Industry News
State Mortgage Rates Rise, Remain Below National Average
February 10, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in Connecticut rose .8 percent last week to 5.37 percent, but still remained below the average national rate of 5.44 percent, according to online mortgage tracker Zillow.
AMA, Others Suing Aetna, Cigna Over Payments
February 10, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe American Medical Association said Tuesday that it is teaming up with several state associations to sue health insurers Aetna Inc., based in Hartford, and Cigna Corp., which has operations in Bloomfield, for allegedly rigging its reimbursement system for physicians and underpaying them for a decade.
Dodd’s Poll Numbers Slip Amid Mortgage Controversy
February 10, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkSenate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, whose two mortgages through Countrywide Financial Corp.’s VIP program are being investigated by a Senate ethics panel, has received his first negative job approval rating from the Quinnipiac University poll.
Putnam Bank Names Balter Gales Ferry Branch Manager
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkLisa Balter has been named branch manager/officer of Putnam Bank’s newly relocated office at 2 Chapman Lane in Gales Ferry.
Newport Federal Loses $800K In ’08
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkNewport Bancorp, the holding company for Newport Federal Savings Bank, which has plans to open a branch in Stonington “soon,” has reported a net loss of $609,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31.
W.R. Berkley Down 63 Percent In ’08
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkGreenwich insurance holding company W.R. Berkley Corp. has reported net income of $281 million for 2008, down 63 percent from net income of $766 million in 2007.
Phoenix Postpones Q4 Earnings Announcement
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock Link“Unprecedented market conditions” have caused Hartford financial planning and insurance firm The Phoenix Cos. to delay its scheduled fourth-quarter earnings announcement by more than two weeks.
UBS Top Job A Poisoned Chalice
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkBeing at the helm of Switzerland’s best-known bank might once have been the pinnacle of a Swiss banker’s ambition, but few today envy UBS chief executive Marcel Rohner as he struggles to rebuild the battered bank.
Report: US Job Cuts To Persist For Months
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe U.S. job market slid further in January, continuing a pace of declines last seen during the 1974 recession, a research group said Monday.
Stabilizing Or Just Another False Dawn?
February 9, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA recent flurry of slightly less-dire economic news may say more about the healing powers of governments and central banks than the health of the economy.
Bank Of America’s Lewis Buys More Shares
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn his latest move to show support of his bank, Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Ken Lewis spent almost a million dollars this week to buy additional shares of his struggling bank, which is Connecticut’s largest out-of-state bank.
CBIA VP Offers Bleak ’09 Jobs Outlook
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkPeter Gioia, vice president and economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), isn’t expecting any substantial improvement in the state’s employment outlook until at least 2010.
Contractor In Bribery Case To Plead Not Guilty
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe attorney for a contractor charged in a bribery case with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez says his client will plead not guilty.
Best Withdraws Seaboard Ratings After Merger
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe merger of Seaboard Surety Co. with and into Hartford’s Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America (TCSA), both subsidiaries of The Travelers Cos., has caused A.M. Best to withdraw Seaboard’s financial strength rating (FSR) of A+ and insurer credit rating (ICR) of “aa-.”
Aetna’s Green To Be Honored By Urban League
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkFloyd Green, head of community relations for Hartford health and life insurer Aetna, will be recognized with the 2009 Sankofa Award at the Urban League of Greater Hartford’s 2009 Black History Awards Celebration.
Analyst: GE Dividend Cut Could Follow Downgrade
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIf General Electric Co. loses its coveted triple-A credit rating, which many on Wall Street regard as likely, its $1.24-per-share annual dividend may be next to go, a J.P. Morgan analyst suggested Friday.
Savage Job Cuts Bolster U.S. Stimulus Hopes
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe United States shed nearly 600,000 jobs in January and German and British industry output plunged the month before, data showed on Friday, while an array of Japanese firms suffered heavy body blows.
EMCOR Subsidiary Wins Calif. VA Contract
February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA subsidiary of Norwalk mechanical and electrical infrastructure company EMCOR has been awarded a contract for the installation of mechanical systems at the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif.
Breaking Down Obama\’s ‘Cramdown\’ Plan
By Kenneth R. Harney | Washington Post Columnist | February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkProponents call it the crucial missing tool needed to get us out of the national foreclosure morass. 

Dodd To Refinance Mortgages
By Kevin Drawbaugh
 | Reuters News Service
 | February 6, 2009 | Reprints | Unlock LinkDemocratic Sen. Christopher Dodd said this week he will refinance two mortgages that he took out in 2003 under Countrywide Financial Corp\’s VIP program and later triggered a Senate ethics investigation.

