Stocks slide on weak earnings; Fed cuts stimulus

PLYMOUTH MEETING — Accolade, Inc., an innovative consumer services company dedicated to simplifying and improving the health care experience for individuals and their families, has been honored by Inc. magazine as top job creator in the state of Pennsylvania.

This is the second year for Inc.’s Hire Power Awards, which recognize private businesses throughout the United States that have generated the most jobs in the past three years. Accolade hired 327 new employees from Jan. 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

“We’re privileged to serve American families every day, helping them get the right care and have a better health care experience,” said Tom Spann, CEO of Accolade. “Today, consumers have more choice and accountability for health care decisions than ever before, but they need help to navigate the complex world of health care and health benefits. Our Accolade health assistants are on their side, helping with any issue, big or small, across all stages of care.”

Accolade also ranked fourth in job creation across the United States health industry and placed among the top 40 private business job creators in the country. In 2012, Accolade ranked among the top 10 job creators in the state.

“Hiring the best, most knowledgeable and caring people as Accolade health assistants is the cornerstone of how we delight our clients and drive savings for our employer customers,” said Mary Creedon, EVP of human resources at Accolade. “We’re always on the lookout for great talent and will continue our rapid pace of hiring as we gain new customers and expand our office presence to the Phoenix marketplace.”

The Inc. Hire Power Award is for U.S.-based, private companies (both for profit and nonprofit). Companies must have been founded in 2011 or earlier and have employed at least 10 full-time U.S.based employees as of Dec. 31, 2012. Award categories include most jobs created in the U.S., most jobs created by state, most jobs created by industry and highest employee growth percentage. A complete list of the winners can be found on www.Inc.com.

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is selling Motorola’s smartphone business to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, a price that makes Google’s biggest acquisition look like its most expensive mistake.

The deal announced Wednesday will rid Google Inc. of a financial headache that has plagued the Internet company since buying Motorola Mobility for $12.4 billion in 2012. Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to 3,800.

Google had previously recovered some of the money that it spent on Motorola by selling the company’s set-top operations last year to Arris Group Inc. for $2.35 billion. Google is also keeping most of the patents that came with the Motorola purchase.

NORRISTOWN — If you feel a sudden gravitational pull drawing you into a new coffeehouse on Swede Street, blame it on Galileo. And Albert Einstein. In life, the fathers of modern science and relativity may have been separated by 300 years or so, but at a downtown Norristown java joint, where coffee is treated as high art, they’ve become caffeinated cronies in the daily grind, with their influences percolating here in some meaningful ways.

First, of course, there’s the matter of the name.

When Francis DeSimone, a native son of Norristown who is something of a history buff, realized his longtime dream of opening a coffeehouse, he decided to name the place Caffé Galileo just because he liked the way it sounded.

“If DaVinci’s hadn’t already been taken I might have called it that,” said DeSimone with a laugh, referring to DaVinci’s Pub in Collegeville.

DeSimone’s fascination with beans and brews dates back to a time before anyone around here even knew what a Starbucks was, and the Swede Street location is actually his second shot at providing folks in the area with their daily fix of rocket fuel.

NEW YORK — Stock investors had plenty to dislike on Wednesday.

Disappointing earnings from big U.S. companies, ongoing jitters in emerging markets and more cuts to the Federal Reserve’s economic stimulus combined to push stocks lower for the fourth day out of the last five.

Boeing slumped after the plane maker said its 2014 revenue and profit would fall short of analysts’ expectations as its defense business slows and it delivers more of its 787 planes, which are less profitable. AT&T, the largest U.S. telecommunications company, fell after its outlook for the year disappointed investors.

Currencies including the Turkish lira and the South African rand fell against the dollar despite efforts by central banks in those countries to stem the declines by raising interest rates. Investors say those tighter credit policies, which can restrict lending, come with risks.

“If the central banks out there continue to hike interest rates, they are going to destroy economic activity,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. “That will impact the global economy as well.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 18.30 points, or 1 percent, to 1,774.20. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.77 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,738.79. The Nasdaq composite dropped 46.53 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,051.43.