VOL. 39 | NO. 49 | Friday, December 4, 2015
REALTY CHECK
TRID has hit and hit hard. The Truth in Lending Act Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Integrated Disclosure situation that came into effect for loans originated after October 4, is upon us and it is half as horrific as many predicted.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Credit Mike Mularkey with one thing, if nothing else. He has approached his interim stint as the Tennessee Titans head coach with a high degree of honesty and a bit of a straightforward approach to the job.
NEWSMAKERS
In recognition of more than 50 years of service to both the legal profession and the Middle Tennessee community, Waller attorney and mediator Lew Conner is being honored with the John C. Tune Public Service Award at the Nashville Bar Association’s annual meeting and banquet.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The 2016 Buick Regal is a competent and nimble mid-size sedan with pretty appearance, quiet interior, turbocharged four-cylinder engine and – important for the approaching winter – all-wheel drive for surefooted travel.
FAMILY TRAVEL
Paris is open for travel. What once was an obvious statement now comes with questions for some travelers.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
The holidays couldn’t get any busier. Between mandatory-attendance parties, decorating your home, buying gifts, wrapping them and getting your cards out in time, your plate is full and you still have a business to run.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
While some of the tried and true strategies that performed well for you in 2015 should no doubt carry forward, there are also several emerging marketing trends that could benefit your company’s growth strategy.
CAREER CORNER
The Memphis Grizzlies have made “Grit and Grind” a common phrase. The concept of grit, however, extends far beyond the court. In applies in business, life and many other areas.
I SWEAR
In 1967, Ezra Pound told Allen Ginsberg, “The worst mistake I made was that stupid suburban prejudice of anti-Semitism.”
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Garlic. Other than chocolate and coffee, garlic makes anything taste better. OK, that might not quite be true, but it does convey the love I have for garlic.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State officials say nearly 700 families have entered Tennessee's college savings $10,000 scholarship giveway.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Prosecutors sought an indictment of a top Republican in the Tennessee state House on charges of prescription fraud, but a grand jury in his home county declined to allow the case to move forward.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The mobile payment wars are heating up. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said it's launching its own mobile payment system that will allow shoppers to pay with any major credit or debit card or its own store gift card through its existing smartphone app at the cash register.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Lawyers hired to compensate victims of General Motors' faulty ignition switches have paid out $594.5 million to settle 399 eligible claims.
DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler will pay a $70 million fine to the U.S. government for failing to report safety data.
DETROIT (AP) — Japanese brands dominate the insurance industry's rankings of the safest vehicles for the 2016 model year.
WOLFSBURG, Germany (AP) — A small group of Volkswagen engineers began working as early as 2005 on emissions cheating software after they were unable to find a technical solution to U.S. emissions controls as the automaker pushed into the North American market, executives said Thursday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged higher this week following three straight weeks of declines, amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise its key short-term interest rate next week.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The stock market's sharp decline in August and September took its toll on Americans' finances in the third quarter. Household net worth fell for the first time in four years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Applications for U.S. jobless aid climbed last week, but the number of Americans seeking benefits remains close to historic lows in a positive sign for the job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are broadly higher in afternoon trading Thursday following a three-day losing streak. Energy companies climbed after being beaten down over the past several days. Eight of the 10 sectors of the Standard and Poor's 500 index rose.
NEW YORK (AP) — Men's Wearhouse's is struggling as it tries to figure out the best strategy for its business since buying rival Jos. A. Bank.
NATIONAL POLITICS
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Sleep-deprived and increasingly tense, diplomats and climate negotiators outside Paris struggled Thursday to narrow down a 29-page draft of an unprecedented deal to tackle climate change— but countries remained at odds on critical issues a day before the organizers' deadline for an agreement.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A higher education expert told lawmakers on Tuesday that big changes such as those Gov. Bill Haslam is proposing for six state universities take years to implement effectively.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Human Services has partnered with Families First parents to register more than 700 high school seniors for Gov. Bill Haslam's free-tuition program.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The majority of U.S. renters are now older than 40, a fundamental shift over the past decade that reflects the lasting damage of the housing crash and an aging population.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors has decided to replace several key engine parts to stop oil leaks that have caused more than 1,300 fires and four recalls of older cars.
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen said Wednesday that a problem with carbon dioxide emissions is far smaller than initially suspected, with further checks finding "slight discrepancies" in only a few models and no evidence of illegal changes to fuel consumption and emissions figures.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Volkswagen has given a virtual look inside its Chattanooga assembly plant while physical tours are halted amid vehicle development at the German automaker's lone U.S. factory.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota said Wednesday it expects annual sales of its newly-released fourth generation Prius hybrid to reach as many as 350,000 vehicles despite a big drop in oil prices making traditional gasoline cars cheap to run.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A slump in technology shares on Wednesday helped turn early gains in U.S. stock indexes into losses across industries, extending the market's losing streak to a third day.
PARIS (AP) — The head of the International Energy Agency expects oil prices to remain low next year as demand weakens and supply remains high.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo's long-running identity crisis is spiraling in a new direction now that the company is abandoning a year's work on a tax-dodging spinoff to pursue an alternative path that will carve off its Internet business instead.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The University of Tennessee's chancellor said Tuesday that an online memo advising employees to make sure holiday celebrations aren't Christmas parties in disguise was "poorly worded" and that oversight of the website where it was posted has been reassigned.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey called Tuesday for a moratorium on all immigration from countries with "ties to terrorism."
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Tuesday announced plans to update its safety rating system for new cars to include whether the car has technology to avoid crashes, in addition to how well it protects occupants in accidents.
NASHVILLE (AP) — While the United Auto Workers is celebrating the end of its losing streak at foreign automakers in the South, Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Haslam was dismissive Monday of the significance of what he calls the union's "cherry-picked" win at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee business and community leaders assembled Monday to support a bipartisan public policy group in its effort to end the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the fourth straight year fewer Americans are struggling to pay medical bills, according to a major government survey released Tuesday. Most of the progress has come among low-income people and those with government coverage.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in October, though overall hiring picked up and quits rose slightly, adding to evidence the job market is slowly improving.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sharp drops in materials and energy shares led to a broad decline in the stock market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Food companies are mounting an aggressive year-end push to head off mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.
NEW YORK (AP) — Chipotle's stock dropped in premarket trading Tuesday as the Mexican food chain continues to deal with fallout from an E. coli outbreak and contends with weakening sales.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — First Tennessee Bank is working with a global nonprofit organization to provide free financial literacy workshops and financial counseling.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's transportation chief says the state's Fast Fix 8 bridge repair project on Interstate 40 around Nashville has been completed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is included in a new online exhibition called Google Cultural Institute.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The United Auto Workers union has gained a significant first victory at a foreign-owned automaker in the South, easily winning a vote by skilled-trades workers at Volkswagen's lone U.S. factory to have the UAW negotiate their collective bargaining agreements.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Messages of love and gratitude shared by the boy band One Direction topped Twitter's charts this year, eclipsing President Barack Obama's celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers borrowed more heavily for auto and student loans in October, taking out debt that helps them find jobs and commute to work.
NEW YORK (AP) — Energy companies are closing sharply lower, leading a broad decline on the stock market, after the price of oil dropped to its lowest point in nearly seven years.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are dropping in late afternoon trading Monday as investors dump energy companies. Benchmark U.S. crude is trading at its lowest level in nearly seven years following a decision by OPEC last week not to cut production. Airline stocks rose on the prospect of lower fuel costs.
GE has scrapped a $3.3 billion plan to sell its home appliance business to the Swedish company Electrolux, a deal opposed by U.S. regulators over concerns about competition.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will unveil a proposal for a new "exit tax" aimed at cracking down on corporate inversions, a practice that permits U.S. companies to merge with corporations overseas to lower their tax bill.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - As Gov. Bill Haslam crisscrosses the state trying to build support for a gas tax increase, a new Vanderbilt University poll finds voters are willing to pay more to improve roads and bridges.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A $144.1 million Powerball prize has been claimed in Tennessee, a month after the ticket matched the lottery game's winning numbers, but the purchaser of the ticket remains unknown.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.7 million, four-year grant to Tennessee State University for a project that will include creation of an "engineering clinic."
NASHVILLE (AP) - The work of Tennessee artisans will be highlighted at the Tennessee Residence as Gov. Bill Haslam and first lady Crissy Haslam open the executive residence for self-guided tours starting Friday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's latest push to make sure consumers get equal access to the Internet faces a key legal test as a federal appeals court considers whether to treat high-speed service providers like public utilities.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged lower this week for a third straight week.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market had its biggest gain since September after the U.S. government reported another solid month of job gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If the Federal Reserve needed any final evidence that the economy is ready for higher interest rates, it got it on Friday.
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC oil ministers have effectively scrapped their official output ceiling gand agreed to keep producing above that level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress Thursday that economic conditions appear to be improving enough for policymakers to raise interest rates when they meet in two weeks — as long as there are no major shocks that undermine confidence.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a 5-year, $305 billion bill that boosts highway and transit spending and assures states that federal help will be available for major projects. Senate approval was expected to follow later in the day.
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The once black-and-white world of climate negotiations for poorer countries has evolved into many shades of gray at talks this week in Paris.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defying a White House veto threat, the Republican-controlled House on Thursday approved a sweeping bill to boost U.S. energy production, lift a four-decade ban on crude oil exports and modernize the aging electric grid.