“U.S. Midwest Business Slips Unexpectedly in Sept - ABC News” plus 4 more

U.S. Midwest Business Slips Unexpectedly in Sept - ABC News
Mennonite Mutual Aid Chooses Innovest Systems for Trust Accounting and ... - Biloxi Sun Herald
NY judge: Slain student’s kin can sue government - WNYT
NY judge: Slain student's kin can sue government - Modesto Bee
Dollar Falls as US Data Weighs; Swiss Franc Falls - CNBC

U.S. Midwest Business Slips Unexpectedly in Sept - ABC News

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 08:02 AM PDT

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Business activity in the U.S. Midwest failed to return to growth in September as expected, and instead got slammed by a decline in production and new orders, a report showed on Wednesday.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer fell to 46.1 in September from 50.0 in August.

Economists had forecast the index at 52.0. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the regional economy.

"Don't know why it looks so weak, when at least anecdotally we've been hearing that September was a good month economically, and a pickup from August," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York.

New orders and production, which both surged in August, fell back sharply. New orders dropped to 46.3 from 52.5 and production dropped to 47.2 from 52.9 a month ago.

"The new orders component was especially disappointing. Everything else will eventually follow orders and that was the weakest area of the report," said Michael Moran, chief economist at Daiwa Securities in New York.

The employment component of the index inched up to 38.8 in September from 38.7 in August. Prices paid rose to 51.3 from 50.0.

The ISM-Chicago index is often regarded as a factory index because the region is relatively industrialized. But service-sector and nonprofit forms are polled as well.

U.S. equity prices slipped on the report, which hinted that the U.S. economic recovery could be more choppy than some pundits have assumed.

"This is a further warning shot that even a modest recovery will not be smooth sailing and is going to reinforce the equity slippage today," said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Global Banking and Markets in Stamford, Connecticut.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Mennonite Mutual Aid Chooses Innovest Systems for Trust Accounting and ... - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 06:57 AM PDT

William Thomas, chief executive officer of Innovest Systems, said, "It has been a pleasure working with MMA to address the organization's unique requirements. The flexibility of the InnoTrust platform allows us to serve a diverse client base, ranging from not-for-profit organizations to trust providers to global custodians to wealth management firms needing tools to empower their advisors. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the success of MMA's charitable endeavors."

About MMA

MMA helps people and groups integrate their finances with faith values through its insurance and financial services. Rooted in the Anabaptist faith tradition, MMA also offers practical stewardship education and tools to individuals, congregations, organizations, and businesses. With respect to the Mennonite Foundation product, MMA has been serving the church community since 1945. The foundation manages and/or administers investments provided through gifts by donors under arrangements such as Charitable Lead Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Gift Funds and Gift Annuity Agreements. Since 2001, MMA began offering trust products, including traditional trust accounts and retirement accounts. MMA is dedicated to providing personalized service and competitive products.

About Innovest Systems

Innovest Systems is a financial technology firm that provides technology-driven solutions to trust and wealth management companies. With tens of trillions of dollars worth of assets transferring between generations over the coming decades, Innovest's flagship product, InnoTrust, is designed to deliver a secure, integrated, real-time system offered in an Application Service Provider (ASP) environment. Innovest's technology is designed to meet the needs of smaller independent trust and wealth management companies, as well as the world's largest global financial services firms. Innovest is headquartered in the financial district of New York City. For more information about Innovest Systems, visit www.innovestsystems.com.

SOURCE Innovest Systems

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NY judge: Slain student’s kin can sue government - WNYT

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 07:12 AM PDT

(AP) NEW YORK - A federal judge in New York is allowing the family of a slain graduate student to sue the U.S. government on grounds that it improperly supervised her killer.

Daryl Littlejohn was granted supervised release from prison in 2004 after a bank robbery conviction. He violated the terms of his release by working as a bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub. In 2006, he abducted Imette St. Guillen (GEE'-yen) from the club and killed her.

Judge Dora Irizarry said the offices of U.S. Probation and Pre-Trial Services cannot get immunity because there's evidence they botched the case.

The Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office, which represents the agencies, is reviewing the decision.

Littlejohn is serving a life sentence for killing St. Guillen, who was from Boston.

___

Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com

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NY judge: Slain student's kin can sue government - Modesto Bee

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 06:36 AM PDT

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Dollar Falls as US Data Weighs; Swiss Franc Falls - CNBC

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 06:57 AM PDT

The dollar fell against most major currencies Wednesday, weighed down by reports suggesting that the U.S. economy was on a generally stable path to recovery.

The Swiss franc, meanwhile, fell against the euro and the dollar, with traders citing talk the Swiss National Bank may have intervened in the market to weaken its currency. The SNB, however, declined to comment on the franc's price action.

Still, Wednesday's slew of U.S. economic reports mostly garnered traders' attention. Final data showing the U.S. economy's contraction in the second quarter was slower than initially thought kept the euro and sterling firm against the greenback.

These currencies, which have recently been viewed as proxies for risk appetite, tend to get a bid when economic reports point to strengthening.

"The trend seems to be indicating there's growth forthcoming at some point in time," said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto. "It speaks to the limited but improving landscape economically in the States ... What we've seen ... is that improvements in the overall economic cycle have resulted in U.S. dollar weakness because it attracts risk buying."

A separate survey by the ADP Employer Services showed some improvement in private jobs sector. Although private companies slashed 254,000 jobs in September, more than the 210,000 layoffs the market had been expecting, the number was down from the 277,000 jobs lost in August.

"Certainly it is worse than expected, but it is not going to change the outlook for the economy," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York. "It is an improvement from the numbers we saw earlier this year as well as from the previous month."

The dollar [JPY= Loading... () ] edged lower against the yen after an index of business activity in the U.S. Midwest area showed a surprise drop for September.