Biz Buzz

LONG ISLAND

Schein Foundation gives back

A Melville-based company is extending a helping hand from Long Island to the rest of the world. Henry Schein Cares Foundation Inc. -- a nonprofit established by Henry Schein Inc., a supplier of health care devices and services -- announced on Wednesday more than $375,000 in medical product and monetary donations to areas affected by natural disaster. Around the world, the foundation has donated to health care and animal care groups to support relief for the tsunami in Japan, flooding in Australia and the earthquake in New Zealand. In America, the funds have gone to helping those affected by the tornadoes in Alabama and Missouri. "We made a decision a long time ago that it was our responsibility to help out in terms of need in societies across the board," said Susan Vassallo, a spokeswoman for Henry Schein. A majority of the $375,000 in donations are monetary, Vossallo said. In the past, Henry Schein Cares Foundation has also contributed to relief efforts for the 2010 Qinghai earthquake in China, flooding in Pakistan and the Haiti earthquake, she added. -- LISA DU

Tri-Lift boosted by forklift deal

Mitsubishi Corp.'s heavy industries division has named a Farmingdale company, Tri-Lift Inc., as its authorized forklift distributor for Long Island and most of New York City, Mitsubishi announced Wednesday in a news release. Tri-Lift, on Conklin Street in Farmingdale, will be responsible for authorized sales and service of Mitsubishi forklifts for Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Kings, Bronx and New York counties. Tri-Lift will work directly with Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks, headquartered in Houston, Texas. Mitsubishi said Tri-Lift "provides a wide range of material handling equipment." -- JOSEPH MALLIA

NATION

Fed boss a bummer for stocks

Comments from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke set off a stock market rally early Wednesday, but it wasn't long before another Fed official helped cut it short. In testimony before Congress, Bernanke said the central bank would be open to new economic stimulus measures, but only if the economy gets much worse. The remarks were far from a promise for more Fed action, but markets reacted immediately nonetheless. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped as many as 164 points, or 1.3 percent. Most of those gains evaporated later in the day after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Richard Fisher said in a speech that the Fed had already "pressed the limits of monetary policy." The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.08, or 0.31 percent, to close at 1,317.72. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.73, or 0.36 percent, to 12,491.61. The Nasdaq composite rose 15.01, or 0.54 percent, to 2,796.92. Indexes had fallen over the previous three days. Energy and materials stocks rose more than the overall market as investors bought companies that would benefit most from an upturn in the economy. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. rose 1.6 percent, the most of any of the 30 stocks in the Dow average. -- AP

PC market growing slower

The personal computer market grew slower than expected in the second quarter, hurt by the rise of tablet computers and anemic consumer demand in the United States and Europe. The tepid diagnosis of the PC industry's health in two reports released Wednesday offers another sign of trouble for an industry at an important turning point. Market research firms Gartner Inc. and IDC, using different methodologies, each found that PC shipments improved in the second quarter but were still lighter than expected. Gartner found that 85.2 million PCs shipped, a gain of 2.3 percent that was below its 6.7 percent projection. IDC found that 84.4 million PCs shipped, a 2.6 percent gain and short of its 2.9 percent projection. -- AP