News money 2008-05-18 Andanh.com

Larry Bird's former home to be resort Sun, 18 May 2008 03:50:00 EST
Fans of basketball legend Larry Bird will soon be able to sleep in the star's former bedroom, relax in his extra-long leather chair and take a dip in his old swimming pool -- for a price.

Widower urges new insurer law Sun, 18 May 2008 02:32:00 EST
When Jenny and John Crowley learned that they were having a baby, the couple did the responsible thing: They bought life insurance. Barely in their 30s, they passed the insurance company's physicals and, applied for a $500,000 policy for Jenny and a $1 million policy for John.

Smarter electric grid could power savings Sat, 17 May 2008 23:26:00 EST
The glowing amber dot on a light switch in the entryway of George Tsapoitis' house offers a clue about the future of electricity. A few times this summer, when millions of air conditioners strain the Toronto region's power grid, that pencil-tip-sized amber dot will blink.

PayPal-only plan by eBay draws fire Sat, 17 May 2008 22:42:00 EST
Web seller eBay is exploring whether to require customers to use its online payment service PayPal, a move that has angered users and prompted antitrust scrutiny in Australia, where a PayPal-only rule takes effect next month.

Waiting for a sign Sat, 17 May 2008 23:27:00 EST
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reportedly hasn't had talks with Microsoft, but the two sides appear to have similar thoughts as to who should be on the board at Internet pioneer Yahoo.

Sliding electric rates an option Sat, 17 May 2008 22:46:00 EST
Determined to cut his electricity bill, Darrell Brubaker began raising his air conditioner's thermostat and cooking more on a grill. But the key to maximum savings -- as much as 6 percent a month last summer -- was his grasp of the state of the electrical grid and his family's willingness to adjust their power use accordingly.

Weaning Americans off debt is group goal Sat, 17 May 2008 22:48:00 EST
A coalition of consumer advocates, public policy groups and academics wants to attack our dependence on debt by creating a national campaign much like the one used to curb smoking.

Funds keep faith, profits by avoiding financials Sat, 17 May 2008 22:47:00 EST
Moazzam Ahmed tried for years to square his investment goals with the tenets of Islam. "There was a lot of research that I had to do on my own," he said, referring to the time he spent poring over potential investments to weed out objectionable businesses.

Practices on personal employee data vary Sat, 17 May 2008 22:48:00 EST
What happens to the personal information my employer has when I leave?

Casino chief gambles on market Sat, 17 May 2008 22:47:00 EST
Chief Executive Terry Lanni said the casino company plans to push ahead with new projects even after construction costs and a troubled economy sent its first-quarter profit tumbling 30 percent.

GE puts for sale sign on Appliance Park Sat, 17 May 2008 02:04 EDT
They hung on during years of downsizing, but now the few thousand people working at GE's sprawling Appliance Park face even greater uncertainty with the company's plans to sell or spin off its appliance business.

Word that General Electric Co. might shed its appliance division, headquartered in Louisville, sent ripples through the work force and all the way to city hall and the governor's office in Frankfort.

State and local officials met with GE executives Friday then tried to put a positive face on the uncertainty at Appliance Park, an approximately 900-acre operation so big it has its own ZIP code.

"I think we've got a lot to sell, and we just need to take advantage of that opportunity," said Larry Hayes, secretary of Gov. Steve Beshear's executive cabinet.

Some GE workers said they were blindsided by the news and talked about tightening their belts amid the worries of keeping their jobs in a struggling economy.

Purge might extend to lighting and NBC Sat, 17 May 2008 02:04 EDT
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- General Electric Co. plans to sell or spin off the appliance business that for a century has put refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers in American homes in a move that some analysts say shows one of the world's largest companies may shed other cherished assets.

The industrial conglomerate said in a statement Friday the move is part of an ongoing plan to exit "slower growth and more volatile businesses."

Last year, Fairfield, Conn.-based GE shed its underperforming plastics business by selling it to a Saudi Arabian company for $11.6 billion.

"We think this is further recognition the company needs to exit the slow and no-growth businesses," said Robert Schenosky, an industrial analyst with Jefferies & Co. in New York who has long favored such moves. "It's a recognition that there is not anything that is untouchable at this point."

Schenosky said it's hard to predict what else GE might sell.

Apartments give housing market an April boost Sat, 17 May 2008 02:04 EDT
Construction of new homes increased by the biggest percentage in more than two years in April, a rare spot of good news amid the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.

Analysts, however, played down the increase, noting that all the strength came from the volatile apartment sector. They said the painful housing slump is far from over as a record flood of foreclosures continues to add to the sizable stockpile of unsold homes.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that housing construction rose by 8.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. While apartment construction rose by 36 percent, building in the much larger single-family sector of the market fell by 1.7 percent, the 12th consecutive monthly decline, pushing single-family activity down to a 16-year low.

"It is definitely too early to uncork the champagne on the long and winding road to more healthy housing-market conditions," said Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight. He said he did not expect housing activity to stabilize until the end of this year.

Len Blum, managing director of investment bank Westwood Capital, said the slump in housing will run for another year because of a number of problems, from banks tightening up on lending standards to the reluctance of many people to commit to a home purchase at a time when home prices are still falling.

Business notes Sat, 17 May 2008 07:32 EDT
NATIONAL

N.Y. AIRPORTS TO FIGHT DELAYS

A week before Memorial Day travelers hit the airports, the Transportation Department announced Friday proposals to ease delays emanating from the New York City-area's congested airports, avoid widespread aircraft groundings and better inform travelers about prices and delays. The plans call for:

.. Slot auctions at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, similar to those proposed last month at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Existing carriers would be forced to auction off some of their slots at the airports.

.. Airlines and travel agents must disclose fees for checking a second bag in their online and print ads, and before anyone purchases a ticket.

Recycling options lag the compact fluorescent push Sun, 18 May 2008 14:13 EDT
It's a message being drummed into the heads of homeowners everywhere: Swap out those incandescent lights with longer-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs and cut your electric use.

Governments, utilities, environmentalists and, of course, retailers everywhere are spreading the word.

Few, however, are volunteering to collect the mercury-laced bulbs for recycling - despite what public officials and others say is a potential health hazard if the hundreds of millions of them being sold are tossed in the trash and end up in landfills and incinerators.

For now, much of the nation has no real recycling network for CFLs, despite the ubiquitous PR campaigns, rebates and giveaways encouraging people to adopt the swirly darlings of the energy-conscious movement. Recyclers and others guess that only a small fraction of CFLs sold in the United States are recycled, while the rest are put out with household trash or otherwise discarded.

"In most parts of the country, it requires getting in your car and burning up your gas and going out of your way, a long ways, and people are unlikely to do this," said Paul Abernathy, the executive director of the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers in Calistoga, Calif.

Chrysler, GM workers in Canada ratify 3-year deals Sun, 18 May 2008 13:48 EDT
Canadian Auto Workers at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have ratified a new labor agreement, wrapping up this year's round of negotiations between the CAW and the major automakers.

CAW members at Chrysler's three Ontario-based plants voted 87 percent in favor of the new agreement Saturday, making it the strongest approval rating among the three giant auto companies. GM workers voted 84 percent in favor of its new agreement earlier Saturday, and Ford Motor Co. workers voted 67 percent in support of its new contract two weeks ago.

CAW President Buzz Hargrove said the strong approval by the membership is evidence that the union did the right thing in negotiating an early settlement.

"I have no doubt in my mind that going into early bargaining with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler was the best thing for our members," Hargrove said in a statement Saturday. "With the new product commitments contained in the agreement, our members will be better equipped to weather the economic storm currently devastating the auto industry."

The union reached historically early tentative agreements Thursday with both GM and Chrysler, replacing contracts that expire in September.

Investors gird for higher oil, bleak housing data Sun, 18 May 2008 14:38 EDT
The rising price of oil isn't just swelling Americans' energy bills - it's also holding back their stock portfolios.

Wall Street got some seemingly auspicious signs last week about home construction and consumer level inflation. But with oil climbing to new records, and more reports expected this week on rising prices and the housing market, investors are holding on to a conservative stance.

Oil's stubborn trek to record highs is a major reason why investors have yet to push the major indexes into positive territory for the year. Just this month, crude has so far tacked on about $13 to breach $127 a barrel, while the price of a gallon of gasoline for the average U.S. driver has soared 17 cents to nearly $3.79.

Those price surges cast an air of skepticism over last week's report from the Labor Department showing a modest 0.2 percent uptick in consumer prices in April.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department's upbeat report on housing starts also met with some doubt among investors, particularly because the huge rise was due mostly to apartment construction, which can vary widely from month to month.

American Axle workers get details of contract Sun, 18 May 2008 14:03 EDT
American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. workers on Sunday learned details of a tentative contract that could settle an 11-week strike by the United Auto Workers union.

Workers gathered at a high school to hear information about Friday's agreement. Afterward, a UAW local president said General Motors Corp. was key in reaching the deal, kicking in an extra $18 million on Friday to get the agreement in addition to $200 million that it already had offered to pay.

A summary of the contract distributed by the union included base pay of $18.50 per hour for Detroit workers. That's a cut from $28 per hour for production workers, but better than the $17 per hour the auto parts supplier had been offering.

The summary also said there is a $5,000 bonus for signing the contract. And buyouts being offered include $85,000 for someone with less than 10 years with the company and $140,000 for a worker with more.

An offer of a $55,000 early retirement bonus also was included in the proposed contract.

EBRD: Inflation hitting Eastern Europe hard Sun, 18 May 2008 13:53 EDT
Rising inflation is severely hurting Ukraine and other Eastern European nations, while the global credit crunch will slow growth in those countries dramatically in coming months, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said Sunday.

"Inflation, now in double digits in many countries, is the region's most pressing current problem. If left unaddressed, inflation could risk price-wage spirals, exchange rate realignments, or could force a belated and sharp response by monetary policy," the bank said in a statement.

Gathering in Kiev for their two-day annual meeting, bank officials were scheduled to discuss the impact of global economic turmoil and soaring food prices, among other topics.

The worldwide credit crunch could sharply pinch markets in ex-Soviet bloc nations, and as a result, the bank said it had downgraded gross domestic product growth projections for Ukraine and other countries.

Overall growth of 6 percent is expected in Eastern Europe this year, compared with 7.3 percent in 2007, the bank said.

Chinese Dir