VOL. 35 | NO. 41 | Friday, October 14, 2011
Talk to anyone at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and they’ll tell you education is their No.1 priority. They then back that up by touting volunteer programs, internships and more.
REAL ESTATE
Home sales in the Nashville region increased dramatically over the summer, bringing hope that consumers are gaining confidence in the economy and that the housing market may be recovering from the recession.
REALTY CHECK
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors released its September sales numbers along with the results of the third quarter. For the month, unit sales are up 16.9% with1832 closings this year versus 1,567 closings reported for the same period last year.
TERRY McCORMICK
As the Tennessee Titans go their separate ways for the bye week, let’s examine what we’ve learned about them thus far in this 2011 season.
NEWSMAKERS
Corizon, the nation’s leader in correctional health care solutions, has announced the hiring of Dennis Wade as Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). He joins Brentwood-based Corizon after serving as vice president and CHRO with Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, Fla. In this role he had corporate-wide accountability for all human resources functions and activities including strategic planning, talent and performance management, recruitment, executive and incentive compensation, employee labor relations, information systems, benefits, organizational development and training.
GUERILLA MARKETING
Today’s business climate is tough on those in the sales profession. Good prospects are few and far between, and putting your best foot forward in each sales pitch is crucial to your survival. This reality inspired me to share the most common missteps I see salespeople making so you can be sure to avoid them.
GET A JOB!
A major fundamental component of a successful career is knowing how to work well with a team. Often during job interviews a hiring manager may ask you about your experience working with others on a project and may even ask you to provide a detailed example.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee is getting more than $16 million to support highway safety.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A report by the state's comptroller says former Tennessee Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr approved millions of dollars in tax reductions for businesses without proper documentation or justification.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The first widespread freeze of autumn is expected in low-lying areas of Middle Tennessee
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's Jack Daniel distillery, celebrated for years in folksy advertising, is being targeted to pay more taxes - with a tab of up to $5 million.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was nearly unchanged this week after rising sharply last week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes fell in September. Home sales are on pace to match last year's dismal figures — the worst in 13 years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gauge of future economic activity edged up in September, signaling modest economic growth in coming months.
LONDON (AP) — Seesawing expectations of this weekend's summit of European leaders remained the main driver in markets on Thursday, with investors growing skeptical again about governments' ability to agree on a strategy to deal with the debt crisis.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T Inc. on Thursday reported a decline in the number of iPhones activated in its latest quarter, as buyers waited for the new model.
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines reported a third-quarter of $140 million because its fuel-hedging bets turned sour when the price of oil dropped over the summer.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest auto dealership chain, said Thursday that its third-quarter profit rose 24 percent on higher new and used vehicle prices.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans have yet to find a Republican they'd clearly prefer over President Barack Obama, although half say the president does not deserve re-election.
SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi, who ruled Libya with a dictatorial grip for 42 years until he was ousted by rebels in a bloody civil war, was killed Thursday when revolutionary forces overwhelmed his hometown, Sirte, the last major bastion of resistance two months after the regime fell.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Six schools in Tennessee have been chosen as 2011 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two Democratic leaders say they've filed legislation to repeal a new law requiring photo identification to vote in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State and federal officials have inspected trucks and buses across the state, looking for security threats.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam and others will begin a statewide methamphetamine awareness campaign Wednesday.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Attorneys for property owners seeking damages from the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal ash spill have agreed to call off a second trial on TVA's liability that was set Nov. 1.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Citigroup has agreed to pay $285 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled buyers of complex mortgage investments just the housing market was starting to collapse.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homes were built in September at the fastest pace in 17 months, a hopeful sign for the economy.
DETROIT (AP) — Union workers at Ford Motor Co. overcame early opposition to a new four-year contract with the company and overwhelmingly approved the deal in voting that lasted two weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame.
NEW YORK (AP) — Morgan Stanley says it earned $2.2 billion in the third quarter, largely on accounting gains and increased investment banking revenue.
NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (AP) — Drug and medical device maker Abbott Laboratories says it will spin off its branded drug business and become two separate medical companies.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices hovered above $88 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting demand could be improving.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — After years on the political back burner, education is making a comeback in Washington, driven in large part by Democrats.
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama is employing the services of the first lady on the final leg of his three-day bus tour as they tout proposals in the president's jobs bill that the White House says would put more of the nation's unemployed veterans back to work.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates tore into each other as never before in their latest debate, mindful that voting starts within 11 weeks and many GOP voters remain up for grabs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan ignited plenty of sparks in the Republican presidential debate Tuesday night, as did testy exchanges between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. In those instances and more, the facts took a bit of a beating.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan would raise taxes on 84 percent of U.S. households, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday, contradicting claims by the Republican presidential candidate that most Americans would see a tax cut.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A group of 45 Belmont University faculty members has published a letter in the student newspaper opposing the torture of detainees, shortly after former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was hired as a distinguished chair and professor in the College of Law.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt University in Nashville is joining an effort to build an integrated solar-assisted electric vehicle charging station on campus.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Lawmakers' out-of-session expenses increased 8 percent in the third quarter despite the elimination of legislative oversight committees, an Associated Press review has found.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Sen. Andrew Rice, the Democratic leader of the state Senate and a one-time candidate for U.S. Senate, announced Tuesday that he plans to resign from office and move to Tennessee.
FRANKLIN (AP) — State Rep. Curry Todd, a lead proponent of a new state law allowing permit holders to carry handguns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, resigned a key House committee chairmanship Monday days after his arrest on drunken driving and gun charges.
OAK RIDGE (AP) — Some 325 Oak Ridge workers involved in the joint USEC Inc./Babcock & Wilcox American Centrifuge Project have been notified they may be laid off by December.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks jumped in late afternoon trading on reports that France and Germany have agreed to boost a rescue fund as part of an effort to stem the European debt crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. homebuilders are less pessimistic about the struggling housing market, but not enough to signal a recovery any time soon.
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is reporting a loss of $428 million in the third quarter as its revenue from underwriting stocks and bonds plunged.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America says it earned $6.2 billion in the third quarter, largely from accounting gains and the sale of a stake in a Chinese bank.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s third-quarter net income edged slightly lower because medical costs rose, but the health insurer's revenue and enrollment grew and it increased its 2011 earnings forecast.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices climbed Tuesday on expectations of a slower, but still growing, global economy.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson's third-quarter profit more than doubled, led by higher sales of motorcycles in the U.S.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. will make sure that Iranian officials are held accountable for "reckless behavior" in what he said was their direct role in an alleged assassination plot against the Saudi Arabian ambassador in the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients will get a raise in January — their first increase in benefits since 2009. Experts project the increase will be about 3.5 percent, and on Wednesday, about 55 million beneficiaries will find out for sure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Republicans are holding their state's presidential nominating caucuses on Jan. 3, even though New Hampshire is threatening to move its traditional first-in-the-nation primary into December.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to toughen federal safety regulation of oil and gas pipelines passed the Senate late Monday only a few hours after a Republican senator opposed to government regulation dropped his opposition to the measure.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's Tennessee leadership team includes music industry executive Mike Curb, state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and fundraiser Stephen B. Smith.
FRANKLIN (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday that Rep. Curry Todd has acknowledged and apologized for a "bad mistake" in being arrested on drunken driving and gun charges last week.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials have revoked the medical license of a Goodlettsville physician.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Some state lawmakers say they will continue to pursue less regulation on guns despite a colleague's arrest last week on alcohol and gun charges.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state will be taking applications for a third round of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block grants to communities across the state to improve efficiency.
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — SentryNet Inc., a business founded in Greenville in 1987, will move its operations to Memphis by December 2012.
NASHVILLE AREA
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Factory output rose for a third straight month in September, a sign the U.S. economy is growing slowly. Manufacturers made more airplanes, trucks and home electronics to meet rising demand.
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup's earnings rose 74 percent in the third quarter, to $3.8 billion, on an accounting gain and lower losses from loans.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wells Fargo & Co. on Monday said that its third-quarter profit jumped 21 percent, as write offs of bad loans dropped while deposits grew.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. says it will close 20 underperforming stores in 15 states and cut 1,950 jobs in a move that it says will allow it to focus on more profitable locations.
NEW YORK (AP) — Halliburton reported a 26 percent jump in the third-quarter net income Monday as drilling projects in North American continue to boost revenue.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices rose above $88 a barrel Monday in Asia, extending a two-week rally as improved U.S. retail sales added to hopes that the world's biggest economy will avoid a recession this year.
DETROIT (AP) — Workers at some of Ford Motor Co.'s largest local unions have approved a new labor contract with the company, making it likely that the four-year deal will be approved when voting finishes on Tuesday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will urge Congress to get to work this week on passing pieces of his larger, now-defunct jobs bill during a three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, two southern states that could be critical to his re-election campaign.
ATLANTA (AP) — Jason Woody immediately recognized a shared struggle with many of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators: The 2007 college graduate has been out of work for two years, and it's been longer since he's seen a doctor. He also noticed something else — the lack of brown faces on the front lines of the Occupy movement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's open season on China in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, and Mitt Romney is leading the charge. Newt Gingrich and some other candidates are on his heels, painting China as the bogeyman responsible for America's economic ills.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The youthful son of a well-known Tennessee politician declares for public office and runs headlong into criticism about his inexperience and effort to ride the coattails of his famous father.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Curry Todd's arrest on drunken driving and gun charges led to repercussions Thursday with the Collierville lawmaker resigning his chairmanship of a House firearms task force and the Senate's top Republican saying there should be no leniency for him in court.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A state representative from Nashville hopes to overturn a state statute that nullified the city's ordinance extending a ban on gay discrimination to contractors who did city work.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state of Tennessee sold $546 million worth of bonds this week, making it the largest sale in the state's history.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed an executive order easing restrictions on hay haulers to help farmers without access to hay for livestock.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State officials say 30 county clerks across Tennessee have agreed to issue photo driver's licenses at no charge to registered voters who do not have them.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Hospital operator Vanguard Health Systems Inc. said Thursday former Tennessee Gov. Philip N. Bredesen has joined its board of directors.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Stocks pushed higher Friday as better than expected U.S. retail sales data and positive corporate news overshadowed fears from Europe's debt crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers stepped up their spending on retail goods in September, a hopeful sign for the sluggish economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added to their stockpiles for a 20th consecutive month in August while sales rose for a third straight month. The increase suggests businesses were confident enough in the economy to keep stocking their shelves.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gap Inc. plans to close stores in the U.S., while expanding in China.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mounting worries about another global recession haven't shaken Google.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Toy maker Mattel Inc. said Friday that strong sales worldwide of its iconic Barbie brand and "Cars 2" toys helped third-quarter net income rise nearly 6 percent.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former billionaire described by the government as "the modern face of illegal insider trading" was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison, the longest insider trading sentence ever but far short of the two decades sought by prosecutors.
NEW YORK (AP) — BlackBerry services buzzed back to life across the world Thursday, after a three-day outage that interrupted email messages and Internet services for millions of customers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are climbing to near $87 per barrel on encouraging economic news in the U.S. and China.
NEW YORK (AP) — If JPMorgan Chase can't do well, investors worry that other banks may do even worse.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The most prominent Republican in the Obama administration is accusing GOP House members of blocking efforts to resolve the nation's problems, partly because they don't want the president to be successful.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If polls show one thing with certainty, it's that Republicans aren't sold on Mitt Romney and they've been looking for other presidential candidates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama talked about jobs legislation in a 10-minute phone call Thursday, the Ohio Republican's office said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Bank of America and other major banks improperly worked together to charge customers new monthly fees for using their debit cards.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense leaders and members of Congress drew a line in the sand Thursday, saying the Pentagon must be spared from any budget cuts beyond an initial plan to slash at least $450 billion over the next 10 years.