Stocks close mostly lower in first losing week of year

NEW YORK – The stock market closed mostly lower Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its first losing week of 2012, after the government reported that economic growth was slower at the end of last year than economists expected.

The Dow spent the whole day in the red. It ended down 74 points, or 0.6 percent, at 12,660.46. The loss snapped a three-week winning streak for the Dow, which fell 60 points for the week but is still up 3.6 percent for the year.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 finished down 2.10 points at 1,316.33. The S&P finished the week up a sliver — 0.95 points.

The Nasdaq composite, which has more than doubled the Dow’s gain for the year, edged up 11.27 to 2,816.55. It rose about 30 points this week.

Regulators shutter banks in Tennessee and Florida

WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday closed banks in Tennessee and Florida, lifting to five the number of U.S. bank failures this year following 92 closures in 2011.

The number of closures dropped sharply in 2011 from the two previous years, when banks were working their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. And the rate seems to be slowing more this year; by this time in 2011, regulators had shuttered 11 banks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Tennessee Commerce Bank, based in Franklin, Tenn., with $1.2 billion in assets and $1.1 billion in deposits, and First Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. of Jacksonville, based in Jacksonville, Fla., with $377.9 million in assets and $349.5 million in deposits.

The failure of Tennessee Commerce Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $416.8 million; that of First Guaranty Bank and Trust is expected to cost $82 million.

WellPoint plans improved primary care program

INDIANAPOLIS – Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to improve primary care reimbursement and start paying for care management it doesn’t currently cover, changes that could give patients more quality time with their doctors.

The Indianapolis company said Friday it will increase the fees it pays to doctor practices, and it will start paying for services such as preparing care plans for patients with complex medical problems. It also will offer doctors an opportunity to share in some savings when better patient care leads to a reduction in costs.

WellPoint said it wants to give doctors a chance to do more for patients outside of episodic care, or just treating people when they become sick. That means, for example, working with overweight people who have diabetes to develop an exercise plan and then making sure they stay on it.

WellPoint expects a return on this investment. The insurer said the approach should cut down on some of the priciest forms of medical care, emergency room visits and hospital admissions.

— From news service reports