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Better than expected earnings reports and a lift in the manufacturing sector sent stocks higher Tuesday.

Pfizer Inc., United Parcel Service Inc. and agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. all beat earnings forecasts.

The Institute of Supply Management said Tuesday that manufacturing activity expanded in January at its fastest pace in nearly seven years. Increased spending by businesses and consumers helped push the index higher, the company said.

“This is a good indicator that businesses have come out of the gate strongly in 2011,” said Burt White, chief investment officer for LPL Financial. “We are seeing businesses spend again and this is exactly what we needed to see for this economy to move forward.”

The better economic data helped push stocks broadly higher. The Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index _ the benchmark for most U.S. mutual funds _ traded above 1,300. If it closes above that level, the index will reach its highest point since Aug. 28, 2008.

All 10 company groups that make up the Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index rose. Materials companies rose 2.2 percent, the largest gain of any group.

The S&P index gained 16 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,301 in morning trading. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 93 points, or 0.8 percent, to 11,984. The Nasdaq composite index rose 38, or 1.4 percent, to 2,738.

Before the market opened, Archer Daniels Midland said that its profit jumped 29 percent last quarter because of growing demand for grains. The agriculture conglomerate easily beat analyst estimates and its stock jumped 6 percent.

United Parcel Service Inc. said its 2011 earnings will likely top its pre-recession levels from 2007. UPS gained 4 percent.

Pfizer Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled and its revenues rose 6 percent. The company narrowly beat analyst estimates and gained 4.8 percent.

Electronic Arts and Boston Scientific are among the companies that will report earnings by the end of the day.

Bond prices fell, sending their yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.45 from 3.38 percent late Monday.

Energy stocks led indexes higher Monday, the first day of trading since the growing unrest in Egypt caused the largest one-day drop in the broad stock market in more than three months.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 68 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 11,891.93 Monday. It finished the month with its best January performance in 14 years. The broader Standard and Poor’s 500 index rose 10, or 0.8 percent, to 1,286.12. The Nasdaq composite index gained 13, or 0.5 percent, to 2,700.08.

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Masked gunmen with rocket launchers are blocking access to what officials believe may be a mass grave site in Ivory Coast, the United Nations said, as concerns grow that the West African nation that suffered a 2002-2003 civil war could return to conflict.

The U.N. reported that heavily armed forces allied with Laurent Gbagbo and joined by masked men, were preventing people from getting to the village of N’Dotre, where the global body said “allegations point to the existence of a mass grave.”

The U.N. did not elaborate on the possible victims, though it has expressed concerns about hundreds of arrests, and dozens of cases of torture and disappearance during the political turmoil since the presidential runoff vote was held nearly a month ago.

“As the violence goes on the number of dead, wounded and missing persons is increasing rapidly,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said late Thursday.

Gbagbo has refused to step down from the presidency despite international calls for his ouster from the U.N., U.S., former colonizer France, the European Union and the African Union. The international community recognizes Alassane Ouattara as the winner, though Gbagbo maintains control of the national military.

Alain Toussaint, an adviser for Gbagbo, has said that he didn’t believe soldiers or people close to Gbagbo would carry out the acts of violence that have been reported.

At least 173 deaths already have been confirmed in violence over the vote, and the U.N. is warning there could be untold more since it has been unable to investigate all the allegations. Even the top U.N. envoy in the country was stopped at gunpoint while trying to look into reports of human rights abuses, the U.N. deputy human rights commissioner in Geneva said Thursday.

“Many of the abducted remain missing, and the security forces are refusing to reveal their whereabouts,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “Several witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch had come across bodies with bullet wounds of those arrested or abducted, leading to strong fears of extrajudicial executions.”

The U.S. State Department has ordered most of its personnel to leave because of the deteriorating security situation and growing anti-Western sentiment, and former colonizer France is also urging its citizens to leave. A youth leader accused of inciting a pro-Gbagbo group that has led violent attacks against foreigners in the past has called for a demonstration Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ouattara is trying to assert his control over state institutions in a bid to cement his rule. State television that had been controlled by Gbagbo was yanked from the air in most cities outside Abidjan late Thursday, and Gbagbo’s access to state funds also has been blocked.

Ouattara’s allies hope the move by the West African economic and monetary union late Thursday will set the stage for mass defections if incumbent Gbagbo cannot pay civil servants and soldiers in the military that he still controls.

Officials with the regional monetary union made the announcement after an emergency session, and later said in a statement that only representatives of Ouattara’s government will have signing privileges on state accounts. The regional bank, known by its acronym BCEAO, regroups the treasuries of eight West African countries.

There has been much speculation in recent days as to whether Gbagbo would be able to pay state salaries, despite nightly assurances on state television that the paychecks would be available before Christmas.

On Thursday morning, several banks in downtown Abidjan posted notices in their windows saying that they would not be cashing civil servant paychecks because they hadn’t received a guarantee from the government that they would be reimbursed.

Lines of impatient civil servants formed outside the banks, but just after noon the notices were removed and one by one people started receiving their money.

While Ouattara has the backing of the international community, Gbagbo still controls the country’s military and also had dominated state media until late Thursday. Gbagbo-controlled state television was yanked from the air though in most cities outside Abidjan and remained off the air Friday.

It was not immediately clear how the signal was cut off. Advisers to Ouattara refused to comment, but the event falls in line with a series of strategies Ouattara has been employing to try to break Gbagbo’s stranglehold on the news.

A week ago, Ouattara’s supporters unsuccessfully attempted to seize control of the channel. State TV had run continuous footage of Gbagbo taking the oath of office in the days after he declared victory without mentioning that his claim was heavily contested.

Ivory Coast was once an economic hub because of its role as the world’s top cocoa producer. The 2002-2003 civil war split the country into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south. While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara draws his support from the northern half of the country, where he was born, while Gbagbo’s power base is in the south.

Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents there who have long felt that they are treated as foreigners in their own country by southerners.

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The European Union will sell 300 million carbon-dioxide allowances over the next two years from a reserve under its cap-and-trade program in a bid to spur clean- energy projects.

The European Investment Bank will sell the CO2 allowances from the post-2012 reserve for new companies and disburse the revenue via national governments to aid projects for carbon capture and storage and renewable energy. The EIB is the 27- nation EU’s lending arm and the 300 million permits from the reserve are known as the NER300.

“While details, including the starting date of the sales, are not fixed yet, it is expected that all NER300 allowances will be sold before the start of the third trading period of the EU emissions-trading system in January 2013,” the European Commission said in a statement today in Brussels.

The EU decided in 2008 that revenue from the reserve in the post-2012 phase of the emissions-trading system would be used to aid carbon-capture and renewable-energy projects. The system started in 2005 with a three-year trading period, is now in a second phase that ends in 2012 and will enter a third stage running from 2013 through 2020 credit score.

The permits to be sold by the EIB will probably be the first allowances for the next trading period brought to the market. Power producers have said they need phase-three permits immediately to hedge their future electricity sales.

“The EIB has to start sales within a month of the allowances being made available in a registry account,” the commission said. “When further decisions on the sales channel(s) to be used and other details have been taken, and before the sales start, the EIB will publish further information. This will also cover the number of allowances to be sold in 2011 and 2012, respectively.”

In a related step today, the EU opened a contest for the first portion of the roughly 4.3 billion euros ($6 billion) of aid from the reserve. The announcement covers 200 million of the CO2 permits and companies have three months to submit bids.

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A photographic look at the new Amway Center in downtown Orlando.

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State Treasurer Ted Wheeler has recommended a temporary halt to Oregon General Fund-backed public borrowing. Wheeler made the recommendation Thursday during a special meeting he convened of the State Debt Policy Advisory Commission, which he chairs.

The commission unanimously endorsed the temporary halt based on the shrunken pool of General Fund dollars available to repay any debt incurred. The measure is not binding but will be included in Wheeler's report to the state Legislature when it convenes in January.

“We have a responsibility to Oregon taxpayers to protect the state’s strong credit rating and to avoid the mistakes of other state governments that have tried to borrow their way out of deficits,” said Wheeler, in a statement. The state currently has a AA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, a Aa1 credit rating from Moody's Investors Service, and a AA+ rating from Fitch’s Investors Service.

In making his case, Wheeler noted that the state is currently paying $70 million to service $431 million in debt approved by the 2003 Oregon Legislature to cover operating expenses. That debt will be retired in 2013.

The commission also agreed to ask the Department of Administrative Services to reconsider the timing of certain new bond-financed projects that have already been authorized but for which bonds have not yet been sold.

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Citigroup said Thursday it would pay $73 million to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the bank, as well as two of its executives, misled investors about the company’s exposure to the subprime mortgage market.

Wall Street’s top regulator said Citigroup repeatedly made misleading statements in investor presentations and in public filings about the actual size of assets it controlled that were backed by subprime mortgages.

Between July and mid-October 2007, the company maintained its holdings of what have now been dubbed "toxic assets", stood at $13 billion, when in fact the number was closer to $50 billion, according to the SEC.

"The rules of financial disclosure are simple — if you choose to speak, speak in full and not in half-truths," Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said in a statement.

Also charged in the case were two Citigroup executives, including former chief financial officer Gary Crittenden and Arthur Tildesley, Jr., who currently serves as the head of cross marketing at the company.

Crittenden agreed to pay $100,000 to settle the charges while Tildesley, the former head of investor relations, agreed to pay $80,000.

In a statement issued Thursday, Citigroup stood behind the men, calling them both "highly valued" employees.

"We are pleased that we have reached agreement with the SEC to put this matter concerning certain 2007 disclosures behind us, and that the SEC is not charging Citi or any individual with intentional or reckless misconduct," the company said in a statement.

Citigroup neither admitted or denied the SEC’s allegations. But Thursday’s settlement is the federal agency’s latest attempt to crack down on fraud and misbehavior on Wall Street during the crisis.

Earlier this month, the SEC struck an agreement with Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500). The company agreed to pay $550 million to settle charges that the company defrauded investors in the sale of an investment tied to subprime mortgages.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) stock edged higher in afternoon trading Thursday. 

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Healthcare Trust of America Inc. bought a medical office building in Stockbridge, Ga., for $8.1 million.

Overlook at Eagle's Landing, in Henry County, is 100 percent occupied. It opened in 2004 and is less than one-half mile from the 215-bed Henry Medical Center.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Healthcare Trust also owns Southcrest Medical Plaza I and II in Stockbridge, Marietta Health Park in Riverdale, Fayette Medical Office in Fayetteville, and 4000 Shakerag Hill Road in Peachtree City payday loan online.

"This acquisition continues our Atlanta expansion focused in attractive sub-markets, bringing our total Atlanta portfolio to over a half million square feet while generating greater market presence for HTA with the region's health-care providers," said Mark D. Engstrom, executive vice president of acquisitions, in a statement.

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1. ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS

600 Corporate Park Drive

Clayton, Mo. 63105

314-512-5000

www.enterprise.com

Sales $12.1 billion

CEO Andrew C. Taylor

Founded 1957

Main products and services

Jack Taylor started his leasing business out of the basement of a St. Louis car dealership in 1957. The company now owns and operates the largest fleet of passenger vehicles in the world today — more than 1 million cars and trucks, operating more than 8,000 car rental locations including every major airport worldwide.

2. APEX OIL CO.

8235 Forsyth Boulevard, Suite 400

Clayton, Mo. 63105

314-889-9600

www.apexoil.com

Sales $5.5 billion

CEO Paul Novelly

Founded 1932

Main products and services

Apex is engaged in wholesale sales, storage and distribution of petroleum products including asphalt, kerosene, fuel oil, diesel, heavy oil, gasoline and marine bunkers. The company has terminals in the Midwest, East Coast, Gulf Coast and California.

3. GRAYBAR ELECTRIC CO.

34 North Meramec Avenue

Clayton, Mo. 63105

314-573-9200

www.graybar.com

Sales $4.4 billion

CEO Robert A. Reynolds Jr.

Founded 1925

Main products and services

Graybar distributes electrical, communications and networking products. One of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, it has a network of about 6,900 employees and nearly 240 locations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

4. EDWARD JONES

12555 Manchester Road

Des Peres, Mo. 63131

314-515-2000

www.edwardjones.com

Sales $3.5 billion

CEO James D. Weddle

Founded 1922

Main products and services

Tracing its roots to its first branch office in Mexico, Mo., investment house Edward Jones now has more than 10,000 offices in the U.S., Canada and Britain. Believing that online trading encourages rash decision-making, the company instead prefers to have one-broker offices and personal contact with investors. Edward Jones, which is the largest U.S. financial services company in terms of number of offices, serves more than 7 million clients.

5. CENTER OIL CO.

600 Mason Ridge Center Drive

Town and Country, Mo. 63141

314-682-3500

www.centeroil.com

Sales $3.3 billion

CEO Gary R. Parker

Founded 1986

Main products and services

Center Oil distributes gasoline and other refined petroleum products throughout the U.S. by pipeline, ship, barge and truck to and from 10 petroleum-product terminals in the Midwest and East Coast.

6. McCarthy Holdings Inc.

1341 North Rock Hill Road

St. Louis, Mo best payday advance. 63124

314-968-3300

www.mccarthy.com

Sales $3.1 billion

CEO Michael D. Bolen

Founded 1864

Main products and services

McCarthy Holdings Inc., comprised of McCarthy Building and MC Industrial, provides construction services from coast to coast with full-service offices in Missouri, Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. An employee-owned company, McCarthy was ranked the 20th largest U.S. construction firm in trade publication Engineering News-Record’s 2010 listing of top 400 contractors.

7. SCHNUCK MARKETS INC.

11420 Lackland Road

Maryland Heights, Mo. 63146

314-994-9900

www.schnucks.com

Sales $2.5 billion

CEO Scott C. Schnuck

Founded 1939

Main products and services

The family-owned grocery chain operates more than 100 supermarkets in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Mississippi and Iowa. Nearly all are operated under the Schnucks brand.

8. WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY INC.

60 Weldon Parkway

Maryland Heights, Mo. 63043

314-569-7000

www.wwt.com

Sales $2.2 billion

CEO James P. Kavanaugh

Founded 1990

Main products and services

The St. Louis area’s largest minority-owned business, World Wide Technology provides technology and supply chain solutions to commercial, government and telecommunications customers.

9. ALTER TRADING CORP.

700 Office Parkway

St. Louis, Mo. 63141

314-872-2400

www.altertrading.com

Sales $1.8 billion

CEO Robert Goldstein

Founded 1898

Main products and services

Alter Trading is a fourth-generation family-owned company. Its principals also own 40 percent of Isle of Capri Casinos. Alter is one of the nation’s largest scrap metal recyclers and brokers, with processing plants and office locations throughout the central U.S. Alter has rapidly expanded, offering full product recycling capabilities and trading directly with consumers. It operates 32 scrap recycling facilities with shredders, shears and balers.

10. UNIGROUP INC.

One Premier Drive

Fenton, Mo. 63026

636-305-5000

www.unigroupinc.com

Sales $1.6 billion

CEO H. Daniel McCollister

Founded 1987

Main products and services

UniGroup is parent of moving companies United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit. It also controls a global mobility management service company, and an insurer for trucking companies and movers.

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RESEARCH: Matthew Fernandes | Post-Dispatch

Data on Apex and Alter compiled from Sorkins.com

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The Business Response Team created by Mayor Karl Dean and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce toured flood-damaged businesses Thursday to better understand their needs.

“We’re trying to determine how best we can get businesses helping businesses get back on their feet,” co-chairman Henry Hicks of Gray Line Tours said after a tour of Soundcheck, which provides storage and rehearsal space for musicians and was destroyed by flooding.

The team also met with representatives of Interior Design Services, which is located in the same warehouse facility on Cowan Street near the Cumberland River. Steve Meek, chief financial officer with IDS, said the company could use help figuring out how to insure the company’s space going forward. Soundcheck owner Ben Jumper said he is looking for help from the Mayor’s Office to get occupancy permits fast-tracked.

A separate group of representatives from the Business Response Team toured industrial businesses on Visco Drive. Businesses can visit nashvillebusinessrecovery.org, to inquire about assistance and to find out how to contribute to flood recovery efforts and share resources with businesses in need. See this story for more information.

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Just a few months after putting its Buffalo headquarters up for sale, the Girl Scouts of Buffalo and Erie County have found a buyer for their Jewett Parkway complex.

The Hillside Family of Agencies, a not-for-profit that serves youth and others in Erie and Niagara Counties, has agreed to purchase the Girl Scouts headquarters. A formal announcement is due Friday afternoon.

The Girl Scouts, which is merging with three other regional Girl Scout councils, is relocating from Buffalo to a suburban site.

The Girl Scouts listed its Jewett Parkway headquarters, a 10,900-square-foot building located just a few blocks from the Darwin Martin House complex, for sale this winter with a $675,000 asking price. The building was listed by Paula Blanchard and Ed Woods from RealtyUSA.

The council has used the Jewett Parkway building as its headquarters since it bought the property in 1969, Approximately 40 people work in the building.

The decision to put the building on the real estate market was made as an outgrowth from the merger between the Girl Scouts of Buffalo and Erie County, Girl Scouts of Niagara County, Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley and Girl Scouts of Southwestern New York. The council now covers a jurisdictional area that covers nine counties and 6,700 square miles in a region that extends from Niagara and Erie Counties eastward towards Rochester.

The Girl Scouts of Western New York – the newly merged entity – serves more than 22,000 girls and a network of more than 10,000 volunteers.

Girl Scout officials said they needed a more central location.

Besides the 40 people who work in Buffalo, the council has more than 100 employees in offices it operates in Lockport, Jamestown, Rochester and Batavia.

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