Gas prices fall

Gas prices fall

Gas prices in Northeast Ohio fell 7 cents to $3.33 per gallon this week, according to AAA East Central.

That number was slightly above the national average of $3.31 per gallon, but the state of Ohio, as a whole, was tied for the largest one-week drop of any state, with prices falling by 10 cents.

Steel imports drop

Steel imports declined by 16.7 percent in November from October, according to United States government data.

Imports were down 4.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2013, compared with the same time in 2012.

Richard Chriss, executive director of the American Institute for International Steel, said that, while demand for steel was down last year, he expects the steel market to experience a better seasonal upswing in 2014.

Retiring from Hess

WASHINGTON

In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Hess Corp. announced that F. Borden Walker, the executive vice president and president of marketing and refining, has retired from the company, effective immediately.

Walker had served in that position since 2002.

Ohio’s 4 casinos had Dec. revenue declines

Columbus

Revenues at each of Ohio’s four casinos declined in December, leading to the worst statewide showing in the nine months that all were open, according to figures released Tuesday.

Statewide, revenues declined 9.8 percent at the casinos, in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, according to figures released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

New racinos, horse-racing tracks with slots-style video lottery terminals, opened in December north of Cincinnati and near Cleveland , expanding gambling options.

The December declines may reflect both a traditional slow pre-holiday period for the industry and the addition of more racinos to the gambling mix, according to David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Additional racinos scheduled to open this year in the Youngstown, Cincinnati and Dayton areas could further cut into casino revenues, he said.

JPMorgan to pay over $2.5B in Madoff fraud

NEW YORK

JPMorgan Chase & Co., already beset by costly legal woes, will pay more than $2.5 billion for ignoring obvious warning signs of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, authorities said Tuesday.

The nation’s largest bank will forfeit a record $1.7 billion to settle criminal charges, plus pay an additional $543 million to settle civil claims by victims.

It also will pay a $350 million civil penalty for what the Treasury Department called “critical and widespread deficiencies” in its programs to prevent money laundering and other suspicious activity.

The bank failed to carry out its legal obligations while Madoff “built his massive house of cards,” George Venizelos, head of the FBI’s New York office, said.

Vindicator wire services

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .61, 23.09 .15

Avalon Holdings,5.15.03

Clear Channel, .61 23.61 .1

Cortland Bancorp, 10.25.00

Farmers Nat., .126.64 .11

First Energy, 2.20, 31.89.05

FirstMerit Corp., .64,22.17 .54

First Niles Financial, .32,6.00.00

First Place Fin., .00.00

FNB Corp., .48,12.74.44

General Motors,40.19—.21

General Electric, .76,27.29.03

Huntington Bank, .20, 9.72.14

JP Morgan Chase, 1.52,58.32—.68

Key Corp, .22,13.55.1

LaFarge, 18.49 .16

Macy’s, 1.00, 52.18—.97

Parker Hannifin, 1.80, 127.601.75

PNC, 1.76,77.43.57

RTI Intl. Metals,33.21—.26

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,154.97—.02

Stoneridge 12.62 .13

United Community Fin. 3.62.02

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