By Lorie Hailey
Associate Editor
Shares of Lexington-based Tempur-Pedic International lost almost half their value Wednesday, after the high-end mattress company announced that it expects sales and earnings to decline in the second quarter, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.
The announcement led to downgrades by at least three stock analysts who were caught off-guard by the news.
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Louisville-based Taco Bell, often a late-night indulgence with its inexpensive fare, is going more upscale, according to USA TODAY.
The chain said Wednesday it plans an early July rollout of a menu addition created by celebrity chef Lorena Garcia for its nearly 5,600 U.S. restaurants. New items feature such ingredients as black beans, cilantro rice, citrus- and herb-marinated chicken and cilantro dressing, the newspaper reports.
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The electric version of Honda’s new 2013 Honda Fit has received the highest fuel-efficiency rating ever given by the Environmental Protection Agency: 118 mpg-e in mixed city-highway driving, according to USA TODAY.
The battery Fit uses no gasoline — the mpg-e measure is intended to compare equal amounts of energy used. But the upshot is that a year’s worth (15,000 miles) of electricity to power the car is estimated by the EPA to cost less than $500 at current average electric rates — $1,300 a year less than for a conventional gasoline Fit with automatic or $650 less than for a Toyota Prius hybrid, the paper reports.
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Kentucky’s education commissioner, speaking Tuesday to the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, emphasized the future of Kentucky’s economy is tied to an educated work force, reports the Somerset Commonwealth Journal.
Terry Holliday encouraged chamber members and the Somerset community to support common core standards, provisions in Senate Bill 1, now in effect, but becoming more visible in September when new school terms begin. The legislation revises the assessment and accountability system for K-12 education in Kentucky.
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The Nasdaq OMX Group said on Wednesday that it planned to set aside as much as $40 million to settle disputes by investors over issues caused by technical glitches in Facebook’s initial public offering, according to the New York Times.
Under the terms of the plan, Nasdaq will make the money available to its member firms, rather than investors directly. About $13.7 million will be paid in cash, pending review by the Securities and Exchange Commission, while the remainder will be credited to member firms to reduce trading costs, the paper reports.
The long-awaited plan is meant to help quell investor anger over the flawed debut of Facebook on May 18.
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