VOL. 36 | NO. 34 | Friday, August 24, 2012
REALTY CHECK
Homeowners associations were created to serve the interests of the property owners in various developments, be they planned unit developments (PUDs), condos or subdivisions. In all cases, their actions are meant for the betterment of their members.
TERRY McCORMICK
When Titans coach Mike Munchak tabbed Locker as his starting quarterback for the 2012 season, it opened a new chapter in the franchise’s history.
NEWSMAKERS
Travis Lloyd, formerly an associate in the Nashville office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, has joined Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
“Limited Time Offer!!!”
GUERRILLA MARKETING
A significant shift in buyer behavior has occurred over the last several years – a shift that has not only changed the very essence of the role of salesperson but how we market to consumers as well.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Two factors move stock prices, earnings and sentiment. Earnings tend to be backward-looking, while sentiment tends to be forward-looking. In market parlance, multiples or valuation ratios (price/earnings, price/book, price/sales) measure sentiment.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
While preparing for a presentation recently, I remembered a scene from an old episode of the 1950s television show I Love Lucy. I looked it up on YouTube and sure enough the video clip of the scene is there (you can find it by putting the words “Lucy candy factory” in the search field).
I SWEAR
Sometimes, we must go back to our roots. The roots of “I Swear,” the column, are in the actual dialogue between lawyers and people who are under oath. Those who, in essence, tacitly add “I swear” to everything that they say.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
This past week, hubby and I went on a short, but much-needed vacation. Much-needed for him, anyway.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country singer LeAnn Rimes is getting professional help for anxiety and stress.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled a park ranger did not violate the rights of a man who wore camouflage and carried an AK-47-style pistol across his chest with a loaded 30-round clip in a Nashville park.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A preliminary report shows Tennessee homeowners are benefiting from a settlement reached with the nation's top five mortgage servicers.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The road ahead will be clear of highway construction over the Labor Day weekend across Tennessee.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Vanderbilt Commodores are paying tribute to the U.S. champions from the Little League World Series.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Metro Nashville Police have released the identity of an elderly woman who died after falling down a supermarket escalator.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell this week and are just slightly above record lows reached earlier this year. The low rates have contributed to a modest housing recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans spent at the fastest pace in five months in July after earning a little more. The increase in income and consumer spending could help boost an economy mired in subpar growth.
NEW YORK (AP) — This summer, Americans were walking contradictions: They opened their wallets despite escalating fears about the slow economic recovery and surging gas prices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week at a seasonally adjusted 374,000, suggesting slow improvement in the job market.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of bank-owned homes and those already on the foreclosure path fell sharply in the second quarter, reflecting a thinner slate of properties for sale in many cities as banks take a measured approach to placing homes on the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investors are hoping Chairman Ben Bernanke will at least hint Friday that the Federal Reserve is ready to launch another round of bond purchases to try to lower long-term U.S. interest rates and spur more borrowing and spending.
NEW YORK (AP) — The late-summer lull is about to end.
The price of oil fell on Thursday as producers assessed the impact of Hurricane Isaac and traders waited to see if the Federal Reserve would act to boost the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has quenched the Kindle Fire, saying its first tablet computer is now sold out.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Laying out the first plans for his party's presidential ticket, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts Wednesday night when he attacked President Barack Obama's policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and the budget deficit.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee election officials will review the voting histories of Davidson County residents as they look into how primary ballots were provided to voters.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Muslim man is suing a security company, claiming his religious rights were violated when its guards demanded he remove his cap before entering Nashville's Juvenile Justice Center.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A federal judge in Nashville ruled Wednesday to allow opponents of a Murfreesboro mosque to have a say in the religious freedom case involving the building.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that two doctors cannot pursue a malicious prosecution claim against a patient who sued them for malpractice and then dropped the lawsuit.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country star Trace Adkins and entertainer Kristin Chenoweth are returning as hosts of the American Country Awards.
MIDSTATE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Liquor producer Brown-Forman Corp. says its first-quarter net income surged 25 percent on the strength of double-digit sales growth for its flagship Jack Daniel's brand.
AUTO INDUSTRY
HANGZHOU, China (AP) — Ford Motor Co. is developing a lower-priced small car for the Chinese market but has no plans to start a separate, cheaper brand in China as rivals General Motors and Volkswagen have.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Slightly better economic growth and stronger housing sales nudged the stock market higher Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average managed a four-point gain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says the U.S. economy expanded at a moderate pace in July and early August, buoyed by stronger retail sales.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans signed the most contracts to buy homes in July than at any other point in the last two years, further evidence of a housing recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a tepid 1.7 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, suggesting growth will stay weak in the second half of the year.
Oil prices fell Wednesday as U.S. supplies of crude rose for the first time in a month and finance ministers from industrialized nations pleaded with top producers to help lower crude prices and help the global economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup is offering to pay $590 million to legal claims by shareholders that its executives dissembled about the bank's growing problems before the financial crisis.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — WellPoint Inc. President and CEO Angela Braly resigned Tuesday amid investor frustration with disappointing financial results at the nation's second-largest health insurer.
U.S. home prices rose in June from the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has finalized new fuel economy rules that will require the fleet-wide average of new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. to double over the next 13 years.
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Nissan North America has given Middle Tennessee State University two electric cars and three charging stations to promote the use of zero-emission vehicles.
BEIJING (AP) — Ford Motor Co., eager to grab a piece of China's growing luxury market, plans to start selling its Lincoln luxury brand here in 2014.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's safety department is creating a new unit to investigate identity theft crimes that local law enforcement agencies don't have the resources to target.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Veterans Affairs officials in Tennessee and other states are taking steps to stop the practice of charging veterans to assist them in obtaining certain benefits when there are free services available to help them.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The use of iPads to improve wait times at Tennessee driver service centers has brought the state a technology award.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. bank earnings rose 21 percent in the April-June quarter and lending to consumers increased, adding to evidence that the industry is strengthening four years after the financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose in June from the same month last year, the first year-over-year increase since the summer of 2010. The increase is the latest evidence of a nascent recovery in the housing market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mixed economic data kept the stock market hovering near break-even Tuesday. One report on home prices looked encouraging, and another on consumer confidence was worrisome.
Oil rose as Isaac gathered strength on its way into the heart of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and refinery operations.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are feeling worse about the economy than they have in a long time — a fact that could have wide-reaching implications everywhere from Wal-Mart to the White House.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Lexmark is cutting 1,700 jobs, or almost 13 percent of its workforce, and says it will stop making inkjet printers as part of a drive to cut costs as it deals with shrinking sales of inkjets.
MONDAY, AUGUST 27
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A public interest group in Nashville is calling for an investigation into the Davidson County Aug. 2 primary after several prominent Democrats were given Republican ballots.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Valley Authority expects to spend as much as $1 billion to reduce harmful emissions from a coal-fired power plant by up to 95 percent.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Beginning on Sept. 1, anyone claiming unemployment benefits will have to show that they are actively looking for work, including keeping a work search log.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the income gap between rich and poor widens, a majority of Americans say the growing divide is bad for the country and believe that wealthy people are paying too little in taxes, according to a new survey.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple's $1 billion court win against Samsung is translating into a much bigger jump in its market value.
NEW YORK (AP) — The biggest story in the stock market Monday was Apple, but that wasn't saying much.
NEW YORK (AP) — Pump prices are heading higher as Tropical Storm Isaac forces several major refineries along the Gulf Coast to halt production in preparation for high winds and heavy rains.
NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy Co. Inc. and its founder and former chairman Richard Schulze say they have an agreement that will allow Schulze to pursue his plan to try to buy the nation's largest consumer electronics chain.
NEW YORK (AP) — Hertz is one-step closer to its long-awaited prize.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. is selling its troubled online information service, About.com, to the parent company of Ask.com for $300 million in cash.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican National Party chair Reince Priebus says that Todd Akin's insistence on staying in the Missouri Senate race could cost the party its chance to win control of the Senate.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Opponents of a new Tennessee mosque want a federal judge to give them a say in a religious discrimination case involving the building.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Sen. Jim Summerville on Friday resigned from the Senate Education Committee after being stripped of his subcommittee chairmanship over an email that insulted the Legislature's black caucus.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Valley Authority is liable for a huge spill of toxin-laden sludge in 2008 in Tennessee, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economic recovery hasn't felt much like one even for people who managed to find new jobs after being laid off. Most of them have had to settle for less pay.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says it made $62.4 million on the sale of its stock in four small banks that were bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs that U.S. manufacturing is faltering emerged from a report Friday that orders for long-lasting factory goods, excluding the volatile transportation category, fell in July for the fourth time in five months.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market keeps getting tossed around by the Fed.
The price of oil rose Friday following signs that the Federal Reserve might act to boost the economy.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Kodak says it will sell its document imaging and personalized imaging businesses to better focus on printing and business services as it works to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new homes in the United States rose 3.6 percent in July to match a two-year high reached in May, the latest sign of a steady recovery in the housing market.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — While other corn growers already have knocked down their drought-ravaged crops to feed them to livestock, Nebraska farmer Doug Nelson still waits for his maize to mature, well aware it won't be a banner year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages have risen for a fourth straight week, remaining slightly above record lows. Cheap mortgages have helped fuel a modest housing recovery this year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Most Americans say go ahead and raise taxes if it will save Social Security benefits for future generations. And raise the retirement age, if you have to.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Building upon its fundraising prowess, Mitt Romney's campaign began a secretive data-mining project this summer to trove through Americans' personal information — including their purchasing history and church attendance — to identify new and likely wealthy donors, The Associated Press has learned.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The release of more than 900 pages of internal Bain Capital investment documents by a media website Thursday offered new details on holdings owned by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's family trusts, including offshore account locations and underlying assets.