VOL. 37 | NO. 6 | Friday, February 8, 2013
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has one issue that has drawn little attention that he wants to pass through this session of the legislature: redrawing the state’s judicial districts.
REALTY CHECK
Houses in Nashville and, generally, everywhere sell for what they are worth. That statement sounds rational enough and, some would think, unworthy of mention. Of course, houses sell for what they are worth. Their value is determined by the amount a buyer will pay for those properties.
REAL ESTATE
Top January 2013 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
NEWSMAKERS
Former associates Wendee M. Hilderbrand, Michael J. Holley and Price W. Wilson have been elected to membership in the firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
So far, you’ve resisted.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
What will $126,000 buy you? Exactly one second of airtime during Super Bowl XLVII. This year 30-second spots sold for more than $3.8 million. That kind of investment puts momentous pressure on the big brands to break through the commercial clutter with a memorable ad that distinguishes the brand and drives targeted consumers to take action.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Prior to Pres. Nixon’s closing of the gold window in 1971, world currencies traded in value relative to the U.S. dollar, which was tethered to gold at $35 an ounce. Following the divorce, currencies began trading relative to the dollar, but the dollar in turn began trading relative to other currencies.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
I began my career as a CPA with one of the major accounting firms. It was fun for a while, but after a few years I decided the profession was not for me. That’s OK – different strokes for different folks and all that kind of stuff.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and I wouldn’t dare allow that to slip by without some scrump-tillicious (that’s my new word for “wonderful”) chocolate thingy.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Senate voted Thursday to place a proposed constitutional amendment to ban a state income tax before Tennessee voters.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Senate is expected to vote on two constitutional amendments today.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal to eliminate affirmative action initiatives from higher education institutions in Tennessee slowed in the state Senate on Wednesday after lawmakers and educators said they were uncomfortable with the bill's language.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors made money in North America and Asia and lost a bundle in Europe as it nearly doubled last year's fourth-quarter profit.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was unchanged for a second week, remaining near historic lows. The average rate on the 15-year mortgage also stayed the same. Low mortgage rates are helping to strengthen the housing recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 27,000 last week, an indication that hiring could improve.
NEW YORK (AP) — Renewed worries about Europe overshadowed an encouraging U.S. jobs report, and stocks flipped between slight gains and losses on Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil rose above $97 per barrel Thursday, reversing Wednesday's small drop.
NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett is dipping into the ketchup business as part of a $23.3 billion deal to buy H.J. Heinz Co., uniting a legend of American investing with a mainstay of grocery store shelves.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Meredith Corp., the publisher of magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens and Fitness, is in early talks with Time Warner Inc. about buying several magazines from it, including People, InStyle and Real Simple, according to published reports.
DALLAS (AP) — US Airways CEO Doug Parker has landed the big merger he sought for years. Now the soon-to-be CEO of the new American Airlines has to make it work.
NEW YORK (AP) — Anheuser-Bush InBev changed the terms of its proposed $20.1 billion acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo Thursday in an attempt to push through a deal that federal regulators say will kill competition.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate are unveiling legislation to avoid a looming set of sharp, across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies in just two weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday it's unlikely the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate will prevent a wave of automatic spending cuts from beginning to strike the economy in two weeks. Yet he sounded hopeful about avoiding a partial shutdown of the government when a temporary spending bill expires next month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers who are shaping the fate of the millions of people in the U.S. illegally were told by one Wednesday that it's time to rewrite immigration laws so that they, too, can live the American dream.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Gaylord Entertainment Company seeking money for property damage to its luxury hotel and convention center, the Grand Ole Opry and other sites during the 2010 flooding of the Cumberland River.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - They don't call him Chief for nothing: Eric Church is the top nominee at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A measure to block courts from granting subpoenas for identities of anonymous commenters on news websites has passed the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A bill to keep businesses, schools and colleges from banning firearms in their parking lots has been approved by a House subcommittee after a six-minute hearing.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Republican bill to tighten enrollment requirements for online-only schools was softened in a House subcommittee Tuesday, while a Democratic proposal to ban private companies from running them was derailed.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — In an effort to prod more attorneys to provide free legal assistance to people who can't afford a lawyer, the Tennessee Supreme Court has announced that it would begin giving special recognition to lawyers who spend at least 50 hours doing pro bono work.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — If there's one thing you can count on, it's your car.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ending mixed on Wall Street, sending the Dow back below 14,000 points. McDonald's slumped as investors worried that spending on restaurants would fall.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell near $97 a barrel Wednesday after a government report showed an increase in U.S. crude supplies.
NEW YORK (AP) — News and financial information company Thomson Reuters on Wednesday said it is cutting 2,500 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, this year as it tries to reduce costs and turn around its largest division.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies restocked their store shelves and warehouses at a slower pace in December, a sign of caution as sales weakened. Slower restocking was a major drag on the economy in the final three months of last year.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and the United States announced Wednesday that they have agreed to pursue talks aimed at achieving an overarching trans-Atlantic free trade deal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans barely spent more last month at retail businesses and restaurants after higher taxes cut their paychecks. The small increase suggests consumer spending may be weak in the January-March quarter, which could hold back economic growth.
NEW YORK (AP) — Analysts believe General Electric gave Comcast a great deal on the half of NBCUniversal that Comcast doesn't already own.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comcast's $16.7 billion deal to buy the remaining half of NBCUniversal ahead of schedule represents a resounding vote of confidence in the future of TV, even as the growth of Internet video reshapes the entertainment landscape.
MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Farm and construction equipment maker Deere & Co. said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income leaped 22 percent on growing sales of farm machinery at higher prices.
NATIONAL POLITICS
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — President Barack Obama is pushing for a higher minimum wage because he says Americans who work full time should not be in poverty.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jacob Lew, President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, is urging Congress to avoid steep automatic spending cuts that are set to take effect on March 1, saying they threaten the broader economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes over guns, immigration, taxes and climate change in a State of the Union address that showcased a newly re-elected president determined to mark his legacy, facing off against a deeply divided Congress with Republicans eager to rein him in.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama did some cherry-picking Tuesday night in defense of his record on jobs and laid out a conditional path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that may be less onerous than he made it sound.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Brookdale Senior Living Inc. has named its general counsel, T. Andrew Smith, to become the senior living facility operator's next CEO. He will replace retiring CEO Bill Sheriff in about a week.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville Mayor Karl Dean is being recognized for his support of national service.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The original Emancipation Proclamation, a document that changed the lives of countless African-Americans during the Civil War, is on display in Nashville as the fragile historical document makes its only stop in the Southeast on a 150th anniversary tour.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal to eliminate hotel allowances for some Tennessee lawmakers was put on hold Tuesday after a state Senate committee member said the reimbursement rules should be tightened for the entire Legislature.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Questions about grades being changed at a privately run online school are a good example of why the so-called virtual schools should be run by the government, a state lawmaker said Tuesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Senate on Monday passed a bill to give people with handgun carry permits the right to store their loaded firearms in their vehicles wherever they are parked, brushing aside concerns raised by businesses and higher education administrators in Tennessee.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is opening offices in four countries to help increase exports to key international markets.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc. said Monday that a group of investors plan to sell up to 50 million shares of its stock.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's Volkswagen AG says it started off the year with brisk car sales, as deliveries outside Europe — particularly in China — helped more than offset declines in its home market.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government reported a rare surplus for January and is on track to run its smallest annual budget deficit since President Barack Obama took office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he presides over an economy much healthier than the one he inherited four years ago. Yet growth remains slow and unemployment high.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow rose to its highest close of the year Tuesday, ending 146 points from a record. Stocks gained after impressive results from two big consumer brands.
The price of oil inched further above $97 a barrel Tuesday, adding to a sharp rise the day before, as OPEC upgraded its forecast for global demand this year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling a shareholder lawsuit against the company a "silly sideshow," even as he said he is open to looking at the shareholder's proposals for sharing more cash with investors.
NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola says its profit rose 13 percent in the fourth quarter as growth in emerging markets offset a decline in Europe and a modest performance in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The McGraw-Hill Cos. swung to a loss in the fourth quarter as its transition to a financial information provider forced it to take a big, one-time charge.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The American public will get a competing mix of rhetoric and imagery in President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, a speech that offers a heavy dose on the economy even as it plays out against a visual backdrop dominated by the current national debate over guns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just about everyone in official Washington is in agreement that big across-the-board spending cuts at the Pentagon and throughout domestic federal programs on March 1 are a bad idea.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State economic development officials say auto transmission products supplier U.S. Tsubaki Automotive plans to expand its facility in Portland, adding 70 jobs in the process.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey is seeking the state's first judicial redistricting in nearly 30 years and says he wants the public's input.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The guns bill that Tennessee lawmakers wish would just go away is up for its first floor vote today.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Dell is trying to reassure shareholders about its proposed $24.4 billion acquisition by a group led by its founder, saying it considered a number of strategic options before agreeing to the deal.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower in thin trading Monday, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 index back from a five-year high.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices leveled off in the Northeast, as the region's drivers hopped back in their cars after digging them out of huge snow banks over the weekend.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is vulnerable to cyberattacks that could shut down financial services or destroy information that companies need for daily operations, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday.
NEW YORK (AP) — If you don't like coffee or tea, Mountain Dew has a new breakfast drink that might perk you up.
DALLAS (AP) — Directors of American Airlines and US Airways reportedly plan to meet Wednesday to consider a merger.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Karen Mills is leaving her post as head of the Small Business Administration, opening yet another Cabinet-rank job for President Barack Obama to fill at the start of his second term. Obama says Mills played a leading role supporting start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Louisiana-Pacific Corp. moved to a profit for its fourth quarter as the U.S. housing recovery picked up.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - Thomas Frierson has been appointed judge for the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern Section.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessean John Ryder has been named the new general counsel of the Republican National Committee.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state's largest teachers union has hired a new chief lobbyist.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam denied Thursday that the state had lost a case in which a judge ruled that the Tennessee Department of Children's Services must provide the public records of children who died or nearly died after the agency investigated reports they'd been abused or neglected.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican lawmakers are putting the brakes on a bill seeking to bar Tennessee from expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. reported a 35 percent plunge in October-December profit to 54.1 billion yen ($579 million) as global sales languished, especially in China, where anti-Japanese sentiment flared over a territorial dispute.
BEIJING (AP) — China's auto sales rose 46 percent in January to a monthly record on strong demand for SUVs in pre-Lunar New Year shopping, an industry group reported Friday.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Officials with automaker Mercedes-Benz say they plan to add a totally new sport utility vehicle model to its production line in Alabama.
DETROIT (AP) — Back in 2007, Toyota trumpeted its bulked-up Tundra as a game-changer that would cut into Detroit's dominance of the U.S. pickup truck market.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in December because exports rose while oil imports plummeted. The smaller trade gap means the economy almost surely grew in the October-December quarter — an improvement from the government's estimate last week that it shrank in the final months of 2012.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesalers cut their stockpiles slightly in December while their sales were unchanged, suggesting businesses were cautious at the end of a weak quarter.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard and Poor's 500 edged up to a five-year high Friday, extending a rally that started in January.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices slipped back below $96 a barrel Friday afternoon, reversing course after rising earlier in the day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans stepped up borrowing in December to buy cars and attend school. But they cut back sharply on credit card use, continuing a trend that could hold back growth this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — With its annual meeting looming and its stock on the decline, Apple is facing a rebellion from an activist investor who wants the company to stop stockpiling cash and give it to shareholders instead.
Most airlines were giving up on flying in and out of New York, Boston and other cities in the Northeast Friday as a massive storm threatened to dump snow by the foot on the region.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes, the devil is in the deals.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Looming across-the-board budget cuts present the U.S. military with the most significant readiness crisis in more than a decade and quick action is needed to avoid the spending reductions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned during testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour and tying future increases to inflation will boost the incomes of millions living in poverty and spur job growth by pouring more money into the economy. But business groups are not so sure.