On Friday, Starbucks released 5,000 limited edition cards made of steel on the luxury goods site, Gilt.com. In the end, the card costs $450 with $400 of the balance able to be used for credit towards Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) purchases. Shockingly enough, the site sold out of the … [Read more...]
Cash America a Payday Loan Company Forced to Refund Over $13 Million to Customers
Cash America will be giving about 14,000 of its customers in Ohio refunds totaling an estimated $13.4 million after customers sued them, but now admits it made significant mistakes in its own legal documents. Cash America is the largest operator of pawn shops in the United States and … [Read more...]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack Stop Foreclosures for Holidays
Earlier this week, we saw some holiday spirit out of Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) and Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA). The two highly scrutinized mortgage dealers announced they would delay foreclosures till after the holidays. … [Read more...]
Corruption Inquiry Tarnishes Rolls-Royce Luxury Cache’
To consumers, Rolls Royce is synonymous with luxury cars. But, the company also happens to be the world's second largest aircraft manufacturer, and is now the target of investigations by the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the United States' Department of Justice … [Read more...]
Obama Won’t Budge on Tax Reform Fiscal Cliff Here We Come
President Obama plans to play hardball when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy, according to White House spokesmen, and is willing to let the country go over the “fiscal cliff” if Republican lawmakers don’t cooperate. “This is a choice of the Republican Party,” White House … [Read more...]
Citigroup Cuts Cost by Eliminating 11,000 Jobs & 1 Billion Charge
Shares of Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) jumped over 6% on Wednesday after the bank announced it would lay off 11,000 workers or about 4% of its total workforce. Additionally in the statement, the bank said it had to pay a pretax of $1.1 billion this quarter due to the layoffs. This … [Read more...]
U.S. Employment Outlook Improving Despite Fiscal Cliff Scare
In spite of the looming fiscal cliff and the enormous impact of super storm Sandy on jobs, the overall employment outlook is improving. The effects of super storm Sandy have taken a bigger toll than that of government gridlock, but aside from the storm's affects, new jobs added were … [Read more...]
Republicans Reject Stimulus Measures in Obama’s Debt-reduction Plan
As Democrat and Republican lawmakers struggle to agree on a long-term economic solution—and the fiscal cliff draws nearer—the Obama administration is paying renewed attention to stimulating the again-sluggish economy. In his debt proposal presented last week to Congressional leaders, … [Read more...]
Microsoft is Dying Nothing More Than a Shadow of Its Former Self
Several news items today seemed to be piling on the "Microsoft is Dying" bandwagon, but just last week the company's CEO Steve Ballmer told shareholder that Microsoft is seeing “fantastic demand” for its touch-screen PCs and tablets and Ballmer always seems optimistic about the … [Read more...]
Obama Tweets to Rally his Fiscal Cliff Plan as Republicans Propose Their Own Solution
President Obama hosted a town hall forum on Twitter Monday afternoon, urging middle-class Americans to contact their Congressmen to support his budget plans. The president used the hashtag #My2K to reinforce the $2,000 in extra taxes the average American family will pay if Congress … [Read more...]
SEC Has Their Hands Full – From the JOBS Act to Working Majority
Recent news coverage of the Securities Exchange Commission's (SEC) activity has focused quite a bit of attention on an issue involving outgoing Chairman Mary Shapiro's motivation for her alleged last minute involvement in delaying the passage of one of the main pieces of the Jumpstart … [Read more...]
CFPB Issues Warning to Businesses About Free Credit Reports
The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles consumers to an annual free credit report from all reporting companies, not just Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Hundreds of specialty reporting agencies collect information about medical payments, tenant history, check-writing behaviors, … [Read more...]
Should the US Replace Dollars with Coins – Could Save $4.4 Billion
Would reducing paper money help the federal deficit? The House Committee on Financial Services investigated the concept in a Nov. 29 hearing as the Government Accountability Office presented its conclusions that replacing dollar bills with coins would save $4.4 billion over the next … [Read more...]
Yahoo’s Meltdown in Mexico $2.7 Billion Dollar Judgment
Yahoo's announcement today that it is being hit with a $2.7 billion judgment related to a 2003 deal done through its Mexican subsidiary is yet another indication of the company's splintered old strategies and its struggles to refocus. The deal, with Ideas Interactivas and Worldwide … [Read more...]
Daily Deals Leaders Groupon and LivingSocial Dying Business Model
The future of the daily deals market looks bleak as industry leaders Groupon and LivingSocial each faced serious issues in the past week. “The field is going through some growing pains,” Yipit research firm’s Unaiz Kabani told CNN. Analysts have seen signs of distress for months, … [Read more...]
Yum! Brands Stock Down on Fourth Quarter Expectations
Yum! Brands stock price opened sharply down Friday as Wall Street digested the company's revised fourth quarter forecast. Yum's CEO, David Novak, told analysts he expected same-store sales in China to drop by about 4% for the fourth quarter, a dramatic drop considering the company … [Read more...]
Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Turn Sour as the Parties Divide on Budget Proposal
Reports from Washington indicate budget talks may have taken a step backward Thursday as House Speaker John Boehner rejected the Obama administration’s $4 trillion plan to avoid going over the approaching fiscal cliff. Although he offered no details, Boehner said he was “disappointed” … [Read more...]
Charities Oppose Eliminating Tax Deduction
As lawmakers work to find new ways to eliminate the federal deficit, a greater focus has been placed on reducing or eliminating certain tax deductions, including the charitable deduction, which taxpayers may claim for donations made to nonprofits, churches, colleges and hospitals. In … [Read more...]
Hostess Bankruptcy a Windfall for Some Twinkies Coming Soon
Twinkies and their cousin snacks will live to fight for your shopping dollars another day. Hostess, the parent company that makes Twinkies and many other snacks Americans have come to love, may be going bankrupt, but their brands will live on. As the Hostess company makes its way … [Read more...]
Stocks Close Higher on Fiscal Cliff Optimism
After Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Tuesday remarks concerning lack of progress in fiscal cliff talks caused the market to slump, it rebounded Wednesday when House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he was optimistic a deal would be reached before the Dec. 31 deadline. The Dow … [Read more...]
