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Nokia plans to slash 8% of workforce

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:36:55 +0000

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(MENAFN) Nokia said that the firm would slash 8 percent of its workforce in 2012, reported Reuters. The firm, which had 130,000 staff at the end of 2011, including Nokia Siemens, added that the …

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US Centene reports USD30m profit in Q4

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:21:22 +0000

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(MENAFN) US Medicaid insurer Centene Corp.’s reported 19 percent increase in fourth quarter profits, as expanding business in several states helped raise premiums and membership, AP Reported. …

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US Centene reports USD30m profit in Q4

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Global sugar surplus to contract 43% in 2012-13 season

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:16:50 +0000

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(MENAFN) Swiss Kingsman SA said that due to growing consumption, in the 2012-2013 season, which starts in October, global sugar surplus would be expected to decline 43 percent from 9.7 million tons …

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Global sugar surplus to contract 43% in 2012-13 season

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Western Union’s Q4 profit jumps to USD452.3m

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:05:07 +0000

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(MENAFN) Western Union Co. said that due to higher sales, net income in the fourth quarter almost doubled to USD452.3 million, from USD242.6 million in 2010′s same period, reported AP. The money …

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Western Union’s Q4 profit jumps to USD452.3m

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Coca-Cola reports 71% fall in Q4 profits

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:56:49 +0000

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(MENAFN) Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. reported 71 percent decline in fourth quarter profits, held down by restructuring charges and other costs, AP reported. The giant soft-drinks maker said made …

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Coca-Cola reports 71% fall in Q4 profits

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Levi Strauss Q4 income down to USD44m

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:30:54 +0000

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(MENAFN) Levi Strauss & Co. said that net income in the fourth quarter dropped to USD44 million from USD86 million in 2010′s same period, reported AP. The company added that revenue for the …

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Levi Strauss Q4 income down to USD44m

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UK’s GlaxoSmithKline reports USD2b profit in Q4

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:22:52 +0000

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(MENAFN) Scotland-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) posted a net profit of USD1.98 billion in the fourth quarter from USD1 billion loss a year earlier, AP reported. Profits were slightly lower than …

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UK’s GlaxoSmithKline reports USD2b profit in Q4

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Super Bowl: Online Viewership Ratings Are In

Ron Dicker — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:21:31 +0000

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The 2,105,441 viewers who watched NBC’s first live stream broadcast of the Super Bowl discovered that the Internet experience still can’t entirely replace the television one. And that’s exactly what the network intended. Before NBC shared the ratings for the online broadcast, which set a record for a sporting event, NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey told The Huffington Post that the live stream was meant to complement the traditional television broadcast, not replace it. Viewers tend to use the best screen in the house, and that’s usually the TV, McCloskey said, citing NBC research. “There’s a small number using [the computer] as a television,” he said. “That’s why we construct it as a two-screen experience.” Viewers watching NBC’s live stream of the Super Bowl got to see all the plays that took place during the game. But they missed out on the commercials that accompanied the network’s TV broadcast and couldn’t watch Madonna’s halftime show either. Given the numbers released Tuesday night, the online broadcast is not yet a threat to the televised version. NBC had little motivation to stray from its previous policy of offering alternative content in its live streaming of sporting events. The strategy reinforces TV’s primacy when it comes to mega-events such as the Super Bowl. It also gives advertisers exactly what they paid $3.5 million per 30 seconds for — the chance to reach a large television audience. NBC will not air the Super Bowl again until 2015, so McCloskey said he wouldn’t speculate on any changes the network might make in the future. Many news outlets reported less-than-satisfied reviews from critics and viewers who watched the Internet version . Instead of the much-hyped line-up of Super Bowl commercials on TV, online users got a running loop of five advertisers. They could, however, click on the TV commercials after their broadcast. “We know that the television commercials are part of the entertainment experience,” the spokesman said. “That’s why we have the on-demand component.” Rather than having the opportunity to view Madonna and M.I.A.’s wayward finger, Internet spectators got NBC Sportsâ and ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio, who hosted a halftime analysis show. Asked if NBC was prohibited by law from showing the regular roster of commercials as they aired, McCloskey reiterated that the network designed the streaming as a companion medium. NBC has followed the same online protocol in covering the Olympics, Notre Dame football and Sunday night NFL football, he said. The interactivity, on-demand video and social media connections available online are mostly designed to enhance the broadcast experience, McClowskey said. The idea of viewers using a computer monitor to watch the game because they don’t own a TV or don’t want to pay hefty cable bills is yet another matter that networks might have to tackle more aggressively in coming years. The Nielsen ratings indicated that 111.3 million viewers watched the broadcast of the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots. But in the future, the live stream of the Super Bowl could take on far more prominence. Said McCloskey: “It’s possible that one day the online stream will require its own production.”

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Disney posts 12% increase in Q1 net income

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:38:08 +0000

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(MENAFN) The Walt Disney Co. said that in 2011′s last quarter, net income jumped 12 percent to USD1.46 billion, compared with USD1.30 billion, reported AP. The firm added that revenue in the …

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Disney posts 12% increase in Q1 net income

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Of EU-US strained ties

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:36:40 +0000

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(MENAFN – Khaleej Times) When Thomas de Maiziere described the state of the trans- Atlantic relationship to a packed audience in Munich, he shied away from unpalatable truths. Yes, the German …

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Of EU-US strained ties

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N. Korea’s hunger test

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:35:25 +0000

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(MENAFN – Khaleej Times) An anxious world, watching for signs of instability after the death of Kim Jong Il, has been reassured for the time being. After 37 years of brutal rule marked by firing …

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N. Korea’s hunger test

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Paraguay reports sharp drop in soy production

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:26:43 +0000

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(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Paraguayan exporters said that production of soy is likely to fall 47 percent in the current harvest, according to AP. The nation’s chamber of cereal exporters said …

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Paraguay reports sharp drop in soy production

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US January deficit fell sharply to $27 bln-CBO

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:25:36 +0000

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(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) The U.S. budget deficit fell by nearly half in January compared to a year earlier as tax collections from individuals rose and outlays fell, Reuters quoted the …

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US January deficit fell sharply to $27 bln-CBO

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Global oil demand to grow by 50k bpd in 2012: EIA

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:05:11 +0000

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(MENAFN) The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that in 2012, global oil demand growth would be forecasted to expand by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 1.32 million bpd, reported …

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Global oil demand to grow by 50k bpd in 2012: EIA

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In Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Economies Languish As GOP Candidates Vie For Votes

Bonnie Kavoussi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:30:52 +0000

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When Republicans in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado cast their votes for presidential candidates Tuesday, many will no doubt have the economy on their minds. Tying the three economies together is government, among the top three employers in all three states. And in all three states, government employment is falling too. Missouri particularly struggled last year, losing jobs while nationwide employment grew. And nearly a third of Missouri’s mortgages are underwater — a larger share than the national average. The state is also less confident about the future of the economy than 35 states. Though Minnesota and Colorado’s economies are doing better than average, they are still far from healthy. Minnesota’s home prices plunged 20 percent over the past five years. And Minnesota’s unemployment rate is lower than the national average largely because of slow population growth, said Troy Walters, an economist at IHS Global Insight. Coloradans may feel a bit wealthier than the nation as a whole since the same housing bust has not been as severe there. Home prices have fallen just 5 percent over the past five years, and 16 percent of Colorado mortgages are underwater — far below the national average.

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In Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Economies Languish As GOP Candidates Vie For Votes

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Dan Solin: Your Broker Has No Clue

Dan Solin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:28:18 +0000

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I am fascinated by the way most people invest, because it is demonstrably wrong. Here’s how you probably pick your mutual funds. Your broker calls and tells you about a mutual fund he believes is right for your portfolio. The pitch usually involves a discussion of the stellar past performance of the fund. He encourages you to sell funds that have underperformed and buy ones with better performance. The process repeats endlessly. You fall for it every time. Does this make sense? In a thoughtful blog, Brad Steiman, a vice president of Dimensional Fund Advisors, discusses the many problems with this approach. Recent performance can be misleading Steiman notes that a few years of outperformance may not be indicative of skill. The fund manager could just be lucky. For example, a fund that had an average “alpha” (positive return above its benchmark) and a standard deviation (measurement of volatility) of 6%, would require a track record of 36 years before you could be 95% certain the fund manager was skillful and not just lucky. A 6% standard deviation of alpha is representative in the Morningstar data of actively managed US equity mutual funds. Just for fun, ask your broker this question the next time he recommends a mutual fund: How long a track record would I need in order to determine if the performance of the fund manager was evidence of skill? He won’t know the answer, but the blank look will be worth your effort. Finding the needle in the haystack may not be enough Let’s assume you have a terrific broker who has a modest understanding of statistics. The broker tells you he has found a fund manager with a long enough track record to indicate skill and not luck. Should you buy that fund? Probably not. According to Steiman, one out of 40 managers is expected to meet this criteria based on luck. He concludes that even with this impressive track record, “[T]here is still a 2.5% probability the outperformance was due to good luck, and the true alpha of the manager is zero.” The Fund Manager’s Skill May Not Persist It gets worse. Even with a statistically impressive past performance, Steiman notes that “…winners do not continue to win, and even when there is alpha in the extremes, it does not persist.” You can’t expect your broker to understand how to evaluate statistical data. They are salesmen (and women). But you can — and should — educate yourself with a basic understanding of how to determine whether the next “hot” fund manager shows evidence of skill or is the latest false prophet hyped by the financial media and the securities industry. I agree with Steiman. You need to get off “the manager selection merry-go round”. Dan Solin is a senior vice president of Index Funds Advisors. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read, The Smartest 401(k) Book You’ll Ever Read, The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read and The Smartest Portfolio You’ll Ever Own. His new book, The Smartest Money Book You’ll Ever Read, was published December 27, 2011.The views set forth in this blog are the opinions of the author alone and may not represent the views of any firm or entity with whom he is affiliated. The data, information, and content on this blog are for information, education, and non-commercial purposes only. Returns from index funds do not represent the performance of any investment advisory firm. The information on this blog does not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice and is limited to the dissemination of opinions on investing. No reader should construe these opinions as an offer of advisory services. Readers who require investment advice should retain the services of a competent investment professional. The information on this blog is not an offer to buy or sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any securities or class of securities mentioned herein. Furthermore, the information on this blog should not be construed as an offer of advisory services. Please note that the author does not recommend specific securities nor is he responsible for comments made by persons posting on this blog.

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Dan Solin: Your Broker Has No Clue

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Banks Paying Homeowners To Sell Houses, Avoid Foreclosure

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:38:28 +0000

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Some struggling homeowners are getting paid by banks to sell their houses and stave off foreclosure. Many banks, including JPMorgan Chase, are offering delinquent borrowers as much as $35,000 to sell their houses for less than they owe on them, Bloomberg reports. Some banks are finding the transactions to be more cost-effective and efficient than the complex and multi-stage foreclosure process. The attempt to clear the deluge of delinquent properties awaiting foreclosure echos others, including so-called “cash for keys” programs in which banks pay homeowners and renters to vacate their homes without an eviction. Banks have had to get creative in dealing with a massive foreclosure pileup that confronts them. Overall, foreclosure filings fell dramatically last year in large part because banks were hesitant to rush the process , after investigations into robo-signing practices, which sped up foreclosures, indicated abuse. The foreclosure process now takes nearly triple the amount of time that it did in 2007 , according to LPS Applied Analytics. The extended time period for foreclosures means that millions of properties are sitting in the pipeline and weighing on home values. Homes that are in foreclosure drive down property values twice as much as vacant properties , according to an October study by the Cleveland Federal Reserve. The Justice Department lent support to another means of avoiding foreclosure last month. The agency argued that foreclosure mediation — or the process whereby struggling homeowners can negotiate with lenders so they don’t lose their homes — is worthy of a government boost in research and possibly funding . Ben Bernanke also lent his two cents on how best to fix the housing market last month, when he published a paper saying that relying heavily on foreclosures to deal with delinquent borrowers is “costly” and “inefficient” for the housing market. Foreclosures “can result in ‘deadweight losses,’ or costs that do not benefit anyone, including the neglect and deterioration of properties that often sit vacant for months (or even years) and the associated negative effects on neighborhoods,” the paper said . Bernanke also floated some alternatives including combing a deed-in-lieu — or a program where homeowners return their house to lenders without going into foreclosure — with a rent-back agreement. The Home Affordable Modification Program, an aim touted by the Obama Administration in February 2009 as having the ability to help 3 to 4 million homeowners modify their loans and avoid foreclosure, has only netted nearly 1.8 million trial modifications for homeowners so far, according to a recent government report.

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Chrysler Super Bowl Ad Raises Questions About Underlying Political Message

Sharon Silke Carty — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:36:10 +0000

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On Monday, responding to a barrage of criticism from conservative pundits and some football fans, Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne denied there had been any political message in the company’s Super Bowl aired during Sunday’s night’s halftime show. “It had zero political content,” Marchionne told a Detroit radio station . “It was not meant to be any type of a political overture on our part; we are as apolitical as you can make us.” The two-minute commercial starring Clint Eastwood compared Detroit’s comeback to the ongoing recovery of the American economy. Many viewers came away from Sunday’s ad thinking the two-minute spot was a pro-Obama ad; others did not. Yet at the Detroit auto show last month, it was clear that Marchionne felt indebted to the president for Chrysler’s very survival. “I owe the president a lot,” Marchionne said then. “The reason we are here is because he gave us the [bailout] money, right?” Marchionne was talking with a small group of reporters about Chrysler’s bid for $3.5 billion in loans from the Department of Energy, as part of a program created by Congress in 2007 to help automakers retool old plants to make fuel-efficient vehicles. The loans still hadn’t come through, despite consistent negotiating between Chrysler and the government. Marchionne said he hoped the process wasn’t being delayed for political reasons. His comment about the president, though, came in response to a reporter’s question, “Doesn’t Obama owe you one?” Nonetheless, knowing how carefully automakers ponder, weigh and debate official communications, it’s hard to imagine Chrysler’s top brass did not consider that its Super Bowl ad could be interpreted as a pro-Obama spot. Typically auto executives are very careful to not pick sides in political battles, for fear of alienating customers on any given side. Although they often have their own political agendas, such battles are waged with lobbyists and campaign donations, not overtly in political ads. A spokesman for Chrysler declined to comment further on the company’s commercial or Marchionne’s earlier comments. “The ad pretty clearly invokes the comeback due to the bailout, without mentioning those controversial words,” said Ted Brader, a University of Michigan political science professor. “And given that message — we made the most of the bailout and it was a success — I did think, Huh, one could read that as a tribute to Obama’s decision to bail out GM and Chrysler.” Brader said Chrysler’s commercial is vaguely similar to a 1984 political ad for Ronald Reagan, “It’s Morning Again in America.” This year’s Chrysler ad, which aired just moments after Madonna finished her halftime show, started with Eastwood’s telling the audience that it’s halftime and the football teams are in their locker rooms figuring out how they can win. “It’s halftime in America, too,” Eastwood said, as an image showed the sun rising over a misty mountain range. The commercial continued with scenes of people waking up, getting ready for the day. “People are out of work, and they’re hurting, and they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback.” The people of Detroit, he said, have already faced that fear. They almost lost everything. But the country pulled together and “after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one,” he said. And now Detroit is back, Eastwood said. Reagan’s earlier ad also started with a sunrise, except the opening scene included a boat in a bay. Various vignettes depicted people commuting to work, moving into new homes and getting married, while a narrator talked about how much better life was in 1984 compared with in 1980, before Reagan took office. “Under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder, and stronger, and better,” the narrator said. “Why would we ever want to return to where we were?” The wounds of the automakers’ collapse and subsequent bailout are still fresh in Detroit, where bewildered citizens looked on as the rest of the nation debated whether it was worthwhile to help save the industry. Michigan slipped into a recession four months before the rest of the country and suffered the hardest. Unemployment there was the highest in the nation for all of 2009, and people left the state looking for jobs. Michigan was the only state to shrink in population size from 2000 to 2010, losing 54,000 people, according to Census counts. But now things are starting to turn around. Ford and Chrysler both posted profits for 2011, and GM is expected to do the same. That’s the message Eastwood said he was hoping to tap into with the commercial, in a bipartisan fashion: “I think ” all politicians will agree with it,” he told Fox News. “I thought the spirit was OK.” The commercial was vague enough to give Chrysler “plausible deniability about any political implication of the ad,” Brader said. Eastwood was a good choice (although, according to the Wall Street Journal , he may have been the second choice; Al Pacino also shot a version of the ad) because people connect him with hardscrabble Westerns and tough, flawed heroes. Eastwood’s background as a Republican who opposed the bailout (but favors gay marriage) makes the message even less clear. “So, all in all, the whole thing is rather nicely ambiguous,” Brader said. Watch Sunday’s Chrysler ad and the 1984 Reagan ad below:

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Chrysler Super Bowl Ad Raises Questions About Underlying Political Message

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Taxing Casinos Could Help Detroit’s Financial Woes

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:28:00 +0000

Huffington Post…

The tentative agreement Mayor Dave Bing brokered with many of Detroit’s unions last Wednesday requires the city seek out new revenue sources in exchange for worker concessions. One of those provisions says the city should lobby the state to tax the casino winnings of non-Detroit residents. After agreeing to significant concessions less than two years ago , city workers are looking to avoid future cuts to their pay and benefits. The union side of the new bargain with Bing would include health care and pension concessions and a 10 percent across-the-board wage cut , the Detroit News reports. Police and firefighters have yet to come on board with the concessions, and the city is waiting for their support before finalizing the agreement. Proponents say a strengthened casino tax would allow the city to bring in revenue, rather than continue cutting to balance the budget. Interpretations of city and state laws currently exempt non-residents’ casino winnings from Detroit’s city income tax , according to Fox 2 News. AFSCME attorney Richard Mack, who represents city workers, told the TV station the law should be changed so Detroit can “do some long-term structural things to bring in revenue.” Looking at all available options, including new revenue sources, is necessary to avoid a state takeover of Detroit. The city is currently under financial review , and new sources of revenue could persuade the review board to recommend against a state-appointed emergency manager. State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) believes an agreement between the city and its workers to seek out revenue could spark new life into a related bill she introduced last year that would increase the taxes Michigan cities can collect from casinos. House Bill 4648 would not affect casino winners, but would raise the casino’s business tax rate to 23 percent and would raise the city tax on casinos’ gross receipts to 12.9 percent. If the bill becomes law, Tlaib said the increased tax rate would raise about $28 million for the state — funding K-12 education — and $42 million for the city of Detroit. The bill is still in committee. Tlaib introduced the bill last May with co-sponsors Harvey Santana (D-Detroit) and John Olumba (D-Detroit). She told The Huffington Post she is a firm supporter of Detroit’s casinos, but she also expects them to pay their fair share. “Just like I expect my neighbors to pay their taxes, I expect corporate neighbors to pay their taxes, too,” she said. “I believe we need to say yes to Detroit and make this a true shared sacrifice.” This isn’t the first time politicians have tried to raise taxes on Detroit gaming houses. Mayor Bing unsuccessfully pushed for a casino tax increase in April of last year . He argued that gambling establishments in Michigan paid much lower taxes than other states, noting that Ohio had a 33 percent tax rate. In 2004, Public Act 306 raised Detroit casino taxes by 6 percent with 2 percent of the new revenue going directly to the city. While the city has struggled with its finances, Detroit’s three casinos had a record year of profits in 2011 . They earned a combined $1.42 billion in gross revenue , an improvement of 3.4 percent over 2010, according to Crain’s Detroit Business . The city took in $183 million in tax revenues from casino wagering in 2010 , including a $9.6 million back settlement on taxes owed by Greektown Casino.

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Taxing Casinos Could Help Detroit’s Financial Woes

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Liz Ryan: How to Help a Hiring Manager Remember You After the Interview

Liz Ryan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:16:27 +0000

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“My gosh, Liz,” said my friend Kortney, “I’m six feet off the ground.” “What’s the story, Kort?” I asked, and she said “I just came from the greatest job interview ever. The manager and I really connected. He loved my thinking and vice versa. It was like interview nirvana.” “This is magnificent news!” I said. “Let’s write a thank-you letter right now. We want to imprint a huge KORTNEY message in this guy’s mind.” “Imprint?” she asked. “This manager and I are tight. We solved half the world’s problems in a two-hour interview. I’m sure I’m getting the job.” Kortney waited a week and heard nothing. She started to get antsy. On the 10th day after her interview — the conversation she had left with the boss’ words “I can’t wait to talk again” ringing in her ears — she called the guy. He picked up the phone. She told me later, “I got the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach as we talked and I realized he had no idea who I was.” There’s a happy ending — Kortney got back on track with the manager, and is moving through the process now. The incident jarred her into a realization she’d always understood deep down, but hadn’t thought about consciously before: namely, the realization that people are goldfish. Their minds are like steel traps sometimes, and like sieves the rest of the time. The same guy who spent a rapt two hours with Kortney completely forgot her name, her story, and her amazing problem-solving skills just a few days later. Let’s be easy on the guy: he had plenty of other fish to fry. Undoubtedly, he left the interview thinking Kortney was a terrific candidate, but the next day he met someone else, and then someone else after that. Too much data in too little time creates overload conditions, and when that happens, all bets are off. I’m looking at a hoodie right now. It’s draped over the back of my chair. I bought it last year at Target, for my eight-year-old. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it; it’s a standard kid’s hoodie. I remember when I bought it. My 17-year-old daughter was with me. “Look at that hoodie,” I said to her that day. “Your brother would love that.” Target had just brought in some new Spring merchandise, and my son’s hoodie on the rack looked like something I couldn’t live without. The colors were bright, and different from the colors in the store at my last visit — Target had changed its lineup of Spring fashions. What fun! A year later, it looks like just another hoodie to me. “Mom, you are truly invertebrate,” scolded my daughter. “Look! Shiny colors! All Target has to do is put some bright-colored thing on the rack, and my mom throws it into her cart.” “Don’t hate,” I said, and snapped up some irresistible chili-red bath towels. People are limbic nerves wrapped in frontal-lobe’s clothing, and the sooner we realize it, the better. That hiring manager didn’t make a conscious decision to wipe all traces of Kortney’s existence from his mind. He just forgot. If we realize that the people who meet us and even brainstorm with us in the fast-paced interview pipeline are all but certain to forget us shockingly quickly, we won’t get affronted when the inevitable failure-of-recollection takes place. We can build it into our planning. It’s no big deal to be forgotten, as long as you’re ready for it and can adjust accordingly. It happens to all of us. I found one of my dearest summer-camp-mates on Facebook, and sent her a friend request. “Did we go to camp together?” she asked in reply. She couldn’t remember me. We slept in the same cabin with six other girls for five years running. My name is the same as it was then. That’s okay. I withdrew. A year from now, she’s likely to write “Say, did we go to camp together?” At times I struggle to put names to my own children, so how could I blame my old friend for a little memory lapse? In a job interview situation, we can’t assume that a great interview will lead to a job offer. We have to stay top-of-mind for a hiring manager. In a thank-you letter, the very first thing we must do is bring ourselves back to mind for the recipient. We do that by mentioning a specific conversation the two of us had (about model cars, or Beyonce’s baby, or who knows what). I’ve heard hiring managers confess “I just spent twenty minutes talking with a brilliant applicant, one of the four people I met last Friday. The whole time we talked, I was trying to remember which guy it was. He told me his name when he called, and I had his resume in front of me — but I couldn’t get the face back, or the guy in general. It was awful!” That unfortunate candidate spent twenty minutes on the phone, certain he was winning big points for his sparkling observations on the hiring manager’s issues. But he got no bounce from that pithy conversation, because the hiring manager couldn’t match the guy on the phone with the memory of a person he’d met the week before. It’s easy to overlook the fact that until the manager has you firmly back in mind (your face, your voice, and your back story) you can’t advance in the selection pipeline. You can’t even make points for brilliant observations on the telephone. Don’t take a hiring manager’s memory for granted. Keep your brand and story front and center in every interaction. Maybe the hiring manager made a comment about you at some point, or maybe you’ve noticed that he thinks of you in a certain way (“the ex-Navy guy” or “the guy with the supply chain background,” for instance). If so, use that. When you write to the hiring manager at any point in the selection process, start with “Dave Smith here — the Navy guy.” You’d be amazed how that quick descriptor cuts through the fog that plagues every overstressed hiring manager. Seeing yourself through another person’s eyes and helping the other person snap you back into focus isn’t just useful in job-hunting. It’s good training for lots of situations. As long as we’re living among goldfish disguised as humans, we may as well get used to communicating the way (or at least we’ve always imagined) our fishtank-dwelling fellow creatures do.

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Liz Ryan: How to Help a Hiring Manager Remember You After the Interview

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Melissa Richer: How Millennials Are Shaping the Future of Social Entrepreneurship and Technology

Melissa Richer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:41:06 +0000

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In 2011, the terms ‘social entrepreneurship’ and ‘social business’ began to make weekly appearances in mainstream media (see recent Huffington Post coverage here , here , and here ). These startups are at the forefront of the ‘new economy.’ They make money by solving social and environmental problems, and they do not fit into the traditional nonprofit or for-profit mold. When I entered the workforce 5 years ago, I mostly heard that my generation was ‘difficult to work with,’ ‘savvy with that social media thing,’ and ‘free-spirited.’ Now people see us differently. In 2011, we were the entrepreneurs, survivors, and ‘ generation sell .’ Oftentimes people ask me about the future of social entrepreneurship. This is because I founded Ayllu , an organization that tracks social businesses in 80+ developing countries and reports on market trends. I tell them that right now social entrepreneurship is a hot trend and there are funders, conferences, university departments and newspaper sections devoted to it. I believe that in the not-too-distant future, social entrepreneurship will become so prevalent that it will no longer be a niche sector. It will simply be part of the new economy that emerges from today’s convalescent markets. In the years ahead, social entrepreneurs will take advantage of innovations in the technology sector. Here are technology-related trends that have major social change potential in 2012 and beyond: Crowd-based Models : Crowd-funding brings people together online, and pools their money to finance a project. It is a big social entrepreneurship trend, which Kiva made famous a few years ago. Now many social entrepreneurs have innovated on this concept. Solar Mosaic makes it possible for anyone to fund community solar installations in places like schools or hospitals. inVenture realized small businesses in developing countries need growth capital, so they created a crowd-investing platform. And One Percent Foundation innovated on the giving circle concept by pooling 1 percent of its members’ income and donating it to charities. In the future, as technology becomes cheaper and more prevalent, social entrepreneurs will move beyond crowd-funding. They will use other crowd-based models to create social change. This trend is already manifesting itself in the mobile technology space. Mobile Technology: Today, nearly 70 percent of people in developing countries have mobile phones. In just a few short years, more than 1 billion people who were formerly ‘off the map’ are on it. This market opportunity is tremendous in terms of size and scale, as are possibilities for social innovation. Social entrepreneurs are building new models: Labor Voices combats human trafficking with a ‘yelp model’ where migrant workers can rate and review their employers anonymously. In developing countries, Medic Mobile uses mobile technology to help rural health workers coordinate with clinics and patients. In Kenya, people use their cell phones like credit cards, and Kopo Kopo helps business owners accept mobile payments from customers. Health Technology: Healthcare is one of the most diverse areas for social entrepreneurship. Lumoback , a mobile healthcare startup, designed a smart phone-powered device that improves posture and chronic back pain. Embrace developed a low-cost baby incubator to save premature infants in the developing world. And BioSense created a device that tests pregnant women for anemia in rural India, and can save thousands of lives each year. These trends are part of the big data and collaborative consumption movements. With so much information at our fingertips, solutions are emerging to analyze and organize information (big data). And thanks to the Internet, online collaboration is creating new kinds of marketplaces (collaborative consumption). In the past 10 years, we humans have become dependent on technology and it’s difficult to navigate life without it. Sometimes it feels as if our devices are in control of us, and not vice versa. But, in the next 10 years technology will become ‘smarter.’ It will adapt to us and become more integrated with our daily activities. Millennials will play a large role in evolving technology to create social end environmental benefits. Social entrepreneurship is our way of addressing the immense global challenges we inherited (see here and here ). We will use it to shift the global economy in a positive direction.

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Melissa Richer: How Millennials Are Shaping the Future of Social Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Man Who Exchanged Car Title For Heat Spurs $100,000 In Donations

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:15:27 +0000

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When retired Maine resident Robert Hartford handed over the title to his 16-year-old Lincoln Town Car in exchange for heating oil to prevent him and his disabled wife from freezing, he didn’t expect the outpouring of generosity that would follow. But Dan Barry’s article that appeared on the front page of Saturday’s edition of The New York Times struck a chord with readers across the country, many of whom immediately wanted to help. According to the Lewiston Sun Journal , Ike Libby, the struggling business owner of Hometown Energy in Dixfield, Maine, says the company has received over $100,000 in donations to help the heat homes of their impoverished customers. “I didn’t expect this to happen,” Libby told the Lewiston Sun Journal . “You can’t even put it into words. America’s got a heartbeat and we are hearing it.” Cutbacks have reduced the budget for the federal Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from $56.5 million to $39.9 million. As a result, many people living in cold climates depending on aid from the program have been struggling to keep up with heating oil expenses this winter. Nevertheless, Libby has helped the Hartfords and many other Maine families struggling to stay warm by delivering oil to people he knew couldn’t afford their bills. Now, thanks to the donations, he’s been able to set up a fund to help cover the costs , according to the Associated Press. “I haven’t always looked out for the best interest of the business, but you know what this has been great,” Libby told WCSH , referring to the donations. The Hartfords have also received donations directly, along with having their house fitted for energy efficient insulation by Josh Wojcik of Upright Frameworks , according to the Lewiston Journal . Those interested in donating to the heating oil trust can contact Hometown Energy at (207) 562-8822 or mail checks to Hometown Energy at P.O. Box 485, Dixfield, ME 04224. Donations are also being accepted online via Hometown Energy’s website .

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Key U.S. House Panel Advances Keystone Pipeline Plan

Reuters — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:12:00 +0000

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* House Energy and Commerce approves plan, 33-20 * Would give permit power to FERC * Next step for bill: vote in full House * Senate Finance won’t attach bill to highway bill By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) – A plan to fast-track the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline was passed by a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Republicans made yet another attempt to spur approval of the project that has become a major issue in the 2012 elections. The bill would wrest decision-making on the pipeline from the Obama administration and hand it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which would be compelled to issue approval permits quickly on the Canada-to-Texas project. But the plan would need to clear several more congressional hurdles, including getting through Democratic opposition in the Senate, before it could land on President Barack Obama’s desk for approval. In a decision last month that pleased environmental groups, Obama blocked TransCanada’s $7 billion project, citing the need for further review of its route as the line would have traversed sensitive lands and an aquifer in Nebraska. Republicans have made the pipeline a symbol of what they believe are unnecessary regulations that are stifling job creation and energy production in the United States. On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 33-20 to send its Keystone bill to the full House, where it will likely become part of a highway and infrastructure funding bill that House Speaker John Boehner wants to see passed this month. Republicans also have not ruled out trying to attach a Keystone provision to must-pass payroll tax-cut legislation. “We’re going to use all options, so we’ll see,” said Fred Upton, the Republican chair of the energy committee, who is also part of a joint Senate-House conference panel working on the payroll tax-cut compromise. GLUT IN MIDWEST The latest Keystone debate comes as a glut of crude oil in the U.S. Midwest widens the discount between what refiners pay for oil around the key delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma, compared to the price paid by refiners on U.S. coasts and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Canadian production is surging on expanding output from the oilsands. With exports to the United States up 34 percent year-over-year, existing pipeline capacity is full. The lack of pipeline space has pushed the discount between Canadian crude and benchmark prices to multi-year lows, eating into the profits of the Canadian oil industry, including its two largest producers, Suncor Energy Inc and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Canadian oil producers are desperately looking for alternative markets in Asia and elsewhere, though it will be years before any new export lines can be built. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is leading a large, high-level trade mission to Beijing this week, and told Reuters that Canada will focus on exporting oil to China even if the U.S. decision on Keystone is reversed. KEYSTONE ROUTE IN SENATE UNCLEAR Republicans in the Democratic-controlled Senate also are trying to resurrect a quick start for the pipeline, but have not yet determined a strategy for advancing legislation. On Tuesday, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch withdrew a proposal to link Keystone to the Senate’s highway funding bill. “It is absolutely tragic that the prime minister of Canada is now negotiating with the Chinese to take their oil because we’re too stupid to allow a pipeline to go through,” Hatch said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the powerful panel, convinced Hatch to withdraw his measure. “The inclusion of Keystone would take down the bill,” Baucus said, although he noted he strongly supports the pipeline. LAWSUITS AHEAD? On Tuesday, House Democrats tried but failed to amend the bill to block exports of oil and refined fuels from the pipeline, and to bar TransCanada from having the ability to expropriate land for the pipeline from private owners. Also defeated was a proposal to postpone action on the pipeline pending results of a study, expected sometime in 2013, on whether pipelines carrying petroleum from Canada’s oilsands are at greater risk for spills than those carrying other types of crude. John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan who supports the pipeline, argued the authority to approve the line should remain with the president rather than being fast-tracked by Congress. Dingell said he worries environmental groups would tie up the pipeline with lawsuits if the Republican plan goes ahead. “It’s going to infuriate the environmentalists who are going to be on this like a duck on a June bug,” Dingell said. The Natural Resources Defense Council panned the bill, saying it attempted to “jam” the project ahead in a rush. “We hope the Senate will use common sense and avoid trying to undermine proper review using politically motivated legislative maneuvers,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the group, in a statement. But Lee Terry, a Republican from Nebraska, said the Obama administration has dragged out the process for too long, making it essential for Congress to take charge. “It is the president that made this a political football,” Terry said.

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Key U.S. House Panel Advances Keystone Pipeline Plan

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Journalist Recovers Video Of Arrest After Police Deleted It

BuzzFeed — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:04:34 +0000

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A Miami journalist has recovered video of police officers arresting him after it was deleted from his camera. The man was covering a police effort to evict Occupy Miami protestors. He plans to file a complaint with the police department and with the United States Department of Justice.

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Many With Only High School Degree Laid Off During Weak Recovery

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:49 +0000

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For many in the United States, the two years since the end of the recession have been worse than the downturn itself. Among those Americans with only a high school degree who have lost a job since 2007, a third became unemployed after the official end of the recession, according to The Washington Post . It’s a troubling statistic in its own right — job seekers without a college degree are having serious difficulty finding work in the current market, and the unemployment rate for high school graduates is more than twice that of college grads — but it also underscores the fact that, for many Americans, the recovery hasn’t felt very different from the recession that preceded it. Economists consider the Great Recession to have ended in the summer of 2009, nearly three years ago. That’s the point when the economy stopped outright shrinking and began growing again . But the subsequent period of modest expansion has been marked by job cuts, uncertainty and a gradual erosion of financial security for many Americans. These conditions are expected to remain pronounced for a long time to come. U.S. employers cut 529,973 jobs in 2010 , according to the outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In 2011, that number rose to 606,082 . At the same time, wages and benefits barely grew , with the high jobless rate giving employers little incentive to pay workers more. Today, there are still nearly 13 million Americans looking for work. It’s not that life has gotten much better for those with a job either. All together, median household incomes have now fallen more in the recovery than they did during the recession. Meanwhile, as many as 49 million Americans live in poverty — a record high — and almost half the households in the country lack the kind of savings necessary to weather a financial emergency. People without a college degree are having a particularly difficult time finding work , but they’re not the only demographic hard hit by the crisis. The unemployment rate among very recent college graduates is well above the national average . While Baby Boomers account for a huge percentage of the long-term unemployed . And African-Americans have a jobless rate of 13.6 percent — more than five percentage points above the national level.

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Many With Only High School Degree Laid Off During Weak Recovery

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Pregnant And Fired

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:52:15 +0000

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Amy Zvovushe, 31, had a new job (as a senior program manager at a marketing company in Connecticut) and a new baby on the way. But instead of colleagues sending congratulatory cards and putting stork decorations on her desk, Zvovushe says that when she announced her pregnancy at work, she was asked to resign. The company didn’t offer her maternity leave because she had only worked there for four months, and the federal Family Medical Leave Act says employees must work for a full year to be eligible. After she got this news, Zvovushe had a later conversation with human resources. ABC News reports that she recorded this discussion without telling them, and caught several alarming statements on tape. For example, the executive said: “You don’t receive protection under FMLA so technically if you don’t come to work… it doesn’t matter whether you’re having you’re appendix out or you’re having a baby or you’re dealing with a sick person you didn’t show up for work on Monday.” Zvovushe’s attorney, Jack Tuckner, then contacted the company to straighten out the situation, and likely because Zvovushe had the HR rep’s harsh words recorded, they agreed to grant her leave to care for her baby. “Because they were able to fix it, they say no harm, no foul,” her attorney said to ABC. But Zvovushe is only one of many pregnant woman discriminated against at work. In the U.S., women are fired every day for being pregnant , Dina Bakst, a lawyer and founder/president of A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center wrote in a recent Op-ed for the NY Times. She blames the gap between discrimination laws and disability laws for the injustice. Federal and state laws ban discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace. And amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees (including most employees with medical complications arising from pregnancies) who need them to do their jobs. But because pregnancy itself is not considered a disability, employers are not obligated to accommodate most pregnant workers in any way. Considering three-quarters of the women who enter the work force will become pregnant, Bakst calls for action. She highlights New York State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther of Sullivan County who have introduced legislation that “would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women whose health care providers say they need them.” Some states have made significant progress. According to NY Times, “as of 2010, seven states, including California, had passed laws requiring private employers to provide at least some accommodations.” And many companies — including those on Working Mother Magazine’s list of top 100 companies for mothers — work to create flexible, supportive environments for pregnant women, even if the law doesn’t require them to. Jeannette Cox , a law professor at the University of Dayton, is also fighting for pregnant women’s rights in the workplace. She argues that pregnancy should be considered a disability. Though pregnant woman are covered under the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, some protections under the ADA don’t apply to pregnant women and Cox says it’s time for a change. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is scheduled to host a hearing about pregnancy discrimination this month, ABC news reports.

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Pregnant And Fired

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Bank Loan Rates Could Spike Following Money Market Rules

Reuters — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:40:00 +0000

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By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) – The cost for banks and other borrowers to raise funds in short-term markets could jump if regulatory proposals for money market funds result in large redemptions in the industry. The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was finalizing rules to stabilize the $2.7 trillion money-market fund sector, including a requirement that funds allow their net asset values to fluctuate. The proposals are vehemently opposed by the industry, which says they will effectively kill the business. “As soon as you introduce a floating NAV (net asset value), demand for the product is going to plummet,” said Mary Beth Fisher, an interest rate strategist at BNP Paribas in New York. “You have no additional security by being in a money market fund.” The new rules are designed to reduce risks of the large funds, which suffered an investor run after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The run led one large fund’s share value to “break the buck,” which then intensified the crisis, leading to the SEC’s development of the proposed rules in 2009. Fund managers contend that allowing share prices to fluctuate will remove certainty from the investments and increase, rather than reduce, the risk of a loss of investor confidence. Money market funds provide billions in loans to banks through repurchase agreements, commercial paper and other loans. A pullback sparked by investor redemptions or from the funds simply closing down could have large market ripples. Fidelity Investments, the largest money-market fund manager, recently warned regulators that a floating NAV would result in large redemptions, “leading to unintended consequences for the financial markets and U.S. economy.” Shares of Federated Investors, one of the largest money fund managers, fell 3.9 percent on Tuesday on the report. The Pittsburgh-based firm’s Chief Executive Christopher Donahue told the Journal he would sue the SEC if the new rules affect Federated’s ability to do business. European banks were left scrambling for dollar-based funds in the last half of 2011 as money funds withdrew loans, a large factor that led to global central banks coordinating offers of low-cost loans to banks to fill the funding gap. Investors have pulled around $50 billion from money market funds since January 11, according to the Investment Company Institute. That in recent weeks helped increase the cost to finance overnight loans backed by Treasuries in the repurchase agreement market. The cost of overnight repo loans backed by Treasuries traded at around 10 basis points on Thursday after rising to the high 20-basis point area last week. “If there are further fund redemptions, overnight funding for Treasuries will probably go back up,” said Raymond Gilmartin, head of repo trading at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York. A key question is where cash will move if money funds become less attractive. Money funds have won investors who want a guarantee that their money will be returned. Other mutual funds that invest in short-term instruments but do not guarantee the full investment return could gain at least part of the funds. “There’s still a huge amount of demand for short-term liquidity, people will put their money in a T-bill fund instead of a money market fund and not pay the extra fees,” said BNP’s Fisher. Banks, on the other hand, have been reluctant to take large deposits from investors flocking to safety as they need to pay a fee to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to insure the deposits. An insurance cap of $250,000 per depositor per bank is also scheduled to come into force in December. “It is unclear how much of the ($1.6 trillion) institutional money held in money funds would ‘go elsewhere’,” Barclays Capital analyst Joseph Abate wrote in a recent report. “Banks are not eager to be on the receiving end of all this cash.”

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Consumer Borrowing Spree May Not Be Healthiest Economic Sign

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:24:31 +0000

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Consumer credit posted a second straight eye-popping monthly gain in December, according to a new Fed report, which some are taking as a sign of a new surge in the economy. There are a couple of reasons to not get too excited just yet. First, the $19.3 billion jump in consumer credit in December was driven mainly by a $16.5 billion surge in “non-revolving” credit, which includes student and auto loans. “Revolving” credit, or credit cards, grew by a more modest $2.8 billion. To the extent that people are using credit cards and taking out auto loans more, that’s a positive sign for economic growth — although maybe not the healthiest growth. More on that later. But the biggest gain in “non-revolving” credit in December came from lending by the “federal government,” which is student lending. That grew by $8.8 billion. A surge in student lending is not always a wholly positive sign for the economy, warns IHS Global Insight U.S. economist Gregory Daco. “It may indicate people are finding it more difficult to finance their kidsâ education,” Daco said in a phone interview. “That may not be such a good thing.” The number might also have been skewed by seasonal adjustment factors. December is not typically a big month for student lending, so some unusually large increase in borrowing in the month, for whatever reason, might have thrown the seasonal adjustment off and amplified the increase. These numbers are volatile and can be revised dramatically. Clearly, consumer credit is on the rebound. November posted another ridiculously huge jump in consumer credit — $20.4 billion. Together, November and December’s growth in credit was the biggest two-month increase since 2001. And November’s credit gain was more heavily weighted toward credit cards and auto loans, and so was a better sign of real consumer spending. Of course, we knew about that already, having seen a 2 percent gain in consumer spending in fourth-quarter GDP data released last month. Given the big skew toward student loans in December, it is still too early to declare that consumers are feeling so frisky about the recovery that they’re out racking up debt to finance spending sprees. It is also possible that they are using credit more because wages aren’t rising enough to allow them to pay for stuff they need without going into hock. In any event, we probably do not want another economic recovery driven by consumers going into hock. Given the lingering sting of the debt-fueled financial crisis, it seems unlikely we will get one soon. “Consumers are slowly returning to the use of credit, but it’s a very cautious return,” said Daco.

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Consumer Borrowing Spree May Not Be Healthiest Economic Sign

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Huge Shakeup At Yahoo

AP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:09:26 +0000

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SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and three longtime board members are leaving the troubled Internet company. The shake-up announced Tuesday continues a drastic makeover of Yahoo’s leadership during the past month as the company tries to win back investors frustrated with years of broken turnaround promises. Yahoo Inc. ushered in a new era last month by hiring former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as its fourth CEO in less than five years. Then Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from the board. Bostock is departing along with Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson. Many Yahoo shareholders have been clamoring for Bostock to step down since the company balked a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp. in 2008.

AMD Announces Departure of Emilio Ghilardi as Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:05:00 +0000

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Two Key States To Join National Mortgage Deal

AP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:57:08 +0000

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WASHINGTON — Arizona and Florida, two of the states hit hardest by the housing crisis, will join a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses, officials with direct knowledge say. They will join more than 40 other states in approving a deal that would benefit many Americans who lost their homes or can’t afford their mortgages. Formal announcements could come within a week, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the settlement publicly. Arizona and Florida’s involvement buoys hopes that a full 50-state deal is imminent. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said he first wants to resolve a separate foreclosure-related lawsuit his state filed against Bank of America. Florida officials say they are still in discussions. Attorney General Pam Bondi “remains engaged in the settlement discussions in order to ensure that Floridians receive their fair share in the agreement,” she said in a statement. The nationwide deal would be the biggest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco deal. It would force the five largest mortgage lenders to reduce loans for about 1 million households. The reduced loans would benefit homeowners who are behind on their payments and owe more than their homes are worth. The lenders would also send checks for about $2,000 to hundreds of thousands of people who lost homes to foreclosure. The settlement stems from abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst. Many companies that process foreclosures failed to verify documents. Some employees signed papers they hadn’t read or used fake signatures to speed foreclosures – an action known as robo-signing. Five major states – California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York and Nevada – are still considering whether to join the settlement. Massachusetts, which filed its own lawsuit against the five major lenders in December over deceptive foreclosure practices, has been quiet about its thinking. But Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley acknowledged last month she thought a deal between the banks and states would be reached and that she would keep an “open mind” as to whether Massachusetts would accept an agreement. California still has “significant sticking points,” but they may be settled in the coming days, said officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations. That represents progress from a few weeks ago, when California Attorney General Kamala Harris called the proposed settlement “inadequate.” California officials walked away from the negotiating table altogether in September. California’s backing is particularly crucial. It was among the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. And it has the most residents “underwater”: They owe more on their loan than their home is worth. Without California’s participation, the money available to homeowners nationally would be about $19 billion rather than $25 billion. Homeowners in states that opt out of the deal wouldn’t share in the settlement money. The money available to homeowners could run as high as $25 billion if all states approve the deal. The reduced loans would benefit homeowners who are behind on their payments and owe more than their homes are worth. The lenders would also send checks for about $2,000 to hundreds of thousands of people who lost homes to foreclosure. The five lenders – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial – have already agreed to the settlement. In settling the charges, the states would agree not to pursue further investigations against the banks in civil court. The deal would not protect the banks from criminal investigations. __ Associated Press Writers Randall Chase in Dover, Del., Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Fla., Michelle Price in Phoenix, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Donald Thompson in Sacramento, Calif., and Michael Virtanen in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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Two Key States To Join National Mortgage Deal

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Neeta Pal: Foreclosure Dispatches: Views From Around the Country

Neeta Pal — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:50:33 +0000

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Foreclosures aren’t going away. By now, the abuses that brought us to this point and continue to sink us further into the crisis — predatory lending practices, hastily securitized loans and mortgage servicing errors — are well known. Accountability for these abuses, however, remains an open question. As we await the outcomes of the 50-state attorneys general settlement and the Obama administration’s new federal Financial Crimes Unit led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, we must not lose sight of the homeowners and communities who suffer the collateral damages of foreclosure. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law teamed up with the National Coalition for the Civil Right to Counsel and independent producer Sarah Reynolds to create a multimedia video series entitled Fighting Foreclosure: Why Legal Assistance Matters that tells the stories of homeowners around the country. The series focuses on the perspectives of people who have seen or experienced firsthand what happens when homeowners go up against banks and mortgage servicers without an advocate at their side. Time and again, with counseling and legal representation , homeowners are able to catch documentation fraud, lending violations and other unlawful practices, and negotiate a fair settlement to stay in their homes. Community groups, legal aid lawyers, and housing counselors continue to act as first responders in a slow-moving foreclosure disaster that, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, is not even half-way over . Fighting Foreclosure: Charles Guider from TheBrennanCenter on Vimeo . Dispatch #1 : Sarah Ludwig and Josh Zinner, Co-Directors, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) in New York City NEDAP — a financial justice resource and advocacy center based in New York City — recently released a report showing that 345,435 mortgages were at risk of foreclosure in New York State in 2011. NEDAP’s analysis confirms that the state has a long way to go before the foreclosure crisis is over. The report shows that neighborhoods of color continue to be disproportionately affected. From where you’re sitting, what, in your view, is one of the main challenges facing homeowners in foreclosure? Servicers, servicers, servicers. We are years into the foreclosure crisis, and banks, through their mortgage servicers, continue to present serious obstacles to homeowners, resulting in millions of foreclosures that could and should have been averted. The problem should perhaps come as no surprise, since servicers generally continue to make more money from foreclosing on homes than from modifying mortgages, and public policy response has been slow at best in terms of requiring meaningful accountability by the industry. People who seek to negotiate effective loan modifications with servicers continue to get the major runaround, experiencing maddening delays and unreasonable denials of their loan modification applications. Meanwhile, the financial industry has spent millions upon millions of dollars lobbying against even the most basic reforms — to the profound detriment of families, communities, and the country. What is one aspect of the foreclosure crisis that has been overlooked by the media? The media, in general, have failed to address the fact that so little has been done to hold banks accountable — notwithstanding general consensus that banks and Wall Street caused the foreclosure crisis (enabled in no small measure by their regulators), and notwithstanding what we now know was a multi-trillion dollar bank bailout. Similarly, most media have categorically avoided core questions regarding the restructuring of our financial system to ensure fairness and equity going forward. Another glaring gap is coverage of the millions of people who’ve unfairly lost their homes to foreclosure. What’s happened to them? Where are they now? Where’s the redress? By some estimates, we are only halfway through our nation’s foreclosure crisis. What is the biggest change we need to make in addressing this problem going forward? Broadly speaking, we need to forge a coherent, comprehensive federal housing policy that is grounded in principles of fairness and equity, and that emphasizes non-speculative housing models, such as community land trusts, mutual housing, and limited equity cooperatives. It is also vital that we address pervasive unemployment, underemployment, and the lack of a living wage. In terms of the mortgage industry, servicers should be held to strict rules and legal standards, such as a fundamental duty to work in good faith with distressed homeowners. The rules should require servicers to reduce principal for people underwater on their loans, for example, and include meaningful enforcement mechanisms and strong penalties for non-compliance.

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Neeta Pal: Foreclosure Dispatches: Views From Around the Country

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Boehner: Obama Super PAC Decision ‘Just Another Broken Promise’

The Huffington Post — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:46:29 +0000

Huffington Post…

Hours after President Barack Obama’s campaign decided to soften its stance toward super PACs, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) slammed the decision. At a Tuesday news conference, Boehner was asked for his comment regarding the president’s reversal. “Just another broken promise,” he said. On Monday evening, Obama’s re-election team announced its backing of Priorities USA , a super PAC run by former Obama aides. Obama has traditionally been a fervent opponent toward the organizations , dating back to the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision that spearheaded their creation. Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina explained the decision, alluding to the millions of dollars spent by organizations supporting GOP presidential candidates. Via Obama 2012′s official website : With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm. Therefore, the campaign has decided to do what we can, consistent with the law, to support Priorities USA in its effort to counter the weight of the GOP Super PAC. We will do so only in the knowledge and with the expectation that all of its donations will be fully disclosed as required by law to the Federal Election Commission. In a Tuesday morning conference call , more details emerged about the change of political heart. Outside of millions of dollars flooding into GOP super PACs, another factor was the $500 million fundraising goal set by Crossroads groups and the Koch Brothers. While Boehner was critical of Obama’s decision, he’s historically been against limitations on campaign fundraising. After the Supreme Court rolled back campaign finance restrictions in the landmark Citizens United case, Boehner called the decision “a big win for the First Amendment.” “Let the American people decide how much money is enough,” Boehner said, according to NPR. A few months later, when Democrats turned to the DISCLOSE Act to increase transparency among private groups investing in elections, Boehner expressed his opposition . “Freedom of speech is the basis of our democracy,” he said in a press release on the day that the House passed the bill . “The purpose of this bill, plain and simple, is to allow Democrats to use their Majority in this House to silence their political opponents. This is a backroom deal to shred our Constitution for raw, ugly, partisan gain.” The DISCLOSE Act fell by one vote in the Senate , which then-White House senior adviser and current Obama political adviser David Axelrod called a “significant” blow. From the Democratic side of the aisle, Monday’s Obama decision did not sit well with former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). A heavy proponent of campaign finance laws, Feingold opposed the campaign’s support of super PACs, telling The Huffington Post that “it is a dumb approach.” Feingold proceeded to question how the move affects Democrats across the board. “I also think it guts the president’s message and the Democratic Party’s message,” Feingold said. “We are doing very well right now. The president is doing brilliantly. This is no time to blunt that message by starting to play this game.”

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Boehner: Obama Super PAC Decision ‘Just Another Broken Promise’

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Twitter, Facebook Are Least Used Sources Of Political News

AP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:09:51 +0000

Huffington Post…

WASHINGTON (AP) â In this campaign season, the social networks have nothing on the news networks. A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds cable news most frequently cited as a regular source of political campaign news, followed by local TV news, network news, the Internet and finally local newspapers. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook were at the bottom of the list. But with only Republicans choosing a presidential nominee this time around, fewer people are interested in following campaign news in any medium. This year’s poll marks the first time that cable news topped the list of campaign news sources, with 36 percent of those surveyed reporting that they regularly learn something about the campaign or the candidates from pay TV news. Cable has not gained as a source since early in the 2008 cycle, when 38 percent identified it as a top source. But the share who said they regularly get news from other TV sources or newspapers has declined. Asked where they get most of their campaign news, 74 percent cited television, in keeping with findings over the past few election cycles. Thirty-six percent said the Internet is their main source, up 10 points from this point in 2008, and newspapers provided most of the news for 23 percent, down 7 points. Use of the Internet as a regular campaign news source has held steady at 25 percent, on par with the 24 percent who regularly turned to the web in 2008. Pew attributes the lack of growth to declining interest in campaign news overall, particularly among younger adults, the primary users of online news. In January 2008, 34 percent of adults said they followed election news very closely. But that dipped to 29 percent this year, with the steepest declines among those under age 30 and Democrats. The 2008 campaign saw a relatively slim, 8-point difference in strong election interest by age. This year, however, senior citizens are twice as likely as those aged 18-29 to say they are following campaign news very closely. Among older age groups, the share saying they turn to the Internet regularly for campaign news has held steady or climbed, but among those under age 30, that figure has dropped sharply, from 42 percent in December 2007 to 29 percent now. A majority of those surveyed said they use social networking sites like Facebook, but most do not use them for news. Just 6 percent regularly turn to Facebook for campaign updates, and 2 percent go on Twitter. But the low standing of social networking sites doesn’t mean they aren’t a news source with potential for broader appeal. In early 2000, just 6 percent of survey recipients said they got most of their campaign news from the Internet. That grew to 13 percent by the start of the 2004 campaign and has nearly tripled, to 36 percent, in the eight years since. Among current Twitter users, 41 percent said they turn to the site at least sometimes for news, among users of other social networking sites, 36 percent sometimes or regularly use Facebook for news. Those using online news sources this cycle are most likely to turn to traditional news sites, such as CNN and Yahoo News, and aggregators, such as Google, over the candidates’ websites or social networking sites. CNN (24 percent) and Yahoo News (22 percent) top the list of online sources, followed by Google (13 percent), Fox News (10 percent), MSN (9 percent) and MSNBC (8 percent). All other sites were named by 5 percent or less, including Facebook, Twitter, the Drudge Report and Huffington Post. Interaction with a candidate’s online campaign is generally not seen as a key source of information. Just 2 percent who use the Internet for campaign information say they turn to candidate websites for news, but many more have had online contact with a candidate. Among registered voters, 15 percent say they have visited a candidate’s website and 16 percent have received email from campaign or political groups. Six percent say they have followed a candidate on Twitter or Facebook, rising to 12 percent among those under age 30. But whether online, on TV or in print, few Americans find it fun to keep up with politics. Overall, just 23 percent said they deeply enjoy following campaign news. The number dips to 17 percent among political independents, and to 13 percent of those under age 30. The Pew Center’s campaign news survey was conducted Jan. 4-8 and included interviews with a random national sample of 1,507 adults contacted by landline and cellular telephone. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. ___ Online: Pew Research Center: http://www.people-press.org

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Twitter, Facebook Are Least Used Sources Of Political News

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Icon Media Holdings, Inc. Announces New Board Member

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:00:00 +0000

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Marketwire – Management Changes:

RALEIGH, NC–(Marketwire – Feb 7, 2012) – Icon Media Holdings, Inc. ( PINKSHEETS : ICNM ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Lincoln Spoor as the newest member of the Icon Media Board of Directors.

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Icon Media Holdings, Inc. Announces New Board Member

Meet The World’s Highest Paid Supermodels

The Huffington Post Canada — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:59:04 +0000

Huffington Post…

They’ve worked hard to be called “the hottest and most desirable women in the world” — you try spending your days walking along runways in high heels and keeping svelte for photographers . But there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to these 20 supermodels. According to Extra , these knockouts are also savvy businesswomen — amassing a huge fortune thanks to not only modelling gigs, but also side businesses, like developing fashion, beauty or accessory lines. In fact, these ladies make almost as much (maybe even more!) than some of today’s hottest celebs . Whether you love them, hate them or just hate to love ‘em, here are the world’s 20 most wealthy supermodels.

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Coca Cola Benefits From Price Hike

AP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:33:15 +0000

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NEW YORK — Coca-Cola reported an effervescent fourth quarter Tuesday, as the company sold more of its drinks globally and its earnings beat analyst expectations. Coca-Cola is benefiting from raising prices in North America, where consumer sentiment is slowly improving, and expanding in emerging markets including Africa and Latin America. “Compared to 12 months ago, there are very early indications that the consumer (in North America) is feeling a little better, with more mobility, travel and eating out,” said CEO Muhtar Kent in a telephone interview with the AP. “That all translates into better business for us.” Coca-Cola Co.’s fourth-quarter net income dropped 71 percent, weighed down by restructuring charges and a difficult comparison with last year’s fourth quarter, when the beverage maker had a hefty benefit from buying its bottlers. But the Atlanta company said Tuesday its adjusted results topped Wall Street’s expectations as it sold more drinks in the U.S. and abroad, particularly in emerging markets. “Even as we believe that global market volatility will continue in the near term, the breadth of our global footprint and the strength of our brands create a resilient business that was built for times like these,” CEO Muhtar Kent said in a statement. Shares of Coca-Cola rose 91 cents to $68.94 in midday trading. Coke also said it will start a cost-cutting program in 2012 to save $550 million to $650 million annually by 2015 in part to help offset continued high commodity costs. Coca-Cola, whose brands include Sprite and Minute Maid, earned $1.65 billion, or 72 cents per share, for the period ended Dec. 31. That’s down sharply from $5.77 billion, or $2.46 per share, a year earlier. But a year ago, the company had a one-time net gain of $1.74 per share, mainly related to buying a bottler’s North American operations. Removing restructuring charges and other items, earnings were 79 cents per share. Analysts forecast 77 cents for the company, according to Fact Set. Revenue increased 5 percent to $11.04 billion. It was helped by higher prices, strength overseas and solid results from the Coca-Cola brand, juices and teas. The figure just topped Wall Street’s $11 billion estimate. Coca-Cola sold 3 percent more of its drinks during the quarter, including a 1 percent gain in Europe and North America and a 4 percent gain in Eurasia and Africa and Latin America. Coca-Cola, which has more than 500 brands including Fanta, Sprite, Dasani and Minute Maid, has weathered the downturn by spending more on advertising, new products and plants. The company, like many, also has turned overseas for growth, particularly emerging markets like India and China. And in North America, it is raising prices and offering smaller package sizes. For the year, net income fell 27 percent to $8.57 billion, or $3.69 per share. That compares with $11.81 billion or $5.06 per share last year. Revenue rose 33 percent to $46.54 billion from $35.12 billion. Global volume grew 5 percent during the year, helped by strength in emerging markets such as Latin America. Coke’s chief rival, Pepsico Inc., reports results Thursday.

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Coca Cola Benefits From Price Hike

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Chrome For Android Finally Here … Sort Of

Jocelyn Richard — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:30:57 +0000

Huffington Post…

Google has released a long-awaited beta version of its Chrome web browser for Android-powered phones and tablets, but the software only works on devices running the latest version of Android. The test version of Google’s popular Internet browser was made available for download today in the Android Market . Notable features of the software include the capacity for tabbed browsing, the option to browse the web in “incognito mode,” accelerated page loading, and the ability to sync bookmarks and passwords between users’ other devices on which they use the Chrome browser. Unfortunately, the acceleration technology these features require means the browser is limited to the few Android mobile devices that currently use Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android operating system. Those devices include the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Asus Transformer Prime, Business Insider reports . But experts expect Google Chrome to dominate Android devices in the future as users upgrade their phones to ones capable of running the newest Android operating system. “Even in beta, it’s a compelling browser at least on the Galaxy Nexus I tried it on, and it’s and a much better match for Apple’s Safari on iOS,” Stephen Shankland wrote in a review of the software for CNET . “And eventually, its success is all but assured when it simply becomes what ships with Android.” Today’s beta release caps off a three-year effort on the part of Google engineers to converge Android and Chrome , the company’s two fastest growing products, according to Mercury News . Both products were launched at the end of 2008 and soon became favorites of many users and developers. Android is currently the world’s most popular mobile operating system, while Chrome recently shot past Mozilla Firefox to become the second most popular Web browser behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Early feedback from users reviewing the software on Android Market has been largely positive, with the first 500 commenters giving the software an average rating of 4.3 stars out of five. Check out a slideshow of screenshots below: WATCH:

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Chrome For Android Finally Here … Sort Of

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Google Fiber Rollout Ready To Begin

Ramona Emerson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:25:58 +0000

Huffington Post…

It reportedly suffered a slight delay due to some disagreement with local officials over just how its thousands of miles of wires would be hung, but Google announced today that it’s finally ready to begin the rollout of its Google Fiber network in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.

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Google Fiber Rollout Ready To Begin

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Endeavour Press: Even in a Bear Market, You Can Still Get Rich

Endeavour Press — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:12:07 +0000

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By John Carlucci, author of Ashes to Riches: How to Profit Spectacularly During the Economic Collapse of 2012 to 2022 . In 2008, the financial world was hit by its own version of the meteorite that killed off the dinosaurs. Huge investment banks disappeared into thin air, the stock market went into a terrifying plunge and shell-shocked politicians warned that the world economy was within days of imminent collapse. Millions of ordinary investors saw their world turned upside down as years of planning and saving, years of accumulated wealth were suddenly vaporized. But catastrophe clears the field for new opportunities and whoever can adapt to the new world thrives. To be a successful investor in our post-meteorite world, you need to embrace several key ideas. First, realize that much of what you are told by financial “experts” is deliberately incomplete and blatantly self-serving. The truth is, their primary interest is looking out for their income stream, not you. They make money kneading and rolling “Assets Under Management” – your dough. If your account does well, they make money on service fees. And if your account crashes, as in 2008, they’ll beg and plead that you stay in the market because they still collect fees servicing the little you have left. What they don’t make money on is you selling all your stocks and going to cash or other safe haven. With that unsettling thought in mind, their conventional “Buy and Hold” strategy has not just become obsolete, but absolutely lethal. That’s because in 2000, the market fundamentally transformed from a long term or “secular” bull to a secular bear. The steady upward trend in the market, averaging 18.6% per year from 1982 to 1999, suddenly flat-lined. Since 2000, the S&P has averaged a paltry 0.46% gain per year and there are strong indications we’re in for a downward trend that won’t be over for at least another decade. Not surprisingly, most financial “advisers” are still recommending the long term “Buy and Hold” zombie strategy because it guarantees their income as long as you stay invested. But to survive and thrive in a multi-decade-long bear market you must zero in on the short term ups and downs that last for only a few years at most. What are referred to as the “cyclical” bull and bear swings — within the larger long term secular bear period. Instead of buying and holding for decades on end, you buy at the bottom of a cyclical swing and sell at the top. It’s the only strategy with any hope of getting you through this secular bear intact. It isn’t good for your broker’s income, but you have to put your own interest first — just like he does. Likewise, learn how to protect yourself. No sane person would get onto an elevator that didn’t have an emergency brake. Likewise, no rational person should invest a dollar without attaching a “stop loss” order to it. What’s a “stop loss”? It’s a standing order that protects your investments just like an elevator emergency brake. If your stock price drops to a pre-determined level, either a percentage drop or a dollar amount drop that you choose in advance, the stop loss order automatically executes, selling your stock at the exact price you ordered or as close to it as possible. Your broker never told you about stop loss orders? You’re not alone. From the market peak in 2007 until it hit bottom in March 2009, investors lost approximately $11 trillion in asset value. The entire GDP of the United States in 2008 was $13 trillion. This occurred because very few average investors were protected by stop loss orders. They followed their financial advisers’ advice to hold and rode the catastrophe all the way to rock bottom. It was like holding tight to the walls of the elevator as it fell through space. It’s likely to get pretty rough over the next few years but if you keep these few simple ideas in mind at least you won’t be as surprised as you would have been, and as millions of others are going to be. In fact, there’s even a very good chance you’ll thrive in our brave new financial world. Ashes to Riches: How to Profit Spectacularly during the Economic Collapse of 2012 to 2022 , by John F. Carlucci, is published by Endeavour Press Ltd.

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Endeavour Press: Even in a Bear Market, You Can Still Get Rich

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Qutenza, Chili Pepper Drug, Gets Mixed Review For Treating HIV-Related Pain

Reuters — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:04:00 +0000

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* FDA raises concerns of effectiveness of pain patch * NeurogesX seeks Qutenza approval for pain in HIV patients * US FDA panel to review proposed new use on Thursday * Shares fall 23 percent (Recasts first sentence with stock fall, adds details on approval process) WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) – NeurogesX Inc’s pain treatment derived from chili peppers had only mixed success at treating pain in HIV patients, U.S. health regulators said on Tuesday, sending shares of the tiny company down 23 percent. NeurogesX won FDA approval in 2009 for its Qutenza patch as a treatment for pain related to shingles. The product’s active ingredient is a synthetic form of the agent that makes chili peppers hot, known as capsaicin. The company now hopes to get the nod to sell the product for peripheral neuropathic pain that afflicts as many as 40 percent of HIV sufferers. An FDA committee of outside experts will meet to discuss Qutenza’s use among HIV patients on Thursday. The FDA is expected to make a decision by March 7. On Tuesday, Food and Drug Administration reviewers said in a report that the Qutenza patch produced statistically significant pain reduction among people with HIV. But that success was due to a 90-minute application. FDA staff said company studies failed to demonstrate the efficacy of the 30-minute treatment the company proposed for use in treating HIV-related pain. Statistical concerns including a lack of evidence that the results can be repeated “have raised the question of whether evidence of substantial efficacy has been demonstrated for this proposed treatment regimen,” said Dr. Bob Rappaport, director of the FDA’s Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Addition Products. FDA staff said studies with HIV patients showed no new safety issues. European Union regulators have already approved Qutenza for controlling pain in nondiabetic adults including people with HIV. Shares in the San Mateo, California-based biopharmaceutical company were down more than 23 percent at 89 cents on Tuesday morning on the Nasdaq. The exchange has threatened to delist the stock unless it can be sustained at $1 a share or above between now and July 28. (Reporting By David Morgan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Derek Caney and Matthew Lewis)

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Qutenza, Chili Pepper Drug, Gets Mixed Review For Treating HIV-Related Pain

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Ben Bernanke: Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Altering Job Market For The Worse

Bonnie Kavoussi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Huffington Post…

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that record levels of long-term unemployment will alter the U.S. job market for the worse for the foreseeable future. Bernanke said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing that the natural rate of unemployment — or the level of unemployment that results when the economy is supporting as many jobs as it can — has risen from about four percent in the early 2000s to more than five percent because so many Americans have been out of work for so long. In the process, they have lost skills and have become less likely to return to work. “We are concerned that over the past few years that there has been some modest increase in the sustainable long-run rate of unemployment,” Bernanke said. “I hope Congress will consider ways to address that problem.” Though the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January, many Americans have stopped looking for work and have therefore been pushed out of the workforce, perhaps permanently. The labor force participation rate fell in January to 63.7 percent — its lowest level since January 1982. More than 40 percent of those currently unemployed have been without work for more than six months, Bernanke noted. That’s roughly double the share during the housing boom of the early and mid-2000s, he said. That adds up to 5.5 million Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, not to mention three to five million more people who have dropped out of the labor force because they have given up looking for work. Bernanke said that the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee estimates that the natural rate of unemployment is now between 5.2 and 6.0 percent. The actual unemployment rate in 2006 was just 4.6 percent, and in 2000 it was even lower at 4.0 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The long-term unemployed are in more danger of experiencing years of unemployment because it becomes steadily harder for a job-seeker to find work the longer they’re unemployed. Many employers ask for their applicants to be currently employed , a stipulation President Barack Obama is trying to make illegal. Firms also are less prone to hire the long-term unemployed because of the perception that their skills and professional networks deteriorate while they are out of work. Bernanke has previously warned about the prolonged economic harm of long-term unemployment. In September the Fed chairman called long-term unemployment a “national crisis.” “This has never happened in the post-war period in the United States,” Bernanke said in September. “They are losing the skills they had, they are losing their connections, their attachment to the labor force.” Bernanke said on Tuesday that the Federal Reserve can do only so much to bring down unemployment. “We’re only saying that monetary policy really can’t do much to bring unemployment in a sustainable way below those levels,” Bernanke said of the natural rate. Bernanke said that in order to bring down the natural rate of unemployment further, the U.S. government needs to focus on projects that provide the country long-run value, especially those focusing on education, worker skills, and research and development. “We don’t want to build useless monuments,” Bernanke said. With many more people no longer considered part of the workforce, Bernanke said that January’s 8.3 percent unemployment rate “no doubt understates the weakness of the labor market in a broader sense.”

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Ben Bernanke: Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Altering Job Market For The Worse

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Craig Aaron: When Whinosaurs Attack!

Craig Aaron — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:57:48 +0000

Huffington Post…

From the same people who brought you Fear Factor , Temptation Island and When Animals Attack! comes one of the most-shocking-but-true stories of hubris, greed and endless griping imaginable. This is a tale of the vastly powerful but sniveling giants who control your TV, dictate much of our political discourse and get rich doing it — all while evading even the most basic forms of public accountability. This isn’t just another reality show — it’s the reality of what’s airing on every local TV station. And as far as station owners and their lobbyists are concerned, their business is none of yours. Broadcasters have pocketed gazillions over the years while using the airwaves free of charge. In exchange, they’re supposed to serve the public interest with programming that reflects community needs. But the Federal Communications Commission’s modest attempts to hold broadcasters to their end of the bargain are being met by a teeth-gnashing, fire-breathing rhetoric… and pitiful mewling about how hard it is to use a computer. But like so many of the reality stars before them, these whiny media dinosaurs — or whinosaurs for short — have no shame. A Series of Rubes So what kind of onerous government inquisition has drawn the whinosaurs’ ire? Well, the FCC has asked broadcasters to put the “public files” every station is supposed to keep upon the Internet, so it’s easier for people to view them. While nearly every other industry has found electronic record-keeping to be a better way of doing business, broadcasters are desperately clinging to their dusty file cabinets. They’re actually claiming, in the year 2012, that putting this basic information online — in other words, PDF-ing a document and posting it to the Web — is far too laborious. Somehow, these broadcasters, who have managed to make pictures fly through the air and into your living room for 70 years, are still relying on paper records and perhaps abacuses. Their arguments basically boil down to: “Keep your newfangled Google machines out of our buildings.” It’s ridiculous. As a coalition of public interest groups recently wrote to the FCC: “Those broadcasters that continue to rely solely or primarily on handwritten documents and manual updating of political files would do well to reevaluate their business practices with an eye to joining the modern world.” Steve Waldman, the main author of last year’s exhaustive FCC report on the future of media, has been the leading voice in favor of the FCC’s proposals and against the whinosaurs. “The rest of the world has figured out ways to use the Internet to reduce workload and cost,” Waldman recently wrote on the Columbia Journalism Review website . “I’m not sure the broadcasters want to take the position that they will be the one industry that can’t possibly be expected to use the Internet to improve efficiency.” Back in the USSR The FCC is also pushing broadcasters to put records of political ad buys online — records the stations are already required to keep. This information is especially important in 2012, when broadcasters will rake in billions of dollars from election ads. So why not give the public a way to know who’s trying to influence them? As Waldman explains : “Putting that information online would allow the public and reporters to better understand the flow of money in political campaigns.” Yet according to Allbritton, the TV station owner and publisher of Politico , this is nothing less than the first step on the road to a “Soviet-style standardization of the way advertising should be sold as determined by the government.” Because the Ruskies are so renowned for their transparency efforts? All this hyperventilating and hyperbole is especially galling when it comes from organizations that are supposed to be practicing journalism. As 12 leaders of the nation’s top journalism schools wrote in a letter to the FCC: “Broadcast news organizations depend on, and consistently call for, robust open-record regimes for the institutions they cover; it seems hypocritical for broadcasters to oppose applying the same principle to themselves.” But hypocrisy is another telltale trait of the whinosaur. Get with the Program Lastly, the FCC is proposing that stations keep basic records on what kinds of programming they put on the air. Imagine the audacity in asking broadcasters, who have made money hand over fist from squatting on the public airwaves, to report back on how much news or locally originated programming they actually do. Yet according to the FCC filings of 48 state broadcast associations, the request for standardized reports “carries with it the high risk that the commission will find itself not just at the edge of a First Amendment cliff, but in a catastrophic plunge that intertwines the commission and its staff for the indefinite future in the journalistic news judgments of television stations nationwide.” Such claims are preposterous. The FCC has not proposed any quotas or programming requirements — all it is asking, in exchange for an exclusive and lucrative license, is for broadcasters to report back on what they are already doing. Maybe the broadcasters are just unwilling to face up to the disconnect between their consistent claims that they’re giving the audience what they want, and the conflicting reality that wherever you go the one thing people are sure to agree on is that their local news must be the worst in the country. Now is the time to tell the FCC to ignore all this whining and move forward with its common-sense plans to encourage transparency and accountability. The whinosaurs have a reputation as fierce lobbyists and are good at making a lot of noise. But the climate is changing. So whinosaurs be warned: You either evolve, or you go extinct.

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Craig Aaron: When Whinosaurs Attack!

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Michael Bless Named Chief Executive Officer of Century Aluminum

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:25:00 +0000

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BroadHop Appoints Andrew M. Murray as Chief Financial Officer

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Industry Veteran Joins Management Team Focused on Innovation and Growth Initiatives

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BroadHop Appoints Andrew M. Murray as Chief Financial Officer

Virtacore Systems Names Phill Lawson-Shanks as Chief Technology Officer

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:30:00 +0000

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Lawson-Shanks Brings Wealth of Experience to Fast Growing Cloud Solution Provider

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Virtacore Systems Names Phill Lawson-Shanks as Chief Technology Officer

The RBA unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:22:27 +0000

menafn.com…

Today was the rate decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia, where unexpectedly it kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 4.25%, as it said that the inflation rates will remain within the …

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The RBA unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged

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Aussie Jumps as RBA Keeps Cash Rate on Hold

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:22:15 +0000

menafn.com…

THE TAKEAWAY: RBA Maintained Interest Rate at 4.25 percent > RBA action at odds with analysts’ expectations of rate cut > AUDUSD peaks at 1.800 dollars RBA maintained interest rate …

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Braintree Names David Corken COO and Tracey Weinberg Senior VP Marketing

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:30:00 +0000

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CHICAGO, IL–(Marketwire – Feb 7, 2012) – Braintree ( www.braintreepayments.com ), an online payments provider that powers commerce for many of the fastest-growing and most discerning Web 2.0, social and mobile businesses in the world, appointed David Corken to the position of chief operating officer and Tracey Weinberg as senior vice president of marketing.

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Braintree Names David Corken COO and Tracey Weinberg Senior VP Marketing

German industrial production falls the most since 2009

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:58:26 +0000

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(MENAFN) A report, issued by German Economy Ministry, showed that the nation’s industrial output declined the most since 2009 in December, Reuters reported. The official data showed 2.9 percent …

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German industrial production falls the most since 2009

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