| Financial institutions cashing out of ATMs
Duncan Dewar did something unusual recently: He got cash from an automated teller machine.
"I use the debit card whenever possible," the 31-year-old Winthrop, Mass., resident said after a stop at a Citizens Bank ATM on Milk Street in Boston.
Millions of other consumers are doing the same thing — last year the number of ATMs in the United States fell 9 percent, the first big drop since the devices were introduced in the 1970s. The percentage of cash-payment transactions in the United States also is falling.
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Gift cards slow usual post-Christmas rush
While retailers braced for the traditional day-after-Christmas shopping blitz Wednesday, Metro Detroiters acted more like it was Christmas Eve: They stayed nestled all snug in their beds. But the vision in their heads was gift cards -- not sugar plums. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend a total of $26.3 billion in gift cards this holiday season, up 42 percent from $18.5 billion in 2005. Many of the cards are expected to be redeemed in the next few weeks. .
Yahoo rejects Microsoft - but is it just being coy?
Other companies mentioned as potential suitors for Yahoo include Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit, Walt Disney Co., AT&T and media behemoth News Corp. Most of those companies have plenty to deal with already, however, including digesting their own mega-mergers or internal expansions or tackling their own problems. Current Analysis' Broders said it would be tough for other suitors to match or beat Microsoft's bid. With more than $21 billion in cash, Microsoft has some of the deepest pockets of any publicly traded company. "I don't know if anybody else has the resources to make such a move," he said. "It's a hell of a lot of money, and you've got the challenges of the financial markets these days." On Monday, Yahoo's stock closed at $29.87, up 67 cents.
Equities seen flat-to-lower on weak global cues
MUMBAI: Equities are seen opening flat-to-lower Tuesday, with losses on Wall Street and Asian indices weighing on sentiment.
US stocks ended lower overnight after brokerages downgraded banks and credit card companies on signs consumers are falling behind on debt payments, hinting at the shaky state of the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 109.17 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 12,634.02, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 14.54 points, or 1.04 per cent, at 1,380.88 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 30.51 points, or 1.26 per cent, at 2,382.85.
Asian stocks also declined as a lower profit forecast from Olympus Corp, Japan's third-largest maker of digital cameras, and downgrades of Posco and South Korean shipbuilders by Goldman Sachs projected a weak outlook for regional earnings.
Atlanta Music Scene
Butch Walker performed at the Songs for Kids Foundation charity event in May 2007. Credit: RODNEY HO Talk about bad timing. Atlanta producer/singer Butch Walker, who has written songs for Avril Lavigne, Bowling For Soup, the Donnas, Pink and Fall Out Boy, lost all his possessions over the weekend after wildfires destroyed in a home he was renting from Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea in Malibu, Calif. Walker, who once fronted Marvelous 3, in recent years had been spending more and more time in L.A. on his producing work and less time in Atlanta so he and his wife had recently taken key items from his Atlanta home and moved the stuff to Malibu. Walker was in New York at the time of the fire. "I lost everything I've ever owned," Walker said in a release.
AMD Phenom X4 retail prices surface
While we always have to take these pre-launch prices with a grain of salt, it is already clear that AMD will be aggressive in its pricing and is unlikely to be able to attack Intel in the $500+ segment.The 9500 is currently indicated to hit the retail market in the $260-$270 range; the 9600 could be available for prices between $290 and $300 and the 9700 is listed for prices between $310 and $330. These numbers would put the new Phenoms squarely against Intel’s new Penryn quad-core desktop processors, which are scheduled to debut with the high-end QX9650 next Monday.According to sources, Intel will not deviate from the pricing strategy that has been in place since the introduction of the Core architecture in July of last year. Its high-end enthusiast chip (QX9650, 3.0 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) will launch at $999, the high-end mainstream-processor (in this case the Q9550, 2.83 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) at $530 and the mainstream versions below at $316 (Q9450, 2.66 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) and $266 (Q9300, 2.50 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache).
Replica guns seized from collector
Armed police swooped on the flat of a 54-year-old replica pistol collector in Battersea. They seized 17 replica guns but police admit the man posed no threat to the community. Wandsworth crime squad Inspector Matt Phelps said police had raided the flat about 10.20am on October 10 after a tip-off from the public. "This action was taken to pro-actively reduce the threat of firearm incidents in the borough and to prevent any possible tragic consequences should they have made their way into the wrong hands," Insp Phelps said after the weapons had been handed over. "Most imitation weapons are exact copies of the real thing and this places armed officers in the almost impossible position of having to make an instant judgment on whether a gun is real or not.
Sports Columnists
We don't need to see your face to confirm that. "I know who owns the Steelers. I don't see Dan Rooney. I know who owns the Giants. I don't need to see his face. I know who owns the Patriots. We don't need to see you to confirm how much money and how much authority you have." Others concurred in what has been the center of the NFL's universe with the Super Bowl around. This also has become the definitive place to get a sense of what the Falcons' peers think of a franchise that has witnessed everything during the past few months from its franchise quarterback sitting in prison to its owner hiring a general manager after a Webcam interview. Those peers generally responded to it all with a head shake, a chuckle of disbelief and something unprintable for a family newspaper.
IPO REPORT: Visa Would Be Richest-ever U.S. IPO At Nearly $19 Billion
He cited Visa's long track record, its new management team brought in last spring and moves to settle about $3 billion in litigation with American Express (AXP) and Discover (DFS). 'I love the symbol, 'V' for victory,' said John Fitzgibbon of IPOScoop.com, who pointed out that a whopping 15 investment banks will be involved in distributing the deal including J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS). 'It's like a Cecil B. DeMille production.' However, Motley Fool senior analyst Seth Jayson sounded a note of caution, given the volatility of the stock market in recent months. 'I really don't expect to see Visa shares double, triple, quadruple inside a year,' Jayson said. 'Anyone hoping to hitch on in the opening days, and hoping catch that kind of action is likely to be very disappointed.' Both Fitzgibbon and Sweet said the IPO is expected to begin trading by the end of March, catching the usual springtime surge in the new issues market.
Idina Menzel Discusses Her New CD, Wedding Singer Days And More
And while going to NYU, I would play with rock bands in Greenwich Village. How did you get involved with being a wedding singer? My mother's friend knew someone who knew someone. To be a great wedding singer you have to know about 150 tunes. But to get by you could know about 10 songs, and at the time those songs included Tonight 'I Celebrate My Love For You', 'The Greatest Love of All', 'Wind Beneath my wings', the Dirty Dancing Song, and 'The Girl from Ipanema'. As long as you knew those songs you could get by at a gig. And I started to add to my repertoire. My first gig was in Oceanside. I wore a cute little black sequin dress. I don't remember what I sang, but that's what I ended up doing instead of working at the local clothing store or deli like most kids my age. I was driving illegally to the synagogue in Great Neck and singing wedding songs.
Farewell, New Line
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is predictable in some ways and mysterious in others. For example, the academy luh-luh-loves George Clooney. But Atonement was snubbed in awards nominations by the big guilds—which was OK with many critics—and there it is in the best-picture category. Nothing for director Joe Wright, mind you, or his stars. Must be a bittersweet moment for him, and for Julian Schnabel, nominated for his brilliant direction of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. His movie is left out in best picture and knocked out of contention for best foreign-language film by the French because he is American. .
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