| RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT: Rhodes floats land plan Homebuilder sets ...
KINGMAN, Ariz. -- It's apparently going to take more than a sluggish economy, a mortgage loan crisis and a housing market that's been put to sleep to keep Southern Nevada homebuilder Jim Rhodes off the radar in northwest Arizona. Some 300 people crowded into a Kingman middle school cafeteria on Thursday for the unveiling of the master-planned community Rhodes wants to develop on 5,000 acres in nearby Golden Valley, about 110 miles south of Las Vegas. Eight hundred people hold reservations for lots in Pravada, which could total as many as 25,000 homes at full build-out, roughly four times as many as Rhodes has built over the years in Las Vegas. Rhodes Homes Arizona Vice President Chris Stephens expressed confidence that about 2,000 homes will be built there within five years.
Earnings roundup: Parker Hannifin
CLEVELAND (AP) _ Parker Hannifin Corp., which makes motion-control systems, said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 9.8 percent on higher industrial sales in North America and internationally. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ Regional bank First Horizon National Corp. swung to a loss during the fourth quarter due to rising loan-loss reserves, a reduction in the value of mortgage servicing rights and charges stemming from an earnings enhancement plan. DALLAS (AP) _ Business and consumer banking services provider Comerica Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit fell 60 percent year-over-year as bad debt more than quadrupled on the continued downturn in Michigan and California real estate development markets. NEW YORK (AP) _ BlackRock Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings surged as investors shifted money to safer harbors and increasingly sought financial advice amid the ongoing credit crisis, the investment management firm said Thursday.
Neal St. Anthony: Mosaic stock sees a sharp growth spurt
Remember the 1990s tech boom? Well, if 2007 is remembered for anything besides the subprime debt meltdown, perhaps it will be the fertilizer boom. Among Minnesota's biggest public companies, shares of global fertilizer giant Mosaic jumped 342 percent in 2007 to lead the Bloomberg Star Tribune 100 index as well as the national rankings of all large-cap stocks. The Cargill-controlled company has exploded from $15 per share at its 2004 initial public offering to $94.34 on Dec. 31. And while most of the market tanked in post-New Year's trading last week, Mosaic added another buck to its stock price, closing Friday at $95.41. Mosaic owes its success to the worldwide boom in agricultural commodities and to government-subsidized alternative fuels programs including ethanol and biodiesel that have boosted corn and soybean plantings to record levels.
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