At The Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed. We have scouted out today's most relevant news items and brought them to you all on one page. We hope you find this midday edition informative and useful.
It's the Kindle Fire
Today, Amazon.com
Another hit product
Apple
The new phone could be Apple's best-selling product yet. The company is expected to sell about 110 million devices in 2012 after about 40 million were sold in the first half of this year. Apple has waited 16 months to release the new version compared to the usual 12 months, so this could lead to higher sales. Apple is expected to increase the number of carriers for the iPhone, adding Sprint Nextel
Pricier health care
Health insurers have increased their premiums by about 9% for family coverage through an employer. The new average cost for this type of policy reached $15,073 per year in 2011. The higher costs are putting a strain on customers who are also dealing with a struggling economy and a 9% unemployment rate. Premiums have nearly doubled since 2001, while wages have gone up by about 34% for the same time period. Aetna
Airports hurt with airline mergers
As airlines consolidate and cut costs, many metro areas that don't house an air hub have seen a steep decrease in the availability of flights. Pittsburgh, for example, continues to pay $62 million in annual debt service on its airport, where large parts of it remain closed or unused since US Airways
But the cuts could hurt a city beyond just losing flights. In Cincinnati's case, Chiquita Brands International has considered moving its headquarters of about 330 employees after seeing a reduction in flights offered by Delta
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