Honored with award

Honored with award

NILES

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s Niles Area Council will present its annual William Clayman Community Pride Award at 10 a.m. today at the Niles Sparkle Market, 140 N. Main St.

Being honored this year is Peter J. Gelsomino, founder of Niles Sparkle Market, which has been a mainstay in Niles for 30 years.

The Clayman Award honors businesses and organizations in Niles that exemplify ethical, moral and professional standards in their workplace. The award also considers those companies that most visibly contribute to the local economy and quality of life.

Microsoft has 1st loss as a public company

los angeles

Microsoft has posted its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company as it declared a struggling online ad business a bust and prepared for one of the biggest product updates in its history.

The software company had warned two weeks ago that it would take a $6.2 billion charge in the April-June quarter because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive failed to help it compete with Google Inc. The amount reflected the bulk of the $6.3 billion it paid for aQuantive.

Microsoft’s fortunes are now tied to the Oct. 26 release of Windows 8, the most extreme redesign of the company’s flagship operating system since 1995.

Middle East turmoil pushes oil higher

new york

Rising tensions in the Middle East have pushed oil prices up 19 percent over the past three weeks and are leading to a rise in prices at the gasoline pump.

Since the start of July, average gasoline prices in the U.S. have climbed 11 cents to $3.44 per gallon. Pump prices are expected to creep higher in the coming weeks, and they aren’t likely to fall back to their June low of $3.33 for the rest of the summer, analysts say.

Crude rose $2.79, about 3 percent, to $92.66 per barrel Thursday, its highest level since mid-May.

The oil market is responding to a series of events in recent days that have raised concerns — yet again — that Iran will try to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels every day.

Ford recalls Escapes

detroit

Ford Motor Co. is telling owners of one version of the brand-new Ford Escape not to drive the SUVs until dealers can fix fuel lines that can crack and spill gasoline, causing engine fires.

The company issued the warning on Thursday and said it is recalling 2013 Escapes equipped with 1.6-liter four-cylinder engines. Dealers will pick up the Escapes and drop off a loaner car that customers can use until the repairs are finished. The company is hoping to ship parts and get all the SUVs repaired in the next two weeks. Ford says it has three reports of fires: two at the factory and one while a customer was driving an Escape. No one has been injured.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 26.40 —.12

Avalon Holdings,4.12.00

Clear Channel, .73 65.42 .39

Cortland Bancorp, 9.60—.10

Farmers Nat., .125.96 —.31

First Energy, 2.20, 50.26.51

FirstMerit Corp., .64,16.53 —.17

First Niles Financial, .32,8.05.00

First Place Fin., .80.00

FNB Corp., .48,11.28—.15

General Motors,20.14.07

General Electric, .68,19.80—.04

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 6.5450—.0550

JP Morgan Chase, 1.20,34.46—.50

Key Corp, .20,7.91.08

LaFarge, 11.09 .41

Macy’s, .80, 35.49.68

Parker Hannifin, 1.64, 77.831.34

PNC, 1.60,61.31.31

RTI Intl. Metals,22.68.14

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.00,158.13—1.13

Stoneridge 6.40 —.26

United Community Fin. 2.96—.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.