— The Dow Jones lost more than 120 points on the last day of trading in 2009, but still ended the year up more than 18 percent. Today the Dow opens the first trading day of 2010 at 10,248. — Meanwhile the WisBusiness index of Wisconsin stocks opens the year at 1,871. The last six months of 2009 were good for the Wiss-Business index. Stock prices of the 70 companies in the index rose by more than a third over the last second half of the year. Quarterly earnings season is still a little ways off, but Kohl’s Department Stores releases a snapshot of its holiday performance this week when its December sales numbers come out on Thursday. See more stock information: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=140042 — The head of the state Farm Bureau expects water and climate change regulations to be big newsmakers for farmers this year. Farm Bureau President Bill Bruins says state and federal climate change legislation needs to be reviewed for its impact on farmers. He also says the state Department of Natural Resources is looking to revise rules on agricultural runoff. He says that update could have major implications for state farms. He’s encouraging farmers to get involved in public hearings on the issue in January and February. See more from Bruins: http://www.wfbf.com/archivej/htmArchive/showPage.aspx?page=15680.htm&id=15680 TOP STORIES
Suits filed over Aurora’s use of medical data in bankruptcy cases : The suits, in federal and state court, claim Aurora violated Wisconsin’s privacy law when it routinely filed proofs of claim against debtors that include patients’ specific medical information as part of the billing records. The suits seek $25,000 in exemplary damages for each person whose private medical information was revealed. Duncan Hines maker Pinnacle buys Birds Eye for $1.3 billion: Frozen foods company Birds Eye Foods Inc., which has Wisconsin facilities in Green Bay and Darien, has been sold to Pinnacle Foods Group LLC, the seller of the Duncan Hines, Vlasic, Armour and other major food brands, for $1.3 billion. Harley-Davidson taps wellness expert Jillian Michaels: Harley-Davidson Motor Co. is teaming with wellness expert Jillian Michaels to promote March 2010 as National Garage Party Month, when women across the country will be encouraged to own and ride motorcycles. 2009 foreclosures set another record in Wisconsin : Wisconsin posted its second consecutive year of record foreclosure filings in 2009 as job cuts made it difficult for more homeowners to keep up with their monthly mortgage payments.
************************************************************ See commentary from around the state and columns from WisBusiness contributors Jennifer Sereno, Kevin McKinley, Tom Burzinski, Gregg Hoffmann, Tom Still and Steve Jagler: ************************************************************
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