Dominion East Ohio rates down

Dominion East Ohio rates down

YOUNGSTOWN

Dominion East Ohio standard choice offer/standard service offer rates will be $2.714 per thousand cubic feet effective today. The rates are 18.8 cents, or 6.5 percent, lower, than the October SCO/SSO rates of $2.902 per thousand cubic feet.

Home Savings donation to be made

YOUNGSTOWN

Today, the Home Savings Charitable Foundation will present a $40,000 check to the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley for annual program support.

Wendy’s profit up as shifting to franchises continues

NEW YORK

Wendy’s Co. reported a boost in profit as it dramatically cut costs while it continues to sell company-owned restaurants and shift to a more franchise-heavy operation.

Profit surged more than five-fold to $48.9 million, or 18 cents per share, despite a 22 percent drop in overall revenue. The drop in revenue was more than offset by an 89.8 percent rise in operating profit as it sells back restaurants.

The Dublin, Ohio-based company said it’s still on track with plans to lower its company-run restaurant ownership to about 5 percent of the total system by year’s end. It plans on selling 315 restaurants to franchisees during 2016.

Meanwhile, sales rose 1.4 percent at stores open at least a year in North America.

British trader charged in ‘flash crash’ pleads guilty

CHICAGO

A British futures trader pleaded guilty Wednesday during his first U.S. court appearance since helping to trigger a May 6, 2010, “flash crash” from his parents’ suburban London home that wiped tens of billions of dollars off the value of U.S. stocks, rattling investors and leaving many wondering if the market was rigged.

Navinder Singh Sarao, 37, stood in a Chicago courtroom in orange jail garb and with his legs shackled as a judge asked if he understood the consequences of pleading guilty, including that he could face up to 30 years in prison. He leaned into a podium microphone and answered quietly, “Yes, your honor.”

High-frequency traders like Sarao were the focus of author Michael Lewis’ best-selling book “Flash Boys,” which describes how they employed lightning-fast programs to buy and sell in milliseconds – scooping up quickly-accumulating profits. Sarao made at least $12.8 million in market-manipulation schemes over several years, court papers say.

A grand jury indicted him in 2015, citing his manipulation of E-Mini S&P 500 futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In doing so, it says he helped spark the 2010 “flash crash” when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 600 points in just five minutes before rebounding. Sarao purportedly earned about $900,000 in profit on that one day.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1228.722.32

Aqua America, .71 29.25-0.57Avalon Holdings,2.40-0.03

Community Health Sys. 4.66 -1.28

Cortland Bancorp, .2815.4110.0

Farmers Nat., .1610.400.00

First Energy, 1.44 33.49-1.01

Fifth/Third, .5222.951.30

FirstMerit Corp.,21.610.37

First Niles Financial, .129.000.00

FNB Corp., .4813.610.52General Motors, 1.5230.96-0.77

General Electric, .9229.630.21

Huntington Bank, .28 10.910.66

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.28-0.03

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9273.25+3.22

Key Corp, .3415.230.82LaFarge, .34-0.00

Macy’s, 1.51 38.380.51

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 131.965.55

PNC, 2.20101.254.61

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60180.78-2.47

Stoneridge 14.980.14

Talmer Bank, 23.34-0.36

United Comm. Fin., .12 7.470.19

Selected prices from Wednesday’s 4 p.m. close.