Federal Tax Update Seminar scheduled

Federal Tax Update Seminar scheduled

CANFIELD

The Mahoning Valley Accounting Society is sponsoring the Federal Tax Update Seminar for individuals Saturday at A La Cart Catering, 429 Lisbon St.

The seminar, which counts for eight hours of tax continuing professional education, will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration starts at 8 a.m. The presenter is Mark J. Patrick, CPA/CVA.

The cost is $199 for society members; $229 for nonmembers.

Builders Association plans annual meeting

LIBERTY

The Builders Association of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania will have its annual meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Youngstown Country Club, 1402 Country Club Drive, a new location for this year’s event.

The builders will provide an update on its 2013 activities and elect association officers and the executive committee for next year. The association also will announce its Youngstown State University scholarship winners.

Dow Chemical looks to sell 40 plants

MIDLAND, MICH.

Dow Chemical is looking to spin off or sell about 40 manufacturing plants from its business as it continues to move away from cyclical commodity products.

The company said Monday that it expects those deals to happen within the next one to two years. Almost 2,000 workers will be affected by the moves. The businesses generate up to $5 billion of total annual revenue.

Dow Chemical, based in Midland, Mich., also said that it will shut down about 800,000 tons of chlorine and other capacity in Freeport, Texas. The void will be replaced with supply from new plants that will come online with the start-up of the Dow Mitsui joint venture early next year.

Ohio gas prices down

COLUMBUS

Ohioans whose wallets are lighter after a weekend of holiday shopping will at least pay a little less for gas to start the week.

The state average was $3.14 for a gallon of regular gas in Monday’s survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX Inc. That’s down 11 cents from last week, and it’s the first drop in the average price in two weeks.

The Ohio price is 13 cents lower than the national average of $3.27, which is down a penny from a week ago.

Volvo plans to test self-driving cars

stolkholm

Swedish-based Volvo Car Group has joined the race to develop self-driving cars, saying it plans to build 100 such vehicles in a pilot project.

The Chinese-owned automaker said Monday it will test its “autonomous” cars on 30 miles of selected roads in the Swedish city of Goteborg, starting in 2017.

Autonomous driving is still a long way off for legal and technical reasons but increasingly possible by equipping cars with cameras and computers.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .61, 23.80 —.27

Avalon Holdings,5.18—.08

Clear Channel, .61 23.49 —.79

Cortland Bancorp, 9.75.00

Farmers Nat., .126.25 —.04

First Energy, 2.20, 32.60—.03

FirstMerit Corp., .64,2.84 —.12

First Niles Financial, .32,6.50.00

First Place Fin., .00.00

FNB Corp., .48,12.44—.27

General Motors,39.05.32

General Electric, .76,26.68.02

Huntington Bank, .20, 9.12—.05

JP Morgan Chase, 1.52,57.03—.19

Key Corp, .22,12.81.05

LaFarge, 17.47 —.37

Macy’s, 1.00, 52.41—.85

Parker Hannifin, 1.80, 117.19—.65

PNC, 1.76,77.53.58

RTI Intl. Metals,34.71—.16

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,148.83—1.02

Stoneridge 12.52 —.39

United Community Fin. 3.66—.10

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Monday. Provided by Stifel. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.