Chinese nationals who defrauded Goodyear get prison

Chinese nationals who defrauded Goodyear get prison

AKRON

Federal authorities say two Chinese nationals who defrauded Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. out of $1.5 million in a kickback scheme have each been sentenced in Ohio to more than two years in prison.

Authorities say Xin Franco Fan and Rex Xu Yu earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. They were sentenced Thursday in Akron to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay the $1.5 million.

Hershey CEO plans to retire in 2017

NEW YORK

Hershey says CEO John Bilbrey plans to retire from the chocolate company next year.

The news comes less than two months after Oreo cookie maker Mondelez ended talks to buy Hershey, in a deal that would have brought together some of the world’s best known chocolate and snack brands. Hershey makes Reese’s peanut butter cups, Kisses and other chocolates and candies.

Bilbrey will retire July 1 and stay on as a non-executive chairman.

Yellen: Slow recovery confounds some economists

WASHINGTON

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that the slow recovery from the Great Recession has surprised economists, confounding long-held beliefs about growth and inflation.

Her remarks could help explain why the Fed has been reluctant to raise U.S. interest rates.

Yellen said sluggish worldwide growth would likely keep global interest rates low, making it harder for central banks to combat the next recession with rate cuts.

US retail sales up

WASHINGTON

U.S. shoppers stepped up their spending in September, with sharply higher sales at auto dealers, restaurants and gas stations. But the government’s retail sales report released Friday also contained some evidence that spending might be slowing.

For much of this year, consumers have spent at a solid pace as income gains have accelerated and the job market has improved. Last month’s overall retail sales gain was a decent seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent. Much of it, though, was due to higher oil prices, which increased how much people spent at gas stations.

US budget deficit increases to $587B

WASHINGTON

The government ran a $587 billion budget deficit for the just-completed fiscal year, a 34 percent spike over last year after significant improvement from the record deficits of President Barack Obama’s first years in office.

Friday’s deficit news, while sobering, does not appear bad enough to jolt a gridlocked Washington into action to stem the flow of red ink. It came in an annual report by the Treasury Department and the White House budget office.

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1226.44-0.31

Aqua America, .71 29.56-0.21

Avalon Holdings,2.900.04

Community Health Sys. 10.02 -0.51

Cortland Bancorp, .2815.40-0.10

Farmers Nat., .1610.770.12

First Energy, 1.44 31.51-0.05

Fifth/Third, .5219.800.06

FirstMerit Corp.,21.610.37

First Niles Financial, .1211.000.00

FNB Corp., .4812.300.12

General Motors, 1.5231.870.36

General Electric, .9228.890.12

Huntington Bank, .28 9.820.10

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.400.00

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9267.52-0.22

Key Corp, .3412.520.21

LaFarge, .3417.570.00

Macy’s, 1.51 35.57-1.23

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 124.541.12

PNC, 2.2088.030.09

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60196.99-1.80

Stoneridge 17.880.17

Talmer Bank, 23.34-0.36

United Comm. Fin., .12 7.130.06

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