VOL. 40 | NO. 1 | Friday, January 1, 2016
REALTY CHECK
With 2015 in the rear view mirror, I shall gaze into my looking glass to predict what 2016 will provide those in real estate.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates crossed the 4 percent mark this week, a slight increase in the wake of the Federal Reserve decision this month to hike a key short-term interest rate.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans are on the clock. If they lose to the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s season finale, the Titans franchise will have the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft for the first time since the Houston Oilers took Earl Campbell first overall in 1978.
UT SPORTS
Don’t worry, UT fans, the 2016 football season will be here before you know it.
NEWSMAKERS
Lucia Folk of Country Music Television will serves as the 2016 chair for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The 2016 Buick Enclave is an attractive option for big families needing a roomy, feature-packed crossover sport utility vehicle that seats up to eight people.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Right in front of your nose. That’s where you usually find the solution to sticky problems: always right there, where you weren’t necessarily looking.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
A shocking 80 percent of the world’s Internet traffic will be video by 2019. Think for a moment about the sheer magnitude.
CAREER CORNER
Happy New Year! With the holiday season coming to a close, 2016 is here. It’s such an exciting time, full of hopes and dreams for the future.
I SWEAR
Once again, it’s here. Time for the last column. Of the year, at least.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Going into President Barack Obama's last year in office, progress has stalled on reducing the number of uninsured Americans under his signature health care law, according to a major survey out Thursday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were mixed this week, with the key 30-year rate slipping back under the 4 percent mark.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are skidding again Thursday on spreading fears about the health of China's economy. Technology stocks were among the hardest hit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that the job market remains healthy and insulated from the turmoil abroad in Europe and China.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's is slashing jobs, a harbinger of hard times for retailers after a holiday season that saw a noticeable shift to online shopping and away from physical stores.
NEW YORK (AP) — Workers are saving more for retirement, and the youngest — not exactly known for squirreling money away — are boosting their savings rates faster than any other age group.
LONDON (AP) — Unemployment across the 19-country eurozone has fallen to its lowest rate in a little more than four years, official figures showed Thursday in the latest sign that the economic recovery in the region ended 2015 on a relatively chipper note.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden and other top White House officials are talking to communities hit hard by gun violence to make the case that Congress wouldn't act, so the president did.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's proposals to tighten gun control rules may not accomplish his goal of keeping guns out of the hands of would-be criminals and those who aren't legally allowed to buy a weapon. In short, that's because the conditions he is changing by executive action are murkier than he made them out to be.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Even though Adele broke records for album sales with "25," she couldn't stop overall record sales from continuing to decline in 2015 as consumers keep switching to on-demand streaming services.
STATE LEGISLATURE
FRANKLIN (AP) - A Franklin man is planning a Republican primary challenge to embattled state Rep. Jeremy Durham.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville company will pay as much as $7.8 million in a settlement related to accusations that it charged Medicare and TennCare for medications for dead patients.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A state official is announcing the launch of an assessment of broadband access and usage in Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The top executive of the Volkswagen brand worldwide says he's optimistic that U.S. environmental regulators will approve fixes within the coming weeks or months for diesel engines that cheat on emissions tests.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple fans keep buying iPhones, but Wall Street keeps worrying the company won't be able to match last year's blistering sales pace.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank has cut its forecast for global growth this year given weakness in the developing world.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tumbled to two-month lows Wednesday as fears about China's economy slowing down led to more widespread selling. The price of oil plunged to its lowest level since 2008 on the prospect that global demand could fall further.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's is cutting thousands of jobs after disappointing holiday sales.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the Federal Reserve's unanimous vote to raise a key interest rate last month, some policymakers viewed their decision as a "close call" because of stubbornly low inflation.
NEW YORK (AP) — Chipotle has been served with a federal subpoena as part of a criminal investigation tied to a norovirus outbreak at one of its restaurants.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses stepped up hiring last month, led by solid gains in construction and retail, a private survey found.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories declined in November for the third time in the past four months. A key category that tracks business investment fell as well.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey says U.S. services companies grew in December at the slowest pace since early 2014.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Got a question for the IRS about your taxes? The agency is pushing you to fire up your computer rather than give them a call.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil prices have remained low despite heightened tensions between two of the world's big oil-producing countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and a new law allowing U.S. crude exports helps explain why, the oil industry's top lobbyist said Tuesday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — After dozens of failed attempts to undo President Barack Obama's health care law, the GOP-led Congress will finally put a bill on the president's desk Wednesday striking at the heart of his signature legislative achievement.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The 12-member Tennessee Court of Appeals has elected D. Michael Swiney of Knoxville as chief judge.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Some state Senate Republicans are grumbling about an effort to have the upper chamber's committees meet on an additional day during the upcoming legislative session, saying the change would allow less time to attend receptions and to prepare for other meetings.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two state lawmakers are proposing a promotion in honorary titles in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker is voicing support for the cause of armed anti-government protesters who took over a remote national wildlife refuge in Oregon.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A new conference for Tennessee farmers is scheduled for next month in Knoxville.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Powerful computers that can drive better than people, high-definition road maps and low-cost sensors are about to remove some big barriers to self-driving cars.
DETROIT (AP) — Americans are buying more new cars than ever before. U.S. auto sales were expected to reach a record high of 17.47 million in 2015, topping the old record of 17.35 million set in 2000.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Shares in Volkswagen AG are sliding after the U.S. Justice Department sued the German automaker over emissions-cheating software fitted to diesel vehicles.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The automotive future according to a new electric car maker looks an awful lot like a Corvette crossed with the Batmobile.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks managed some small gains Tuesday, but not enough to make up for big losses from the day before.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leading business groups, often at odds with President Barack Obama, are looking to give momentum to one of his top priorities before he leaves office: approval of a trade pact linking 12 nations along the Pacific Rim that make up 40 percent of the world economy.
DALLAS (AP) — Even the escalating tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two big oil-producing countries, can't halt the slide in energy prices.
SEATTLE (AP) — Items ordered from Amazon on Cyber Monday rose more than 40 percent this year, exceeding 23 million for the first time.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tears streaking his cheeks, President Barack Obama launched a final-year push Tuesday to tighten sales of firearms in the U.S., using his presidential powers in the absence of tougher gun restrictions that Congress has refused to pass.
MONDAY, JANUARY 4
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are looking for a new general manager and coach with no timeline to fill either job.
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee associate director of sports medicine Jenny Moshak and two ex-Lady Volunteers strength coaches have settled a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit they filed against the university in the fall of 2012.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Higher Education Commission is asking lawmakers to expand a $10 million grant program that paired employers with colleges to develop academic programs tailored to the needs of local job markets.
SPRING HILL (AP) — Farmers interesting in selling products at farmers markets will have a chance to learn more about marketing at workshops in Tennessee this winter.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending fell for the first time in 17 months, reflecting weakness in spending on hotel and other private nonresidential construction and government projects.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department sued Volkswagen on Monday over emissions-cheating software found in nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States, potentially exposing the company to billions in fines for clean air violations.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. and ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. are forming an unprecedented partnership that could help them beat their rivals to the self-driving future.
MILAN (AP) — Sports carmaker Ferrari is following up its successful Wall Street listing with a stock market launch in Milan, as it begins a new era as a stand-alone company free of the mass-market associations of its former parent, Fiat Chrysler.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it's coverage for end-of-life counseling or an experimental payment scheme for common surgeries, Medicare in 2016 is undergoing some of the biggest changes in its 50 years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Approvals for first-of-a-kind drugs climbed last year, pushing the annual tally of new U.S. drugs to its highest level in 19 years.
TECHNOLOGY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Look around. How many computing devices do you see? Your phone, probably; maybe a tablet or a laptop. Your car, the TV set, the microwave, bedside alarm clock, possibly the thermostat, and others you've never noticed.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The new year got off to an inauspicious start on Wall Street as stocks tumbled Monday in a global sell-off triggered by new fears of a slowdown in China and rising tensions in the Middle East.
BEIJING (AP) — After the Chinese stock market started 2016 with a plunge that unnerved investors globally, here are some questions and answers about the turmoil.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturers contracted in December at the fastest pace in more than six years as factories cut jobs and new orders shrank.
BERLIN (AP) — Last year saw the lowest financial costs from natural disasters worldwide since 2009 as the El Nino weather phenomenon reduced hurricane activity in the North Atlantic, a leading insurer said Monday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation repealing President Barack Obama's health care law comes to the forefront when the House reconvenes this week, marking a sharply partisan start to a congressional year in which legislating may take a back seat to politics.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. drivers saved a bunch of money on gasoline this past year, as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members kept the pumps going in the face of low oil prices. Massive stockpiles of crude globally turned 2015 into the year of the pain-free fill up. More of the same is expected for 2016 as oil prices remain low. Here's a quick breakdown of the numbers, courtesy of the AAA.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing out 2015 on a downbeat note. Major U.S. indexes declined on Thursday, the last day of the year, putting a main market benchmark slightly in the red for 2015.
The U.S. stock market took investors for a wild ride in 2015, but in the end it was a trip to nowhere.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a flat year overall for stocks, there was still plenty of excitement to be enjoyed — or endured — by 2015's biggest winners and losers.
NEW YORK (AP) — While the Standard & Poor's index is finishing 2015 around where it started, the index has been sharply divided between winners and losers. Four of the index's 10 sectors rose, while energy and five others lost ground.
NEW YORK (AP) — The volatile trading that defined 2015 led to a very choppy market for companies wanting to go public.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target's efforts to draw shoppers back into its stores are paying off.
NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, children visiting New York City savored one stop above all: a trip to the kind of toy store that existed only in their imagination. Now they'll have to keep dreaming.