Memorial Day is nearly upon us, with its familiar parades, flags, hot dogs and … new vehicle sales? Buying a new ride at the brink of summer is apparently becoming a new holiday tradition. Edmunds.com reported in this press release that in 2010 and 2011 the long weekend accounted for an outsize share of May new [...]
Steve McGonigle of the Dallas Morning News found stock-market investments aren’t the only reason many pensions funds remain underfunded. Some, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, are investing in “alternatives that offer higher returns but present larger risks,” he writes. He leads his story with a $100 million investment the teacher’s pension fund made [...]
As the G-8 leaders prepare to meet at Camp David on Friday, the dominant topic of conversation will be the European debt crisis. Yet it is a crisis that has attracted minimal interest or concern among the U.S. public, despite warnings from economists that Europe’s problems may threaten this country’s fragile recovery. (Pew Research Center) [...]
With Memorial Day weekend comes the unofficial start of summer; what better time than to look for some fresh angles on seasonal businesses?
And I think in keeping with recent years’ themes of frugality, staycations and scaled-back leisure budgets, spinning summer angles from the iconic “camping” theme will lead to colorful and substantive business and economy packages.
Here’s something you insomniacs can do at night: Check PACER for court cases. That’s what led student journalist Karla Bowsher to check the backgrounds of Florida Atlantic University’s trustees who were considering budget cuts and tuition hikes. Karla begins her University Press story, Who’s in charge here? Court documents show that half the members of [...]
What does a replica Civil War balloon have to do with business journalism? Well, the plight of this particular replica, which New York’s Genesee County Museum hopes to launch this year as part of commemorative ceremonies, has lit up focus on our national helium shortage. Who knew? But the helium story is real and one [...]
Facebook’s initial public offering made lots of news last week. But one story that stood out to me was a Planet Money segment by Zoe Chace and Steve Henn of NPR. They focus on Facebook’s advertising and how it converts Facebook fans to buyers. But they do it with a twist.
With the Facebook IPO finally behind us, it looks like another Silicon Valley company will be dominating the headlines this week. Unfortunately, instead of instant millionaires, the storyline will feature job seekers if tech giant Hewlett-Packard indeed lays off up to 30,000 workers, as the Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday. If it plays out, [...]
President Obama the other day proposed a new tax credit to reward small businesses that are hiring or giving raises to existing workers. As this New York Times post explains, the company would get 10 percent of any payroll boost back as a credit against taxes, up to $500,000. The news prompted me to wonder about the [...]
