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This looks like a banner year for grape producers in New York, according to the latest federal forecast.

The state’s producers, who are concentrated in Western New York and in the Finger Lakes, are expected to harvest 170,000 tons of grapes, based on the report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. That’s up 28 percent from 133,000 tons a year ago.

The increase was attributed to unusually good growing conditions, with warm days, plenty of sunshine, and a sufficient amount of precipitation.

The national outlook for the grape industry is not as strong, with U.S. grape production expected to decline 3 percent this year.

New York is the nation’s third-largest producer of grapes, trailing only California and Washington state.

The forecasts are not as strong for other large fruit crops. The National Agricultural Statistics Service says that the 2010 apple crop will be 13 percent smaller in New York and 4 percent smaller nationwide. And the pear crop is expected to shrink by 20 percent in New York and 11 percent nationwide.

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted a second-quarter profit that tumbled 40% from a year ago, as the company suffered a $1.4 billion paper loss on its derivatives bets.

The conglomerate reported quarterly net income of $1.97 billion, or $1,195 per Class A share compared with last year’s $3.3 billion, or $2,123 per share, during the same quarter.

Berkshire’s $1.4 billion decline in the market value of its derivatives bets on stock market indexes and other financial instruments followed a gain of $1.5 billion a year ago.

Excluding its investment and derivative business, the Omaha, Neb.-based company booked operating earnings per share of $1,866, a 63% rise from $1,147 in the same period last year.

Berkshire’s book value, which includes capital gains and losses whether they are realized or not, rose 2.6% to $86,661 per share.

While CEO Warren Buffett has famously criticized derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction," he has lately expressed opposition to Wall Street regulation designed to make derivative trading safer.

Under the federal government’s proposed derivatives rules, companies like Berkshire would likely be required to produce collateral for any new derivatives contracts, whereas Buffett has said Berkshire rarely engages in deals requiring collateral up front payday loan.

Led by investing legend Buffett, Berkshire owns companies ranging from insurance provider Geico to private jet operator NetJets to the railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Berkshire also has stakes in companies including Kraft Foods (KFT, Fortune 500), Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500) and American Express (AXP, Fortune 500).

Berkshire (BRKA, Fortune 500) made itself appealing to a wider investor audience by creating more affordable shares through its 50-for-1 stock split earlier this year. While its Class B shares (BRKB) once traded for more than $3,300 apiece, they now run at about $80 a pop and trade on the S&P 500 Index (SPX).

Year-to-date, Berkshire Hathaway’s class A and class B shares are up more than 20%, but shares were down modestly at the close of trading Friday. 

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Craft Brewers Alliance, the Portland, Ore.-based operator of the Redhook brewery in Woodinville, has acquired Kona Brewing Co. of Hawaii for an undisclosed price.

The Big Island-based brewery will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Craft Brewers Alliance (NASDAQ: HOOK).

Three years ago, Redhook and Widmer Bros. Brewing Co. of Oregon merged in a $50 million deal and corporate headquarters of the new Craft Brewers Alliance company was located in Portland.

Click here to see a release on the Craft Brewers Alliance-Kona deal.

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Lending through Small Business Administration programs has plummeted since the end of May, when the SBA ran out of money for breaks that made those loans less risky for lenders and more affordable for borrowers.

The drop in SBA lending has occurred even as Congress explores new ways to expand small businesses’ access to credit.

The economic-stimulus bill increased the government guarantee on the SBA’s flagship 7(a) loans to 90 percent from the typical 75 percent. The legislation also reduced or waived fees on those loans as well as 504 loans, which are used primarily for real estate. As a result of those breaks, SBA lending rebounded after cratering during the credit crisis of late 2008.

Through June 25, the SBA had approved $10.5 billion in 7(a) loans this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. That’s up 80 percent from the same period a year ago.

However, lending slowed dramatically in June due to the loss of the higher guarantee and fee waivers. In May, SBA lenders made about $272 million in 7(a) loans per week. That’s not counting the $732 million in 7(a) loans made during the final week of May, as lenders rushed to get their loans approved before the loan breaks expired. In the first four weeks of June, average weekly loan volume dropped to $86 million.

President Barack Obama has called for reviving and extending the higher loan guarantee and fee waivers through the end of the year, and the proposal has bipartisan support. But Congress left town for its weeklong Fourth of July break without acting on it. That lack of urgency frustrates SBA lenders.

Tony Wilkinson, president and chief executive of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, criticizes Congress for letting “the one stimulus program that was probably working the best” expire.

“Shame on them,” says Eddie Tuvin, vice president of SBA and commercial lending at Capital Bank in Rockville, Md. “Why isn’t it a priority?”

Restoring the 90 percent guarantee “would do as much to really juice the recovery as anything,” says Charles Green, a former SBA lender in Atlanta who now advises businesses on financial issues.

Tuvin says 7(a) loans “breezed through” his bank’s approval process when the 90 percent guarantee was in place. “It was a major factor in the decision of our loan committee to approve several loans that wouldn’t have been made without it low rates payday advance.”

Now it’s much a harder to get a 7(a) loan approved, he says.

Plus, many borrowers and lenders simply are holding off on SBA loans.

“We have borrowers waiting right now who are willing to create and retain jobs,” Wilkinson says.

The Senate is expected to vote soon on legislation that would restore those SBA loan breaks, as well as establish a $30 billion fund that community banks could tap for small-business lending. Chances for the Small Business Jobs Act are good; it cleared a procedural hurdle by a 66-33 vote before the Fourth of July recess.

But that doesn’t mean the SBA loan breaks will be restored right away. The Senate bill differs in many respects from the House’s version of the Small Business Jobs Act. That means the Senate and House would have to hash out their differences before sending the legislation to the president for his signature. That could take weeks, or even months.

Even though the Senate bill increases the size limits on SBA loans — something lenders have long pushed for — Wilkinson would rather see Congress first pass a simple extension of the higher guarantee and fee waivers, and then work out a more ambitious bill.

Financial regulatory reform also awaits a final vote in the Senate when Congress returns. The legislation aims to end “too big to fail” bank bailouts by imposing new capital and leverage requirements, and creating an orderly system to liquidate large financial firms that fail. It also regulates over-the-counter derivatives and creates a new consumer watchdog for financial products.

Critics fear the bill could hurt the availability of credit to small businesses. Tuvin expects banks may cut back their lending as a result of the additional costs and regulations they would face as a result of the legislation. Green fears the bill could lead to more bank consolidation, because it would make it harder for smaller banks to be profitable.

However, Green thinks small businesses could benefit from the bill’s new consumer protections, since many business owners rely on credit cards and revolving lines of credit.

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Johnnie Walkers Stores, the longtime Milwaukee men’s clothing store, is closing Saturday, Vice President David Kodner said.

Kodner blamed the closing on the recession but said he didn’t want to go into detail.

The store at 234 W payday advance. Wisconsin Ave. is the company’s last store, and there are no plans to reopen, he said.

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KV Pharmaceutical Company sold its Particle Dynamics subsidiary to an Ohio investment fund, but the divested company plans to remain in the St. Louis area.

As part of the asset sale, Bridgeton-based KV received $24.6 million, company officials announced Thursday. That money was needed to provide sufficient liquidity to keep KV afloat until its production resumes.

For the past 18 months, the ailing pharmaceutical firm’s production plants have been closed in large part because of an ongoing criminal investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.

This year, another KV subsidiary — Ethex Corp. — pleaded guilty to federal charges of failing to inform the FDA that it was manufacturing oversized tablets that could be harmful to patients.

Particle Dynamics was purchased by a private equity group led by Edgewater Capital Partners of Woodmere, Ohio. Edgewater’s investments include other specialty chemical companies and auto parts makers.

The deal was engineered by Paul Brady, who served as KV’s vice president of corporate development as well president of Particle Dynamics Inc.

"I felt there was a great opportunity here to not only keep the business in St. Louis, but also grow the business," said Brady, who moves on as an investor and chief executive of the divested firm, now called Particle Dynamics International LLC.

Particle Dynamics, which processes raw materials that are used in the pharmaceutical industry and other markets, managed to retain its FDA certification and remain profitable.

Its facility on Hanley Road in Brentwood was rebuilt after it burned down a year ago. It has about 30 employees.

Specifically, the company makes "micro-encapsulated particles" consisting of drug active ingredients and vitamins that are sold to branded pharmaceutical companies and companies that make over-the-counter medicines.

One of Particle Dynamics’ leading products is a granulated calcium for osteoporosis treatments.

"I believe that the outlook is very strong," Brady said. "Suppliers like PDI are becoming even more important because of our exemplary record of good manufacturing."

Meanwhile, the asset sale helps breathes life into KV, which hopes to obtain FDA approval to restart its production later this year.

"We’ve been talking about the sale of PDI for some time," KV spokeswoman Brooke Eiler said. "It means that we have an additional $24.6 million to ease our liquidity situation going forward."

Under the terms of the sale, KV could also receive up to $5.5 million in additional "earn out payments" if Particle Dynamics meets certain income levels.

Eiler said the pharmaceutical company’s cash burn for the first quarter of this year ran about $35 million, but that recent layoffs should help ease its cash-flow problems. The company employed 1,700 workers as recently as 2008; now that total is less than 400.

The sale of Particle Dynamics "provides a little bit of operating room, but it’s not the solution," Eiler said. "We need to get back into business. … Obviously, there are ongoing efforts to find cash."

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The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment insurance fell slightly last week, according to a weekly government report released Thursday.

There were 460,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 22, down 14,000 from an upwardly revised 474,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report.

The number of claims was slightly higher than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast new claims to fall to 455,000.

Initial claims have been caught in the mid- to upper-400,000s since November, and economists want to see it move below that bar before calling the start of a recovery.

"It’s a stagnant employment situation, and that’s not a good thing," said Dan Egan, president of the Massachusetts Credit Union League. "We were expecting and hoping we’d see a greater gain in jobs during this time."

Fears of a double-dip recession and the costs tied to hiring new employees still have business owners in a "cautionary mode," said Egan faxless payday advance. Employers need to see consistent improvement in the real estate sector before they really start ramping up their hiring, he said.

The four-week moving average for weekly initial claims was 456,500, up from 454,250 the previous week. The Labor Department tracks the four-week average of the weekly figures, to smooth out the volatility of the measure.

The report also said 4,607,000 people continued to file unemployment claims for their second week or more during the week ended May 15, the most recent data available. That’s down from an upwardly revised 4,656,000 the week before.

Standard unemployment benefits usually last 26 weeks. The continued claims number does not include those who have moved into state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired but may still be without a job.

The national unemployment rate currently stands at 9.9%. 

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Treasurys rallied Thursday as stocks plunged and investors worried about European debt and its effect on the global economy.

What prices are doing: The benchmark 10-year note rose 1-10/32 to 102-13/32, pushing the yield down to 3.22% from 3.36% on Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The 30-year bond added 2-18/32 to 104-25/32 and yielded 4.1%, while the 2-year note edged up 4/32 to 100-18/32 with a 0.72% yield. The 5-year note rose to 102-13/32, yielding 2.99%.

What’s moving the market: Investors flocked to the safety of government-backed bonds on Thursday as stocks dropped more than 10% from the session’s highs.

"We’re seeing a massive flight to quality," said Kim Rupert, fixed income analyst at Action Economics. "Equities are really losing a grip, and Treasurys are the beneficiary."

Markets have been rattled over the past month as investors worry about European debt, despite a $1 trillion rescue package aimed at stabilizing the euro and helping troubled nations such as Greece reduce their debt loads.

On Wednesday, the euro was briefly lifted by Germany’s announcement that it would ban so-called naked short selling of debt securities issued by euro zone countries and 10 large financial firms cash advance companies.

But because investors were still skeptical of the health of European banks, Treasurys rallied following the announcement.

By the end of the day Wednesday, however, bonds pared gains and ended the day slightly lower after the Federal Reserve raised its outlook for economic growth and lowered its unemployment rate forecast.

Economy: Investors were also digesting several disappointing economic reports from the government on Thursday.

The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims rose unexpectedly by 25,000 to 471,000 last week, while economists expected a drop to 440,000 claims.

After the start of trading, the Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators fell 0.1% in April after rising 1.3% in March. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected the index to rise 0.2%.

A regional manufacturing survey for May was also released Thursday. The Philadelphia Fed index rose to 21.4 in May from 20.2 in April, beating the estimated rise to 20.7. 

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A subsidiary of Astronics Corp. has been hired to design, develop and supply the electrical emergency lighting and passenger information signs for the Airbus A350 XWB program, the parent company announced Monday.

Terms of the deal between Luminescent Systems Inc., owned by East Aurora-based Astronics (NASDAQ: ATRO), and Diehl Aerospace were not disclosed.

The Airbus A350 XWB is the newest twin-engine wide-body aircraft family from Airbus. Diehl Aerospace was selected by Airbus as the prime contractor to supply the entire cabin and cargo lighting package for the new A350 XWB family of aircraft.

The system that will be installed by Luminescent will include ceiling emergency lights, emergency exit signs, seat and galley-mounted aisle floodlights, passenger information signs and exterior emergency lights.

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Stanley Furniture will cut about 530 jobs from its factories in Virginia as part of a manufacturing restructuring, the company has announced.

The Stanleytown, Va.-based company said the move is necessary to return to profitability. The company lost $19.1 million in the first quarter on sales of $36.5 million. Revenues were down 8.1 percent from the first quarter of 2009.

Stanley will move most of the manufacturing of its traditional products from Virginia to several offshore vendors. Much of the factory space will be converted into a warehouse and distribution center.

The company will continue to manufacture its "Young America" youth and nursery product lines in Robinsville, N.C., though, said CEO Glenn Prillaman, because that market segment demands quicker shipments and more finishes and flexibility. It’s a different story for the furniture that had been made in Virginia.

"The luxury segment of the adult market demands sophisticated finishes, exotic materials and labor-intensive features that domestic manufacturing in our Stanleytown facility can no longer profitably provide,” he said.

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