VOL. 36 | NO. 39 | Friday, September 28, 2012
A look at Davidson County’s top lenders based on total number of all loans, commercial and residential.
REALTY CHECK
The residential real estate market is on fire, at least in the $150,000 to $600,000 price range.
TERRY McCORMICK
It’s like a car wreck on the interstate. You don’t want to look, but we can’t help ourselves.
NEWSMAKERS
J.B. Baker, chairman of the board for Volunteer Express Inc. and owner of Sprint Logistics, LLC and Baker South real estate development, has been awarded the Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise Award by Middle Tennessee State University.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
The big project you’ve got on your desk is due Thursday.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Cultivating relationships with distinct buyer types
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
The markets today must reconcile two primary opposing factors. On the one hand, global economic statistics and earnings pre-announcements describe a listless global economy – not recessionary per se – but not healthy enough to really drive revenues and confidence. On the other hand, the globe’s major central banks have all committed to indefinite and unlimited monetary stimulus.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the allied forces in Europe during World War II supposedly said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” This sounds like a very practical approach to planning to me and I like Ike’s thinking on this issue.
I SWEAR
I don’t lose sleep when the college team I pull for doesn’t win.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Football season is officially here, and the fall weather is not far behind. In fact, the last few cooler, rainy days have got most of us itching for what I consider one of the most beautiful times of the year to come on and “get the party started!”
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A fifth person has died in a growing outbreak of a rare form of meningitis that has sickened more than two dozen people in five states.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Memphis officials are appealing a Nashville judge's ruling that upheld the state requirement of photo identification for voting.
MIDSTATE
CENTERVILLE (AP) — A food processing plant in Middle Tennessee is expanding and will hire 64 more workers.
STATEWIDE
MURFREESBORO (AP) - Enrollment at Tennessee Board of Regents colleges has dropped an average of 4.4 percent this fall.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Honda says it is recalling more than 820,000 Civic compact cars and Pilot SUVs because the headlights can fail.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — An encouraging report on the labor market and better sales from Costco and other retail stores helped push the stock market higher Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve structured its latest stimulus program around the purchase of mortgage bonds after members agreed that helping a nascent housing recovery was a good way to lift the broader economy.
The price of oil is rising the most in two months after tensions rose between Syria and Turkey.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows for the second straight week. The declines suggest the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts are having an impact.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories fell in August, mostly because of a sharp drop in volatile aircraft orders. The decline offset an increase in orders that reflect corporate investment plans.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans may have slowed their spending in September after splurging during the start of the busy back-to-school shopping season in the month before. But most importantly, they were still spending.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, a level consistent with only modest hiring.
NEW YORK (AP) — Want to leave your barista a tip? Starbucks is making an app for that.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook has topped 1 billion users, but the past few months have not been easy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Google is expanding its plan to cut jobs from its Motorola Mobility unit outside the U.S. and will take $390 million for severance costs and other charges related to the layoffs.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney spun one-sided stories in their first presidential debate, not necessarily bogus, but not the whole truth.
WEDNESDAY, OCTONER 3
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam calls the deaths this year of 31children distressing but said there is no immediate evidence of wrongdoing by the Department of Children's Services. The deaths were among children who had come to the department's attention, and 10 were infants who had open case files.
NASHVILLE (AP) - NBA standout Penny Hardaway and football all-pro Frank Wychek are among 11 sports figures to be inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Comptroller Justin Wilson's move to automatically waive the first $25 in fees for public records requests is drawing praise from open government advocates.
NASHVILLE AREA
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Federal officials have awarded a two-year subsidy to Oregon-based SeaPort Airlines to provide passenger flights from Athens to Nashville, Tenn.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Garth Brooks is ending his run in Las Vegas.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Darius Rucker's conversion to country is now complete: He's joining the Grand Ole Opry.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service companies grew in September at the fastest pace in six months, helped by a sharp increase in customer demand.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates fell in nearly 90 percent of large U.S. metro areas in August, mainly because more people gave up looking for work.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows that U.S. businesses added fewer workers in September than August, a sign that slow growth may be holding back hiring.
NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of encouraging economic reports helped nudge the stock market higher Wednesday. Measures of business activity in the service sector and job growth last month came in better than economists had expected.
New evidence that China's economy is slowing set off the biggest drop in oil prices in five months.
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and its pilots' union have agreed to resume stalled contract negotiations.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Coca-Cola and Samsung have pulled their advertising from a popular Vietnamese website notorious for providing unlicensed downloads of Western and local songs, in a rare victory against online piracy in a country where it has grown unchecked.
VAUGHN, N.M. (AP) — Petty crime and burglaries aren't unusual in New Mexico's isolated Guadalupe County, but lately Sheriff Michael Lucero has seen thieves steal something a bit unexpected — grass.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As millions of Americans watch, President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney will be chasing opposite goals in their first debate. The key for Obama is to sit on his narrow lead without mishap, while Romney's challenge is to shake up the race and connect with voters.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worried your kids spend too much time with their faces buried in a computer screen? Their schoolwork may soon depend on it.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Rep. Jim Cobb was arrested Tuesday on an assault charge after a woman in a wheelchair said she felt physically threatened by the Spring City Republican on the day of the primary election.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee health officials have identified two more patients who contracted meningitis after getting steroid injections for back pain at a Nashville clinic.
MIDSTATE
SPRING HILL (AP) - Tennessee beef producers interested in marketing directly to consumers are invited to join UT Extension for a series of webinars.
COURTS
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday blocked Pennsylvania's divisive voter identification requirement from going into effect on Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Three Tennessee women sued Wal-Mart Inc. on Tuesday claiming they lost pay and promotion opportunities because of their gender.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a man who was misled into thinking he was a father and ordered the child's mother to reimburse him more than $25,000 for child support, medical expenses and insurance premiums he had paid.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A cluster of meningitis cases that left two people dead in Nashville is under investigation by the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is looking more resilient, thanks in part to encouraging signs for the two most expensive purchases most Americans make: cars and homes.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of U.S. home prices jumped 4.6 percent in August compared to a year ago, the largest year-over-year increase in more than six years.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are expected to spend more during what's traditionally the busiest shopping season of the year, but they're not exactly ready to shop 'til they drop like they have been in the past two years.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mixed signals on the world economy tugged on major stock indexes Tuesday.
The price of oil remained supported Tuesday by a report showing a rebound in U.S. manufacturing for the first time in four months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government on Tuesday threw its support behind a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase accusing Bear Stearns, the investment bank JPMorgan bought in 2008, of engaging in massive fraud in deals involving billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is acknowledging an attempt to infiltrate its computer system, but says it thwarted the effort and that no classified networks were threatened.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country star Jason Aldean has apologized to fans after pictures of him acting "inappropriately" last week popped up.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A state audit of the Board of Probation and Parole found that employees were making annual arrest checks of at least 82 dead parolees. The parolees had been dead anywhere from less than six months to more than 19 years.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Faced with the possibility of a Republican super majority in both chambers of the General Assembly, Democratic candidates are aggressively attacking their opponents in legislative races across the state.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is starting a new term that is shaping up to be as important as the last one, with the prospect of major rulings about affirmative action, gay marriage and voting rights.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you or an elderly relative have been hospitalized recently and noticed extra attention when the time came to be discharged, there's more to it than good customer service.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a wide-ranging defense Monday of the Federal Reserve's bold policies to stimulate the still-weak economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A typical middle-income family making $40,000 to $64,000 a year could see its taxes go up by $2,000 next year if lawmakers fail to renew a lengthy roster of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, according to a new report Monday
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing grew for the first time in four months, buoyed by a jump in new orders. The increase was a hopeful sign that the economy is improving.
U.S. stocks mostly rose on Monday as growth in manufacturing provided more evidence that the economy may be picking up, or at least not getting any worse.
NEW YORK (AP) — As President Barack Obama widened his lead over Mitt Romney in polls this month, traders at hedge funds and investment firms began shooting emails to clients with a similar theme: It's time to start preparing for an Obama victory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anyone puzzled by the most recent U.S. economic data has reason for feeling so: The numbers sketch a sometimes contradictory picture of the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders spent more to construct homes in August, further evidence of a housing rebound. Still, the increase couldn't offset cuts in public projects and commercial real estate.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil is higher after a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity rose in September for the first time in four months.
BERLIN (AP) — The outlook for the airline industry is improving, with profits expected to reach $4.1 billion this year and $7.5 billion in 2013, the International Air Transport Association said Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' news habits are on the move.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent tens of millions of dollars on television ads to help boost Republican congressional candidates, launched an extensive effort on Monday to mobilize voters.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Bacon lovers can relax. They'll find all they want on supermarket shelves in the coming months, though their pocketbooks may take a hit.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — It was a hard year in the bluegrass world and the loss of icons such as Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson hung over the International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday night.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Reba McEntire is ending her run as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards.
MIDSTATE
BRENTWOOD (AP) — Farm and ranch store chain Tractor Supply Co. said Thursday that James Wright will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, and President and Chief Operating Officer Gregory Sandfort will become CEO.
MEMPHIS (AP) — Eight Civil War battlefields, including Franklin, are receiving more than $2.4 million in grants to help with land acquisition.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Education Department has been awarded a federal grant for more than $5.5 million to improve pay structures and provide greater professional opportunities to teachers in high-poverty schools.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Dolly Parton says she won't be involved in a planned water and snow park project in Nashville.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Health care company HCA is relocating the headquarters of two of its business units to midtown Nashville in a move that could bring as many as 2,000 jobs to one of the largest commercial office developments in the city's history.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Surprise! The top-performing stock among automakers in the U.S. this quarter is General Motors.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Higher stock prices and rising home values boosted a measure of consumer confidence in September to its second-highest level in nearly five years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans boosted their spending in August even though their income barely grew. Much of the spending increase went to pay higher gas prices, which may have forced consumers to cut back elsewhere.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America says it has agreed to pay $2.43 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit related to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is putting pressure on the Securities and Exchange Commission to overhaul its rules for money-market mutual funds.
Stocks posted solid gains for the third quarter, although the ride got bumpy at the end.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil ended the third quarter with a slight gain as investors weighed whether the world economy could pull out of the doldrums.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company is "extremely sorry" for the frustration its Maps application has caused and it's doing everything it can to make it better. In the meantime, he recommended that people use competing map applications to get around.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — When The Times-Picayune decided to print three days a week, a nearby publication saw a chance to expand in the newspaper's backyard and fill a void that for some in the New Orleans area is as much a part of the morning routine as beignets and French coffee.
The Food and Drug Administration is warning U.S. consumers that the vast majority of Internet pharmacies are fraudulent and likely are selling counterfeit drugs that could harm them.
Walgreen says its fiscal fourth quarter net income tumbled 55 percent compared to a year ago when the drugstore operator recorded a big gain from a business sale. Its adjusted earnings still trumped Wall Street expectations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At first glance, a batch of U.S. economic data released Thursday looked dispiriting. Companies slashed orders for factory goods. The government cut its most recent growth estimate. And fewer people signed contracts to buy homes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell again to new record lows. The decline suggests the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts may be having an impact on mortgage rates.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service, on the brink of default on a second multibillion-dollar payment it can't afford to pay, is sounding a new cautionary note that having squeezed out all the cost savings within its power, the mail agency's viability now lies almost entirely with Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS needs to take a closer look at the federal government in its search for tax scofflaws.