Insurance deal ends uncertainty for SLU, Des Peres patients

UPDATED at 8:40 p.m.
After months of stop-and-start negotiations, St. Louis University and Des Peres hospitals have reached a new 4-year agreement with HealthLink Inc. and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri.
The deal ends the uncertainty for thousands of St. Louis area patients, especially some of those undergoing cancer and transplant patients on long-term […]

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Little benefit in boosting already-high credit score

Jeff Rose, 33, a financial planner, is trying to improve his credit score — even though it’s 780, which is 69 points above the median score.
Rose, who lives in Carbondale, Ill., said he opened up a second credit card last year to establish another line of credit and help boost his score. He said he […]

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November trade deficit hits $47.8 billion

The U.S. trade deficit widened in November for the first time in five months, largely because of a spike in the price of imported oil.
Still, exports fell for a second straight month, a sign that Europe’s slowdown has begun to affect the U.S. economy.
The trade gap rose 10.4 percent to $47.8 billion, the Commerce Department […]

Iraq official warns of abuse of security forces

Iraq’s parliament speaker warned Monday that human rights violations are putting the country’s fragile democracy at risk, the latest pronouncement in a rapidly developing sectarian spat that threatens to destabilize the country after U.S. troops pulled out.
The televised comments by Osama al-Nujaifi, one of the country’s top Sunni officials, are the latest salvo in a […]

US seals $3.48B missiles, technology sale to UAE

The United States has reached a deal to sell $3.48 billion worth of missiles and related technology to the United Arab Emirates, a close Mideast ally, as part of a massive buildup of defense technology among friendly Mideast nations near Iran.
Pentagon spokesman George Little announced the Christmas Day sale on Friday night.
He noted that the […]

U.S. Business Activity Grows Faster Than Forecast Despite Europe Slowdown - Bloomberg

Companies cranked out more goods in December and pending sales of existing homes jumped in November for a second month, pointing to a pickup in U.S. economic growth as 2011 comes to a close.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its business barometer (CHPMINDX) was little changed at 62.5 from a seven- month […]

Jerome Powell, Jeremy Stein Chosen by Obama to Fill Fed

President Barack Obama said he will nominate two former U.S. Treasury Department officials for the Federal Reserve Board, including one who served in a Republican administration.
Jerome Powell, an attorney who was a Treasury undersecretary for former President George H.W. Bush, and Jeremy Stein, a Harvard University economist who has advised the current administration, are […]

The year in tech law, from A to Z

The past 12 months in law and technology were exceptionally active, with legislative battles over privacy and copyright, near-continuous controversy at the CRTC, and an active Supreme Court of Canada docket. A look back at 2011 from A to Z:
A is for the Amazon one-click patent, which is at the centre of a long-running fight […]

Consumers borrow more in Oct. as economy improves.

Americans stepped up their borrowing in October to buy cars and attend college, and they also charged a little more to their credit cards. The second straight monthly gain in overall borrowing suggests consumers are growing more confident in the economy ahead of the crucial holiday buying season.
Total consumer borrowing rose by $7.3 billion, the […]

3 foreign oil workers, 2 from US, freed in Nigeria

Gunmen have freed three foreign workers, two from the U.S., kidnapped from a ship supplying a Chevron Corp. offshore oil field near Nigeria’s coast, authorities said Friday.
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and Chevron separately confirmed the release of the kidnapped workers from contractor Edison Chouest Offshore, based in Galliano, Louisiana. A spokesman for Edison Chouest […]