been subject to years of scientific scrutiny.

The U.S. chemical industry’s chief association, the American Chemistry Council, had asked the Food and Drug Administration to phase out rules allowing BPA in those products in October, after determining that all manufacturers of bottles and sippy cups already had abandoned the chemical due to safety concerns.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 26.64 —.12

Avalon Holdings,3.95—.10

Clear Channel, .73 64.37 —.07

Cortland Bancorp, 9.55.00

Farmers Nat., .126.43 .01

First Energy, 2.20, 49.49—.14

FirstMerit Corp., .64,16.64 .15

First Niles Financial, .32,8.05.00

First Place Fin., .759.059

FNB Corp., .48,11.42.18

General Motors,19.60.22

General Electric, .68,19.72.13

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 6.62.10

JP Morgan Chase, 1.20,34.99—.10

Key Corp, .20,7.96.11

LaFarge, 10.53 .09

Macy’s, .80, 34.19.27

Parker Hannifin, 1.64, 73.88.90

PNC, 1.60,61.59.48

RTI Intl. Metals,22.61—.05

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.00,159.841.32

Stoneridge 6.58 .09

United Community Fin. 3.02.10

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.