Charlotte stocks rallied Friday on a day of strong trading, with Ruddick Corp.'s shares jumping 8 percent in value. Ruddick (NYSE:RDK) closed at $44.40, up $3.35. The Charlotte-based parent of the Harris Teeter supermarket released its earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 after the market closed Thursday. While the company's net income was down, Ruddick cited an 8.5 percent incr ...

Barbara Desoer will retire from Bank of America after her long-suffering stint as head of the bank's troubled mortgage operations. BofA announced her retirement in an internal memo. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the story. "I have given it my all," she said in the memo, according to the Journal. Desoer will end a 34-year career at Charlotte-based BofA and its predecessors. S ...

Forget about spotting POTUS or the Clintons in Charlotte in September at the Democratic National Convention. The real question is where to find the Comedy Central political satire tag team of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Colbert and his Super PAC remain uncommitted, but Stewart, host of The Daily Show, is considering setting up shop at the 440-seat Booth Playhouse in Founders Hall during th ...

BB&T Corp. has plans to acquire the life insurance and property and casualty insurance divisions of New Jersey-based Crump Group Inc. for $570 million, according to an announcement. BB&T (NYSE:BBT) expects the deal to add $300 million in revenue to its insurance business. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. If approved, it would t ...

Restaurant sales in the South Atlantic region, which includes North Carolina, are expected to grow at the second highest clip in the nation in 2012, according to new research by the National Restaurant Association. The projected growth percentages are made up of what the association deems as “key influencers” of state sales growth, including gains in total employment, real disposable person ...

Ruddick Corp. reports net income of $13.7 million, or 28 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended Jan. 1. That’s down from $38.1 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal 2011. The latest earnings reflect Ruddick’s sale of its ownership interest in thread-maker American & Efird Inc., which resulted in a $12.1 million loss from ...

The nation’s jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January as the economy added nearly a quarter-million jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. It’s fifth straight monthly decline in unemployment and puts the jobless rate at its lowest level in nearly three years. Nationwide unemployment stood at 8.5 percent in December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly survey of employers ...

North Carolina's State Health Plan, which paid $110 million to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina last year, is up for grabs. The plan covers 664,000 state employees and paid out $2.5 billion in claims last year. The state asks insurance providers to stay quiet about the bids until they submit them. Some obvious contenders would be UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, but any major insuranc ...

US Airways Group Inc. reports a 6.1 percent increase in passenger traffic last month to nearly 4.9 million boardings from 4.6 million in January 2011. The airline, which operates its largest hub at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, flew 4.8 billion revenue-passenger miles last month, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier. The carrier’s passenger-load factor, or the percentage of filled ...

This week’s Charlotte Business Journal lists the area’s largest telecom companies, ranked by number of full-time local employees. Time Warner Cable tops the list, with 3,122 local employees. AT&T Inc. is second, with almost 2,500 area employees. Here are area’s largest telecom companies: Time Warner CableAT&T Inc.Windstream CommunicationsComporiumVerizon Wireless For the entire ...

Mecklenburg County leaders are now addressing the growing number of recent coyote sightings.

Double-paned, energy efficient, "low-e" or low emittance windows, increasingly called for by building codes, can warp inward creating a concave lens and acting like a magnifying glass, melting vinyl siding and other surfaces including cars.

Neighborhood leaders have a few more days to comment on proposed rules for sweepstakes parlors, or internet cafes, in Charlotte.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a man they say is armed and dangerous.

Women and minorities were disproportionately hit by the budget cuts to state government last year.

Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue says her decision not to seek re-election will free her up to take her proposal to raise the sales tax for education directly to citizens, without worry her stance could be used against her in a campaign.

North Carolina motorists have free sailing again on Interstate 40 through the mountains after crews cleared away rock slides that blocked the highway.

Occupy protesters are making their voices heard. The group took over a building Saturday near Chapel Hill.

A Charlotte couple, who have been sweethearts since they met at Harding High School five years ago, died when their car went over a bridge near Lexington, in Davidson County.

Amid pressure and furor from critics, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation reversed a decision to end Planned Parenthood grants.

Raw milk from a dairy in Pennsylvania is now linked to 38 illnesses in four states, and the farm has temporarily suspended sales.

A Minnesota food company is recalling more than a million hard-cooked eggs distributed to 34 states after testing revealed some may be contaminated ...

Researchers who spent three years dragging sheets of fabric through the woods to snag ticks have created a detailed map they claim could improve ...

While some longtime supporters of Komen for the Cure remain loyal, others said feelings of ill will were created by the controversy.

Cooking and lacrosse are among the hot topics for 2012.

The author of The Purpose Driven Life has found a new purpose: Losing weight and inspiring people to do the same.

Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres put on an impressive push-up demonstration -- setting a great example for other women their age.

2012 Super Bowl stars? Dogs

Stressed out by flying? Northern California travelers can now find their inner calm in the Yoga Room at San Francisco International Airport.

The benefits of massage and red wine get new scientific backing and the first lady wins a push-up contest.

More than a year after the 3-year-old elk escaped from his paddock, he's being denied re-entry to the state from West Virginia.

There is a campaign for truth-in-wine-labeling laws supported by a loose-knit cohort of wine regions around the world.

Malaria may be killing around twice as many as experts thought, and it could also be hitting older children and adults a new study suggests.

A condo has allowed a woman with cancer to keep her dog, reversing a decision made earlier because the animal was larger than rules allow.