Even as data suggested the economy is improving at a slow but gradual pace, investors were reluctant to buy stocks as potential policy changes and fresh signs of trouble in Greece kept sentiments jittery.  However, the Dow average rose for an eighth straight day, its longest winning run since August 2009.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) advanced 2.1% and was Dow average’s leading gainer. A Bernstein analyst noted Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program “appears to be making substantial progress."  Shares in 3M (NYSE:MMM) rose 1.8% and DuPont (NYSE:DD) gained 1.6% as reports showed a rise in Philadelphia manufacturing.   Financials, however, turned lower, with Bank of America (NYSE:BA) dropping 1.1% and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) falling 0.3%.  Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) fell 2.6%.  A Citigroup (NYSE:C) report saying financials are highly -priced after gains of over 150% since March 9, 2009 market lows and could retreat at current levels also hurt financials.  Moreover, rumors circulated the

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In an attempt to grow its insurance business nationally, Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) announced the acquisition of Thomas Rutherfoord, Inc., one of the highly-regarded brokerage firms in the U.S. The terms of the transaction, however, remain undisclosed.  With this acquisition, MMA will now contain annual revenue of $171 million to become the 13th largest insurance agency in the U.S. The deal is expected to mutually help both the companies grow their individual strengths. Further, the acquisition will enhance MMC’s coverage while building its client relationship through Thomas Rutherfoord in the mid-Atlantic region, where the latter is densely penetrated by its teamwork orientation, employees’ expertise and disciplined financial performance.  Founded in 1916, Thomas Rutherfoord has annual revenues of $81 million, more than 300 employees and 10 offices located from Philadelphia to the Gulf Coast ...

About 2,400 poor adults on the waiting list to join AdultBasic, Pennsylvania’s state insurance program for those who don’t qualify for Medicaid, were hit March 1 with a near doubling of their monthly premium, from $313 to $600.

Faced with cost hikes, the state opted to preserve the $36 per month fee for the 39,000 residents already enrolled in the main program and shift the burden to those on the waiting list, who have been allowed to purchase the same coverage at a higher cost since the program’s inception in 2002.

Because the waiting list members buy insurance on a month-to-month basis, many do so only when they are sick, thus adversely affecting the risk pool and increasing costs. But hiking costs for this group, which includes individuals who make less than half of the federal poverty level–or about $21,672–will likely only make matters worse, the state insurance commissioner, Joel Ario, admitted

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PHILADELPHIA - March 17, 2010 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) - Clean and sustainable innovations from The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) will address more than $20 billion of market opportunities, according to Jerome Peribere, President and CEO of the Company's Advanced Materials Division.

Stocks are flat as investors await the Fed’s statements and decision on interest rates

Major stock indexes were little changed Tuesday while investors awaited results from the Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates.

Policymakers are almost certain to keep the Fed’s benchmark rate at a historic low of near zero so investors will be focused on the Fed’s take on the economy. The central bank is expected to release a statement at 2:15 p.m. EDT following its meeting.

As the economy improves the Fed will need to start increasing rates to fend off inflation. Investors will pore over the Fed’s statement for clues about when rates might change. The Fed has repeatedly said inflation is not an immediate problem, and it plans to keep rates low for an “extended period.”

Any change in the language that indicates the Fed will raise rates sooner rather than later could touch off selling in the stock

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AlumiFuel Power Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AlumiFuel Power, Inc. (API), is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based alternative energy company targeting commercial and defense sectors. The Company announced today the initiation of work on a new hydrogen generator for use in Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and other submersible craft.

The hydrogen generator will power a fuel cell, and is being designed in conjunction with a superheated steam generator prototype API is currently working on for similar applications with major defense prime contractors that is based on the Company’s proven PBIS-1000 generator.

Designed in a similar fashion to the prototype steam generator, the hydrogen generator will use the same form factor and start/stop functions, and will be based on a process involving a proprietary additive, but in this case the generator will power a 100W fuel cell for up to several days at a time.

The system energy density (overall efficiency) of the hydrogen generator system,

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Today I had the honor of addressing BET’s first ever “Leading Women Summit” in Washington, DC. The Summit brought together artists, community activists, media representatives and professional women from across the country to work on finding solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing the African American community. I welcomed the opportunity to participate and offer my perspective on the health care crisis in our country, which, according to almost every available statistic, disproportionately affects Women of Color.

For instance, consider the following facts:

Nearly one in five African Americans (19%) are without health care insurance. African Americans in general spend a higher percentage of their income on health care costs compared to their white counterparts (16.5% vs. 12.2%). African Americans also tend to live in areas where there are fewer hospitals or where quality care cannot be obtained. African Americans suffer from higher percentages of chronic diseases, such as heart

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$1,115 – that’s the average premium for employer-sponsored family coverage per month in 2009.  Annually, that amounts to $13,375 – or roughly the yearly income of someone working a minimum wage job. (Source) And if nothing is done to reform our broken health care system, a recent survey found that over the next ten years, out-of-pocket expenses for Americans with health insurance could increase 35 percent in every state in the country. (Source)

This week — in an effort to put the past year’s debate over health insurance reform into perspective — we’re launching, “Health Reform by the Numbers,” an online campaign using key figures, like $1,115, to raise awareness about why we just can’t wait for reform.  We’ll announce a new number each day and promote them here on Whitehouse.gov and on social networks, like Facebook and Twitter.

If you’d like to help raise awareness, share this blog

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Employees with patient care responsibilities at Abingdon (Pa.) Memorial Hospital could soon find themselves out of a job if they don’t follow hospital policy on hand-washing. This twist is the hospital’s latest salvo in a two-year campaign to address poor hand-washing among employees who are involved in patient care.

The hospital’s policy states that these employees must wash their hands before and after entering each patient’s room. Two years ago Abingdon Memorial tasked an infection-control nurse in epidemiology with forming a team of spies to determine how often doctors and nurses complied with the policy.

The spies document the number of times hospital staff wash with soap and water or use hand sanitizers, conducting between 800 and 1,400 observations per month. Staff members who wash their hands only entering or leaving a patient room (not both) are counted as noncompliant. In December 2007, hand-washing compliance stood at only 31 percent, with physicians

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It appears that New Jersey-based Virtua Health has found the financial fountain of youth, but through what means remains to be determined. Chief executive Richard Miller points to a lean management approach he implemented throughout the system back in 1998 as key, but at least one rival hospital believe that it’s Virtua’s unwillingness to see lower-income patients that has helped its bottom line.

The march toward profitability began back in 1998, when Memorial Health and West Jersey Health merged to form Virtua. Chief executive Richard Miller, with the help of General Electric, created an environment of “rigor and accountability” that has helped save $27 million since 2002.

“If you build a great health system programmatically from a quality and safety perspective, I don’t care where you’re based, you’re going to be successful,” Miller said.

However, Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., complained to the state last year that Virtua funneled its low-income patients

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