VOL. 39 | NO. 18 | Friday, May 1, 2015
IN THE WEEDS
It’s Saturday afternoon, and the Bakersfield taco bar, located at the bottom of the Encore condominium building downtown, has drawn a lively crowd.
REALTY CHECK
As the price per square foot for Nashville properties continues its climb, buyers are paying more for less.
NEWSMAKERS
Nashville’s hospitality industry will honor former Gov. and Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen as the second recipient of the E.W. “Bud” Wendell Award at the fourth annual National Travel & Tourism Week Hospitality Industry Luncheon on May 4.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Subaru’s all-wheel drive passion aside, the automaker crafts a fun, rear-wheel drive, sport coupe. The 2015 Subaru BRZ is surprisingly affordable, too, with a starting retail price of less than $26,500.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
In the Internet search world, Google is clearly king, and marketing professionals across the globe give this tech giant the lion’s share of their attention.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Last week, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and the New York Stock Exchange composite indexes all hit new historic highs, bolstered by falling rate hike expectations.
I SWEAR
“When is the law that is the law not the law? And vice versa.” Yeah, I know, that was last week’s column. But it’s apropos of the rash of laws that have been bandied about, and passed in some states, recently. They’re called Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
It just doesn’t pay for me to watch the Food Network. I get so inspired by the food the chefs prepare that I immediately go running to the store and buy all the ingredients.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed legislation that requires all of Tennessee's law enforcement agencies to adopt written policies to ban racial profiling.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed legislation that helps homeowner associations or neighborhood watch groups keep repeat offenders out of their communities.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam's efforts to persuade more Tennesseans to get a postsecondary education appear to be paying off.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Comcast says it is bringing its super-fast Internet service to Nashville, but won't say how much it will cost to install or subscribe.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors delivered a quarterly record of 10,045 cars in the first quarter, helping it beat Wall Street's expectations despite costly investments in new products and factory capacity and the impact of the strong dollar.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates are up this week to the highest level since mid-March.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. But even with the modest increase, the total number of people collecting jobless aid — pulled down steadily for months — fell to near 15-year lows.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged higher in morning trading Thursday as investors remained cautious following comments a day earlier from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who suggested that stock prices might be overvalued.
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae says it had net income of $1.9 billion for the first quarter. That's sharply down from the same period a year ago due to lower fee income.
Lumber Liquidators has suspended the sale of all laminate flooring made in China a week after disclosing that the Justice Department is seeking criminal charges against the specialty retailer in an investigation over imported products.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6
UT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - The University of Tennessee in Knoxville has declined a newspaper's request to release emails between administrators that contain the names of current and former student-athletes who may have been disciplined for alleged sex assaults.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A private group called the Tennessee Task Force on National and Homeland Security is marketing itself with an official-looking logo and a claimed "mandate" from state lawmakers. But legislative leaders say the group has no official endorsement from the General Assembly.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - State regulators issued 77 percent fewer enforcement orders against water polluters in 2014 than they did in 2008, according to the nonprofit Tennessee Clean Water Network.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The State Review Board will meet on May 20 to examine Tennessee's proposed nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Its name is "Inspiration" and Daimler Trucks says it's the first ever self-driving semi-truck licensed to drive on public roads — in this case Nevada's highways — not only for testing, but business, too.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German luxury carmaker BMW increased its profits in the first quarter thanks to strong demand for its expensive SUVs and higher sales in the U.S. and Britain as well as in a recovering European market.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell across industries on Wednesday as investors worried over stock valuations, economic growth and rising interest rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — Everyone wants in the Club. Shares of Lending Club advanced 3 percent Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected results and raised its full-year outlook as more people discover peer-to-peer lending as a cheaper alternative to a traditional bank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill Lewis was under more pressure than most new hires when he began a job in information technology last year in Monroe, Connecticut. Jobless for a year, he had eight weeks to persuade his employer to keep him and pay his salary.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the Fed and other banking regulators have made significant progress in correcting flaws in the financial system that triggered the worst banking crisis in seven decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. worker productivity declined in the first three months of the year as labor costs jumped, reflecting a slowdown in growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies hired in April at the slowest pace in nearly a year and a half, a private survey found, as the strong dollar dragged down overseas sales and energy companies cut back on spending in the face of lower oil prices.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional investigation has found that significant amounts of natural gas on federal lands are being wasted, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year and adding to harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday adopted a GOP budget that paves the way for an assault on President Barack Obama's health care law this summer and a partisan showdown over spending bills this fall.
TUESDAY, MAY 5
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - First-quarter earnings soared 70 percent for HCA, as admissions growth helped the hospital chain reaffirm a strong performance it initially outlined last month.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Highway Patrol will increase enforcement during the Cinco de Mayo holiday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen's CEO said the company is tackling its problems in the wake of a leadership struggle and promised progress on lowering costs and raising profitability.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — General Motors will invest $174 million in its Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kansas, to pay for new equipment and technology to produce the 2016 Malibu, company officials announced Monday.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's influential search engine has hit a tipping point in technology's shift to smartphones. More search requests are now being made on mobile devices than on personal computers in the U.S. and many other parts of the world.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Each time 81-year-old Bill Dworsky or his 80-year-old wife Dorothy opens the refrigerator, closes the bathroom door or lifts the lid on a pill container, tiny sensors in their San Francisco home make notes on a digital logbook.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service firms' growth accelerated in April, fueled by more orders, rising sales and an uptick in hiring. The figures provide solid evidence that the economy is recovering from its first-quarter stumble.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit in March jumped to the highest level in more than six years as a small increase in exports was swamped by a flood of imports from autos to cellphones.
NEW YORK (AP) — A combination of concerns knocked the U.S. stock market lower Tuesday, snapping a two-day run.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported net income of $524 million for the first quarter, down sharply from the same period of 2014, as it sustained losses on the investments it uses to hedge against swings in interest rates.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to approve a compromise Republican budget that makes deep cuts in spending while boosting Pentagon accounts by an additional $38 billion next year.
MONDAY, MAY 4
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Two lawmakers have reimbursed the state for trips they took to legislative conferences.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is knocking nearly $1,200 off the price of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Just before its $45 billion deal with Time Warner Cable collapsed over regulators' fears about a giant cable company's control over the Web, Comcast was racking up more Internet customers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories rose in March for the first time since last July, breaking a long stretch of weakness in manufacturing.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market closed just short of a record on Monday as investors assessed some positive earnings reports.
NEW YORK (AP) — American Express will roll out a new loyalty program, Plenti, on Monday, allowing U.S. shoppers for the first time to earn rewards points through a variety of purchases, from paying a phone bill to filling up at the pump.
NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald's is set to unveil its latest plans to revive its sputtering business on Monday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner says Hillary Rodham Clinton needs to back trade legislation that President Barack Obama wants — and help get Democrats on board.
FRIDAY, MAY 1
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed legislation that allows Tennesseans to get a lifetime handgun-carry permit.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Public Library is helping to mark the fifth anniversary of the historic May 2010 floods that affected much of Middle and West Tennessee.
MIDSTATE
MT. JULIET (AP) — A musical instrument manufacturer and distributor is investing nearly $4 million to expand its operations in Wilson County.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is moving quickly on a compromise GOP budget that promises to speed repeal of the nation's health care law and calls for a major budget hike for the Pentagon.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Hot sales of small and midsize SUVs drove auto sales higher last month as Nissan, General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler all reported U.S. sales gains.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors plans to spend $5.4 billion to improve its U.S. factories during the next three years, creating about 650 new jobs.
OSHAWA, Ontario (AP) — General Motors Canada says it will cut about 1,000 positions from its Oshawa manufacturing operations this year.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — It's an annoying problem for the unlucky few: the Apple Watch's heart rate monitor might not work if you have a tattoo on your wrist.
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast, which reports financial results on Monday, faces some tough questions about what's next for the country's biggest cable company after its dreams of a far-reaching network collapsed with the death of its $45 billion Time Warner Cable deal.
NEW YORK (AP) — Dumping social media stocks that show any sign of weakness is trending on Wall Street.
FOSTER CITY, Calif. (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is trying to steer his electric car company's battery technology into homes and businesses as part of an elaborate plan to reshape the power grid with millions of small power plants made of solar panels on roofs and batteries in garages.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction fell in March as an increase in nonresidential construction was offset by declines in home building and government projects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than one in four U.S. renters have to use at least half their family income to pay for housing and utilities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The poshest of luxury homes are acquiring the cachet of a masterwork by Picasso or Matisse.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Optimism about the job market lifted U.S. consumer sentiment in April to its second-highest level since 2007.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories expanded in April at the same pace as in March, but manufacturers are starting to curtail hiring in a possible sign of weakness.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing higher on the first day of May, erasing much of a loss from the day before.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of jobs would "disappear pretty quickly" if the Export-Import Bank were to expire abruptly when its charter runs out at the end of June, House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday.