VOL. 38 | NO. 43 | Friday, October 24, 2014
REALTY CHECK
With Halloween on the horizon the fall housing market should be grinding to a halt although this year’s sales have defied all logic and historical data.
REAL ESTATE
Top September 2014 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
TENNESSEE TITANS
If. That’s a small word, but it seems like it has been a catch phrase around the Tennessee Titans for years.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A lawyer for Tennessee Titans rookie Taylor Lewan says he expects to reach a deal with prosecutors that would allow his client to avoid trial in a Michigan assault case.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans will start rookie Zach Mettenberger at quarterback against the Houston Texans on Sunday, switching away from Jake Locker who has missed three of the past four games with injuries.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE – Public Enemy No. 1 returns to Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
NEWSMAKERS
Dr. Coreen Jackson, the director of the Tennessee State University Honors Program, has been appointed President of the National Association of African American Honors Programs.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The non-hybrid new car with the best gasoline mileage rating in the United States is not a Honda or Toyota. It’s a Mitsubishi that’s priced less than the average cost of a used car or truck.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
If you are an owner or manager, odds are you are in sales to some degree – whether intentionally or not.
CAREER CORNER
In the past week, Satya Nadella’s words have been all over the internet, television and newspaper. You may have seen the Microsoft CEO’s original statements, his later retractions or commentary from outsiders.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Your email is down. Again.
I SWEAR
What do a dead horse and a hasty retreat have in common? Same thing that around the bush has in common with a path to your door. They all become in-the-language phrases when the word beat is place in front of them.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Stop and think about October for a few moments, closing your eyes while doing so. Don’t be long because I want you to read the rest of my story.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Early voting for the Nov. 4 election comes to a close Thursday amid light turnout for races including the U.S. Senate, governor and four proposed constitutional amendments.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The uncertainty of federal funding has led Tennessee's highway director to delay road projects worth $400 million.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker Volkswagen AG says that net profit jumped 56 percent in the third quarter as the company sees continuing sales growth in China and Europe.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates arrested their five-week decline this week but the benchmark 30-year loan remained below 4 percent.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged higher Thursday as Visa, MasterCard and other big companies turned in stronger quarterly results. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed more than 100 points, thanks largely to Visa, the Dow's highest-priced stock.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For-profit colleges that don't produce graduates capable of paying off their student loans could soon face the wrath of the federal government.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering matching online prices from competitors like Amazon.com, raising the stakes for the holiday shopping season.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September quarter, propelled by solid gains in business investment, export sales and the biggest jump in military spending in five years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, but remained at historically low levels that signal a strengthening job market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Federal Reserve announced the end of its landmark bond buying program Wednesday, it also signaled the start of something else:
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook says he's proud to be gay. The public declaration, in an essay written for Bloomberg Businessweek, makes Cook the highest-profile business CEO to come out as gay.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - A task force formed by Gov. Bill Haslam met Wednesday to examine Tennessee's sentencing structure and look at ways to reduce the state's high recidivism rate.
HEALTH CARE
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — What a difference a year makes. The nation's biggest health insurers entered last fall cautious about a major coverage expansion initiated by the health care overhaul, the federal law that aims to cover millions of uninsured people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices have their first chance this week to decide whether they have the appetite for another major fight over President Barack Obama's health care law.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Vanderbilt University has received a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand collaborations in research, teaching and public engagement in Tennessee and around the world.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says a $175 million bus rapid transit project that has attracted vocal opposition will not get underway before he leaves office next year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MILAN (AP) — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Wednesday it will spin off sports car maker Ferrari into a separate company, a move to unlock the luxury brand's value and distinguish it from its mass-market parent.
DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler is recalling more than 566,000 SUVs and trucks because malfunctioning fuel heaters can cause fires, or a software glitch can disable the electronic stability control.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are closing slightly lower after the Federal Reserve said it was shutting down a bond-buying program because the economy no longer needs as much help.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve plans to keep a key interest rate at a record low to support a U.S. job market that's improving but still isn't fully healthy and to help boost unusually low inflation. As expected, it's also ending a bond purchase program that was intended to keep long-term rates low.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Is the U.S. economy accelerating — finally? If it is, which sorts of Americans stand to benefit most? And why is it doing better than other major economies?
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA) on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $518 million.
NASHVILLE (AP) - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday lauded Tennessee's educators for their extra effort in trying to help students be successful - but teachers were told that pay raises will have to wait at least until next year.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - As if Tennessee's lengthy process for amending the state constitution weren't complicated enough, independent gubernatorial candidate John Jay Hooker is now raising concerns that the method for counting the votes does not pass constitutional muster.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee archivists are looking for Civil War memorabilia.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is moving production of the Chevrolet Volt's electric drive unit from Mexico to a Detroit-area factory as it updates the slow-selling car to increase its electric range and make it perform better.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The European Union's environment agency says the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions dropped by nearly 2 percent last year, putting the EU very close to reaching its emissions target for 2020.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Plan on paying in stores with your shiny new iPhone 6? Not so fast.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook grew its advertising revenue by 64 percent in the third quarter, helped by a boost in mobile ads that are becoming an increasingly large chunk of the social networking giant's overall advertising business.
NEW YORK (AP) — The robots are coming.
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple's new mobile payment system had over 1 million activations in the first three days after it became available, and is now more widely used than any competing payment system.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices grew more slowly in August amid modest sales, a trend that could help make homes more affordable in the months ahead.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Soaring inflation. A collapsing dollar. Bubbles in financial markets that would soon pop. One presidential candidate even suggested that the Federal Reserve chairman should be roughed up.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence rebounded strongly in October, hitting a seven-year high as solid job gains raised expectations for economic growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. companies for long-lasting manufactured goods fell for a second month in September, while a key category that signals business investment plans dropped by the biggest amount in eight months. The declines, however, were likely a temporary soft patch that will likely be followed by a resumption of stronger growth.
NEW YORK (AP) — Strong corporate earnings pushed up stocks across industries on Tuesday, with the energy sector and small companies leading the gains.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Lloyds Banking Group said Tuesday it will eliminate 9,000 jobs over the next three years and shut some 200 branches in a bid to improve efficiency.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ronnie Milsap, the blind country-soul singer and pianist, joined bluegrass vocalist Mac Wiseman and the late songwriter Hank Cochran as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage has acquired a collection of family letters.
EDUCATION
MEMPHIS (AP) — The University of Memphis is considering paying a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour and stepping into a national debate over how much workers should make for their efforts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For many high school seniors, fall means deciding where to apply for college and maybe visiting a guidance counselor. Data crunchers hope to help.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes ticked up only slightly in September, as it remained difficult to qualify for mortgage financing.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota continues its winning streak atop Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota kept its lead over rivals Volkswagen and General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker in the first nine months of the year, Monday reporting record sales of 7.615 million vehicles, up nearly 3 percent from the previous year.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The global economy has slumped. Turmoil has gripped financial markets. And the U.S. job market, despite steady gains, still isn't fully healthy.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ending mixed as the price of oil slips and more disappointing news on the global economy emerges.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil dipped below $80 a barrel Monday, after a major investment bank lowered its forecast for crude prices this year and next.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A top U.N. climate change expert urged world governments Monday not to be overcome by hopelessness as they negotiate a new agreement to fight global warming.
BERLIN (AP) — Workers at Amazon.com in Germany are on strike again as a union pushes its demands in a long-running wage dispute with the American online retailer.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday expanded his push for increased manufacturing in the United States by directing federal money toward new technologies, apprenticeship programs and competitions designed to assist small manufacturers.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market closed out its best week in nearly two years on a positive note Friday, helped by strong quarterly earnings from Microsoft and other big U.S. companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes a little fear is healthy for stock investors.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon's trademark smile icon is becoming more of a grimace.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine says he is endorsing Republican incumbent Lamar Alexander in Tennessee's Senate race, but is still awaiting the results of elections nationwide before deciding which party to caucus with.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of new homes were nearly flat in September, after the government sharply revised downward what was initially an August surge in buying.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville shoppers braving the crowds on Black Friday will be able to save some money by leaving their cars at home.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville won't put the brakes on pedicabs, but could regulate the growing business more closely in the future.
REGION
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division is set to officially take command of an operation to build Ebola care centers in Africa.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery has selected Andree Sophia Blumstein to be his solicitor general.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — An East Tennessee judge has said he is ready to stop developers in the newly minted town of Rocky Top, Tennessee, from using the Rocky Top name on merchandise — at least temporarily.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A combination of strong company earnings and encouraging economic reports, both in the U.S. and Europe, gave the stock market another day of solid gains on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week after falling to a 14-year low the previous week. Despite the increase, weekly applications remain at historically low levels that suggest hiring is gaining steam.
DETROIT (AP) — Big profits from rising SUV and truck sales in North America helped General Motors nearly double its third-quarter net profit and more than offset its struggles in Europe and South America.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With mortgage rates sliding for a fifth straight week, the possibility of locking in a rate below 4 percent is tempting for consumers and could unleash a wave of refinancing. It may even convince some Americans to buy their first home.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — It might be a blue Christmas for Amazon.
STATEWIDE
PULASKI, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam insists that his decision this week to hold a public review of Common Core doesn't signal a retreat from the education standards in view of heavy criticism from teachers and tea party groups.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Supporters and opponents of a proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution to give lawmakers more power to regulate abortion are flooding the television airwaves to try to influence voters ahead next month's election.
First Tennessee bank parent acquires company
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville judge has been publicly reprimanded for helping a domestic violence suspect get out of jail early at the behest of a friend who was also the suspect's attorney.