Funding

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Tuesday proposed an effort to map the brain's activity in unprecedented detail, as a step toward finding better ways to treat such conditions as Alzheimer's, autism, stroke, and traumatic brain injuries. He asked Congress to spend $100 million next year to start a project to explore details of the brain, which contains 100 billion cells and trillions of connections. That's a small investment for the federal government - less than a fifth of what NASA spends every year just to study the sun - but it's too early to see how Congress will react.

HARRISBURG - Gov. Corbett, under pressure to accept a federal expansion of Medicaid, said Wednesday that he is looking at ways to use those same dollars to fund private coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Pennsylvanians. Corbett has resisted opting into the Medicaid expansion envisioned under President Obama's healthcare overhaul, saying he is concerned it would be too costly for the state down the road. He did not commit to changing his mind on Wednesday. After a late Tuesday meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, however, he said he may consider pursuing a private plan similar to what Arkansas, Ohio and a handful of other states are exploring.

Class starts with an outlook on the U.S. economy and consumer confidence, and then the analyst's sales pitch begins: Will the fund be spending its precious dollars buying shares of VF Corp. (VFC), maker of North Face, Nautica, Timberland and Vans fashions, and Lee and Wrangler jeans? The fund just bought 75 shares in Qualcomm (QCOM) last week at $65.84, making a bet on a rebound in 2013 sales of chips for mobile handsets. And in April, the investment committee will hear a pitch for Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)

Class starts with an outlook on the U.S. economy and consumer confidence, and then the analyst's sales pitch begins: Will the fund be spending its precious dollars buying shares of VF Corp. (VFC), maker of North Face, Nautica, Timberland and Vans fashions and Lee and Wrangler jeans? The fund just bought 75 shares in Qualcomm (QCOM) last week at $65.84, making a bet on a rebound in 2013 sales of chips for mobile handsets. And in April, the investment committee will hear a pitch for Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)

Mike Trout is used to seeing his name in lights on major-league scoreboards. But the Los Angeles Angels outfielder knows it's going to be different seeing his name on a sign over the baseball field at his old high school in Millville, N.J. "I know it's going to be humbling," Trout said. "Driving by and seeing my name up there, it's going to be a good feeling. My dad [Jeff] played there. All my buddies played there. The coaches who brought me up are still there. " Trout, the 21-year-old who burst on the baseball scene as the American League rookie of the year in 2012, has been the driving force in an effort to refurbish the baseball field at Millville High.

NEW YORK - A senior portfolio manager for one of the nation's largest hedge funds was arrested Friday, accused of joining an insider-trading conspiracy that the government said made more than $6 million illegally for the investment company founded by billionaire businessman Steven A. Cohen. The arrest broadens the government's probe of trading practices at SAC Capital Advisors, which manages $15 billion. Two weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission said two affiliates of SAC Capital would pay more than $614 million in what federal regulators called the largest insider-trading settlement ever.

Leaders of five of the world's emerging economic powers agreed Wednesday to create a development bank to help fund their $4.5 trillion infrastructure plans - a direct challenge to the World Bank, which they accuse of Western bias. But the rulers of the BRICS group - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - meeting in Durban, South Africa, were unable to agree on some basic issues. South African Foreign Minister Pravin Gordhan said there were differing views on how much capital the bank would need.

Venture-capital funds do not last forever, and Cross Atlantic Capital Partners has said it would wind down a $120 million fund it started in 1999. The Radnor firm, which has more than $500 million under management, said it would liquidate the tech fund's remaining portfolio holdings. Cross Atlantic said the decision came after several "successful exits, including three IPOs. " Those initial public offerings were Gain Capital Holdings Inc. , of Bedminster, N.J.; Rubicon Technology Inc. , of Bensenville, Ill.; and Vebnet Holdings P.L.C.

To preserve passenger rail service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, the Corbett administration said Thursday it will pay much of the cost of the once-a-day "Pennsylvanian" train. The state will pay $3.8 million of the $6.5 million annual cost of the service, which is operated by Amtrak. Amtrak, which had been paying the full cost, will pay the rest. The Pennsylvanian also has through service to and from Philadelphia and New York City.  

WASHINGTON - A short-term funding measure to keep the government operating beyond the end of this month cleared the Senate Wednesday and is awaiting final House passage on Thursday to avert any possibility of a shutdown. The process of approving the proposal has been unfolding remarkably smoothly, compared with the previous efforts of a divided Congress that has gone to the brink repeatedly over spending issues. If the House approves the bill before it leaves for a two-week recess on Friday, funding will be assured a full week before the March 27 expiration of the resolution that is now keeping the government in operation.