VOL. 39 | NO. 46 | Friday, November 13, 2015
STREET LEVEL
A cheery void of sirens screaming on the North Nashville horizon, pretty college girls, talking about Jimmy Hendrix (before he became Jimi) and “Jefferson Street Joe,” the sun busting the gray wall of gloom … there’s no reason not to enjoy an hour or two inside this former “shooting gallery,” the pioneer outpost Nathaniel “Nate” Harris’ sweat equity purchased from the squalor that had consumed his home neighborhood.
REALTY CHECK
Last week we had some fun recounting “Stuff that Realtors say,” and the real estate brokerage community enjoyed laughing at itself but has demanded equal time. So we move on to “Stuff that buyers say” and “Stuff that sellers say.”
REAL ESTATE
October 2015 real estate trends for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
TENNESSEE TITANS
It was only one game, one win, but it was clear in the aftermath Sunday just how much the Tennessee Titans needed the victory they got in overtime against the New Orleans Saints.
UT SPORTS
No way Tennessee’s football team can lose Saturday’s homecoming game against North Texas, one of the worst teams in college football.
NEWSMAKERS
Two health care veterans and international law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC are launching a new corporate health care venture to be based in Nashville, DW Franklin Consulting Group, LLC. The firms will work together to provide solutions spanning both legal and business consulting services.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Volvo’s 2016 V60 Cross Country is a sleekly styled, compact wagon with strong turbocharged power and an interior that embodies the understated modernism of Scandinavian design.
FAMILY TRAVEL
Americans might have more reasons to travel this holiday season as airfare trends continue to work in favor of the consumer.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
These days, most buyers engage in significant online research before they ever consider speaking with sales professionals.
CAREER CORNER
In today’s modern world of communication, it should be easier than ever to get in touch with colleagues.
I SWEAR
This just in from crossword land: I’ve deleted OLD BAG from my word list. Along with COOT, CODGER, and GEEZER. Still thinking about CURMUDGEON.
MIDSTATE
COLUMBIA (AP) — A Tennessee company plans to open a call center in Columbia, creating 137 new jobs with a $3.6 million investment.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The United Auto Workers union is back with a more concentrated approach after suffering a bitter loss in its efforts to gain collective-bargaining rights for all blue-collar workers at Volkswagen's plant in Tennessee.
HEALTH CARE
UnitedHealth chopped its 2015 earnings forecast and the nation's largest health insurer has begun to question its future in public insurance exchanges, a key component in the nation's health care overhaul.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged slightly lower this week after two straight weeks of sharp increases. Expectations persist that the Federal Reserve may soon raise its key short-term interest rate.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department reported Thursday that fewer Americans sought unemployment aid last week, fresh evidence that companies are confident enough in the economy to hold onto their workers.
U.S. stocks edged mostly lower in midday trading Thursday as traders weighed a mix of company earnings news. Health care stocks were among the biggest decliners after UnitedHealth Group cut its earnings forecast. Payments company Square soared in its market debut.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - With several GOP governors calling to stop Syrian refugees from entering their states in the wake of the Paris attacks, one Republican leader in Tennessee wants to take that matter further: He says the National Guard should round up the refugees and return them to federal immigration centers.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A letter to lawmakers from Gov. Bill Haslam says the state Health Department is now requiring physicians who perform abortions to document how the fetal tissue is disposed of.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A new report reveals the negative impact that the state's health care "gap" is having on local communities.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is making her first Tennessee campaign stops in Memphis and Nashville this week.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The next Tennessee Blue Book will be named after former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, who was known as the "The Great Conciliator" during his high profile Washington career that also included a stint as chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - On the same downtown block where Nashville police officers carried a young John Lewis by his hands and feet to a paddy wagon for daring to take a seat at a whites-only lunch counter decades ago, today's fresh-faced police recruits are learning lessons about the fraught history between law enforcement and black Americans.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee State Library and Archives is inviting families gathered for the Thanksgiving holiday to come learn more about their past.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted the United Auto Workers petition for a union vote for skilled trades workers at the German automaker's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Germany's largest trade union is opening a joint office with the United Auto Workers in Tennessee to promote labor issues at German automakers and suppliers in the southern United States.
DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) — Leaders of the United Auto Workers are making a push for the union's proposed contract with Ford, which is heading for defeat in votes at Ford's plants.
DETROIT (AP) — Cars and trucks from the 2008 model year or older that were originally sold or registered in high humidity areas along the U.S. Gulf Coast are getting top priority for repairs as the government commences the massive Takata air bag inflator recall.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Apartment construction plunged sharply in October, as the pace of homebuilding slipped amid a broader cooling of the real estate market.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials believed last month that the economic conditions needed to trigger the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade could "well be met" by their next meeting in December.
U.S. stocks notched their best day in nearly four weeks on Wednesday as investors welcomed new hints pointing to a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in coming weeks. Traders were also encouraged by more corporate deal news.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — In a high-stakes juncture for the global economy, the central banks of Europe and the United States are set to take opposing actions in December: the European Central Bank to cut rates, the Federal Reserve to raise them.
NATIONAL POLITICS
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific nations is drawing potential new members from Asia and criticism from those excluded, as it heads for a tough ride in the U.S. Congress.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Aggressive action to fight climate change will be a boon for businesses in Asia and beyond, President Barack Obama has asserted as he reaches for a global climate change agreement he hopes will burnish his environmental legacy.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kenny Rogers, who earlier this year announced his retirement from touring, will be honored as the CMT Artist of a Lifetime for his extensive music career spanning across multiple genres for decades.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam says he is asking the federal government to suspend placement of Syrian refugees in Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MILAN (AP) — European car buyers appear reluctant to punish Volkswagen for its emissions scandal, penalizing the German automaker's sales last month no more than some of its mass-market competitors.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple's year-old mobile-payments service is expanding to more countries, banks and merchants, as it faces growing competition and some challenges before it becomes as commonplace as plastic cards.
REAL ESTATE
U.S. homebuilders are feeling slightly less confident in their sales prospects heading into next year, even as their overall sales outlook remains favorable.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stock prices are ending little changed as investors sorted through some mixed results from big U.S. retailers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that legislation supported by House Republicans to make the Federal Reserve more transparent and accountable would be a "grave mistake" that could harm the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing output rose in October for the first time in three months as factories cranked out more steel, cars and computers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The costs of food, gasoline, shelter and medical care rose last month, yet inflation continues to run at low levels ahead of a December Federal Reserve meeting to consider raising short-term interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
NEW YORK (AP) — A stronger economy and lower gas prices mean Thanksgiving travelers can expect more congested highways this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Angie's List says that its board has rejected a $512 million takeover deal from Internet company IAC/InterActiveCorp.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported improved customer traffic and an uptick in a key sales figure during the third quarter, even as a stronger dollar pressured its performance overseas.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16
MUSIC INDUSTRY
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Pandora says it is acquiring technology, intellectual property and potentially employees from Rdio and will add new features to its Internet music streaming service by late next year.
NASHVILLE AREA
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Television company Media General, whoch owns Nashville's WKRN, has rejected a nearly $1.9 billion buyout offer from Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. but will engage in talks.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The ups and downs of John Jay Hooker are the stuff of Nashville legend.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Members of a panel appointed to offer a recommendation about a Middle Tennessee State University building named after Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest say they will have an open and public deliberation process.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee school board delegates have voted almost unanimously for a resolution urging the state to fund all recommendations made in years past - but recently dropped - by a state panel.
TECHNOLOGY
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — They've been popularized in movies, television and video games, but giant fighting robots still haven't left the realm of science fiction. That will soon change.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks mounted a broad rally on Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak as investors moved past concerns that the terrorist attacks in Paris could spell big trouble for the global economy.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania company that enrolls more than 100,000 students at for-profit trade schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada has agreed to pay $95.5 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters and exaggerated the career-placement abilities of its schools.
NEW YORK (AP) — The value of stocks, crude oil and the European currency will likely fall this week as investors worry about what the Paris terror attacks will do to consumer confidence and key parts of the global economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Hotel behemoth Marriott International is becoming even larger, taking over rival chain Starwood in a $12.2 billion deal that will catapult it to become the world's largest hotelier by a wide margin.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is racing toward a Friday deadline to renew the law that pays for national transportation programs, and lobbyists trying to shape the legislation are in a frenzy.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Experts are predicting a large budget surplus in Tennessee in the current year, and more revenue growth in the next.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Finance Commissioner Larry Martin says the state's overall revenue collections in October were $90.7 million more than expected.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Six of the nine Democratic superdelegates in Tennessee are publicly supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid.
HEALTH CARE
With $2 trillion in buyouts since January, 2015 has become the year of the megadeal, fueled by free money in a zero-interest rate environment.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen's flagship brand saw global auto sales fall 5.3 percent in October in the wake of a scandal over cars equipped with software that let them cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests.
CHICAGO (AP) — Ford Motor Co. would invest $900 million in its assembly plant on Chicago's South Side and create about 200 new jobs under a tentative labor agreement between the automaker and United Auto Workers.
DETROIT (AP) — Kia is recalling more than 256,000 Soul compact SUVs in the U.S. because the steering could fail.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market had its worst week since August as investors dumped retail stocks over worries that the holiday season will be a dud.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans ramped up their online shopping and restaurant spending in October, but barely-there inflation kept overall retail sales growth muted.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The prices charged by farmers, manufacturers and other producers fell in October for the second straight month, fresh evidence that there is little sign of inflation in the U.S. economy.
LONDON (AP) — It's no fun being in the middle. Heineken, Molson Coors and Carlsberg are storied brewers that trace their roots back hundreds of years and have loyal drinkers around the world.
China's economic troubles have dropped on the doorstep of a sun-weathered house at 18 Edgar St. in Port Hedland on Australia's northwest coast.