PHARMACEUTICALS

IVAX to pay $14M fine related to kickback allegations

A decade-old drug deal involving Miami-based IVAX led this week to the company paying $14 million to settle kickback allegations.

BALANCING ACT

South Florida mothers find opportunities of their own

Many mothers are building businesses from home -- and learning lessons along the way.

CRUISE LINES

Royal Caribbean's profits sink in fourth quarter

Florida's bleak economy is hurting cruise giant Royal Caribbean's fourth quarter operations, which usually draw a disproportionate share of in-state vacationers.

PHARMACEUTICALS

Stiefel Labs closing office

South Florida's largest pharmaceutical company is closing its Coral Gables headquarters.

REAL ESTATE

South Florida hotels' distress could lure buyers

Troubled hotel loans could likely lead to a buying spree in the South Florida market. Buyers are waiting for the `misery to get a bit more miserable.'

MONEY-LAUNDERING

Fraud suspect's home is on market

A Delray Beach home that belonged to fraud suspect Helmut Kiener is for sale by a Cayman Islands liquidator trying to repay investors.

GREEN SHOOTS

Coconut Grove caterer: Corporate parties starting to gain steam

A year ago, Bill Hansen watched companies flee from the kind of premium fun he creates. The veteran caterer saw his corporate business plunge more than 50 percent in the six months after Lehman Brothers collapsed on Sept. 15, 2008.

BANKS

CIT's move to bankruptcy court means more instability for retailers

Commercial lender CIT Group, which narrowly avoided collapse in July, has filed for bankruptcy -- one of the biggest filings in U.S. corporate history.

Business agenda

MONDAY

Broward County Property Appraiser's Community Outreach Program: Deputy appraisers assist with Homestead and other property tax exemption applications, answer questions on property taxes and accept applications for portability at outreach events throughout the county; free. 954-357-6035 or www.bcpa.net:

Pepsom thinks outside of the box

Pepsom Group's founders took an age-old remedy, added fresh new scents, gave it bright packaging and branded it, attracting the attention of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

BUSINESS BOOKS

The business of building a new life

Craig Ferguson's autobiography is a testimony to America's eternal appeal to immigrants.

On location

Film and TV productions this week

Foreign investors dominate in South Florida real estate purchases

In order to help his clients close on units at the luxury St. Tropez condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, developer Joe Milton recently put up $100 million of his company's cash to set up a mortgage company to fund loans.

Q&A: New CEO of Northern Trust's Southeast Region

Northern Trust's new Southeast Regional CEO, Sheldon T. Anderson, is a Miami native with a bullish outlook on the region's long-term prospects.

Children's clothing store gets online makeover

Cori Franco gets a primer on driving traffic to the website of her Eanie Meanie clothing boutique.

Frugal office parties can still be a blast

Small businesses find that iPods and in-house parties can be more fun than fancy restaurants and expensive DJs.

Movers

High-level promotions and new hires in South Florida

Bankruptcies

Recent bankruptcies for the Southern District of Florida

EDITOR'S NOTE

Editor's note: Foreign investors may help South Florida recover

``The word is out across the entire globe that Miami is on sale, so we have had a lot of good activity this entire year.''

Those enthusiastic words from Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, succinctly sum up this week's cover story on Page 16. As reporter Monica Hatcher notes, foreign buyers have become a key factor in the recent surge in home sales in South Florida. And they often come with cash in hand, which is good news for our local economy.

IDENTITY THEFT

Businesses to further check for ID theft

Customers may find businesses will be checking them out a little more closely -- for their own good.