Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties continued to see upward movement in the number of bankruptcy filings last month.
Only Palm Beach County showed some moderation in the number of business bankruptcies when compared to August 2009.
In the three-county area, personal bankruptcy filings were up 59 percent, to 3,387 from 2,127 in August 2009, and up 6 percent from July. Business bankruptcy filings rose 7 percent, to 119 from 111, a year earlier, but were down 17 percent from July.
In Miami-Dade County, personal bankruptcy filings rose 74 percent, year-over-year, to 1,788 cases opened, and 5 percent over July. There were 49 new business bankruptcies for Miami-Dade in August, up from 40 last year, but down from 57 in July.
Personal bankruptcy filings in Broward rose 50 percent over last year, to 1,067 cases opened, and rose 12 percent compared to July. There were 43 new business bankruptcies filed in Broward County in August, up from 41 last year, but down from 47 in July.
Palm Beach County personal bankruptcies rose 36 percent, year-over-year, to 532, but decreased by 4 percent compared to July. There were 27 new business bankruptcy filings in Palm Beach County in August, down from 30 cases last year and 40 cases in July.
The American Bankruptcy Institute said August consumer filings nationwide rose 6 percent to 127,028 from 119,874 a year earlier, but fell 8 percent from the July total.
“While monthly filings are volatile, consumer bankruptcies are still the highest they have been since Congress overhauled the bankruptcy law in 2005,” ABI Executive Director Samuel Gerdano said. “Consumer filings remain on track to top 1.6 million filings in 2010.”
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The Republican race for Arizona Attorney General is razor thin and could run beyond election night.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, Andrew Thomas had 2,000-vote lead on Tom Horne in their bitter primary fight. Some Phoenix-area media outlets said late Tuesday the margin was down to 1,000 votes.
Thomas had 50 percent of the vote versus Horne's 49 easy to get unsecured personal loans.5 percent. The race could go down to early ballots dropped off at polling places Tuesday.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is backing Thomas, while more moderate Republicans side with Horne.
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Facebook Inc. has reportedly acquired online content publishing software start-up Chai Labs Inc.
The All Things Digital blog of the Wall Street Journal reported the deal on Sunday, saying it is likely to be in the $10 million range and is most likely a talent buy rather than a new product play by the Palo Alto social networking company.
Mountain View-based Chai Labs was founded by Gokul Rajaram, who is a former Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) AdSense executive.
Regulatory filings show that it raised $1.1 million in funding last year and $1.3 million in 2008. Among the advisers list on its website are Netscape Communications Corp. founder Marc Andreessen, LinkedIn Inc. founder Reid Hoffman and Excite co-founder Joe Kraus.
Chai Labs' technology helps publishers and journalists launch content websites.
A deal with Walgreens gives Capitol Federal Savings Bank 40 percent more ATM locations throughout Kansas.
For the past two years, Capitol Federal has had an agreement with Walgreens stores in the Kansas City area, allowing free ATM access for Capitol Federal customers. The addition of about 40 Walgreens locations throughout Kansas brings the Capitol Federal ATM network in Kansas and Kansas City to about 100 locations. Capitol Federal customers can use these ATMs without surcharges or other transaction fees.
“What this does is give our customers more convenience,” said Frank Wright, electronic banking officer at Capitol Federal. “We’re finding that our customers are very mobile. We have many clients who travel through Kansas, and this allows them more locations to make bank transactions. The deal with Walgreens also helps us offer this service at a lower cost than it would be for us to scout a location and set up a new ATM ourselves.”
Capitol Federal Savings Bank, which is held by Topeka-based Capitol Federal Financial (Nasdaq: CFFN), has 22 branches in the Kansas City area and 45 branches overall. It ranks sixth on the Kansas City Business Journal’s list of top area banks, with a 4.32 percent local market share of deposits — $1.76 billion.
MicroStrategy Inc. reported net income of $11.6 million for the second quarter, compared to $10 million a year ago.
Revenues for the quarter increased 23 percent to $107.5 million from $87.8 million in the same quarter last year.
The McLean-based business software company (NASDAQ: MSTR) product licenses revenue for the second quarter was $28.9 million versus $20.5 million for the second quarter of 2009, a 41 percent increase. Product support and other services revenue for MicroStrategy's core business intelligence business in the second quarter was $74.5 million versus $64.1 million for the second quarter of 2009, a 16 percent increase.
MicroStrategy saw gains in both software licensing sales and product support and services, which now accounts for the majority of its revenue.
Operating expenses for the second quarter were $68.8 million versus $55.3 million for the second quarter of 2009, a 24 percent increase. During the second quarter, MicroStrategy capitalized $2.2 million in research and development costs associated with the development of its MicroStrategy Mobile software, while no software development costs were capitalized during the second quarter of 2009.
MicroStrategy Mobile, a platform that extends business intelligence apps to the iPhone and iPad, was made generally available on June 30, and introduced at MicroStrategy's user conference in Cannes, France, on July 6.
In a statement MicroStrategy President and CEO Michael Saylor said: "The mobile Internet is the next wave of information technology. Many people prefer to consume business intelligence on their mobile devices rather than on their desktop computers, since mobile devices are more portable, always on, and always connected."
Even during the darkest days of the financial crisis, nearly twenty financial firms managed to shell out an estimated $1.6 billion in "ill-advised" payments to their executives, according to a federal report issued Friday.
In his latest review of compensation practices at companies that were bailed out by American taxpayers, White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg condemned those companies for how they rewarded employees between late 2008 and early 2009.
"These 17 exercised poor judgment," said Feinberg. "They shouldn’t have made these payments."
The review was part of a previously-announced effort to shed light on whether any of the early recipients of funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, made excessive payments to employees before Congress passed legislation in February of 2009 requiring greater oversight at bailed-out firms.
Those implicated in Friday’s report included some of the biggest recipients of taxpayer aid. Wall Street investment houses like Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) were both cited as firms that made excessive payments to executives. More traditional lenders like PNC (PNC, Fortune 500) and Buffalo, NY-based M&T Bank (MTB) were included on the list, as was the troubled insurance giant AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) and small-business lender CIT Group (CIT).
Spokespeople for several of the 17 companies either declined to comment or were not immediately available.
But others said they supported Feinberg’s efforts to reform compensation practices and said they planned to review the proposal.
"Getting our compensation structure right is a priority for us," said a statement issued by a spokesman for Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), which also made the list.
More than 400 companies underwent review, although less than half of that number actually warranted a closer look because their executives made less than $500,000 payday loan. That was the cutoff point that was established when the program was announced last March.
Despite the breadth of the study, it offered few details about the size of payouts made by individual firms, or how much specific executives were paid — although Feinberg said that several people received more than $10 million during that period.
In a briefing with reporters in Washington Friday, Feinberg said the payouts were "not illegal" and not "contrary to the public interest." He added that he did not have the power to force companies to claw back those payments to employees.
"His mandate was very limited," said Alan Levine, an executive compensation and benefits partner with the New York-based law firm Morrison Cohen.
Feinberg did however, encourage the 17 firms to adopt new rules that would allow them to restructure or cancel pay packages in the event of another financial crisis.
"That’s all I can do," he said. Friday’s report represents the latest, and perhaps the last, ruling by Washington’s pay czar.
Last October, Feinberg slashed pay for top executives at the seven companies that were rescued more than once by the federal government — AIG (AIG, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) , Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.
Two months later, he capped salaries for lower-level executives at those same firms at $500,000. Both rulings served as a benchmark for employee pay levels in 2010.
His role at the Treasury Department however is expected to quickly come to a close. He was recently appointed to handle claims related to the BP (BP) oil spill.
ESPN The Magazine’s 2010 Ultimate Standings ranked the Orlando Magic first among all National Basketball Association teams in fan experience.
In addition, the Magic ranked second among all professional sports franchises — which includes the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the NBA and National Hockey League — based on a variety of categories such as the affordability of the experience, the quality of the team’s play and the treatment of the fans.
The Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints finished first overall, one spot ahead of the Magic paydayloans.
According to the ESPN rankings, the Magic ranked first among all 122 teams in bang for the buck, defined as wins during the past three years per revenues directly from fans, adjusted for league schedules.
The Magic also ranked 13th in fan relations, 22nd in affordability, 18th in coaching, 18th in ownership, 20th in players, 33rd in title track and 96th in stadium experience.
A team of reporters from the Post-Dispatch has won a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism for a series of stories last year about the after-market auto service-contract industry in the St. Louis area.
Matthew Hathaway, Elizabethe Holland and Jim Gallagher won in the personal finance category, presented Tuesday evening by the Anderson School of Management at the University of California-Los Angeles, at a reception in New York City.
The reporters won for three stories each had a hand in writing and reporting in 2009:
— "From Prison to the Pinnacle," documenting the rise of auto service-contract marketer US Fidelis and cofounder Darain Atkinson, who went from federal prison to extraordinary wealth in fewer than 20 years.
— "Pressure Tactics Used at US Fidelis," which explained in detail the tactics used to sell the service contracts.
— "Warranty Sales Skim Top Profit," which explained how the extended auto service-contract industry works — from marketing, to financing, to refunds cash advance now.
Hathaway in particular has reported extensively on the industry, which is largely centered in the St. Louis area, where more than 30 companies are based. The companies market contracts promising to cover the cost of car repairs in exchange for a low monthly payment.
But they have come increasingly under fire from consumer advocates, regulators and attorneys general nationwide for what they have called fraudulent practices and deceptive marketing tactics.
US Fidelis, which had been the No. 1 marketer of the contracts, dropped from a 1,100-employee company to fewer than 200 in 2009 and ultimately declared bankruptcy on March 1. The company cited a precipitous drop in new business and public pressure for the decline.
The three stories that won represented a broad view of the industry, from the individuals who buy and sell the contracts, to the finance companies that cover the costs.
A tepid gain in consumer spending last month could fuel a debate over whether the U.S. and other governments should further stimulate their economies to sustain the recovery.
A report that Americans spent cautiously in May came after world leaders meeting in Toronto over the weekend pledged to reduce government deficits by cutting spending and raising taxes. They did so despite warnings from President Barack Obama that scaling back spending too fast could derail the global recovery.
U.S. lawmakers are wary of approving more stimulus spending in light of record deficits. As a result, millions of Americans could lose unemployment benefits and states could be forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers.
"In our view, it is way too early to apply the fiscal brakes," said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities. Cutting off unemployment benefits "is a dangerous way to cut deficits when the economy is still fragile."
Economic growth, which leads to higher tax receipts and less spending on social programs, is the best way to reduce the deficit, Pandl said.
Other economists note that wages and salaries rose 0.5 percent in May, a second consecutive month of strong gains. That is a sign that the recovery can survive without government propping it up lowest fee payday loans.
If the trend in income growth continues, "consumers’ spending power will be bolstered, which will in turn drive economic growth, necessitating less government support," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak.
One thing is certain: Americans are being careful with their money. Consumer spending rose 0.2 percent last month after no change in April, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. But the consumer hasn’t been driving this recovery. Instead, it has depended more on business and government spending, along with exports. In the four quarters following the steep 1981-82 downturn, consumer spending rose by an average of 6.5 percent per quarter. By contrast, even as the economy has grown for the last three quarters, consumer spending rose an average of only 2.5 percent per quarter.
If consumption remains sluggish, the economy may not grow fast enough to generate jobs and quickly bring down the 9.7 percent unemployment rate.
The official in charge of the $20 billion fund to compensate individuals and businesses hurt by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico pledged Friday to quickly create a system for processing claims.
"We will have a very transparent methodology in place," said Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed earlier this week by President Obama to manage the compensation fund. "We’ll set up a protocol very quickly so that everybody can examine what’s expected."
BP agreed to establish the $20 billion fund Wednesday after company executives met with Obama in Washington. The company has said repeatedly that it will pay all legitimate claims related to the spill, which has become the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Feinberg, an attorney who served as special master of the 9/11 victims fund and advises Obama on Wall Street pay issues, asserted that the fund will be independently managed. He emphasized that he is not aligned with the government or BP.
"I will be running an independent claims facility," he said. "It is my program as an independent force."
Feinberg made the comments after meeting with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour in Jackson. He plans to meet with Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana later Friday.
He stressed that time is of the essence, saying that properly completed claims could be paid within 30 to 60 days of filing, once a protocol for processing them is complete.
But he acknowledged that there are challenges involved in verifying that damages are legitimately due to the spill. Larger claims may require more time for evaluation.
"Long-term payments will require sufficient corroboration so we can validate the claim," he said. Short-term, emergency payments will continue to be paid promptly.
BP deserves some credit for the steps it has already taken to process claims, Feinberg said, though it’s his job to improve the process.
The company has opened about 25 claims offices, and said this week that it has issued about 25,000 claims checks totaling $63 million.
Feinberg said the protocol for handling claims is still being hammered out and that critical decisions need to be made about where to draw the line as the damage from the spill ripples across the Gulf economy.
Another issue that has yet to be decided is whether to exempt BP from lawsuits once full payment of a claim has been made, he said.
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