Financial life in a big town

German business confidence probably eased from a three-and-a-half-year high in November after economic growth slowed from a record pace and Europe’s sovereign debt crisis clouded the outlook.

The Ifo institute will say its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, fell to 107.5 from 107.6 in October, which was the highest since May 2007, according to the median of 42 forecasts in Bloomberg News survey. Ifo releases the report at 10 a.m. in Munich today.

German growth slowed to 0.7 percent in the third quarter from a record 2.3 percent in the second as the global recovery stuttered and debt-strapped euro-area nations cut spending, slackening demand for German exports. At the same time, falling unemployment is boosting private consumption in Europe’s largest economy, which the government’s council of economic advisors expects to expand 3.7 percent this year.

“Economic growth is very well balanced at the moment, driven not only by foreign trade but also domestic demand,” said Andreas Scheuerle, an economist at Dekabank in Frankfurt. “However, we’ll see weaker growth around year-end as exports slow down.”

Ifo’s measure of executives’ expectations will decline to 104.7 from 105.1, the survey of economists shows. The gauge of the current situation will probably rise to 110.4 from 110.2. That would be the highest since March 2008.

Stocks Rally

Germany’s benchmark DAX stock index has gained 13 percent this year, compared with a decline of 6 percent in the Euro Stoxx 50 gauge of euro-area equities. German investor confidence rose for the first time in seven months in November as the economy powered ahead of its euro-area neighbors.

Unemployment fell below the three-million mark in October to the lowest in 18 years as companies stepped up hiring to meet foreign demand for goods including cars and machinery, supporting private consumption.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, the world’s two largest makers of luxury autos, will shorten Christmas breaks at their factories because of surging demand for new models. “Production capacity is the limiting factor at the moment,” Michael Rebstock, a spokesman for BMW, said in a phone interview this week.

Euro-area governments’ efforts to rein in ballooning budget deficits may still damp German growth. Ireland this week became the second euro nation after Greece to seek a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and investors are speculating Portugal could be next.

German factory orders unexpectedly dropped in September, led by a slump in euro-area demand for investment goods, and industrial production also fell.

“Looking forward, we won’t go ahead with the same pace as we had in the second quarter, which was exceptional,” said Juergen Michels, chief euro-area economist at Citigroup Inc. in London. “But it is likely to be decent growth by German standards.”

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Former Toronto stock broker George Georgiou was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Philadelphia judge on Friday for his role in an international, multi-million dollar stock scam.

Georgiou, 40, was also ordered to pay $55-million in restitution for the fraud, which involved Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

The money mover, who was banned from trading stocks in Canada between 1995 and 2005, had faced a maximum sentence of 165 years after being convicted in February of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

His trial heard that he’s connected through business deals to Fercan Developments of Toronto.

Fercan owns the former Molson Brewery on Highway 400 in Barrie, which was the site of a massive marijuana grow-operation.

In Philadelphia, Georgiou was held in custody pending sentencing after he unsuccessfully argued that he should be allowed to live with a Philadelphia priest and be subject to GPS monitoring, at his own expense.

Prosecutors argued that Georgiou is connected to organized crime figures – including some in the GTA - and represents a danger to society payday loans.

Prosecutors cited threats that Georgiou made to one of their witnesses, former stock scammer Kevin Waltzer. Those threats included a statement that Waltzer should "sleep with one eye open" and that it would be easier to "get someone’s legs broken" in New York than it would be in Canada.

Court heard that, at one point, Georgiou suggested a business meeting in a hot tub, so that his comments couldn’t be secretly recorded. The hot tub meeting never took places and his comments were secretly recorded by police.

The prosecution argued that he illegally manipulated the stock values of four companies: Neutron Enterprises Inc., Avicena Group Inc., Northern Ethanol Inc. and Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc.

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Stocks end little changed Thursday, erasing bigger losses after weaker than expected reports on the economy revived worries about growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost a few points and broke its seven-day winning streak. The S&P 500 (SPX) index ended just above breakeven, and the Nasdaq (COMP) composite lost a few points.

Stocks tumbled through most of the session, but managed to cut losses near the close thanks to a late-session advance in financial and commodity shares.

After the close, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) reported quarterly earnings that missed forecasts on revenue that beat estimates, sending shares lower in after-hours trading.

JPMorgan’s profit report added to bets that quarterly earnings will hold up despite the slower growing economy. But that wasn’t enough to distract investors from a spate of mixed-to-weaker economic reports, particularly in the aftermath of a big rally over the past week.

"We’re coming off a strong rally over the last few days that was earnings driven," said Kim Caughey, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "Today we took a rest from looking at the earnings and took another look at the economy."

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered its forecast for GDP growth this year. On Thursday, a report showed that weekly jobless claims fell to a two-year low — but continuing claims, a measure of long-term joblessness, rose. Weak reports on manufacturing in the New York and Philadelphia regions added to the jitters.

China also reported strong GDP growth of 10.3% in the second quarter. Still, that fell short of the 11.9% growth recorded in the first quarter.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate approved the most far-reaching financial reform bill since the 1930s, which President Obama is expected to sign into law next week.

The legislation is designed to limit big banks, protect consumers and prevent the future reoccurrence of financial crises like the one that hit in 2008.

Results: Dow component JPMorgan Chase posted a second-quarter profit of $4.8 billion, or $1.09 per share, trouncing expectations. The bank’s strength in the quarter was due partly to a decline in the number of consumers defaulting on loans. However, JPMorgan’s shares slipped amid the broader market selloff.

"It’s great to have earnings surprises but what we really need to see are companies issuing upbeat forecasts for the second half of the year," she said.

Earnings for the S&P 500 are expected to have risen 28% versus a year ago, according to the latest from earnings tracker Thomson Reuters.

Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment last week fell to 429,000, the lowest level since August 2008. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought claims would drop to 450,000 from a revised 458,000 in the previous week.

However, the drop in weekly claims was largely a result of seasonal factors. Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, rose to 4,681,000 from 4,434,000 in the previous week payday loans with no fax. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought claims would fall to 4,400,000.

The NY Fed-Empire Manufacturing survey plunged to 5.08 in July from 19.57 in June, surprising economists who were expecting it to dip to 18.

The Philadelphia Fed index fell to 5.1 in July from 8.0 in June, surprising economists who thought that manufacturing activity would rise to 10.0.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures wholesale inflation, fell 0.5% in June after falling 0.3% in May. Economists thought it would fall 0.1%. The so-called core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1%. Economists expected it to rise 0.1% after it rose 0.2% last month.

Industrial production rose 0.1% in June after rising 1.3% in May. Economists thought it would hold steady. Capacity utilization held steady at 74.1% in June, versus forecasts for a rise to 74.2%.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered its forecast for GDP this year to a range of between 3% and 3.5% versus the previous forecast of a range of 3.2% to 3.7%.

BP: Shares of the beleaguered oil company rallied 7.5% after BP (BP) said that it has managed to temporarily stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, nearly three months after the explosion that caused the leak.

Company news: Private-equity firm Carlyle Group is buying vitamin maker NBTY (NTY) in a $3.8 billion cash deal that values NBTY’s shares at $55 per share, a 47% premium above the stock’s closing price Wednesday. Shares gained 43%.

World markets: European markets fell, with Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.8%, Germany’s DAX off 1% and France’s CAC 40 down 1.4%.

Asian markets ended lower. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.6%.

Currencies: The euro gained versus the dollar, hitting a two-month high. The dollar fell versus the Japanese yen.

Commodities: U.S. light crude oil for August delivery rose 26 cents to $76.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery gained $1.20 to $1,209.50 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 2.98% from 3.05% late Wednesday. Debt prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Market breadth: Breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by a narrow margin on volume of 1.12 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers 2 to 1 on volume of 1.99 billion shares.

How much of a hit did you take in the recent correction? Are you worried about a bear market? What changes have you made in your portfolio and what changes do you plan on making for the rest of the year? E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be featured in an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. 

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RxMedic, a maker of automated pill dispensing systems used in pharmacies, has been purchased by J M Smith, a South Carolina company that provides various products and services to the pharmacy industry.

J M Smith, based in Spartanburg, S.C., closed on its purchase of privately held RxMedic in late May, says RxMedic Senior Director Chris Cox. J M Smith had been one of the investors in the Raleigh company.

RxMedic, incorporated in 2007, sells its pill dispensing systems in North and South Carolina and parts of Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. Cox said J M Smith’s purchase of the company gives it a better opportunity to grow because it can tap into J M Smith’s national sales and marketing force bad credit payday advance.Cox declined to disclose RxMedic’s revenue. The company’s competition includes Durham-based Parata Systems.

With the sale of the RxMedic, former CEO Alan Winchester has left the company. RxMedic currently employs 15. Cox says all of the remaining employees will be retained by the company and additional workers could be hired for its manufacturing operations in coming months. Cox said the number of workers the company hires depends on sales of the product.

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In one of the most gut-wrenching hours in Wall Street history, the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points Thursday before recovering to close down 348, as erroneous trading in Procter & Gamble and several other stocks sparked a massive selloff.

Fears about the spread of the European debt crisis dragged on stocks through the early afternoon. But the selling picked up in intensity and the Dow reached its nadir at around 2:40 p.m. ET.

The selling was a result of technical glitches that caused some stocks, including Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), to plunge 37% to $39.37 per share from the close of $62.12 Wednesday. The consumer products maker recovered most of that loss by the close, ending just 2% lower.

But the faulty P&G trading was responsible for 172 of the 998.50 points that the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost at its worst, the biggest one-day point decline on an intraday basis in Dow Jones history.

Accenture, 3M, Sotheby’s and other stocks may have been impacted by similar problems. (For details,click here)

At the closing bell, the Dow was down 348 points, or 3.2%, to end at 10,520.32. The Dow’s biggest one-day point decline on a closing basis was Sept. 29, 2008, when it fell 777.68, which had also been the previous intraday mark.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) slipped 38 points, or 3.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) dropped 83 points, or 3.4%.

"On the Dow, we were down 400 to 800 points in five minutes, it was horrifying," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

Beyond the erroneous trades, the selling pressure of the last few days has been more technical than fundamental, said Hogan. He said the market collapsed some major technical support levels, and could be in for more selling Friday.

However, there are a few factors that could help stabilize the market Friday, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners, including news on Greece.

"The key is to get Germany’s vote tomorrow in favor of the Greek aid package from the European Union," he said. "If that happens, that could help calm fears and stabilize the market."

Friday’s big April jobs report could end up being a non-event, said Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at National Securities. "We’ve had good economic reports all week and it hasn’t happened."

The CBOE Volatility (VIX) index, Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, closed at 34.16, its highest finish since May 4, 2009. Earlier, it had spiked as high as 40.71, a 62% jump and its biggest one-day surge since February 2007.

Selkin said that often when the VIX gets over 40 that can be a sign that the selling has been overdone, which could be good. But with the fear gauge closing below that level, it may not provide a boost Friday.

"International markets are obviously going to get hit over night and futures are pointing to a weak open in the U.S.," Selkin said.

Gold spiked above $1,200, the euro plunged to a more than 1-year low against the dollar and oil prices fell. Treasury prices rallied, sending the corresponding yields lower as investors sought safety in government debt prices.

The run from the euro and into the dollar and U.S. government debt was a classic flight to quality, said Ted Weisberg, NYSE floor trader, Seaport Securities. He said that the continued weakness of the euro was going to be a big drag on the markets as it pummels dollar-traded commodities and also hurts companies that do a lot of business overseas.

After the close, both the Securities and Exhange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that they would be looking into the unusual trading that took place Thursday.

Movers: All 30 Dow components slid, with oil components Chevron and Exxon Mobil, financial leader JPMorgan Chase, and tech names Hewlett-Packard and IBM among the big losers. 3M, Boeing and United Technologies added to the weakness.

Market breadth was positive no fax pay day loans. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers 17 to 1 on volume of 2.58 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners seven to one on volume of 4.48 billion shares.

European debt problems accelerate: Stocks have been sliding on and off for the last two weeks as investors mull the ramifications of the growing debt crisis in Europe.

While European leaders have pledged to provide Greece with $146 billion in loans over the next three years, attempts by the nation to institute certain "austerity" measures to bring down the deficit have sparked riots and other violent outbursts.

Meanwhile, investors are concerned that the size of the bailout will make Europe less able to help Spain, Portugal and other debt-plagued nations. The so-called PIIGS also include Italy and Ireland.

"There’s no question that Europe and Greece, and specifically the fear of contagion, is what’s driving the market lower," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Investments.

"Having said that, we also have to be cognizant that the market was due for a pullback at a minimum, and possibly a correction," he said.

He noted the market hasn’t had a correction - technically defined as a selloff of 10% on a closing basis - for at least 14 months.

A slew of good - but not great - retail sales reports from the nation’s chain stores, and a report that showed weekly jobless claims dropped were also in focus.

Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 444,000 last week from a revised 451,000 the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought claims would fall to 440,000.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, dropped to 4,594,000 from a revised 4,653,000 in the previous week. Economists expected 4,600,000 continuing claims.

The report was released one day ahead of the government’s closely watched April jobs report, due Friday morning. That report is expected to show employers added 187,000 jobs to their payrolls after adding 162,000 in March, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

The growth is considered a step in the right direction, but the number of new jobs is not yet enough to keep up with the number of new entrants in the labor market.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to hold steady at 9.7%.

Corporate news: Troubled mortgage lender Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) reported an $8 billion quarterly loss Wednesday and also said it needs another $10.6 billion from the federal government. The company was put into conservatorship by the government during the height of the financial crisis in 2008, along with its sister company Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500).

World markets: In overseas trading, European markets tumbled, with France’s CAC 40 down 2.2%, Germany’s DAX down 0.8% and London’s FTSE down 1.5%.

Asian markets fell. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index lost 3.3% as investors reacted to the European debt crisis after a long holiday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng lost 1% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1%.

The dollar and commodities: The dollar rallied early versus the euro, with the European currency falling to its lowest level since March of 2009. But by late day, the dollar had turned lower. It also fell versus the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery dropped $2.86 to settle at $77.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $22.30 to settle at $1,197.30 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.40% from 3.55% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

– Staff reporters Hibah Yousuf and Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report. 

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After gaining near-universal admiration for its moral stand against China just under a month ago, Google quickly got knocked off that pedestal.

Last week, the search giant was hit with two major lawsuits over Google Books and Google Buzz, three public advocacy groups jointly filed a privacy complaint against Google with the Federal Trade Commission, and, most critically, the FTC readied an antitrust challenge to Google’s deal for mobile advertising company AdMob.

"When you get to be the size of Google, you can expect legal battles to be constant," said Andrew Frank, Google analyst at Gartner. "This is going to be a continuing source of friction for them."

Whether or not Google’s legal woes ultimately hurt the company’s long-term profitability or stock price remains to be seen.

"The AdMob episode highlights the fact that Google may be entering a difficult phase with respect to its attempts to expand into adjacent businesses," said Tim Boyd, senior Internet analyst at MKM partners, in a note to investors. "Mobile advertising is of particular importance to Google’s longer-term growth strategy. The loss of AdMob would serve as a significant setback."

Boyd held his rating on Google at "neutral" because "increased antitrust risk could remain a significant sentiment overhang."

Any risk that Google may face more antitrust issues could cause a big wrinkle in the company’s growth prospects, according to Richard Fetyko, analyst at Merriman Curhan Ford.

Google already dominates the search market, and Fetyko says there are only a couple real growth opportunities: Mobile is one, and display ads are another. Google is still a relatively small player in both those markets, but strong growth in either space could raise regulators’ eyebrows, he said.

Still, others think that this latest slurry of legal trouble is not much to worry about, especially because Apple may have inadvertently helped Google’s cause. Last Thursday, a day after the news came out about the FTC’s antitrust concerns, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) introduced its new mobile advertising business, called "iAd," which will compete directly with AdMob faxless pay day loans.

That changed most analysts’ sentiment about the FTC’s chances against Google.

"Though AdMob is the mobile ad leader, it is only generating $100 million of revenue a year in a market that takes in $30 billion in the United States alone," said Trip Chowdry, analyst at Global Equities Research. "The fact that Apple came up with its own ad platform shows the space is evolving. It will be difficult for the FTC to block the deal."

As for the two lawsuits and the privacy concerns, most analysts just shrugged their shoulders.

"I think there’s merit to comparisons with Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)," said Frank. "There’s a sense that the incumbent is always the biggest target. But none of this has the nature of a fatal setback."

"It’s irrelevant; this is just the cost of doing business," said Chowdry. "I expect solid numbers from Google in the future. Investors should only think about Google’s innovations."

Google is set to report its first-quarter financial results on Thursday after the bell, and profit and sales are both expected to soar. The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is for earnings per share of $6.58 on revenue of $4.9 billion, up 21% from year-ago levels.

Shares of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) rose $1.33 to $588.10 Wednesday. Google’s stock has failed to keep pace with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite this year. While the Nasdaq has risen 9.5%, Google has fallen 5.6%.

Investors initially sold off the company’s stock during its standoff with China in January, as many viewed the announcement as turning Google’s back on 700 million Internet users. When it became clear that Google was not leaving behind China’s mobile market, Google’s shares gained back some lost momentum. 

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Shares of Blockbuster Inc. sank 30 percent Wednesday after the video rental chain warned that it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Competition from DVD-by-mail company Netflix Inc. and DVD vending machines operated by Coinstar Inc. have eroded the Dallas company’s revenue even as it staggers under a heavy debt load.

Blockbuster said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday that it was suffering "significant liquidity constraints" and could have to file for bankruptcy protection if it was unable to convince creditors to restructure a big chunk of its debt or business continued to deteriorate.

The company has had to close about 1,300 stores and wants to shut down hundreds more. It had about 5,200 stores worldwide in January, excluding franchised shops. About 3,500 of those were in the U.S.

The company is trying to update its business, setting up video-rental kiosks like those run by Coinstar and offering a DVD-mailing service. It added 2,000 kiosks in 2009 and expects to have more than 10,000 by the middle of this year — but NCR Corp., which operates the kiosks, is "under no obligation" to install or run them, Blockbuster said bad credit personal loan lenders.

Blockbuster is also pursuing several measures to help shore up cash. It wants to sell some of its international business, and it is pursuing a debt-for-equity swap to help alleviate its debt burden. It wants to swap all or part of its senior subordinated notes for common stock. It said it owed $975 million under senior secured notes and senior subordinated notes as of Jan. 3. Even if the swap goes through, it could significantly dilute current shareholders.

Meanwhile, the company predicts further declines in its sales. The chain said it expects a key sales measure to drop in the mid-single digits to high single digits in 2010 — and a "further deterioration" could leave it unable to service its debt, leading to default.

The company’s key sales measure sank 16 percent in the fourth quarter — a dismal holiday season performance despite higher advertising. It lost $435 million compared to a loss of $360 million in the last three months of 2008.

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Medicine Shoppe and Medicap pharmacists in seven states sued Cardinal Health in federal court Tuesday, alleging the health care products distributor failed to make good on promises it made when it asked them to switch to a new franchise agreement.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, says franchise holders who agreed to the change offered in March 2009 are paying lower fees than others, while all are getting fewer supports and services from the Cardinal-owned Medicine Shoppe International Inc. and Medicap Pharmacies Inc. It says many who have the lower fees were charged "grossly unfair" penalties to switch from their old agreements.

Pharmacists want a return of penalties paid and for all franchisees to be charged the lower fees or be allowed to cancel their franchise agreements, said St free 3-in-1 credit report. Louis attorney David Harris, who represents the pharmacists. Plaintiffs include Medicine Shoppe franchisees in California, South Dakota and Kansas and Medicap franchisees in Pennsylvania, Idaho, Iowa and North Carolina.

Harris said the suit seeks class-action status and could include more than 600 franchises that account for $1 billion in drug sales for Cardinal. Most signed 20-year agreements.

Medicine Shoppe, which Cardinal acquired in 1995, had been based in Earth City but the pharmacy chain moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, last year.

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Maine’s lobstermen are working harder for less, as demand drops for their expanding harvest.

Lobstermen pulled in a robust 76.3 million pounds in 2009, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. That’s the largest harvest in years, according to state records and estimates, but only in terms of volume.

The 2009 take was worth $223.7 million, which is about $22 million less than the prior year, according to the department. State statistics show that the harvest has dropped in value, year-to-year, since 2005, when it totaled nearly $318 million.

As with most things, the recession is to blame. Cash-strapped consumers are avoiding delicacies such as lobsters, driving down the overall price, according to George Lapointe, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

"I think it’s largely a function of supply and demand, and the world economic condition," he said. "Lobster is a luxury product."

Lapointe said the price of lobster managed to "claw its way" back to a range of $2.75 to $3 per pound in 2009, after slumping to $2 to $2.50 in the fall of 2008. That pales in comparison to five years ago, he said, when lobstermen were getting $4 to $4.50 per pound.

Lobstering is an essential part of Maine’s economy, he said, providing about $500 million in annual revenue to coastal communities. He said the tourism industry has managed to hold up, despite the recession, but visitors to Maine only account for one-sixth of lobster purchases.

Lapointe said cruise ships, which are traditionally among the largest consumers of lobsters, are cutting back on their purchases and this has been painful for lobstermen.

"They are certainly in a financial squeeze right now," he said. "When they fish harder, they use more bait and more fuel, and those are huge costs for them."

Lapointe said fuel cost is consuming as much as 40% of a lobsterman’s take, up from 10% to 15% in recent years.

More lobsters, less money

David Cousins, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and a lobsterman for 42 years, said the 2009 harvest was the biggest since the early 1990s, when the annual take peaked at an estimated 100 million pounds. But that is little comfort, considering the dropping prices and increasing costs.

"Our business is based on a $4 dollar-plus lobster [per pound]," said Cousins. "When you’re getting $2.90 a pound, you’re going the wrong way and it just doesn’t work anymore.

The cost of Atlantic herring, an abundant fish used as bait in lobster traps, jumped to a range of 25 to 30 cents per pound from 3 cents in the mid-1990s, said Cousins. The cost of bait now consumes 20% of gross revenue for lobstermen, compared to 2% in mid-1990s, he said.

"Our [net] income has dropped by 35% to 40%, and sometimes 50%, because of increased cost of fuel and increased cost of bait," Cousins said.

This spells trouble for the industry and some lobstermen have lost their boats to bank foreclosures, he said.

"There are a lot of people who are in serious trouble up here, because they have a lot of money out on their business - they owe for boats and traps and houses and trucks and all that," Cousins said.

But getting out of this hardscrabble business isn’t much of an option for most lobstermen, despite its difficulties, he added.

"People are hanging on as long as they can, because there aren’t any jobs any more," Cousins said. 

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Solar power company GreenVolts Inc. hired Uday Bellary as its chief financial officer.

Bellary worked previously at Atrica Inc., where he was CFO and helped the company raise $34 million in equity and debt. That company was ultimately bought by Nokia Siemens Network. He was also CFO of Metro Optix. and MMC Networks.

GreenVolts’ CEO David Gudmundson will be his boss. Gudmundson took over as CEO in October, when previous CEO Gary Beasley left for a job in private equity.

Fremont-based GreenVolts makes “concentrating photovoltaic” technology — systems that track the sun and with mirrors that focus sunlight onto solar cells for greater generating efficiency.

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