“Kalispell-based Glacier Bancorp buys Wyoming bank - Missoulian” plus 4 more

Kalispell-based Glacier Bancorp buys Wyoming bank - Missoulian
Rental firm fined over Khadafy tent - Boston Globe
Texas begins $3 billion quest to cure cancer - Dubuque Telegraph Herald
2 years after closing, few long-term options remain - Lafayette Journal and Courier
Investors brace for a rocky ride - CNN Money

Kalispell-based Glacier Bancorp buys Wyoming bank - Missoulian

Posted: 02 Oct 2009 01:22 PM PDT

KALISPELL - Kalispell-based Glacier Bancorp says it has completed its acquisition of a community bank in northern Wyoming.

First National Bank and Trust is based in Powell, Wyo., and also provides banking services in Cody and Lovell. As of last June 30, the Wyoming bank had total assets of about $280 million.

A news release from Glacier Bancorp says First National Bank and Trust will operate as a separately chartered community banking subsidiary of Glacier.

Glacier Bancorp's subsidiary banks now provide services in 60 communities in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Washington.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Rental firm fined over Khadafy tent - Boston Globe

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 12:06 AM PDT

The tent, which the Libyan leader never visited during his UN stay last month, was taken down Sept. 23 at the town's insistence. But it was re-pitched the next day, triggering the lawsuit.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Texas begins $3 billion quest to cure cancer - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 07:51 AM PDT

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

2 years after closing, few long-term options remain - Lafayette Journal and Courier

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 08:20 AM PDT

(3 of 3)

A men's treatment center is in Lafayette, and a women's center is in Crawfordsville. People in the 46-week program are required to join a local church.

Dan Taylor, the Trinity Mission founder, said the ministry receives no government funding. He is a former New Directions board member.

"It's my observation that there is an increased dependency because of all the stresses on life," he said. "There is limited access to the people who are suffering right now."

He said secular treatment centers charge between $4,000 to $15,000 for 90 days, plus other expenses. Trinity Mission does not charge. It relies on fundraising and donations to pay its bills.

"The need is tremendous in this community," he said. "We find a way to work with anybody who comes along. We can find help or refer them to other faith-based organizations.

"We need this community to step up and help us."

Community help needed

Dave Medsker of Wabash Valley Hospital said detox is available, "if necessary," at the hospital.

"The vast majority (of addicts) safely withdraw at home with medications and can be handled on an out-patient basis," he said.

He said the hospital offers "Living in Balance," an intensive out-patient program, and the Matrix Model program that lasts a year.

Medsker said that "long-term care" now means 60 to 90 days. He cited the Richmond State Hospital as a place that offers such treatment. Richmond, in eastern Indiana, is a 133-mile drive from Lafayette.

"We try to step up and help people. If we can't help, we refer them to somebody who can," he said.

Lafayette's Cathy Nichols, who was widowed a year ago, said she also is frustrated in her attempts to get long-term residential drug addiction treatment for her son.

"I have called all over the United States to get him into treatment," she said. "Since he is over 18 and has no job, I would have to pay for it.

"It costs $40,000. Are you kidding? I hate to tell you how much money we've spent to help our son."

She said her son is addicted mostly to pain pills. She said he is nonviolent and has never hurt anybody.

He was in work release, but now sits in jail.

"My husband and I gave to United Way and volunteered at Lafayette Urban Ministry and the Red Cross," she said.

"Now, when my son needs help, there is nothing for him."

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Investors brace for a rocky ride - CNN Money

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 07:58 AM PDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The stock advance has hit some resistance in the last two weeks and it's only going to get tougher as the third quarter reporting period gets underway.

Since hitting rally highs nearly two weeks ago, the broad S&P 500 index has lost 4.3% as investors have sorted through a spate of manufacturing, consumer and jobs reports that have missed forecasts.

The standout was Friday's September jobs report, which showed the unemployment rate spiked to 9.8%, a new 26-year high. On top of that, employers cut a whopping 263,000 jobs from their payrolls during the month.

But the stock market's decline over the last two weeks was pretty minimal, considering the nearly seven-month run up that propelled the S&P 500 by 51.2%.

That rally was driven by extraordinary amounts of monetary and fiscal stimulus and a spate of "less bad" news as the economy moved from recession to stabilization to the start of a recovery.

But lately there's been a change, with the trend going from 'less bad' to 'less better' economic news, said Karl Mills, president and chief investment officer at Jurika Mills & Keifer. "The market is trying to understand that switch."

Although he says the recent trend doesn't undermine signs of a recovery, it does indicate that the road ahead is a lot more twisty than the stock market rally would imply.

Investors are now moving into a sorting period, he said, where they are separating the wheat from the chaff, in terms of good and bad assets. He said that the period of more speculative, so-called lower quality names leading the rally will end as higher quality names start to take over.

"We are moving into a new phase, from collapsing to rebounding to recalibrating," he said.

Financial results: The week ahead is pretty mild in terms of economic reports, with a reading on the services sector of the economy and Treasury's $60 billion in debt auctions the big standouts.

But it also brings the start of the third-quarter reporting period, albeit a very small start, with only one notable company due to report.

Dow component Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) is the unofficial start to the quarterly reporting period, as per usual. The aluminum maker is expected to report a loss of 12 cents per share versus a profit of 37 cents a year ago.

The weakness in Alcoa is indicative of a materials sector that is expected to take it on the chin in the third quarter. The sector is expected to see earnings fall 68% from a year ago, followed by energy, down 64% from a year ago. Financials, by default, are expected to show the best results, as the companies bounce off dismal results accrued in the third quarter of 2008. Financials are expected to post earnings growth of 59%.

Overall, "we're looking for another down quarter, the ninth in a row and the longest streak since we began calculating the growth over a decade ago," said John Butters, senior research analyst at Thomson Reuters.

Overall S&P 500 profits are expected to have dropped 24.8% from a year ago, he said.

Monday: The Institute for Supply Management (ISM)'s services sector index is due shortly after the start of trading. Last week, the ISM's manufacturing index showed a surprise decline that rattled investors. The services sector report is expected to show growth, rising to 50 from 48.4.

Treasury is auctioning $30 billion in six-month bills and $30 billion in three-month bills, with results due in the early afternoon. Wall Street will be looking to see what kind of demand the auctions draw, particularly from international investors, as the government seeks to fund trillions in economic stimulus projects.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman William C. Dudley is due to speak.

Tuesday: The World Business Forum runs Tuesday and Wednesday in New York, with participants including Bill Clinton, T. Boone Pickens, Jack Welch, George Lucas and Paul Krugman.

The IMF and World Bank Group annual meeting in Istanbul runs through Wednesday.

Wednesday: August consumer credit, the September Treasury budget and the weekly oil inventories report are all due throughout the session.

Thursday: The weekly initial claims report from the Labor Department is due before the start of trading. No analyst estimates were available as of Friday.

Wholesale inventories are expected to have fallen 1% in August, after declining 1.4% in the previous month. The Commerce Department report is due shortly after the start of trading.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on the Fed's balance sheet.

Also Thursday, Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo is due to speak.

Friday: The August trade balance is due before the start of trading. The trade gap is expected to have widened to $32.9 billion from $32 billion.

Federal Reserve Governor Donald L. Kohn is due to speak.

The bond market closes early ahead of the Columbus Day holiday.