VOL. 38 | NO. 29 | Friday, July 18, 2014
EMPHASIS ISSUE: BANKING & FINANCE
Middle Tennessee’s diverse economy helps young bank thrive despite pre-recession launch
This month marks Avenue Bank’s seventh year of business. Count backwards and you’ll see that Avenue was founded during one of the most challenging times in U.S. history – five months before the U.S. economic recession officially hit, sending asset values, interest rates and bank margins plunging.
If you see a mortgage banker sweating, don’t blame the weather. Low interest rates and a hot real estate market have local mortgage lenders feeling the heat.
Prevailing wisdom says community banks need to reach about $1 billion in assets to absorb new regulatory and compliance costs imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Not all bankers agree.
A similar history, a foundation in agriculture lending and growth potential attracted Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp. to buy Community First Bancshares Inc. of Union City and its $1.9 billion subsidiary First State Bank, says Simmons’ Chairman and CEO George A. Makris.
A look at Davidson County’s top lenders based on total number of all loans, commercial and residential.
REAL ESTATE
Top June 2014 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
REALTY CHECK
No surprises in the latest sales date from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors: Home sales show an increase of 9.4 percent compared to June 2013, and prices are understandably on the rise.
NEWSMAKERS
National labor and employment law firm Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP has hired attorney Phylinda Ramsey as an associate in its Nashville office.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Social media is evolving quickly, and it’s tough to keep up.
CAREER CORNER
One of the biggest struggles many job seekers face is gathering enough information. It’s important to understand how much a company pays, if the environment is healthy, and how the interview process works.
I SWEAR
Several years ago, a Mr. B. testified as an expert witness in a plane crash case. The lawyer cross-examining him worked awfully hard, providing some entertainment along the way.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
The last part of June and the first part of July has already been so busy for us with birthday celebrations, a vacation and a conference.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - More than 336,000 Tennessee residents will split $10 million in refunds from health insurance companies because of a provision in the Affordable Care Act.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Highway Patrol will start accepting applications for its new trooper cadet class on July 30.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — A partnership agreement signed last year between Middle Tennessee State University and Guangxi University in southern China is bearing fruit.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new U.S. homes plunged in June, a sign that real estate continues to be a weak spot in the economy.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Recall expenses chopped $1.5 billion from General Motors' bottom line in the second quarter, as it added up the costs of repairs for nearly 30 million cars and set aside funds to compensate victims of small-car crashes.
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. beat Wall Street's expectations in the second quarter as it chalked up a record profit in North America and made money in Europe for the first time in three years.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund foresees the global economy expanding less than it had previously forecast, slowed by weaker growth in the United States, Russia and developing economies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to its lowest level in eight years.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged higher in midday trading Thursday as investors digested second-quarter results from companies across several industries, including Facebook, Ford and Caterpillar.
The price of oil fell below $103 a barrel Thursday, giving back part of its gains from the day before, despite improvements in Chinese manufacturing.
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar's second-quarter net income rose 4.1 percent even as revenue slipped.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23
MIDSTATE
ACCOKEEK, Md. (AP) — Beretta U.S.A. announced Tuesday that company concerns over a strict gun-control law enacted in Maryland last year have made it necessary to move its weapons making out of the state to Tennessee.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A man left profanity-filled voicemails with Tennessee's homeland security office threatening to kill President Barack Obama and other officials, saying in one that he would "light Nashville up," according to court documents.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Tennessee jewelry store is being sued after a customer accused them of selling diamonds for more than the jewels are worth.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials have signed a five-year, $60 million contract with a Kansas City, Missouri firm to produce the "Made in Tennessee" tourism campaign.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has formed a veterinary advisory committee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is issuing six more recalls covering a total of almost 718,000 vehicles in the U.S.
DETROIT (AP) — The ignition switch defects that engulfed General Motors are now a rapidly growing problem at Chrysler.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Three advocacy groups filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the state of Tennessee of failing to provide certain services required by the federal health care law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Undercover investigators using fake identities were able to secure taxpayer-subsidized health insurance under President Barack Obama's health care law.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Out of a seemingly hollow recovery from the Great Recession, a more durable if still slow-growing U.S. economy has emerged.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has shaved its forecast for U.S. economic growth this year, mostly because of a sharp contraction in the first quarter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators are expected to vote Wednesday to end a longtime staple of the investment industry — the fixed $1 share price for money-market mutual funds — at least for some money funds used by big investors.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes edged mostly higher as traders looked over a mixed batch of corporate earnings.
The price of oil rose Wednesday after the government reported that U.S. oil supplies rose more than expected.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate agreed Wednesday on an $11 billion measure to temporarily fix a multibillion-dollar shortfall in federal highway and transit programs, setting up a vote next week on several alternatives.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to advance an election-year bill limiting tax breaks for U.S. companies that move operations overseas. But big hurdles remain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday endorsed former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to be the new secretary of Veterans Affairs.
TUESDAY, JULY 22
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A growing population and the explosive expansion of the use of hand-held electronic devices has prompted the creation of a new area code for Nashville.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The latest national ranking of the well-being of children shows Tennessee is among five states that made the biggest improvement in the last year.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Two Tennessee universities have made the "honor roll" of a publication's 2014 list of "Great Colleges To Work For."
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of previously owned homes rose for a third straight month in June, pushing activity to the highest level in eight months and providing evidence that housing is regaining lost momentum.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's health care law is snarled in another big legal battle, with two federal appeals courts issuing contradictory rulings on a key financing issue within hours of each other Tuesday.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Just as the U.S. economy is strengthening, other countries are threatening to drag it down.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose in June at a slightly slower pace than in May with two-thirds of the June advance driven by the largest jump in gasoline prices in a year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Solid earnings for a range of big companies helped nudge the stock market higher on Tuesday.
The price of oil rose above $103 a barrel Tuesday on persisting jitters over the situation in Gaza, the standoff over the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine and expectations of a fall in U.S. crude inventories.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A six-month review of federal job-training programs concludes that the government needs to better engage U.S. employers, improve the use of data, and boost apprenticeship programs so workers can earn while they train.
ATLANTA (AP) — Coca-Cola Co. reported quarterly sales that fell short of Wall Street estimates on Tuesday as demand remained weak for Diet Coke in North America.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Comcast Corp.'s second-quarter net income rose 15 percent to nearly $2 billion as it added high-speed Internet customers at a faster pace than a year ago and video subscriber losses moderated.
NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is reporting that its second-quarter earnings nearly doubled after securing full ownership of Verizon Wireless.
DETROIT (AP) — A year after filing for bankruptcy, Detroit is building momentum to get out, especially after workers and retirees voted in favor of major pension changes just a few weeks before a judge holds a crucial trial that could end the largest public filing in U.S. history.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gridlocked Congress failed to do the big things: overhauling the nation's immigration system, reforming the loophole-cluttered tax code and stiffening background checks on gun buyers. Now it's time to see whether it can just do the basics.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein recalls turning on her television and seeing a young Chinese girl crying before a judge, without even an interpreter to help her after surviving a harrowing journey to the U.S.
MONDAY, JULY 21
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority officials say the facility handled more than 10.6 million passengers in the 2014 fiscal year marking a record for the airport.
NASHVILLE (AP) - While they may buy Cracker Jack at the Nashville Sounds ballpark, for at least one night there will be no peanuts.
MIDSTATE
FRANKLIN (AP) - Time is defeating a flag that last flew 150 years ago during the Battle of Franklin and donors are trying to come to its rescue.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A report shows more than 8 million people visited Tennessee's national parks last year, spending $530 million in the process.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennesseans who purchased the memory storage component installed in most electronic devices known as Dynamic Random Access Memory have until Aug. 1 to participate in a $310 million settlement.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans consider insurance and a good bedside manner in choosing a doctor, but will that doctor provide high-quality care? A new poll shows that people don't know how to determine that.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
DETROIT (AP) — Rising sales helped boost hiring and wages at U.S. businesses in the second quarter, and companies are optimistic that the trends will continue this fall, according to a new survey by the National Association for Business Economics.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market started the week with a slight loss on Monday as investors weighed a mixed batch of corporate earnings against mounting political turmoil.
The price of oil rose more than a $1 for the third time in the last four trading days, and closed above $104 for the first time since July 3.
BEIJING (AP) — McDonald's and KFC in China faced a new food safety scare Monday after a Shanghai television station reported a supplier sold them expired beef and chicken.
FRIDAY, JULY 18
STATEWIDE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Since the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, the U.S. economy has generated 7.8 million jobs. But the gains haven't been spread evenly across the country.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Early voters began casting their ballots Friday for Tennessee's primary election, with tea party-styled challenges to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander's bid for the Republican nomination to a third term.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal authorities on Thursday charged FedEx with assisting illegal pharmacies by knowingly delivering painkillers and dangerous drugs to customers without prescriptions.
MIDSTATE
MANCHESTER (AP) — The two hospitals in Manchester that are less than three miles apart may merge.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota wants to help you scream at your unruly kids.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it has replaced faulty ignition switches on just under 20 percent of 2.6 million small cars that are being recalled.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers on Thursday demanded General Motors fire its chief lawyer and open its compensation plan to more potential victims as a Senate subcommittee delved deeper into GM's mishandling of the recall of small cars with defective ignition switches.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Health is seeking public input on the State Health Plan.
The nation's largest health insurer expects to play a much bigger role in the health care overhaul next year, as the federal law shifts from raising giant questions for the sector to offering growth opportunities.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's second-quarter earnings rose 6 percent as World Cup fever drove more traffic to the Internet company's search engine and YouTube video site while Android devices spurred more sales of movies, music, books and applications through its mobile store.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is testing a "Buy" button in its latest effort to help businesses drive sales through the world's biggest online social network.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft announced the biggest layoffs in its history Thursday, saying it will cut 18,000 jobs as it streamlines its Nokia mobile device business to focus on using the Windows Phone operating system.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Earnings gains from Google, Honeywell and other big U.S. companies drive the stock market to a higher close, wiping out much of its loss from the day before.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil retreated slightly Friday but remained elevated because of political turmoil around the world.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gauge designed to predict the economy's future health increased in June for a fifth consecutive month, supporting the view that economic growth should accelerate in the second half of this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is rolling out a new subscription service that will allow users unlimited access to thousands of electronic books and audiobooks for $9.99 a month in the online giant's latest effort to expand its services to attract more users.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a package of tax breaks Thursday designed to boost charitable donations by seniors, private foundations and procrastinators.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican Senators are pouring significant time and energy into pursuing female voters, a coveted prize in the Nov. 4 elections.