VOL. 38 | NO. 5 | Friday, January 31, 2014
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam says he understands critics of his decision so far not to accept a federally funded expansion of Medicaid in Tennessee. But Haslam said the terms of the increased funding wouldn’t provide better outcomes for users or providers.
REALTY CHECK
Today is a day of helpful hints. In order to properly advise, it is important to establish your real estate IQ. Please answer the following questions:
REAL ESTATE
Top December 2013 commercial real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
TERRY McCORMICK
Cuonzo Martin can’t win. OK, he can win, but even when he does win, it seemingly isn’t enough.
NEWSMAKERS
Louis F. Caputo, chief executive officer (CEO) of Summerville Medical Center in Summerville, S.C., has been named chief executive officer of HCA’s TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center in Murfreesboro.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
The rumblings you hear from around the office are disturbing.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
With one of the most-watched television broadcasts in history just days away, buzz is building over which big brands will take home Best in Show in this year’s Super Bowl advertising competition.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks had a blowout victory Sunday night, but there was no big winner in the Super Bowl ad contest.
NEW YORK (AP) — What Super Bowl ads will people discuss over the water cooler a day after the big game?
NEW YORK (AP) — Actress Scarlett Johansson gives SodaStream some sex appeal in a controversial spot, Kia revives actor Laurence Fishburne's "Matrix" character Morpheus in its commercial. And cute puppies and kids abound in ads for Cheerios to Anheuser-Busch.
I SWEAR
I had a fender bender late last year. So, I sentenced myself to attend one of the six-hour defensive driving classes that I make teenagers go to as part of first-offender probation. I’m a traffic judge, you know.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
“Salty Dog.” “Salt Pork.” “Take it with a grain of salt.” “Salt of the earth.” “Have something hung up and salted.” “Salt and Peppa...” (OK, ignore the last one.)
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal to offer a relocation package to Sears that would have included moving its headquarters from Illinois into the Tennessee Tower state office building was meant as a temporary measure until permanent space could be found, the state's economic development chief said.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Human Services is seeking sponsors for its Summer Food Service Program.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Senate version of a bill to create a school voucher program in Tennessee has been delayed to allow sponsors of the measure and a competing version to try to work out differences.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors' fourth-quarter net profit rose 2 percent from a year ago, but the company fell short of Wall Street expectations as it spent heavily to restructure outside the U.S.
HEALTH CARE
Aetna Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled, thanks in part to a $6.9 billion acquisition, but the nation's third largest health insurer missed Wall Street's earnings expectations.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
Encouraging news about the job market and strong earnings from Disney helped drive U.S. stocks sharply higher in afternoon trading Thursday. The market was rebounding a day after posting small losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity slowed in the fourth quarter while labor costs kept falling. For the year, productivity turned in another weak gain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits declined 20,000 last week to 331,000, suggesting that Americans are facing fewer layoffs and better job prospects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit increased in December after hitting a four-year low in November. But for the year, the deficit fell to its lowest point since 2009 as exports rose to an all-time high.
NEW YORK (AP) — The prices of oil rose Thursday as a positive report on the U.S. labor market and more cold temperatures boosted expectations of higher demand for heating oil.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates for fixed mortgages fell this week as the latest data continued to indicate a pause in the housing market's recovery.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — G.I. Joe is turning 50. The birthday of what's called the world's first action figure is being celebrated this month by collectors and the toy maker that introduced it just before the nation plunged into the quagmire that would become the Vietnam War — a storm it seems to have weathered pretty well.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday it will be difficult to pass immigration legislation this year, dimming prospects for one of President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner promised Thursday that the GOP-controlled House won't miss a late-February deadline to increase the government's borrowing cap.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A measure that would let voters decide whether their cities or counties allow wine to be sold in supermarkets and convenience stores is advancing in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Senate on Wednesday defeated an effort to change the Tennessee constitution to require the popular election of the attorney general.
HEALTH CARE
EDITOR'S NOTE _ An occasional look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don't tell the full story
WASHINGTON (AP) — Uninsured Americans are still procrastinating about President Barack Obama's health care law. With fewer than 60 days left to enroll, can the administration find the millions of customers needed to sustain new insurance markets?
AUTO INDUSTRY
LONDON (AP) — British luxury carmaker Aston Martin says it is recalling 17,590 sports cars because of a problem with the accelerator pedal molding.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
The U.S. stock market is closing slightly lower after a survey on hiring did little to ease uncertainty about the health of the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations in its first quarter as a public company. But investors were looking for even more and the company's stock dipped as much as 12 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil rose slightly Wednesday as a report showed U.S. supplies rose less than expected last week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service companies expanded at a slightly faster pace in January. New orders, sales and hiring showed strength in a sign that financial firms, retailers and information technology companies foresee stronger growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows that businesses added jobs at a modest pace in January, a sign that hiring may have rebounded after a disappointing figure in December.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor regulators are trying once again to streamline the process in which workers decide whether to join labor unions, a move sure to reignite the bitter debate between union advocates and employers that seek to discourage workers from unionizing.
CVS, the nation's second-largest drugstore chain, is kicking the habit of selling tobacco products as it continues to shift its focus toward being more of a health care provider.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is praising CVS Caremark for its decision to stop selling tobacco products at its drugstores.
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — U.S. Olympic Committee sponsor AT&T has condemned a Russian law restricting gay-rights activity as Sochi prepares to host the Winter Olympics.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After compiling a list of more than 100 CEO candidates, Microsoft settled on Satya Nadella a home-grown leader who joined the software maker in the early 1990s. That's back when Google's founders were teenagers and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in elementary school.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Republicans on Wednesday ruled out any immigration legislation in the House this year, insisting that the GOP should wait until next year when the party might also control the Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama solicits advice Wednesday from his party's senators, the voices of some Democrats may come through louder than others.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A popular Tennessee governor running for re-election wants to create a free community college program. Sound familiar?
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has made it tough for graduating high school seniors in Tennessee to find an excuse not to further their education.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Here's 10 items you should know about Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's $32.6 billion spending proposal for the budget year beginning in July:
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) - Hospital operator HCA Holdings said Tuesday its net income grew 35 percent in the fourth quarter, and said the health care overhaul should add to its results in 2014.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Parents who are worried about their kids when they get behind the wheel of a car can now apply for a free teen driving awareness class taught by Nashville police officers.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A small plane crashed near a YMCA in suburban Nashville on Monday night, killing everyone on board and damaging cars in the Y's parking lot, authorities said.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Workers at Volkswagen's only U.S. factory will decide next week whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. regulators have closed an investigation into steering failures on some Ford Super Duty trucks, saying they didn't find a safety defect.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. reported a more than fivefold jump in its quarterly profit Tuesday and raised its earnings forecast, crediting a weak yen and strong sales.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
The U.S. stock market is ending higher a day after suffering its biggest loss in more than seven months.
The price of oil rose nearly 1 percent Tuesday on hopes that demand for U.S. crude would remain on track even as some emerging-market economies falter.
MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — Gannett Co. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income dropped 12 percent, partially a result of the absence of the record-high political advertising that boosted its results a year earlier.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A new report shows Silicon Valley is booming with higher jobs and income. But soaring housing costs are driving a larger wedge between the region's rich and poor.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A flurry of new reports from major technology companies show that the government collects customer information on tens of thousands of Americans every six months as part of secret national security investigations. And the companies' top lawyers struck a combative stance, saying the Obama administrative needs to provide more transparency about its data collection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report released Tuesday says the government's budget deficit is set to fall to $514 billion for the current year, down substantially from last year and the lowest by far since President Barack Obama took office five years ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturers saw orders for their products decline in December by the largest amount in five months although the setback for a key category that tracks business investment was not as large as first reported.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft has named Satya Nadella, an executive in charge of the company's small, but growing business of delivering software and services over the Internet, as its new CEO. Company founder Bill Gates is leaving the chairman role for a new role as technology adviser.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An unusual coalition of lawmakers from both parties, labor and business leaders, veterans groups and Canada's ambassador to the United States have joined forces to push for quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Congressional investigators have found problems with federal coal sales that a leading lawmaker says might have cost taxpayers $200 million or more in lost revenue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has given its final approval to a sweeping five-year farm bill that provides food for the needy and subsidies for farmers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Claiming progress in his campaign to get American schools wired for the future, President Barack Obama is announcing commitments from U.S. companies totaling about $750 million to connect more students to high-speed Internet.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday that he's making it a priority to fund key education initiatives and care for the state's most vulnerable citizens despite a tight budget year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Frigid temperatures and snowy weather generally kept buyers away from auto showrooms last month, with Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen all reporting declines from a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are planning to announce Monday whether automakers should be required to equip new cars and light trucks with technology that enables vehicles to communicate with each other to prevent collisions. Such vehicle-to-vehicle communication could transform traffic safety.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
For investors, February is starting out just as rough as January.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil dropped Monday after reports of weaker manufacturing activity in the U.S. and China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending rose modestly in December, slowing from healthy gains a month earlier.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing barely expanded last month as cold weather delayed shipments of raw materials and caused some factories to shut down.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen has been sworn in to succeed Ben Bernanke, becoming the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve in its 100-year history.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Bernanke, who stepped down last week after eight momentous years as chairman of the Federal Reserve, is joining the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
Jos. A. Bank raised doubts Sunday about whether the federal government will approve the takeover bid by rival clothier Men's Wearhouse.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cuts to food stamps, continued subsidies to farmers and victories for animal rights advocates. The massive, five-year farm bill heading toward final passage this week has broad implications for just about every American, from the foods we eat to what we pay for them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group supporting President Barack Obama's agenda is airing a new television ad bolstering his call for an increase in the federal minimum wage.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says he will start using emergency measures after Feb. 7 to avoid a first-ever default on the national debt. He says he expects to exhaust those measures quickly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are starting to lay the blame on President Barack Obama if an overhaul of the nation's broken immigration system fails to become law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Days after House Republicans unveiled a roadmap for an overhaul of the nation's broken immigration system, one of its backers said legislation is unlikely to pass during this election year.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander's campaign says it raised nearly $770,000 in the fourth quarter and that it ended the year with $3.2 million on hand.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Voters would decide whether their cities or counties allow wine to be sold in supermarkets and convenience stores, under a bill passed by the state Senate on Thursday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nissan Americas executive Randy Knight was among community and civic leaders given the opportunity to meet President Barack Obama before his speech to a Nashville high school on Thursday.
TOKYO (AP) — Honda's quarterly profit doubled from a year earlier as sales got a big perk from a weak yen.
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota has told North American dealers to stop selling six popular models with heated seats because the fabric doesn't meet flammability standards.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock investors were hit from all sides in January.
NEW YORK (AP) — If it's any consolation, the wicked weather of January helped lower the price of gasoline.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared a major hurdle Friday as the State Department raised no major environmental objections to the controversial pipeline from Canada through the heart of the U.S. Republicans and some oil- and gas-producing states cheered, but the report further rankled environmentalists already at odds with President Barack Obama.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans increased their spending at a solid pace for the second straight month in December even though their income was flat.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Confronting an economic recovery slowed by persistent joblessness, President Barack Obama on Friday won commitments from nearly 300 companies to reach out to the nearly 4 million Americans who have been jobless for half a year or more.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers will spend more. Government will cut less. Businesses will invest more. And more companies will hire.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's fourth-quarter earnings rose 17 percent even though a long-running slump in its online ad prices deepened.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is finally ready to split its stock for the first time, more than three years after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin began discussing a move engineered to ensure they remain in control of the Internet's most powerful company.
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon's profit and revenue both grew in the latest quarter but its results fell below what Wall Street was expecting and shares of the world's biggest online retailer tumbled.
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Stressing the importance of having job-training programs that work, President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered a "soup to nuts" review of federal workforce training initiatives and pledged to copy the most successful ones.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Ben Bernanke puts on his coat and leaves his office Friday, he will close the door on a precedent-breaking eight years as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors wants a judge to order Bank of America to pay $2.1 billion in penalties for knowingly selling bad home loans, more than double the amount the government had sought in the case.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes in December, suggesting a slowdown in real estate. Pending home sales fell to the lowest point since October 2011.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates for fixed mortgages slipped this week as new data showed a decline in home prices in November and a drop in new homes sales last month.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's new declaration that he's open to legalizing many immigrants short of citizenship sounds a lot like House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders, an election-year compromise that numerous Republicans as well as Democrats crave.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Henry Waxman, one of Congress' fiercest negotiators and a policy expert on everything from clean air to health care, will retire at the end of the year after four decades in the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill to delay premium hikes for years on hundreds of thousands of homeowners who buy flood insurance from the federal government.