Spring is here and without all the pricey flight costs. Fortunately this season, there are some easy ways to cut down on your airfare.
First, if sand and surf isn't a requirement, look into some popular winter-destinations to take advantage of great end-of-season markdowns. Cities like Denver, Vancouver, Salt Lake City and Montreal are known for their scenic beauty, have a lot more to offer in than pristine ski slopes. Plus, since many vacationers will be headed to crowded beach-resorts, you'll be able to reap in the savings with off-peak rates.
Next, when looking for flights, try expanding your search to include alternate airports to potentially lower your airfare. For instance, Long Beach Airport is only a 30-minute drive from LAX, but the average ticket price there is over 50 percent cheaper. While costs will vary depending on where you're going, checking every nearby airport before you book your ticket can really pay off.
Lastly, since timing is everything, always review your calendar when planning your spring trip. According to Hooper.com, traveling during the weeks of March 16 and March 23 could be up to 35 percent more expensive. Booking your tickets at least 15 days in advance is also important -- waiting until the last minute could cost you up to 60 percent more.
Another tip: if you can, avoid flying on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, since those days tend to be the most expensive, and be sure to use sites like Kayak.com to compare flight costs before you buy. Remember, your airfare doesn't always have to come with a sky-high price.
Lauren Victoria Burke/APFCC Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday.By ANNE FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans on Tuesday accused the Federal Communications Commission of bowing to White House pressure on its "net neutrality" decision, which has angered the nation's cable and wireless giants. They said the agency's inspector general has opened an investigation into whether the FCC had violated any rules.
Samples of 1,600 pages of emails and other documents released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- while falling short of any blatant impropriety -- raise questions about whether senior Obama aides went to unusual lengths to engage independent regulators on a popular issue, and if the FCC gave these aides too much access to internal deliberations while shutting out Congress.
"A president should be able to weigh in, make his opinions known. I don't have a problem with that. But this seems to be very one-sided," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Still, the political sparring on Capitol Hill was unlikely to affect the recent decision by the FCC to impose tough new regulations on Internet service providers.
Chaffetz said he had been told that the FCC Inspector General's office launched an investigation into the agency's deliberations process on its net neutrality decision. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he was not aware of any investigation, but said he would cooperate.
There were no secret instructions from the White House. I did not, as CEO of an independent agency, feel obligated to follow the president's recommendation.
Jay Keithley, assistant IG for investigations at the FCC, said he could neither "confirm nor deny" any ongoing investigations.
An openly defiant Wheeler told the House committee that keeping the White House up to date on FCC dealings isn't unusual and that he won't apologize for what he considers a transparent deliberations process.
"There were no secret instructions from the White House," Wheeler told the committee. "I did not, as CEO of an independent agency, feel obligated to follow the president's recommendation."
Much of the focus was on behind-the-scenes talks last year among lobbyists, agency staffers and White House aides as Wheeler struggled with how exactly to regulate Internet service. A court had knocked down the FCC's previous legal approach, which had prohibited cable and wireless companies from blocking or slowing Internet traffic. The idea is known as net neutrality because it suggests Internet service providers shouldn't discriminate against various web traffic.
On one hand were Internet activists who wanted regulators to treat the Internet much like the telephone, applying Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. This would require that companies act in the public's best interest and not employ unfair business practices.
Industry officials warned this approach would be much too drastic and could freeze infrastructure investments.
'Brutal Story'
Throughout the process, Wheeler gave the White House a front-row seat to the deliberations process, according to the emails. In one April 2014 email exchange, Wheeler loops in John Podesta, a close aide to Obama, denouncing a story by The New York Times that suggested the FCC would be too soft on net neutrality.
"Brutal story. Somebody going on the record to push back?" Podesta asks Wheeler in an email.
Wheeler responds: "Yes. I did with a statement similar to what I emailed you."
Contact between the FCC and the White House escalated in the fall. On Nov. 6, Obama's top assistant on economic policy -- Jeffrey Zients -- took the unusual step of meeting with Wheeler on the chairman's turf at FCC headquarters. Zients told Wheeler that the president planned to call out the FCC to impose Title II rules.
The meeting raised some eyebrows. An AT&T lobbyist's email to a top Wheeler aide suggested it was "bad for any semblance of agency independence." The FCC aide, Philip Verveer, circulated the commentary among his colleagues with the note "FYI."
'Saving the Internet'
Four days later, Obama released his YouTube video announcing his support for Title II. That same morning, a group of civilian protesters were outside Wheeler's house blocking his car. Wheeler notes the timing cynically in an email that day to top aides.
"FYI. Isn't it interesting," Wheeler wrote. "The day of the [net neutrality] demonstration just happens to be the day folks take action at my house" and after the White House sends an email to its supporter list calling on "anyone who cares about saving the Internet."
"Hmmm..." he concludes, signing his email "T."
While Wheeler was exchanging emails and meeting with Obama's aides, he declined to testify before Congress or pass along documents until after his decision was made.
"I think Mr. Zients on Nov. 6th, strong-armed you," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.
Helen Sloan/HBO/APHBO Now, with its hit "Game of Thrones" will be an Apple TV exclusive.
The battle to be the set-top device fueling your home theater's streaming experience just got more interesting. Apple (AAPL) made two big announcements last week that should help boost sales of Apple TV.
The first game changer is that the consumer tech giant is slashing the price of Apple TV by 30 percent, going from $99 to $69. This will make the video streaming device more competitive with cheaper rivals. The other big announcement is that Time Warner's (TWX) HBO Now -- the premium movie channel's first standalone digital offering -- will be offered exclusively through Apple TV.
The Apple TV announcements may have been overshadowed by the Apple Watch unveiling, but there's no denying that Apple can stand to make up some ground in the push for home entertainment.
Reality Television
The original Apple TV hit the market in 2007. It was too early, and the hard drive-packing devices were too expensive, with a starting price of $299. Apple cut the price by $70 a few months later, and that still wasn't enough.
Apple finally seemed to get it right in 2010 when the second generation of the device hit the market at $99. Between support for leading third-party applications and the iTunes library of digital video purchases and rentals, it seemed as if Apple would corner this market. It didn't happen. Pioneer Roku became aggressive with its price cuts, and Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Chromecast and Amazon's (AMZN) Fire TV Stick followed with dirt cheap streaming gadgetry.
Amazon had originally rolled out Fire TV last year, a $99 device that raised the bar by incorporating a remote with voice recognition and the ability to play games. Amazon followed with the $39 Fire TV Stick a few months later, in time for the holidays and ready to battle the $35 Chromecast.
Apple TV at $69 isn't going to be enough to compete with the other gadgets at roughly half that price, but then we have the HBO Now wildcard to consider.
HB-Oh
HBO isn't cheap. It's only available in this country to folks on top of existing cable and satellite television subscriptions, making it even more expensive. HBO's flagship streaming service -- HBOGo -- is only available to folks already paying for the premium service.
Bowing to pressure, HBO announced that it would be rolling out a stand-alone streaming service later this year that wouldn't require an existing subscription. Last week it announced that the platform -- HBO Now -- would launch exclusively on Apple products next month.
We're not talking about total exclusivity here. We learned on Monday that cable provider Cablevision (CVC) will make HBO Now available to its broadband customers who don't have cable deals. It's a smart way to reach out to cord-cutters who still rely on the company for Internet connectivity. However, Apple's exclusivity in the realm of streaming boxes will make it a compelling choice for fans of "Game of Thrones" and "True Detective."
It won't stop here. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Apple is in talks with major networks to roll out a digital television product along the lines of Sling TV. This could be another big reason to warm up to Apple TV, taking advantage of the new $69 price to bring your home theater into the digital age with a platform on the rise.
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple and Google (A and C shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. Want to make 2015your best investing year ever? Check out The Motley Fool'sone great stock to buy for 2015 and beyond.
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Trader Joe's is recalling a variety of raw walnut products after testing found salmonella in some packages, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday.
A contractor performing testing for the FDA detected salmonella "in certain packages" of Trader Joe's Raw Walnuts, the agency said. Trader Joe's said it has removed all of the products from its stores and will not sell them while the investigation by the FDA and the manufacturer about what led to the contamination continues.
Trader Joe's said it has not received any reports of any consumers getting sick after eating the walnuts, which were sold nationwide. Salmonella can cause a variety of gastrointestinal problems including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems can develop more serious reactions, which could prove fatal, the FDA said.
The products being recalled include Trader Joe's Nuts Raw California Walnut Halves & Pieces, Trader Joe's Nuts Raw California Walnut Baking Pieces, Trader Joe's Nuts Raw California Premium Walnut Halves, Trader Joe's Organic Raw Walnut Halves & Pieces and Trader Joe's Nuts Raw California Walnut Pieces. A full list with the UPC codes and "best by" dates can be found on the FDA's recall site.
If you have any of the recalled walnut products, do not eat them. They can be returned to any Trader Joe's for a full refund. Consumers with questions can call Trader Joe's Customer Relations weekdays between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern at 626-599-3817.
Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty ImagesFederal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prepares to testify last month before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.By JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON -- Just as the Federal Reserve seems to be inching toward an interest rate hike because of the strengthening U.S. job market, its task is getting more complicated.
Several key sectors of the economy are flashing some signs of weakness.
Housing, manufacturing and consumer spending -- the U.S. economy's main driver -- have been tepid of late. The pace of home building plunged in February. Factory output is slowing as a rising dollar makes U.S. goods costlier overseas and weakens exports. And retail sales remain sluggish, with Americans spending less at stores and restaurants last month.
The main engine of strength has been the U.S. job market. Employers have added more than 200,000 jobs for 12 straight months, and unemployment has reached a seven-year low of 5.5 percent, a rate typical of a healthy job market.
We're not in an economy that is fully firing on all cylinders.
Yet annual wage growth remains stuck at 2 percent, a level that can't support robust gains in consumer spending and home purchases. Recently announced pay increases by Walmart (WMT), Gap (GPS) and other retailers have been modest and have yet to circulate through the economy. It's hardly surprising, then, that critical pieces of the economy remain troubled almost six years into the recovery from the worst financial catastrophe since the Great Depression.
"We're not in an economy that is fully firing on all cylinders," said Gregory Daco, an analyst at Oxford Economics. "Wage growth is still hesitant, and that has been the key element holding back the recovery."
Many economists blame, in part, snowstorms and freezing temperatures for the economy's lackluster winter. Their theory will be tested as spring arrives. If the economy fails to pick up, it may lack the vigor that Fed officials want to see before raising their key short-term rate from a record low near zero, where it's remained since 2008.
On Wednesday, after the Fed ends a policy meeting, it's expected to drop the word "patient" from a statement describing its outlook for a rate increase. That would signal its intent to link an eventual rate increase solely to the most recent economic data and not to a preset timetable.
Many investors expect a rate hike as early as June. But an increase that soon might require the economy to accelerate in the next few months - and possibly for unusually low inflation to rise closer to the Fed's 2 percent target rate.
'Muddied' Picture
"The picture is a little muddied right now," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan Chase (JPM). "The more data we get, the more we will know."
Recent economic reports have led some analysts to downgrade their outlook for growth in the first three months of 2015. The forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers projects growth an annualized rate of just 1.6 percent in the first quarter, down sharply from 2.2 percent in the final three months of 2014 and from a galloping 4.8 percent rate over the spring and summer.
Weather has previously derailed the economy. In January 2014, the "polar vortex" was enough to cause the economy to shrink during that year's first quarter. This time, winter storms struck mainly in February, blanketing much of the Atlantic seaboard in snow drifts and ice.
"We've had snowfalls that have exceeded seasonable norms in many parts of the country," said Anika Khan, a senior economist at Wells Fargo (WFC). "We should see some rebound in the coming months."
On Tuesday, the government said the pace of housing starts plummeted 17 percent in February from January's rate. Home construction slid 56.5 percent in the Northeast and 37 percent in the Midwest, the two regions that endured the brunt of the winter storms.
But sales also fell 18.2 percent in the West and 2.5 percent in the South, evidence that steady job growth, cheaper energy and relatively low mortgage rates have yet to spur much construction.
A gauge of homebuilder sentiment issued this week by the National Association of Home Builders slipped for a third straight time to 53. Readings above 50 indicate that more builders view sales conditions as good, though the index showed a drop in buyer traffic.
Weak Retail Sales
Retail sales have fallen for three consecutive months. The declines in February occurred at electronics and appliances stores, in addition to restaurants and a category that includes department stores and big discounters such as Walmart.
Lower gasoline prices have yet to spark more consumer spending. Instead, many Americans appear to be repaying debt and pocketing their gains, with the savings rate reaching its highest level in nearly two years.
Auto production has also slowed and is holding down overall factory output. Economists say additional consumer spending would be needed for factories to ramp up production.
The optimistic view is that continued strong hiring will produce pay increases and broader economic strength in coming months.
The jobs numbers "should be positive factors in terms of security and economic growth," said JPMorgan Chase's Silver. "But we haven't seen it provide a nice boost so far."
NEW YORK -- Facebook's Messenger app will soon let you send your friends money, the latest in a crowded field of services aimed at an increasingly wireless and cashless generation.
Services including PayPal, its Venmo unit and the disappearing-photo app Snapchat let you beam money to friends and family using smartphones linked to bank accounts or credit cards.
Facebook's entry, announced Tuesday, is free, works with debit cards and is available on Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) Android mobile devices and on desktop computers.
The world's largest social network will process the payments and emphasized the service's security features.
Facebook (FB) will likely expand internationally after the service becomes available to U.S. users over the coming months.
To send money, Messenger users can tap a new "$'' icon that's next to the buttons that let you send photos, stickers or a thumbs up sign. Then, enter the amount you want to send, tap "pay" on the top right corner and enter your debit card number. To receive money for the first time, enter the card number.
Once you add your card number, you can create a pin code that you will need to enter the next time you want to send money. On Apple devices that have Touch ID, you can enable this instead and authorize transactions using your fingerprint.
To help allay concerns about security, Facebook noted that it handles more than a million payments transactions on its site every day for its advertisers and game players.
Its payments systems are stored separately from other parts of the Facebook network and receive additional monitoring and control, the company said in a blog post Tuesday.
The Dow and S&P 500 fell Tuesday as commodity-related shares declined and nervousness increased ahead of a Federal Reserve statement, while the Nasdaq ended higher.
Stocks cut losses in afternoon trading, led by a rise in tech shares. The S&P 500 technology index was up 0.1 percent, helped by gains in Apple (AAPL), up 1.7 percent at $127.04, and Facebook (FB), up 1.7 percent at $79.36.
After the bell, shares of Oracle (ORCL) rose 3.4 percent to $44.33 following results.
Investors were anxious as the Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its two-day meeting, to be followed by a statement from Chair Janet Yellen Wednesday afternoon.
"If they're still on pace for a mid-year move, whatever language they use doesn't make a difference," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Among S&P 500 sectors, materials was the weakest with a 1.2 percent decline, led by DuPont, down 3.1 percent at $74.68. The energy sector was down 0.5 percent as oil prices fell further, pressured by concerns over a growing supply glut.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) fell 128.34 points, or 0.71 percent, to 17,849.08, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GSPC) lost 6.99 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,074.2 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 7.93 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,937.44.
The benchmark S&P 500 index Monday had seen its biggest percentage gain since Feb. 3.
While higher rates are a sign of strength in the U.S. economy, some investors question whether the economy is strong enough to handle the increased borrowing costs.
Stocks Making News
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) weighed most heavily on the S&P 500 with a 1.2 percent decline to $99.89.
Also boosting the Nasdaq, shares in American Airlines (AAL) rose 6.9 percent to $53.69 after an announcement that it would join the S&P 500.
About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 6.6 billion average for the month to date, according to BATS Global Markets.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,607 to 1,429, for a 1.12-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,384 issues rose and 1,330 fell, for a 1.04-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq composite recorded 112 new highs and 62 new lows.
What to watch Wednesday:
Federal Reserve policymakers meet to set interest rates, followed by a statement and projections at 2 p.m. Eastern time and a press conference at 2:30 p.m.
Earnings Season
These selected companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results:
E-commerce continues to increase in popularity, bringing in a bigger share of retail sales in recent years, which is driving many retailers to shutter stores, 24/7 Wall St. reports.
While total U.S. retail sales grew 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter in 2013, e-commerce sales jumped 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter. One year earlier, total sales grew 3.8 percent year-over-year, while e-commerce sales increased 16 percent. According to 24/7 Wall St., these 10 companies are closing the most stores:
Abercrombie & Fitch. 60 stores closing in 2015.
Aeropostale. 126 stores to be closed in 2015. It also shuttered 120 stores in 2014.
Barnes & Noble. "So far, Barnes & Noble has at least managed to close many of its stores upon the termination of the lease period. In doing so, the bookseller has managed to avoid taking major losses from store closures," 24/7 Wall St. said.
Office Depot. After merging with OfficeMax in 2013, Office Depot elected to close 400 stores through 2016. Now it's on the way to being bought by Staples.
RadioShack. The company declared bankruptcy and announced it would sell 1,500 to 2,400 of its 4,000 company-owned stores to General Wireless.
Sears Holdings. 235 stores (the majority Kmarts) to be closed in 2015.
Do any of the store closures come as a surprise to you? Have any of the companies shuttered stores in your area? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page. Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you a regular digest of our newest stories, full of money saving tips and advice, free! We'll also email you a PDF of Stacy Johnson's "205 Ways to Save Money" as soon as you've subscribed. It's full of great tips that'll help you save a ton of extra cash.
Karen Roach/ShutterstockPsst! Want to make a quick buck from your stock portfolio? Well, there's a small company that'll pay cash for shares you own if you're one of the lucky few who can get in on its offer. Move fast, though, because this hot deal might not last.
Does that sound like the language of a hustle? Well, according to many finance professionals and experts, it is.
Over the past few years a host of "mini-tender" offers have landed on the market. Although they are technically legal, they prey on ignorant investors to make a quick buck. Here's the skinny on them.
Legal Tender
A standard tender offer is a straightforward (and fairly common) financial instrument.
An entity aiming to acquire a percentage of control of a publicly traded company makes a formal bid to solicit shares from existing shareholders, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the terms of the offer clearly enumerated. Among other investor protections, once the offer is made, those who have accepted it may withdraw if a more favorable bid is made by another party.
Stock tenders almost always offer a premium to the current share price; after all, the bidder has to entice people to sell their stock.
In contrast, the intention of a mini-tender offer is not to gain a controlling position in a company. There's a solid (and very shady) reason for this -- bids for less than 5 percent of the outstanding shares of a company do not have to comply with the SEC's rules for standard tender offers.
In this case, investor protections are basically nonexistent. As if that weren't scary enough, the entity making the offer is also not required to file paperwork with the SEC. It doesn't even have to notify the target company.
Essentially, mini-tender offers are sneaky attempts at grabbing fistfuls of shares cheaply. Almost always, the offer is for notably less than the current stock price -- all the better for the offering party to turn around and sell the tendered stock for an instant profit on the open market.
In the Dark
This, of course, raises a question: Why the heck would anyone want to sell their shares for less than they're worth?
Well, there is a lot of blind money in the market. For various reasons, some investors know dangerously little about the value of the stock they own, or even how share trading works. These unsuspecting souls are choice targets for the mini-tender guys.
The way it works is generally this: An offer is announced, and it makes the rounds via an impressive-looking and formally worded document detailing the offer price and the stipulations. It's usually fairly long, likely to reduce the chance of the reader digging too deeply into the latter section -- home of the typically very restrictive conditions of the sale.
There is usually little to no commitment from the offering party. It's often allowed to withdraw at any time without penalty, or extend the term of the bid to its advantage (if market price of the shares dips below the offer price, the bidder can then extend until the stocks rise back to or above said offer price).
Big Targets
Mini-tenders usually target large, well-known companies that have many shares outstanding and a very wide investor base -- more stockholders, after all, means more potential suckers.
Numerous top stock-exchange names have been the target of mini-tenders. One of the latest is McDonald's (MCD). This past January, TRC Capital, an obscure Canadian firm responsible for a great many mini-tenders, offered to purchase up to 1.5 million shares (less than 0.2 percent of the outstanding amount) of the fast-food giant. The bid price was $86.80 per share -- more than 4 percent below the market price.
Late last year, TRC Capital made a solicitation for Target (TGT) shares, offering $59 apiece for up to 2 million shares (0.32 percent of outstanding shares). As with the McDonald's play, that price was 4.5 percent lower than market.
Know the Intel
Mini-tenders are basically a no-lose proposition for those launching them and a guaranteed way for accepting shareholders to get shortchanged.
Want to see a specimen of a mini-tender? The Financial Times has uploaded here a 2013 offer made by TRC Capital for shares of Intel (INTC). Lowball offer price? Check. Option for the offering party to extend? Affirmative. Total shares solicited under 5 percent of the outstanding amount? Yep. Many red flags are flying high on this one.
The mini-tender is a lazy, get-rich-quick scheme that relies on ignorance. We should all be aware of this unscrupulous practice, and be sure not to let its purveyors take our money.
Jeremy Pembrey/Alamy
Walt Disney (DIS) has some big changes in the works for its least-visited theme park in Florida, and the first step appears to be a new name. Disney CEO Bob Iger let the cat out of the bag during last week's annual shareholder meeting when a 6-year-old asked if a new moniker was in the works for Disney's Hollywood Studios.
"We're doing some significant work there right now that I guess will result in a name change," he responded before checking with his fellow executives to see how much he could reveal. "We'll announce that we're changing the name, but we won't announce what we're changing it to. How's that?"
That was enough to send Disney fans and theme park enthusiasts into a frenzy, sifting through the possibilities of what the family entertainment giant can do with the park that hasn't kept up with the rest of its gated attractions in Florida.
The Rise and Stall of a Theme Park
Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, themed to the golden age of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The flagship attraction -- The Great Movie Ride -- would whisk visitors through scenes from "Casablanca," "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Wizard of Oz." Other shows and attractions would celebrate everything from audio engineering to animation.
The park eventually gravitated toward thrill rides, setting itself apart from Disney's first two Florida theme parks with the addition of the Tower of Terror drop-tower attraction in 1994 and the Rock 'n' Roller coaster in 1999. The combination of thrills for teens and live shows for older audiences seemed to make the park distinctive, even if it ultimately resulted in comparisons to Universal Studios Florida -- now owned by Comcast (CMCSK) -- a few miles away.
Disney ended its licensing deal with Tinseltown icon MGM in 2008, changing the park's name to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was Disney's third most visited theme park in Florida at the time, but two years later it would be passed up by Disney's Animal Kingdom.
All of Disney's parks are enjoying record turnstile clicks these days, but Disney's Hollywood Studios has seen its attendance climb just 5.2 percent between 2008 and 2013, according to industry tracker Themed Entertainment Association. That's significantly slower than the 8.9 percent and 6.9 percent upticks in attendance at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, respectively, and well behind the 13.3 percent surge at Universal Studios Florida.
It's Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better
It's not a surprise to see Disney turn its attention to the meandering park, and it won't be a surprise if it continues to suffer in the near term. Disney's Hollywood Studios has closed several attractions in recent months. The Studio Backlot Tour, American Idol Experience, and The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow have all been shuttered, and Disney has been mum on replacements. Fewer rides and attractions can lead to longer lines elsewhere, so it wouldn't be a surprise if guests duck out early or avoid the park entirely this summer. No major magnetic additions beyond temporary "Frozen" attractions are likely until next year at the earliest.
Speculation is the one thing that isn't in short supply. Disney has spent billions on acquiring Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm in recent years, and it wouldn't be a surprise if those properties play a starring role in the park's makeover. Industry rumor hub Screamscape.com has been detailing the chatter of a Star Wars area or an expansion of the Pixar properties. Tack on Marvel and repositioning the park as "Hollywood Heroes" makes sense, but Disney is limited for now in what it can do with its Marvel characters.
Marvel struck a deal with Universal before being acquired by Disney, giving Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure exclusivity in Florida to the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four franchises. Those are Marvel's biggest properties, limiting what Disney can do on that front unless a deal is brokered between the two theme park rivals. However, giving Disney's Hollywood Studios a lift by incorporating Star Wars, Pixar, and select Marvel characters could be just the ticket to breathe new life into a park that's been stagnant.
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. Looking for a winner for your portfolio? Check out The Motley Fool's one great stock to buy for 2015 and beyond.
To take the temperature of the economy and predict its future direction, we use figures on unemployment, inflation and GDP. Of course, we all know that traditional economic forecasts are often wide of the mark. Could it be that economists look at the wrong factors? Should they be looking instead at, say, how busy Las Vegas escort services are or how volatile street prices for illegal drugs are? Don't laugh.
A vice index that looks at exactly those sorts of measures is part of one offbeat approach to economic prognosticating that at times has done as well or better than conventional analysis on forecasting key figures like new job creation. San Francisco-area economist Andrew Zatlin, who calls himself the Moneyball Economist, promotes this alternative approach. Different measures are needed, he says, because the world is different today than when we first used such metrics to gauge the status of our financial world. Rather than measures like how much steel is being manufactured, which were critical in the Industrial Age of the last century, today we should be looking at Information-Age figures on, say, semiconductor manufacturing, he argues.
21st Century Factors
"Most of the data points people rely on are 60 years old," says Zatlin. "They don't reflect the economy. Most of the people who use these got their PhDs before the Internet was invented. It's like they're in the horse and buggy world, and we're in the auto world."
Something Zatlin and other economists agree on is that consumer spending drives the U.S. economy. They also line up with the idea that spending for luxury goods and services can be a leading indicator of where consumer spending and, therefore, the broader economy is heading. Where Zatlin differs is in what he considers luxury.
"We want to get away from this top 1 percent definition of luxury," he says. "A lot of people gamble. It's a vice that cuts through every socioeconomic grip. Same with drugs, prostitution and drinking. All are enjoyed to a greater or lesser degree by every socioeconomic group." Basically, the appetite for vice across a wide swath of the population can indicate how healthy our discretionary spending is.
The Barrier Fund
The benefits of following vice have been recognized before. A mutual fund called Barrier Fund (VICEX) "invests in drugs, alcohol, tobacco and firearms," explains Scot S. Hanson, a certified financial planner in Shoreview, Minnesota. "And it's actually a wonderful mutual fund, performance-wise."
The Barrier Fund shows a low correlation with mainstream indicators such as the S&P 500 Index (^GSPC). That, Hanson says, makes it useful for adding diversity to a portfolio. However, he stresses it's not for your whole nest egg. A balanced portfolio should have other asset classes such as large-cap, medium-cap and global equities, as well as bonds, gold and other commodities. Hanson recommends the fund for no more than 5 percent of an overall allocation in a long-term account such as an IRA or Roth IRA.
Scott A. Stratton, a certified financial planner and president of Good Life Wealth Management in Dallas, notes that reliable data on illicit activities such as illegal drugs and escort services may be hard to come by. And he cautions against basing investment decisions on any data point or set of data. The conventional measures have their uses, he says, although the torrent of digital information makes it likely new and perhaps better measures will emerge.
Trends That Google Spots
"I'm sure we will see more data becoming available and we will see growing sophistication in computer modeling that will be able to better tie together a mosaic of data, rather than finding one or two 'magic' indicators that work best," Stratton says. "I don't think we will ever reach a point where economic indicators will make investing predictable, because we can never anticipate wars, industrial accidents, weather, legislation or disruptive technologies. The science will improve, but there will still be an art to investing."
Zatlin also feels that it's important to get a feel for a culture and an economy. One way to do this is with Google Trends, which identifies the most popular Internet search terms at any moment, as well as several years back.
So what do the vice figures say about the near future? Zatlin thinks escorts, croupiers and drug dealers, along with more savory economic players, will party through the year's first half at least. After mid-year, softness could set in, but probably not before. "I'd say anything in the leisure industry is about to look really tasty," he says. "People are playing."
It's a tough call deciding when to buy a well-known name brand item over it's cheaper, generic counterpart. Very often, generic and store-brand merchandise is just as good and considerably cheaper. However, there are a number of instances where consumer tests have shown that buying generic just won't do. When purchasing these seven items, spending a little more for a name brand is worth every penny.
1. Electronics
When it comes to high priced electronics, don't mess around. If you're in the market for a big-screen TV, now is the time to go with a tried-and-true brand rather than a cheap knock-off. As the screen grows, so do discrepancies between cheap models and their pricier counterparts. The difference in picture quality and durability becomes especially noticeable at the 50-inch plus range, and according to consumer testing, you need a TV at least that big if you plan on watching sports or hosting movie nights. Sony often tops the list of best TVs, with other familiar brands like Panasonic, LG, and Samsung also making quality sets.
Unless you're a computer whiz and know how to make your own computer, you should also stick with trusted brands when buying a new PC. At the very least, this will guarantee good customer service should anything go wrong (be sure to check the warranty plan) and give you a minimum of specs that will give you a smooth-running computer out of the box. Do some research before you buy any brand to make sure you get the right model for your needs.
2. Diapers
When purchasing an item you will literally use thousands of over the course of your child's early years, it is tempting to grab the cheapest thing and move on. According to extensive tests though, you can save yourself a lot of headaches by using a trusted brand. Pampers consistently topped the list with the best absorbency and durability. Rather than risk leaks and diaper rash, why not cover your babe in the best? Consumer Reports suggests buying the biggest package possible to get the best deal.
3. Condiments
These days, you can buy pretty much any food item at the grocery store for cheaper by choosing the store brand. Often these off-brand versions are just as good, but there are a few exceptions. One example is condiments - the name-brand options consistently outperform the generic versions in taste tests. Americans have a love affair with Heinz ketchup, and frequently pick it out of blind tastings as their favorite. It has the perfect balance of tang and sweetness that french fries just can't do without. Hellman's mayonnaise is frequently at the top of everyone's mayo list, beating out generics and other brand names.
4. Batteries
When it comes to regular household alkaline batteries like AA, comparing the power and price of generic versus name brand ends up being equal. However, because name brands last much longer, they are a better choice for much-used items like your Wii remote. When replacing batteries for electronics like laptops and smartphones, buying a trusted brand is not only a better choice, it's a safer choice. Aftermarket batteries have been linked to fires, and while there isn't definitive evidence to prove that these cheap batteries are the cause, they are at least known to deliver less-than-optimal performance. Generics are not required to meet the same standards that are expected of brand-name models, and may get too hot, fail to hold a charge well or wear down quickly. Play it safe and opt for a trusted brand, especially when buying lithium ion batteries.
5. Trash Bags
No one likes taking the trash out, but how about when the bag busts on the way to the bin? Or the handles snap, sending your bundle of gross careening down the stairs? No one wants to deal with leaky garbage, so why skimp and risk it? Glad and Hefty topped Consumer Reports' list of toughest trash bags, after putting several brands through some rigorous testing. Glad easily held 50 pounds of garbage without breaking, while the Sam's Club brand only withstood 35 pounds. Even if you're not planning to regularly shove 50 pounds worth of trash into your can, it's worth the peace of mind to spend a few cents more per bag for durability.
6. Paint
With so many paint choices out there, it's hard not to pick the cheapest option and go with it. But skimping on paint can mean uneven coverage, poor adherence and a crappy finish. These problems can lead to multiple coats, which requires more paint and ends up turning your savings into a wash. It can also mean your paint job doesn't last as long, leading you to paint all over again much sooner than if you went with a trusted brand. Consumer Reports' consistently chooses Behr paints as their favorites, along with Benjamin Moore, Valspar, and Clark + Kensington.
7. Perfume
Wouldn't it be nice to smell expensive without paying top dollar? The high price of name-brand perfume is enough to force many people into purchasing counterfeit versions for themselves or as gifts. The packaging and even the initial scent of these knock-offs can be convincing, but the ingredients and lack of lasting quality shows their true scent. Many counterfeit perfumes are made with nasty chemicals, and because you are spraying them on your skin, could even be dangerous. While cheap generic perfumes may not contain the same gross ingredients as counterfeit varieties, they don't contain the complexity and long-lasting properties of high-quality scents, requiring you to use more perfume. In the end, it's worth the cost to buy a name brand perfume that will last.
Many people have already filed their taxes this year - particularly those owed refunds. Because of rising taxpayer identity theft, it's a smart idea for anyone to file quickly. However, some taxpayers are discovering the refund they thought was coming has instead has been taken to pay their student loan debt. Here's a sample of questions recently sent to Credit.com:
From Amber: Is there anything i can do to stop my whole federal refund from going to my student loans? ... I've just set up a payment plan, but I really need my refund this year.
From Peggy: I was looking forward to my tax refund as it will help with bills and much needed things for the baby. It was accepted and ... now after digging around I found out they are sending it to the U.S. Dept. of Ed. for my student loans which I thought were in deferment. Now this is causing me and my kids a hardship but they refuse to send me the refund... What can I do to get my refund owed to me?
From Luis: I heard that if your student loan is in default and they are intercepting your taxes, It goes towards interest of the loan. Getting your loan out of default you can then get the intercepted (money) back. Is this true? Is there some info on this?
First, some background: If you are in default on your federal student loans (which by definition means you are behind by 270 days or more), the Department of Education can take your tax refund using the Treasury Offset Program. This program authorizes federal payments such as tax refunds or Social Security income to be intercepted in whole or in part to pay debts owed to other federal agencies. There are some limited consumer protections, but debtors aren't always aware of them.
What Can You Do if Your Refund Was Seized?
We spoke with Jay Fleischman, a student loan and bankruptcy attorney, about what people can do. First, he said that by federal law, people who have student loans in default get a notice in advance warning that they are at risk of having any potential tax refund seized for student loan repayment. That notice contains instructions for a review of your loan information and how to avoid the offset.
If your refund is taken, you can still request a hearing. If it was taken in error, the money will be refunded. However, be aware that an error does not generally include not getting a notice; it typically would require that you be able to prove your student loan was not in default. There is a case where you will likely get a refund; more about that in a moment.
Fleischman said it's a good idea to adjust your withholdings whether you're subject to a tax refund offset of not. A large tax refund means you overpaid your taxes during the year, he notes. If you are in default on your federal student loans, you probably need that money. But at this point, there is nothing you can do to change the overwithholding from last year. Still, revisiting how much you're having withheld for taxes is a smart move for anyone who got a large refund.
An Exception
The bigger problem is how you are going to deal with the default on your student loans from now on. You'll want to get out of default and stay that way. Fortunately, there are many payment options; you should be able to make one work for you. In some cases, income-based repayment payments can be set as low as $0. And "if your circumstances are dire and expected to remain so," bankruptcy and the discharge of student loans might be options, Fleischman said.
The one case in which you are likely to be able to recover the money is if you filed jointly with a spouse, and it was the spouse's student loan that was in default. "You may be able to make an injured spouse claim," said Fleischman. For most, what is done is done. The best thing you can do is to look ahead. And if you haven't filed your tax return and expect a large refund, you may want to see what options you have to get out of default first. Being in default on a student loan can not only squeeze your budget, it can hurt your credit and cost you thousands of dollars in higher debt costs over a lifetime. You can get two of your credit scores for free, updated every month, on Credit.com to track your standing.
Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman via APTyler Droll and Brooks Buffington of Yik Yak talk during the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.By MAE ANDERSON
AUSTIN, Texas -- Music flooded into the streets around Austin's convention center as South by Southwest's music festival kicked off and the interactive portion wrapped up. The head of Google's (X) division talked about testing driverless cars and delivery drones, gender bias in tech was a hot topic and event-goers checked out the latest products and companies on the trade show floor.
Some of Google's most secretive projects like Google Glass and driverless cars have come out of its five-year-old (X) division, so attendees flooded in Tuesday to hear Astro Teller, head of the division, talk about how the most ambitious projects require a lot of failure before succeeding. Testing products in the real world is key, he said. The company drives thousands of miles on city streets every day to test how its driverless cars function in every imaginable situation. "Nothing beats going out into the real world and seeing if what a simulator says will work is actually possible," he said.
Working on creating unmanned delivery drones, Teller's team came up with a type of vehicle that sits upright and launches vertically, but there were some problems with it (Teller didn't say exactly what). Google (GOOGL) co-founder Sergey Brin gave the team five months to be able to make deliveries by drone. They did it successfully in Queensland, Australia, but decided to go in a different direction with the drone project. Still, having the deadline helped the process advance, he said, and predicted there will be news about the drones later this year.
Teller also discussed Google's most high-profile failure, Google Glass, the wearable device which Google shuttered in January after it received a tepid response from users. The problem with Glass wasn't the device itself but the way they presented it to the public, he said. "We encouraged too much attention for the program," he said. "We wanted to say to the world this is an early prototype that we think is really exciting. But we also did things that encouraged people to think of this as a finished product."
Gender Bias In Tech
The lack of gender diversity in tech received a jolt of attention after a talk on Monday between Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson, U.S. Chief Technology Officer (and former Googler) Megan Smith and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. The subject of the talk was "How Innovation Happens" but topics ranged from immigration policy, getting top tech talent to work in the government, and connectivity deserts, or areas where it's hard for people to get online. Schmidt talked over Smith several times. During the Q&A conducted via Twitter, a listener pointed out how often Schmidt had interrupted Smith -- and the audience applauded.
The panel had earlier discussed Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, who wrote the first-ever computer algorithm but isn't well known as one of the founders of technology. (Her story is described in Isaacson's book "The Innovators"). Smith said it's crucial to make women aware of women's role in developing technology.
"Diversity makes better products," said Smith. "It's debilitating to not know technical women have been part of history from the beginning."
Tech In the South
The two 24-year old founders of Yik Yak, a messaging app wildly popular with college students, are proud to be based in Atlanta. Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington told an audience on Monday that they have no plans to leave for more well-known tech hubs like Silicon Valley or New York.
"We're hometown heroes, we love Atlanta, that's where our families are from," Droll said. There's plenty of tech talent there, too, added Buffington. "Not every single engineer comes from California, a lot of them are from the East Coast," Buffington said.
Billionaire investor Steve Case, co-founder of AOL (AOL), wants to support tech companies in smaller cities, too. On Monday Case said he'll lead a bus tour across cities including Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta dubbed "The Rise of the Rest" and hold pitch competitions for tech companies. He plans to invest $500,000 in the winners.
Winklevoss Twins Talk Bitcoin
The Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, are betting the digital currency bitcoin is here to stay. The brothers, known for suing Mark Zuckerberg over the idea for Facebook, on Monday promoted their new company Gemini, which they describe as a stock market for bitcoin. It's not operational yet, but in a panel Monday the twins said the digital currency could even replace gold as a stable currency.
"There's a certain inevitability to it, it's like the missing piece of the Internet," Cameron said. Tyler pointed out that bitcoin trading is already happening in China. "America is sitting on the sidelines," he said.
Trade Show Antics
On the exhibition floor, small startups funded by Kickstarter showed off their products alongside bigger companies and organizations such as NASA and IBM (IBM). At the NASA display, attendees could wear the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift to take a tour of Mars. A small company called Exiii displayed 3D-printed prosthetic limbs. At the booth for GMO Answers, a group funded by companies including Dow Agrosciences (DOW) and Monsanto (MON) to try to improve the public's perception of genetically modified food, they were giving away potato chips made with a high-tech soybean oil called Plenish.
Giuseppe Taibi, a consultant from Lexington, Massachusetts, was perusing the trade show floor on Tuesday. He was impressed by Jamit, a device that you insert into a violin to get real-time visual feedback to help improve your playing, since his daughter is learning the violin. And he was happy to talk to the makers of Tableau, a spreadsheet program he uses. "I got to have a Q&A with an expert," he said.
He enjoys the energy and networking at South by Southwest. "There are so many great ideas and everyone is in the mood for sharing," he said. "I'm sad to leave to go back to the snow in Boston."
NEW YORK -- Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Wednesday defended the company's new "Race Together" campaign that has been criticized for being naive and even using racial tensions to boost its bottom line.
The chain, best known for its Frappaccinos, will have U.S. workers write "Race Together" on cups. Starbucks also plans to start publishing "conversation guides" on the topic, with questions like "How have your racial views evolved from those of your parents?"
During its annual meeting in Seattle, Schultz said the company is trying to use its massive reach for good: "Some in the media will criticize Starbucks for having a political agenda. Our intentions are pure."
The campaign is the latest example of a big company trying to tie its brands to big social issues. The move comes as consumer brands acknowledge that customers are increasingly drawn to companies that project a feel-good image or embrace social causes.
But it also illustrates how such efforts can fall flat if people don't see a clear correlation between the social cause and the company's products. After it was announced early this week, the Starbucks' campaign was widely ridiculed on social media by people who said it's opportunistic and inappropriate for a coffee chain to insert itself into such an important issue. Others questioned whether Starbucks executives think the chain's workers could spark productive conversations about race relations while serving lattes.
'Personally Attacked'
An executive on Starbucks' communications team, Corey duBrowa, even blocked people on Twitter (TWTR) before temporarily taking down his account. DuBrowa later said in a post on Medium that he felt he was being "personally attacked in a cascade of negativity" and that he had gotten overwhelmed.
At its annual meeting, Schultz said he didn't think Starbucks would solve the country's "centuries old problems of racism" but that he thinks it can make a difference. He said workers don't have to participate, and that stores will make customers another drink or cover up cups if they don't like the message. "This is not a marketing or P.R. exercise," Schultz said.
Laura Ries, a branding consultant based in Atlanta, said that addressing big important, issues of the day has become a way for companies to make themselves a part of the conversation. Otherwise, nobody is sitting around on Twitter discussing brands, she said.
There's nothing wrong with talking about race relations," Ries said. "But is it something people naturally associate with Starbucks?
Dove soap has generated widespread praise for its campaign celebrating "Real Beauty" by featuring women who don't look like the typical models. Always, which makes products for women, also got praise for an ad that ran during the Super Bowl seeking to empower young girls. But those were messages that had ties to the products; people don't associate their morning coffee with race.
"There's nothing wrong with talking about race relations," Ries said. "But is it something people naturally associate with Starbucks? It's not."
Starbucks board member Mellody Hobson gave a speech during the annual meeting called "Color Blind or Color Brave," in which she detailed the lack of diversity on corporate boards and recounted being mistaken for the kitchen help in the past.
Rapper-actor Common also spoke about his discomfort at riding elevators with white people, who he assumed would not acknowledge or like him. To change that, he said he decided to speak and "be present" -- and that his elevator rides have improved as a result.
Patrick Delatore, 18, a customer at a Starbucks in New York City, said a national chain might be able to help change the minds of young people who will shape the country's direction in the future.
Inserting itself into national issues is not new territory for Starbucks (). In late 2012, the chain asked workers to write "Come together" on cups to send a message to lawmakers about stalled budget negotiations.
And in 2013, the chain placed newspaper ads saying that firearms were not welcome in its cafes after they became the site of gun rallies. But the company stopped short of an outright ban.
Schultz said at the time that Starbucks was neither for nor against guns, underscoring that even a company that wants a voice in national conversations has to be careful about alienating customers.
NEW YORK -- Sony jumped into the pay-television business Wednesday with an online package of more than 50 channels starting at $50 a month. It's the most complete of the Internet-only offerings, but also the most expensive.
In the works for more than a year, the PlayStation Vue service could drive more people to drop their traditional cable or satellite TV offerings, especially as Sony touts such benefits as unlimited online storage for recordings. However, the service is initially limited to PlayStation owners in three cities, and it doesn't include ESPN, HBO and some other popular channels.
Cable or satellite packages, excluding promotions, can easily run $70 to $100 a month for hundreds of channels, including ESPN, all the major networks, scores of niche channels and one premium service such as HBO or Showtime. And you can watch shows on TVs throughout your home. Most would-be cord cutters will need to pick and choose from multiple services to cobble together all the shows they watch, and family members may not be able to watch simultaneously.
Here's a look at the menu of options -- what you get and what it costs.
Sony's PlayStation Vue
Monthly price: Starts at $50.
Live offering: Base plan with CBS, NBC and Fox broadcast channels. Cable channels from Discovery, Fox, NBCUniversal, Scripps, Turner and Viacom. AMC channels coming in April. Additional sports and other channels for $10 or $20 more. More than 50 channels in basic; more than 85 in all. Main omissions: CW network and Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC.
On demand: Recording capabilities with unlimited storage, though shows expire after 28 days. Many shows over the past three days are automatically available. Access to some channels' on-demand apps.
Restrictions: Available in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia only; suburbs excluded. Up to three simultaneous streams in a home, but each must have a separate PlayStation 3 or 4, and only one can be PS4. An iPad app is coming for out-of-home viewing, but a PlayStation is still required for set-up.
Dish's Sling TV
Monthly price: Starts at $20.
Live offering: About 15 channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ABC Family and AMC. A&E, History and others coming. No over-the-air channels. Add-on packages for sports, movies, kids, lifestyles and world news available for $5 each.
On demand: No recording of channels, though a handful automatically offer shows from the past three to eight days. Access to WatchESPN on-demand app, with others coming.
Restrictions: Can watch only one stream at a time, so members of households will need multiple subscriptions. DVR controls, such as pause and rewind, aren't available for many channels. NFL blackouts on mobile devices.
CBS All-Access
Monthly price: $6.
Live offering: Local stations in 14 markets (including suburbs) with CBS-owned stations.
On demand: Day-after access to shows on mobile devices (on traditional computers, it's free without a subscription). Full seasons for many shows, not just past five episodes. Past seasons for a handful of shows, including "The Good Wife," ''Survivor," ''The Amazing Race" and "60 Minutes."
Restrictions: No apps for streaming TV devices. Some sports blackouts.
HBO Now (coming in early April)
Monthly price: About $15
Live offering: None, though new episodes are available through apps about the same time they are shown on TV.
On demand: Current and past seasons of most HBO shows, including "Games of Thrones," ''Girls" and "The Sopranos." Hundreds of movies, including those from Universal, Fox, Warner Bros. and Summit.
Restrictions: Can subscribe only through a partner. Apple has exclusive deal among non-traditional distributors and requires Apple TV, an iPhone or iPad to sign up (you can then watch through a browser on other devices). Cablevision is the only pay-TV provider so far to offer HBO Now, but only to its Internet customers. No device restriction with Cablevision. Apple announced $15-a-month price. Cablevision hasn't, but it's expected to be comparable.
Nickelodeon's Noggin
Monthly price: $6
Live offering: None
On demand: Games and activities created for service alongside archives of shows no longer on any of Nickelodeon's TV channels. Aimed at preschoolers.
Restrictions: Available on Apple mobile devices only at first.
Hulu
Monthly price: $8 for Plus, though many shows are free on Windows and Mac computers.
Live offering: None
On demand: Next-day access to shows from ABC, NBC, Fox and CW, along with some cable channels. Some movies and original shows.
Restrictions: Fox and CW shows restricted to pay-TV subscribers for first week. ABC requires pay-TV or Hulu Plus subscription during that time. Plus also needed for viewing on mobile and streaming TV devices.
Netflix
Monthly price: $9
Live offering: None
On demand: Apart from original shows such as "House of Cards," offerings tend to be past seasons, plus movies.
Restrictions: Ultra high-definition (4k) streaming for $3 more, standard-definition only for $1 less.
Amazon.com
Monthly price: $8.25 (only through $99-a-year Amazon Prime subscription)
Live offering: None
On demand: Apart from original shows such as "Transparent," offerings tend to be past seasons, plus movies. Next-day access to shows for $2 or $3 an episode.
Restrictions: Not available directly on Apple TV. Prime requires one-year commitment.
ITunes
Monthly price: None
Live offering: None, except for special events such as iTunes music festival.
On demand: Next-day access to shows for $2 or $3 an episode.
Restrictions: No Android devices. Apple TV is only streaming device supported.
MLB.TV
Monthly price: $20 (or $110 for full season)
Live offering: All Major League Baseball games, subject to hometown blackouts.
On demand: All games.
Restrictions: Lots of blackouts. Extra $5 a month or $20 for season to watch on mobile and streaming TV devices. Separate package available for minor-league games.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing last month in Washington.By Michael Flaherty and Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday moved a step closer to hiking rates for the first time since 2006, but downgraded its economic growth and inflation projections, signaling it is in no rush to push borrowing costs to more normal levels.
The U.S. central bank removed a reference to being "patient" on rates from its policy statement, opening the door wider for a hike in the next couple of months while sounding a cautious note on the health of the economic recovery.
Fed officials also slashed their median estimate for the federal funds rate -- the key overnight lending rate -- to 0.625 percent for the end of 2015 from the 1.125 percent estimate in December.
Just because we removed the word 'patient' from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient.
The cut to the so-called "dot plot," together with other economic concerns cited by the Fed, sent a more dovish message than investors were expecting, and pushed market bets on the central bank's rate "lift-off" from mid-year to the fall.
"Just because we removed the word 'patient' from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient," Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a press conference after Wednesday's statement.
Stocks on Wall Street surged and oil prices jumped as much as 5 percent after the Fed statement. The dollar tumbled against other major currencies and the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dipped below 2 percent for the first time since March 2.
In its quarterly summary of economic projections, the Fed cut its inflation outlook for 2015 and reduced expected U.S. economic growth. The policy statement repeated its concern that inflation measures were running below expectations, weighed down in part by falling energy prices.
Fall Rate Hike?
"I just don't see any price or wage pressure out there," said Craig Dismuke, chief economist for Vining Sparks. "June is not off the table but it's unlikely. September is the most likely time for the first rate hike. They might get one hike in this year, maybe two."
The Fed noted that a rate increase remained "unlikely" at its April meeting and said its change in rate guidance didn't mean it has decided on the timing for a rate hike. Yellen told reporters that a June move could not be ruled out.
The Fed statement, however, allowed enough flexibility for the central bank to move later in the year, stressing that any decision would depend on incoming data.
"The committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has seen further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium-term," the Fed said.
It had previously said it would be patient in considering when to bring monetary policy back to normal.
Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius said in a research note that the Fed's statement and projections suggested a hike in September rather than June, citing the "dot plot" shift and changes to the central bank's assessment of the economy.
Muddy Data
Yellen has kept rates at near zero since taking over as head of the central bank in February, 2014, though she has also overseen a steady whittling of loose money promises.
And while she lays the ground for "lift-off," the Fed continues to grapple with muddy economic data: strong job creation, continued growth, and healthy consumer demand in the United States, but a global collapse in oil prices and a rapid run-up in the dollar that could mean the Fed remains far from its 2 percent inflation target.
The Fed on Wednesday downgraded its view of economic activity, saying growth has "moderated somewhat," a departure from its view in December, when it cited economic activity expanding at a solid pace.
Economists and investors were watching closely for the Fed to drop "patient" from its rate guidance language, as a sign that the central bank will shift toward making rate decisions on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
"Let me emphasize again, that today's modification of the forward guidance should not be read as indicating that the committee has decided on the timing of the initial increase in the target range for the federal funds rate," Yellen said in the press conference.
"In particular, this change does not mean that an increase will necessarily occur in June. Although we can't rule that out."
The federal funds rate has been at its low point since December of 2008. The last time the Fed raised rates was in June 2006, when a roaring housing market and strong economic growth prompted it to push its target rate to 5.25 percent.
There were no dissents on the Fed statement.
-With additional reporting by Richard Leong in New York.
Richard Drew/APA screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows Wednesday's decision of the Federal Reserve.By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve suggested a less aggressive timeline for raising interest rates even as it opened the door for the first hike in almost a decade.
The Fed dropped its pledge to be "patient" in deciding when to begin raising rates, but it cut its interest-rate projections over the next few years and downgraded its outlook for the U.S. economy.
While the statement put a June rate increase on the table, it also allowed the Fed flexibility to move later, stressing that any decision would depend on incoming data.
All 10 S&P (^GSPC) sectors were higher on the day, with the S&P 500 ending within 1 percent of its record close set earlier this month. Stocks had been trading lower ahead of the Fed announcement.
"By lowering its expectations for the pace at which rates will rise, it sent a clear signal that it is in no hurry to push rates higher as it views the economy as growing only moderately," said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston.
A Boost for Energy Companies
Energy shares surged as crude oil rallied, and the dollar dropped. The S&P energy index added 2.9 percent, leading gains in the S&P 500, followed by the utility index, up 2.7 percent. Utilities tend to do better in a low interest rate environment. The Dow Jones (^DJI) industrial average rose 227.11 points, or 1.27 percent, to 18,076.19, the S&P 500 gained 25.14 points, or 1.21 percent, to 2,099.42 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 45.39 points, or 0.92 percent, to 4,982.83.
U.S. short-term interest-rate futures contracts jumped, pushing expectations for the first rate hike farther into the future. Traders now see a 60 percent chance that the first Fed rate hike will come in October, based on CME FedWatch.
Among the day's gainers, Oracle (ORCL) rose 2.9 percent to $44.13 a day after it posted flat third-quarter revenue and slightly lower profit. However, it raised its quarterly dividend 25 percent to 15 cents a share.
A lock-up period in Alibaba (BABA) shares expired Wednesday, with a larger one expiring in September. The stock hit a high of $120 in November and closed Tuesday at $84.50, about 24 percent above its IPO price. Shares ended up 0.1 percent at $84.59.
The Day's Stats
Volume was high. About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well above the 6.6 billion average for the month to date, according to BATS Global Markets.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,549 to 546, for a 4.67-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,692 issues rose and 1,030 fell, for a 1.64-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 74 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows; the Nasdaq composite recorded 157 new highs and 48 new lows.
What to watch Thursday:
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, and the Commerce Department releases current account trade measure for the fourth quarter.
At 10 a.m., the Conference Board releases leading indicators for February, and Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.
Earnings Calendar
These selected companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results:
One day in 2010, Paul Solman, business and economics correspondent for "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," and Larry Kotlikoff, a professor of economics at Boston University, were chatting about money when Kotlikoff asked Solman when he planned to start taking Social Security retirement income.
That's because there's a little-known strategy that couples can use to increase their Social Security income: when one spouse reaches age 66, he or she can file for -- and immediately suspend -- Social Security retirement income. By doing this, when the second spouse turns 62, she can claim spousal benefits (35 percent of her spouse's benefits), even if she never worked, providing additional income and allowing her husband to maximize his benefit by delaying payments until he reaches age 70. (If she waits until age 66, she can collect 50 percent of his benefits.) Taking spousal benefits also allows the second spouse to delay receiving payments based on work history and maximizing her benefits, as well.
Solman and Kotlikoff, along with Philip Moeller, a financial journalist, write about this and other Social Security strategies in their new book, "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security."
Multiple Approaches to Examine
"Every married person can choose between two different options when electing Social Security benefits -- their own benefit or a spousal benefit," explains Annalee Leonard, president of Mainstay Financial Group. "When making a decision about your benefits, it's important to not only consider your own earning record, but also consider your spouse's benefits."
"File and suspend is ideal for couples where one spouse earned a significantly larger amount than the other spouse," Leonard adds. "File and suspend allows the primary wage earner to apply for benefits, then suspend collecting, while allowing the other spouse to start collecting spousal benefits immediately."
However, "sometimes this strategy may not be beneficial," says Tony D'Amico, CEO of The Fidato Group, such as "when someone has additional income needs on top of the spousal benefits received, and there are no other pensions or fixed-income sources." In that case, the person would be dependent on investments and savings distributions, which "could significantly reduce their investment and savings account(s), and may not be what is best for them for the long term," he says.
There are other strategies for maximizing Social Security benefits. You can also cash in on divorce, Leonard says. "It's often overlooked, but a divorced spouse can qualify for part of their ex-spouse's benefit if their marriage lasted at least 10 years," she says. "If there are multiple marriages, the person would want to pick the work record that will get him or her the largest check."
starbucks.com
Starbucks (SBUX) is introducing cold-brewed iced coffee at more than 2,800 stores by month's end. The java giant tested the product in Boston and San Francisco last year, and it will now expand it through select locations in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Canada.
What is cold brewing, exactly? Iced coffee is traditionally made by brewing hot coffee -- at double strength -- and pouring it over ice to cool it down. Iced espresso beverages combine espresso shots with cold milk or water and ice. The new cold-brewed coffee starts with beans that are steeped using cool water. Java connoisseurs can tell the difference.
"Iced coffee and espresso beverages have a stronger, roastier flavor with a bit of nuttiness that comes from brewing with hot water," a long-time employee explains in a Starbucks statement detailing the expanded test market. "Our Cold Brew is smooth and rich, it's very refreshing with chocolate and light citrus notes."
Chocolate? With light citrus notes? This could be interesting.
Cool Runnings
Starbucks may have built its reputation on its warm European brews, but it's been pushing its chillier beverages lately. Whether or not Starbucks takes Cold Brew national later this year -- in time for the seasonally potent summer season, when cooler beverages are in demand -- the baron of baristas has been introducing plenty of cool drinks these days.
Last year it was handcrafted soft drinks. Starbucks started fizzing up Fizzio, giving folks who wanted a break from the chain's signature java a shot at organic store-made ginger ale, root beer, and lemon ale sodas.
Two summers before that, it rolled out Refreshers, a line of fruity energy drinks. Before that, Starbucks had the iconic Frappuccino chilled beverages. It remains to be seen if Cold Brew can hang with the chain's expanding line of frosty options, but either way, Starbucks is reshaping perceptions. It's no longer an upscale coffeehouse. It's a climate-agnostic purveyor of premium beverages.
Heating Up
Bulls will argue that Starbucks doesn't need the incremental kick that a successful rollout of Cold Brew this summer would provide: It's rolling right now. Revenue climbed 13 percent in its latest quarter compared to the prior year's holiday period. Global comparable-restaurant sales rose 5 percent, fueled by upticks in traffic and what the average customer was spending at its stores.
It's a great environment in which to be operating a high-end coffee shop. An improving economy is placing more commuters on the road to work in the morning, and folks generally have more money to spend.
One can always argue that Starbucks may one day stray too far from its heritage. However, expanding away from its original blasts of hot caffeine hasn't hurt the brand, and customers continue to come in record numbers to its expanding base of stores. Cold Brew may help heat up sales, but Starbucks was already on fire anyway.
Spring is here and without all the pricey flight costs. Fortunately this season, there are some easy ways to cut down on your airfare.
