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One of the region’s biggest casinos is about to get a new owner.

Penn National Gaming on Monday announced a deal to buy Harrah’s Maryland Heights Casino from Caesars Entertainment for $610 million. The purchase, expected to close by the end of the year, will give the fast-growing Pennsylvania gaming company a deeper foothold in the $1.1 billion St. Louis casino market, eight years after it bought locally based Argosy Gaming.

“The planned addition of Harrah’s St. Louis will further expand Penn National’s regional operating platform with a facility that is extremely well-positioned in a large metropolitan market,” said Penn CEO Peter Carlino.

The casino, which opened on the Missouri River in 1997, is the region’s second-busiest by revenue. Gamblers spent $268.4 million there last year, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission, down 1.2 percent from 2010.

It has a 500-room hotel, 4,600-car parking garage and 2,600 slot machines. But the property has seen relatively little investment in recent years, even as new rivals around the region have opened up and old ones have expanded.

Its parent company, Caesars, was acquired by private equity firms in 2008, and went public in February. Chief executive Gary Loveman has said he hoped to sell some properties to fund new projects.

“The sale of this property exemplifies our strategy to maximize returns from our mix of assets through investments in new markets as well as occasional divestitures,” he said. “We are committed to expanding our distribution network into growth markets that have the potential for high returns no fax payday loan.”

While Caesars is selling, Penn has been growing.

The company bought a casino in Las Vegas last year and has opened new properties in Maryland, Ohio and, just this February, Wyandotte County, Kansas. It has had a presence in the St. Louis market — owning the Argosy Alton — since buying Argosy Gaming in 2004 for $1.4 billion.

Having two casinos in the St. Louis market could help Penn save money on marketing and back office costs. But spokesman Joe Jaffoni said that synergy was not a major factor in the deal.

“(Maryland Heights) is just a good asset. It’s got a good long-term operating history,” he said. “It’s pretty much in the Penn National sweet spot.”

After the sale goes through, Penn will re-brand the casino to its “Hollywood” brand, which it uses at 11 other properties and “will invoke the glamour of 1930s art deco Hollywood.”

The deal will need approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission, which vets all casino-license holders in the state. Penn already owns a property in Kansas City, so that process may be quicker than if it were a new company to the state.

The casino employed nearly 1,900 people in 2010, according to Maryland Heights financial documents. There was no word Monday on how the sale might affect workers there.

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is demanding tougher anti-corruption efforts amid a huge political scandal over a now-suspended Politburo member whose wife has been named a suspect in the murder of a British businessman.

Wen’s message, published Monday, differed little from previous calls to fight endemic corruption. But it comes amid a nationwide drive to support the Communist Party’s decision to oust Bo Xilai from key positions and launch an investigation into what are described as serious breaches in discipline.

Media reports have raised questions about whether he tried to abuse his power to quash the investigation into his wife, Gu Kailai. Gu and a household employee are being investigated over the suspected murder of the Briton Neil Heywood.

There also have been strong suspicions that Bo, 62, grew fabulously wealthy through his ability to approve investments and make political appointments, although he has not been directly accused of any graft.

Wen wrote in an essay published in the party’s main theoretical journal, Qiushi, that despite a series of measures enacted to curb corruption, greater determination and more effective anti-corruption tools are still needed.

Greater transparency and a reduction in the concentration of powers among some government departments is also needed to allow effective citizen supervision, Wen said.

“We need to deeply acknowledge that the greatest threat to the ruling party is corruption,” Wen wrote.

Wen did not mention Bo by name or refer to the case directly. However, Wen has been the only top official to speak publicly about the matter, saying at his annual news conference last month that Chongqing officials need to understand its seriousness and put their house in order.

Also Monday, party newspaper Guangming Daily published the latest in a series of state media editorials calling on readers to support action against Bo and his wife and not to believe speculation that the politician’s sidelining is linked to infighting among top leaders.

“Handling the serious breach of discipline is a measures embraced by the whole of the party and so-called ‘inner-party conflict’ has nothing to do with it,” the editorial said.

Bo was once considered a leading candidate for the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee when seven new members are expected to be picked at a party congress in the fall, in the first step in a generational handover of power to younger leaders.

However, his removal as Chongqing’s Party Secretary on March 15 and suspension of his membership in the Politburo last week have effectively ended his political prospects and he could face trial no fax payday advance.

A leaked transcript of a party official’s briefing on the Bo matter, widely reported last month on Chinese online news sites, said that Bo’s former police chief accused him of trying to halt an investigation into a family member, although the statement did not specify which member or for what crime. State media has since promised a thorough investigation into Bo, stressing that no one is above the law and no party member can interfere with police investigations.

Bo is the first Politburo member to be removed from office in five years and the scandal kicked up rumors of a political struggle involving Bo supporters intent on derailing succession plans calling Vice President Xi Jinping to lead the party for the next decade. Such allegations are fed by the same secrecy, political privilege and lack of outside supervision that are blamed for making high-level corruption such a major problem.

Efforts to require leading officials to declare their assets have found little traction while rules prohibiting officials and their family members from using political connections for personal gain are routinely flouted.

Bo was fired after Chongqing’s former chief of police, Wang Lijun, made an extraordinary visit to the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chongqing in early February. Wang is believed to have expressed his suspicions about the November death of Heywood to the Americans, who then tipped-off British diplomats who formally requested that China further investigate. The party last week said Heywood previously had a close business relationship with Gu and the couple’s son, Bo Guagua, who attended schools in Britain, but that the ties had recently soured.

Wang was taken into custody and flown to Beijing after leaving the consulate on Feb. 6 and has not been heard from since. Bo and Gu are believed to be under some form of detention in Beijing but no details have been released on the state of the investigation or a possible trial.

Asked Monday about the Heywood case, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said that it was being handled under Chinese law but would take time to investigate fully.

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Investor fear calmed on both sides of the Atlantic on Wednesday, one day after the worst plunge on Wall Street this year.

In the United States, Alcoa reported a surprise profit after the stock market closed on Tuesday, raising hope that corporate earnings may not be as weak as analysts think. More reports will trickle out over the next few weeks.

And in Europe, borrowing costs for Spain edged down after nearly reaching 6 percent the day before. Seven percent is generally considered the point at which countries must seek bailouts.

The result was a U-turn on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 100 points in early trading, to 12,815. It had a 214-point drop Tuesday, its biggest this year and the fifth straight day of declines.

European markets rose, too. Stocks climbed roughly 1 percent in the major capitals after losing 2 to 3 percent the day before. The dollar and Treasury prices fell.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 13 points to 1,371. The Nasdaq composite index re-crossed the closely watched 3,000 mark, rising 26 points to 3,017.

Alcoa’s stock soared 8 percent in the morning, investors’ first chance to react to its report that it had turned a quarterly profit and handily beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts, who were predicting a loss. Since Alcoa is the first company in the Dow to report earnings, its results have a greater ability to propel the market than companies that report later.

Investors on Wednesday seemed to latch onto a few pieces of good news out of Europe. Spain’s borrowing rate on its 10-year bonds dropped back to 5.87 percent, down from Tuesday’s four-month high of 5.93 percent. Seven percent is usually considered the point at which a country can longer afford to borrow money.

But there were other signs that problems in Europe are still hibernating rather than solved. Spain’s borrowing costs are still dangerously high. Italy sold 12-month bonds but was forced to pay more than double the interest rate compared to last month, a concession to investors who are nervous about Europe’s health. Even Germany, whose bonds are considered a much safer investment, struggled in its own debt sale. Germany failed to sell all the 10-year bonds that it intended to on the open market.

Upcoming elections in Greece and France also threaten to unravel some of the uneasy peace that has been reached between the weak and the strong countries in Europe. Opposition candidates have promised they won’t go along so easily with the European deals that have been hammered out calling for weaker countries like Greece to cut spending if they are to continue to get rescue funds. Uncertainty in Greece went to a new level Wednesday when the country announced it will hold parliamentary elections months ahead of schedule.

In Cleveland, Planned Financial Services CEO Frank Fantozzi hoped that Alcoa’s good earnings portended more strong reports on line pay day loans. But he was still keeping a close eye on Europe.

“You have people kind of on pins and needles right now,” Fantozzi said. “Europe is spiraling into recession. The question is, is it going to ripple across the Atlantic to the United States.”

The Dow’s 550-point plunge of the previous five days is small potatoes compared to last summer’s frightening swings, including an eight-day plunge when the market shed 858 points as Congress bickered about government debt limits and the S&P prepared to downgrade the U.S. government’s debt rating.

In recent weeks, Europe’s debt crisis and concerns about U.S. earnings haven’t been the only problems. There are also signs that jobs growth is slowing and that the Federal Reserve is disinclined to pump more money into the economy. Some of the sell-off is also probably from investors trying to get out of the market now with their first-quarter gains still intact. If the Dow closes higher today, it will be the first time since April 2 and only the second gain since the second quarter began.

Despite the uncertain second quarter, the first quarter was stellar. The market rose steadily, and that has fueled its ability to handle recent negative news.

“It’s like a person,” Fantozzi said. “If you’re feeling good overall and a couple negative things happen, you just shrug it off. If you’re feeling lousy overall and then you get some good news, you still feel lousy.”

Investors remain concerned that high gas prices could rekindle a recession, forcing companies to raise prices and crimping household budgets.

Oil prices inched up toward $102 per barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reversing Tuesday’s decline. Though they’re down from the nearly $110 per barrel reached last month, they’re still above October’s price of $75.

The rising prices are partly because of international tension over Iran’s nuclear program, with new talks scheduled to begin Saturday. Iran, which has already cut off shipments to several European countries, said Wednesday it had stopped shipping to Germany.

Among stocks making big moves:

_Avon rose nearly 3 percent, two days after naming a new CEO that it hopes will turn around a company plagued by bribery allegations and an unwanted takeover bid.

_Owens-Illinois Inc., which makes glass containers for the food and beverage industries, jumped 10 percent. The company said it expects its earnings per share to surge 35 percent because of more productive manufacturing methods and cost cuts.

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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda

Global stock markets drifted lower in lackluster trading Monday as investors saw few optimistic indicators to weigh against the prospects of a global economic slowdown.

Benchmark oil remained above $106 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX slid 0.2 percent to 6,981.43 while France’s CAC-40 retreated 0.3 percent to 3,466.11. The FTSE 100 index of leading British companies edged up 0.1 percent to 5,862.13.

U.S. stocks were poised to fall. Dow futures were marginally lower at 13,029 while broader S&P 500 futures lost less than 0.1 percent to 1,393.20.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose less than 0.1 percent to end at 10,018.24 as the yen slipped against the dollar, helping the country’s powerhouse export sector. Markets elsewhere had a tepid start to the week after reports in China and Europe last week pointed to a likely slowdown in those economies.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished unchanged at 20,668.86 but property companies rebounded as investors shook off worries that the social reform policies promised by the city’s next leader would hurt home prices.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.4 percent to 2,019.19. Australia’s S&P ASX/200 shed 0.2 percent to 4,262.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also fell. New Zealand was higher.

“The market is still lacking positive catalysts,” said Jackson Wong, a vice president at Tanrich Securities, who noted that investors are hanging back as they await market-moving news.

Germany is set to release later Monday its monthly index of business confidence, a closely watched indicator for Europe’s biggest economy. Earnings reports by Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., controlled by Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, are due Thursday.

Mainland Chinese shares were flat. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was less then 0.1 percent higher at 2,350.60 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index was unchanged at 952 paydayloans.76.

Real estate- and media-related companies weakened. China Vanke, the country’s biggest real estate developer, lost 1.2 percent while No. 2 Poly Real Estate lost 0.8 percent.

“Investors worry GDP data in the first quarter might be 7 to 7.5 percent instead of the earlier 7.5 to 8 percent” that’s been forecast, said Peng Yunliang, an analyst based in Shanghai.

Shares of Qantas Airways Ltd. rose 2 percent in Sydney after it announced plans to set up a Hong Kong-based discount airline with China Eastern Airlines Co.

Chinese auto and battery maker BYD Co. fell 4.8 percent in Hong Kong after it reported 2011 profit fell by nearly half as the country’s booming auto sales slowed and competition intensified.

Shares of China Construction Bank, one of China’s four major state-owned lenders, fell 1 percent in Hong Kong even after reporting 2011 profit rose 25.5 percent despite government-imposed credit curbs and slowing economic growth.

Big Hong Kong property developers rebounded on hopes that social reform policies espoused by Leung Chun-ying, who was selected Sunday to be Hong Kong’s next chief executive and pledged to expand public housing, would not bring down house prices. New World Development Co. rose 3.8 percent, Sino Land Co. was up 3.8 percent and Henderson Land Co. climbed 2.1 percent.

“We reiterate our view that general property prices will not fall substantially on the simple theme of Leung taking office,” Citigroup analysts said in a report.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 46 cents to $106.41 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was up $1.52 to end at $106.87 per barrel in New York on Friday.

The euro weakened to $1.3205 from $1.3263 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 82.88 yen from 82.49 yen.

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Thailand and Taiwan may keep interest rates unchanged this week as Asian policy makers gauge the extent of a growth slowdown in China that

Kellogg is hoping Pringles will satisfy its craving for a salty snack.

The food giant is best known for its lineup of sweet breakfast items, including Frosted Flakes and Eggo frozen waffles. But on Wednesday, it became the world’s second-biggest savory snack maker behind PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay with a $2.7 billion deal to buy the potato snack brand from Procter & Gamble.

The addition of Pringles bolsters Kellogg Co.’s cupboard of salty snacks such as Cheez-It and Keebler’s Club crackers. It also positions the company to expand at a time when the appetite for on-the-go foods is growing worldwide, particularly in emerging markets like China.

“When you have people moving to the cities and becoming urbanized, they’re less likely to eat foods they grow themselves,” said Tom Graves, an analyst for Standard & Poor’s who follows Kellogg. “There’s a bigger opportunity to sell packaged foods.”

Kellogg, which gets most of its revenue from North America, is looking for Pringles to help it expand into a global snacking company. Pringles, known for its iconic tube packaging, is sold in more than 150 countries and gets two-thirds of its $1.5 billion in annual revenue from overseas.

P&G wanted to sell Pringles, the last of its food businesses, to focus on its core household and consumer goods products. Kellogg was able to swoop in to buy Pringles from P&G. after Diamond Foods Inc.’s proposed $1.5 billion acquisition of the brand fell through.

Kellogg expects to complete the Pringles acquisition over the summer, possibly on June 30.

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China

Consumer confidence rose more than expected in December, hitting an eight-month high, as Americans grew more upbeat about the labor market and their financial situation.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer sentiment increased to 64.5 from a downwardly revised 55.2 in November.

Economists had expected a reading of 58.3 from a previously reported 56.0 in November.

The rise in sentiment offered hope for a pick-up in consumer spending after a tepid performance in November.

Labor market conditions have improved in recent months, with the unemployment rate falling to a 2-1/2 year low in November and applications for first time jobless benefits at the lowest since April 2008.

The survey’s present situation index rose to 46.7 this month — the highest since September 2008 — from 38.3 in November. The expectations index surged to 76.4 from 66.4 in November.

“Consumers are more optimistic that business conditions, employment prospects and their financial situations will get better,” the Conference Board said in a statement.

“While consumers are ending the year in a somewhat more upbeat mood, it is too soon to tell if this is a rebound from earlier declines or a sustainable shift in attitudes.”

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World stocks began the week with a jolt Monday as the death of North Korea’s absolute ruler, Kim Jong Il, added to the uncertainties clouding the outlook for financial markets.

South Korea’s Kospi index dived nearly 5 percent but later recouped some losses to close 3.4 percent lower at 1,776.93. The Korean won also fell, losing 1.6 percent against the U.S. dollar, a traditional haven in times of uncertainty. The Japanese yen, euro and other regional currencies also weakened against the dollar.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.3 percent to 8,296.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.2 percent to 18,070.21 and the Shanghai Composite Index rebounded from earlier losses to finish down 0.3 percent at 2,218.24.

Kim Jong Il’s death, announced Monday by North Korean state television, raises the spectre of more instability on the divided Korean peninsula as the reclusive regime undergoes a leadership succession.

Those worries are most acute in South Korea and Japan, which have often been the targets of North Korea’s mercurial military and diplomatic actions.

“We’re seeing deeper negative sentiment in some markets,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, strategist at Credit Agricole CIB, in Hong Kong. “Basically this is because risk aversion on the geopolitical front has increased given that there’s a transition of power in a relatively unstable country. So we’re seeing an impact on equities, currencies.”

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.5 percent to 5,363.11 and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.3 percent to 5,687.62. France’s CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent to 2,961.74. Wall Street was set to open lower with Dow futures off 0.1 percent at 11,770. Broader S&P 500 futures shed 0.1 percent to 1,210.20.

South Korea’s military and police went on alert and President Lee Myung-bak, convened a national security council meeting. Japanese leaders said they were watching markets closely and in contact with the U.S., Kyodo News Agency reported.

“We need to prepare for any contingencies,” Kyodo quoted Jun Azumi, the Japanese finance minister, as saying.

Kim was ailing after suffering what is thought to have been a stroke in 2008 and died at age 69 on Saturday.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Monday identified his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as the “great successor” to the man known officially as the “Dear Leader.”

But even with the younger Kim designated as his father’s successor, and already filling high-ranking posts, some experts fear a behind-the-scenes power struggle or nuclear instability fast cash now.

Fitch Ratings, which spooked markets across the globe with a warning Friday it may downgrade ratings of a half-dozen European countries, said it did not view Kim’s death “as a trigger for negative action on South Korea’s sovereign ratings in itself.”

“For now, it’s much too early to say risks have materially increased, but clearly we will keep the situation under close review,” said Andrew Colquhoun, head of Fitch’s Asia-Pacific sovereigns.

Markets in Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia also sank on Monday.

“Particularly with the bearish market sentiment now, any negative news will make the market much more gloomy,” said Kwong Man Bun, chief operating officer at KGI Securities in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong benchmark dipped 100 points after North Korea’s announcement which “reflects concern over potential political instability,” he said.

Still, barring unexpected developments in Pyongyang the impact of Kim’s death on markets is likely to be passing, analysts said.

“In the short term there will be some psychological uncertainty but I think things will go back to the fundamentals,” said Steven Leung, director of institutional sales at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Kim’s death overshadowed what already was a gloomy start to the week after Fitch warned it may downgrade the credit ratings of heavyweights Italy and Spain, as well as Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia.

Coming just a week after EU leaders struck a deal they thought would contain the continent’s debt crisis, that and other negative news dashed hopes of an end to the turmoil endangering the euro _ the currency used by 17 European nations _ and threatening the entire global economy.

“Everyone is waiting to see what comes from the next conference of European nations. Hopefully something good,” said Jackson Wong of Tanrich Securities, in Hong Kong.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 21 cents at $93.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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