After briefly plummeting thanks to a fake tweet sent by the Associated Press saying there were explosions at the White House, stocks bounced back to end the day on a positive note. 

 

The Associated Press said its Twitter Account was hacked, and stocks quickly rebounded. Meanwhile, positive readings on the housing market and strong earnings announcements by several companies overshadowed the disappointing news regarding the pace of global growth. 

 

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the NASDAQ all closed roughly 1 percent higher. 

 

Shares of the heavily shorted Netflix surged nearly 25 percent today, after the streaming video service reported robust subscriber gains on Monday.

 

Travelers Companies helped boost the DOW as shares climbed more than 2 percent after the insurer reported a substantial increase in profits. Moreover, shares of Coach surged over 10 percent after the retailer posted better-than-expected sales and earnings. 

 

Airline companies were also making waves this week due to concerns regarding flight delays at airports resulting from the government’s forced sequester. That said, Delta Air Lines and US Airways shares rose nearly 5 percent after both companies reported stronger than expected first-quarter profits. 

 

After the bell, Apple reported earnings that surpassed expectations, increased its quarterly dividend by 15 percent and boosted its stock repurchase program. Shares of Apple initially increased approximately 5 percent in after-hours trading, but the gains lost momentum and turned during the evening hours. 

 

AT&T also reported earnings in the afternoon; the telecommunication giant’s earnings were in line with estimates, but revenues failed to meet forecasts. As a result, shares of AT&T fell in after-hours trading. 

 

Earnings have been a primary focus this week as investors seek to grasp any good news they can; however, this does not mean economics concerns have disappeared. Markets are coming off the worst week of 2013 last week primarily due to tepid economic data. Many analysts expect the economy to show several more signs of slowing this spring as budget cuts and higher taxes impact consumer spending. 

Investors; however, were greeted with a strong housing market news as the Census Bureau reported a rise in new home sales of 1.5 percent in March to a yearly rate of 417,000. This news boosted shares of a number of home builders, including Toll Brothers, the Pulter Group and Lennar Corp. 

 

 

Source: whitehouse.gov

 

The federal government already imposes a sin tax on cigarettes of $1.01 per pack; however, President Obama wants to double the rate to nearly $2 a pack. 

 

Anti-smoking circles are applauding the proposal, but many tax experts and tobacco companies are vehemently against it. 

 

The tax is being presented as a means to fund education and reduce smoking rates in the United States; the tax would effectively raise approximately $78 billion over the next decade. 

 

“The proposed tobacco increase would have considerable public health benefits, particularly for our younger demographic,” president Obama’s budget reads. “Researchers have found that increasing taxes on cigarettes significantly reduces consumption, with considerable effects on youth smoking.”

 

Following a 62-cent-a-pack tax increase that was passed in 2009, cigarette sales plummeted by over 10 percent, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

There is also little doubt that fewer people smoking is a good thing for American society. Costs relating to smoking amo0unt to nearly $200 billion a year in both lost productivity and direct medical payments; moreover, smoking kills roughly 445,000 people each year. 

 

The biggest argument against the tax hike is that it will fund the early education program on the backs of America’s impoverished population. Not only is the sin tax not progressive, but a higher percent of smokers are low or middle income individuals. 

The median household income for a smoker in 2011 was roughly $27,700 compared to $45,500 for nonsmokers, according to a study conducted by Reynolds American. Moreover, nearly half of all smokers possessed a household income below $25,000 per year. 

 

A large majority of smokers already pay a high tax rate for cigarettes; the current federal tax rate is a little over $1 per pack. That said, the taxes don’t stop at the federal level. Many states and municipalities have applied a cigarette tax to pump-up revenues. For example, in New York City combined state and local taxes add up to almost $6 a pack. In New York City, a pack of cigarettes can cost as much as $14 while the same pack can sell for as low as $3 or $4 in other regions of America. 

 

Some economists question whether it is wise to finance a long term program like the early childhood education program with revenue that is expected to fall over time. Roughly 20 percent of Americans smoke, a number that has decreased considerably over the past several decades. Others; however, claim that while the tax will not be too much of a burden on the general economy, it will impact smokers and those that work in the tobacco industry. These pundits claim the president should and could raise far more money by focusing on spending cuts. 

 

Source: whitehouse.gov

 

Japanese automakers Nissan, Honda, Toyota and Mazda are on the verge of recalling roughly 3.4 million cars due to airbag defects.

 

Toyota announced it was recalling 1.7 million cars throughout the world, including many popular models, such as the Corolla, Matrix and Camry models. Nissan recalled roughly 480,000 cars while Mazda is undergoing a recall of another 45,000 vehicles. 

Honda, which is recalling more than 1.1 million vehicles, said the recall was mandatory to replace passenger front airbags. 

 

“It is possible that the passenger front airbags in affected vehicles may deploy without the necessary pressure, which may result in the rupturing of the inflator and subsequent injury,” the company announced via a statement. 

 

Many of the recalled automobiles appeared to be from earlier models, including 2001, 2002 and 2003 years. 

 

Honda announced it was aware of one crash in which the vehicle’s passenger front airbag casing had ruptured after being deployed after only a marginal amount of pressure. Honda claimed it was not aware of any fatalities or injuries that resulted from the defect. 

 

In response to the announcement of the massive recalls, Takata shares plummeted, at one point dropping more than 15 percent before recovering to close down just above 9 percent. 

 

The recall, while massive, is not without precedent. The United States alone has gone through 13 recalls of more than three million units, according to various reports from auto safety organizations. 

 

For Toyota, the recall represents another blow to its carefully cultivated reputation for efficiency and quality. The automaker announced in October of last year a recall of roughly 7.43 million vehicles due to a power window defect that posed a direct fire risk. 

Toyota’s largest recall came in 2010, when more than 8 million vehicles were brought in for a potential issue involving sticky gas pedals. During this recall, dealers were asked to suspend sales of eight Toyota models, which subsequently led to a temporary manufacturing suspension of those models. 

 

Source: AP

 

Shares of prominent personal computer manufacturers, software companies and chipmakers tumbled Thursday after PC sales endured their worst quarter in history.

Shares of Hewlett Packard plummeted nearly 7 percent during trading hours, while Dell and Apple fell by about 1 percent. Shares of Intel dropped nearly 3 percent and rival AMD suffered a loss of roughly 3.6 percent. 

 

Shares of Microsoft also dipped about 5 percent after the company was downgraded to “sell” by Goldman Sachs on Thursday morning. 

 

Shipments of personal computers fell nearly 15 percent worldwide last quarter, marking the worst yearly decline since such statistics were tracked in 1994. 

The decline in PC shipments was nearly twice as unpleasant as the 7.7 percent decline that many industry professionals anticipated. Moreover, the decline marked the fourth consecutive quarter in which PC shipments declined year-over-year. 

Gartner, a technology consultancy business, said nearly 80 million personal computers were shipped throughout the world in the first quarter, marking the fewest number of shipments since the second quarter of 2009. 

 

PC industry power players have attempted to innovate themselves out of this sales slump, but recent attempts have been futile. Super-thin notebooks, ultrabooks, and other gadgets debuted to significant fanfare in 2011, but sales disappointed, and firms quickly slashed their sales forecasts. 

 

In October of last year, Microsoft unveiled Windows 8, which received mixed reviews from critics and consumers alike. Sales of Windows 8 have been muted compared with the tech giant’s previous Windows launches.  Many industry leaders claimed that the launch of Windows 8 not only failed to provide momentum for the personal computer market, but may have actually slowed the market. Bob O’Donnel, a senior executive at IDC< slammed the new operating program’s changes to the user interface, primarily the removal of the iconic start button. 

 

“Microsoft will be forced to make some very complicated decisions moving forward if it wishes to help boost and reinvigorate the personal computer market,” O’Donnel said in a statement this week. 

 

Source: CNN

 

Satellite TV provider Dish Network offer a bid of $25.5 billion for Sprint Nextel. The offer is a means to top another bid for Sprint: a $20.1 billion dollar bid for a 70 percent stake in Sprint from Japanese tech company Softbank. This offer, which Sprint accepted in the fall of 2012, was intended to give Sprint a much desired cash infusion to avoid impending bankruptcy. 

 

Sprint acknowledged the bid from Dish and said its board would evaluate the offer, but did not elaborate or extend further with the comment. Following news of the bid from Dish, shares of Sprint shot up nearly 25 percent in afternoon trading while Dish shares dipped roughly 3 percent. 

 

The Chief Executive Officer of the Dish Network, Mr. Charlie Ergen, said the combination of his company with Sprint would create a new company that offers customers the greatest possible bandwidth for video and other data feeds. 

 

Mr. Ergen said while cable companies do a decent job in providing bandwidth inside of residential homes and wireless companies offer bandwidth outside of homes, no company currently allows for the efficient combination of said bandwidth. 

 

“The pipes with regards to bandwidth are fairly clogged,” said Ergen. “If you are attempting to procure a lot of data, you better get yourself a big pope; if we get this deal done, nobody is going to have a bigger pipe than Dish Sprint.”

 

The bid for Sprint would also provide Dish with another coveted target—wireless broadband provider Clearwire. 

 

Dish engaged in a brief bidding war earlier this year with Sprint for the broadband provider, but Clearwire decided to accept Sprint’s offer instead. Sprint already owned a 50 percent stake in the broadband provider before the bidding competition took place. 

Dish claims its bid for Sprint represents approximately a 13 percent premium over the Softbank offer. Ergen claims that Dish would be willing to spend an additional $600 million to pay the breakup fee that Softbank is owed if that deal collapses because of Dish’s offer. 

 

Many analysts said that there are several questions regarding Dish’s plans for Sprint that make it difficult to judge who will be the winning bidder. 

 

The wireless sector has been home to a number of deals in recent years, and Dish has been interested in finding a partner in the sector. Charlie Ergen has been labeled a gambler by trade, and this proposed deal might just be his attempt of getting all the other wireless corporations to open up negotiations with him. 

 

 

Source: CNN

 

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was the top-earning CEO in 2012 with a salary of $96.1 million; the average American worker earned $34,645 last year. 

 

Chief Executive Officers of the country’s largest companies earned an average of $12.3 million in total pay in 2012, which is roughly 354 times more than the typical average American worker, according to the AFL-CIO—a group that represents over 50 trade unions in the states. 

 

Ellison topped the list of the highest-paid executives in 2012, followed by the $54.3 million earned by Credit Acceptance Corp’s Brett Roberts and Discovery Communication CEO David Zaslav’s $50 million compensation package. 

 

The one noteworthy salary was pulled-in by Apple CEO Timothy Cook, whose salary dropped to $4.2 million from $376 million in 2011, when his pay got a robust boost from long-term stock awards. The drop in Cook’s pay was enough to decrease the overall average pay for CEOs of top American companies by 5 percent from 2011. 

 

The considerable discrepancy in pay between Chief Executive Officers and the average worker has skyrocketed over the last couple decades, peaking in 2000, when the gap was 525 times. In 1980, CEO compensation was only 42 times that of the average American worker. 

 

The AFL-CIO each year underlines the pay discrepancy between CEOs and workers from companies that are part of the S&P 500. Richard Tumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, said he hopes the project will remind the nation’s leaders that most workers continue to struggle financially. 

 

“The average American worker struggles every day to make ends meet. The average worker’s wages are stagnant, and their companies are attempting to take their pensions and health insurance,” Trumka said.

 

The union wants regulators to enforce a pending rule from Wall Street reforms for publicly traded companies to publicize executive pay compared to their average employees. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed efforts to structure this rule, in part because of spirited lobbying efforts from large American companies. 

 

The labor group built a website database earlier today compiled from 327 companies based on SEC filings; the site will reveal CEO compensation for all 500 companies of the S&P as the data is released to the public. 

 

 

Source: CNN

 

 

A widespread sell-off in stocks accelerated this afternoon following the news of two explosions at the Boston Marathon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was down all day, dropped 266 points (roughly 1.8 percent) following reports of the explosions in the Massachusetts’ capital. The Nasdaq dropped 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 slipped 2.3 percent on the day. 

 

The majority of domestic news outlets reported that two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon shortly before 3 this afternoon. Before news of the bombings went public, stocks were already suffering worldwide as gold prices plunged and investors positioned themselves in lower risk assets like U.S. treasuries. The initial sell-off started when investors awoke to the news that China’s financial growth had decreased in the first quarter. 

 

The Chinese economy grew at a rate of 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter of 2012. The report was disheartening and confirmed China’s fragile recovery, said HSBC’s Asian economic research department. 

The majority of economists expected the Chinese economy to grow 8 percent, and since it reflected weaker global demand for Chinese goods, the news also drove stocks in Europe and Asia lower.

 

The Nikkei, Hang Seng, and the Shanghai Composite all dipped more than 1 percent, and the London exchange followed suit losing nearly.7 percent. 

 

China is currently the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S., and is regarded as one of the top engines of global economic stimulation and growth. 

 

In addition to China’s disappointing numbers, Gold dropped nearly 10 percent to settle at $1,360 an ounce and numerous gold-based ETF’s including the popular SPDR fund dropped significantly. 

 

Along with this information, a major survey of American homebuilders revealed that the housing recovery may have lost some of its steam that it gained last month. This news weighed on shares of construction and homebuilder companies, including Toll Brothers, DR Horton and Lennar. 

 

In a separate case, the New York Federal Reserve released its monthly manufacturing survey that revealed slightly improved conditions for New York manufacturers in the month of April compared to March. The indexes for general business conditions and new orders remained widely positive, despite marginal month-to-month declines. 

 

 

Source: AP

A guarantee, or surety, is a promise made by a third party who agrees to assume responsibility on a liability, such as a bond, loan, or payment, of a borrower in the event of default. The individual or company who agrees to the responsibility, or the guarantor, can often be a private individual or a bank. Often the use of a bank reduces the risk to various liabilities and often improves bond credit agency ratings.

In the United States and other common law jurisdictions, a guarantee is only value when written and signed by both the borrower and guarantor. Also, a creditor cannot pursue a guarantor unless the creditor has exhausted all possible forms of pursuing the debtor.

As mentioned, individuals can obtain guarantees through banks. The advising bank acts as a party of the guarantee and can provide various different guarantees, such as a performance bond, warranty bond, advance payment guarantee, or credit/loan repayment guarantee.

The government can also enter into the commitment of guaranteeing a surety. Under Title 15 of the U.S. Code, § 694b, Surety bond guarantees, the Administration may guarantee a surety against loss from the principle’s breach of bond as long as the principle does not exceed $5,000,000. The Administration can evaluate the commitments based on previous experience with the surety and authorize any surety without further administration approval.

All guarantees that are issued must involve a small business concern, require a person to bid on the contract, expect that the principle will perform the conditions reasonable to the bond, and that the borrower agrees to these conditions as well.

Small businesses can receive warranties from the federal government. The U.S. Small Business organization, an independent agency of the federal government who works to help and protect small business interests, has two surety bond guarantee programs. The Office of Surety Guarantees, a division of the Small Business Administration works to provide and manage these guarantees for qualified small. One is the prior approval, or the SBG Program and the other is the Preferred, or PSB program. 

In either program, the United States Small Business Administration does not directly issue the bond to the borrower. For the Prior Approval program, the borrower must be able to find a bonding agent representing a participating surety company or just a surety company who is willing to provide the bond. 

A borrower must submit the correct forms and provide the proper information to the agency who will then choose to execute the bother, either with or wither the Small Business Administration guarantee. All forms for obtaining the surety bond guarantee can be found on the Small Business Administration’s website. This application can be submitted 24 hours a day, seven days a week electronically through the E-application system. The information is sent directly to the surety company agent. 

 

A bill of sale is a document that a purchaser receives from a seller signifying an item being sold, its value and the transfer of title from one owner to another.  A bill of sale can be absolute or conditional, depending on the prior agreement of the grantor and grantee.  The bill of sale is generally a legal document that transfers the rights of ownership or use and both parties are expected to abide by the conditions of the agreement.  Bill of sales is typically used in the car purchases.

 

 

What is an absolute bill of sale?

 

 

An absolute bill of sale transfers rights of use and ownership to another party.  The grantor party does not retain a security interest in the transfer of the item.

 

 

What is a conditional bill of sale?

 

 

Under a conditional bill of sale, the grantor party maintains the right of seizure against the grantee if certain conditions stipulated in the bill of sale are not met.  A conditional bill of sale can be used in “title loans” that put a creditor’s item, such as the title to a car, up as collateral for a loan.  These loans are generally high interest and the debtor risks losing possession of the car if payments on the loan cannot be made.  Until the debtor fails to repay the loan, the conditional bill of sale remains in effect, with the debtor enjoying the use of the property (the car) but handing the potential for the car to be repossessed to the creditor.

 

 

What items are bills of sale used for?

 

 

Bills of sale can be used for significant, moveable pieces of property such as cars, furniture and jewelry.  A bill of sale form can be customized based on the nature of the sale and a lawyer can help generate a legally binding bill of sale.

 

 

What is featured on a typical bill of sale form?

 

 

A proper bill of sale form will start with the names and addresses of the two parties involved and signify which among is the seller and purchaser.  The bill of sale form will then state the location of the sale and location of the property and confirm that the item is being sold.

The next part of the bill of sale form is the most important part and signifies the amount that is being paid for the properly and when the item will be delivered.  There will also be a provision for the transfer of funds to cover the transfer of property.  Especially in bills of sale involving motor vehicles, there will be detailed information about the make, model, color and style of the property as well as identification numbers, if applicable.

 

 

The bill of sale will end with guarantees from the seller that the vehicle or other property is free from other claims from creditors and that the seller has the legal right to sell the property.  The seller disavows claims any further damages of losses associated with the property.

 

The Teapot Dome Scandal of the 1920’s was a bribery incident due to the influence of oil money during the Warren G. Harding Administration. During this time, Harding proved himself to be a poor president. He was unable to properly manage the Federal government and often delegated work and authority to his cabinet officials. Many of these officials were dishonest, creating many problems.

In the beginning of the 1900’s the United States Navy switched from coal to oil as their primary source of fuel. In order to ensure that they would have enough, President Taft designated many oil producing areas as Naval Oil Reserves.

The Teapot Dome Scandal began with the Warren Administration. Warren G. Harding was a U.S. Senator from Ohio who was elected into the Presidential office in 1920. Early in his administration, before the Teapot Dome Scandal, the Secretary of the Navy requested that some of the responsibility for the Navy’s reserve oil be transferred to the Department of the Interior. This included the Teapot Dome field in Wyoming, which the Teapot Dome Scandal was named after, and other land in California.

At the time of the early events of the Teapot Dome Scandal, Albert B. Fall was the Secretary of the Interior. In 1921, he rented these naval oil reserves to two private oil companies, the Pan American Petroleum Company and the Mammoth Oil Company in exchange for gifts and loans, the sum of which added up to approximately $404,000.

The events of the Teapot Dome Scandal were not discovered and publicly announced till On April 14, 1922, the Wall Street Journal released a report stating that there had been an arrangement between Secretary Fall and a private oil company. The report claimed that the land had been leased out without any competitive bidding. 

The next date, the Senate opened up an investigation of the Teapot Dome Scandal. The Senate expected the investigation to be most likely futile, so the committee’s Republican Leadership allowed Democrat Thomas Walsh, the Montana Democratic Senator, chair the panel. The panel eventually discovered the Secretary’s shady agreement   because of one piece of evidence that Secretary Fall had not covered up.

In 1927, the Supreme Court invalidated the oil leases that have been illegally obtained through Secretary Fall the reserves were returned to the U.S. Navy. In 1929, Albert Fall was found guilty of bribery and fined $100,000. He also became the first Presidential cabinet member to be given a prison sentence for his actions while in office. He received a sentence of one year in prison.

The Teapot Dome Scandal as well as other cases quickly tested the reach of the Senate’s investigative powers. In 1927, the Supreme Court ruled on the landmark case, McGrain v. Daugherty, and found that Congress had the right to compel a witness to testify before the committees of Congress.