Shining stars: Today is the final day to apply for a Diversity Star Award, given by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber to regional businesses championing diversity and inclusion. Any business in the nine-parish Capitol Region can apply for the award, and businesses do not have to be a BRAC investor. Applications are open through the end of the day at brac.org/diversitystar. Awards will be presented at BRAC’s diversity in business event on May 7.
Factory rates: U.S. industrial production rose a slight 0.1% in February, as an increase in utilities and mining offset the second straight monthly drop in manufacturing. The Federal Reserve said this morning that the manufacturing component of the index fell 0.4% last month, after having fallen 0.5% in January. Factory production has slipped 1% during the past 12 months. Read the full story.
Inside deals: As it turns out, half of all inside traders targeted by authorities made less than $59,000, while nearly 40% were friends and relatives of company employees who were close to market-moving information, according to a working paper by Michael Perino of St. John’s University School of Law in New York. The findings, The Wall Street Journal reports,  contrast with a high-profile crackdown several years ago on extensive networks of well-connected traders, including hedge-fund managers and analysts, accused of earning illegal profits or avoiding losses totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Read the full story.
