Thursday, May 21, 2015
Certified Oil Co. ribbon-cutting today
AUSTINTOWN
The newly rebuilt Certified Oil Co. at 825 N. Canfield-Niles Road will celebrate its opening with a ribbon- cutting at 10 a.m. today.
Founded by Carlyle Barker in Piqua, Ohio, in 1939, the family-owned and operated Certified Oil Co. remains one of Ohio’s leading operators of convenience stores and retail fueling facilities. There are more than 140 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Working together on Valley issues
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning Valley’s three congressional representatives and Ohio’s two U.S. senators have agreed to work together along with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber in an effort to identify and advance the community’s legislative priorities on the federal level.
The Valley Federal Delegation Working Group consists of U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th; Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, whose district extends into southern Mahoning County; and David Joyce of Mentor, R-14th, whose district extends into northern Trumbull County; and U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, and Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati.
Among the issues identified as Valley priorities are increased workforce development, advancement at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna and increasing export opportunities for local industries.
Target reports 52% surge in profit
NEW YORK
Target is beating Wal-Mart in the race to beef up sales.
Target Corp. on Wednesday reported a nearly 52 percent surge in its first-quarter profit on strong sales of more-profitable items such as fashion and baby products, evidence that its efforts to turn around its business are paying off.
The results handily beat Wall Street expectations on all fronts, and the Minneapolis-based retailer boosted the bottom end of its annual profit outlook.
That’s in contrast with rival Wal-Mart, which missed Wall Street estimates with its earnings report a day earlier. It showed a 7 percent decline in first-quarter profit, dragged down by its recent moves to raise wages for hourly workers and increase spending in its online operations.
Four banks fined more than $5B
WASHINGTON
Four of the world’s biggest banks agreed Wednesday to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the currency markets – a rare instance in which federal prosecutors have wrung an admission of criminal wrongdoing from a major financial institution.
Traders at JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup’s banking unit Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland were accused of working together to manipulate rates on the foreign-exchange market, where hundreds of billions of dollars and euros change hands back and forth.
Staff/wire reports