VOL. 42 | NO. 45 | Friday, November 9, 2018
Experiences replacing ‘stuff’ for younger consumers
Only 46 days till Christmas! And, if anyone’s curious, the post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza known as Black Friday is a mere two weeks away.
Last year set records for charitable giving, with donors across the United States contributing some $400 billion to nonprofit organizations.
ROGERS COLUMN
My sports team loyalties have never had a strong geographic component. Until, perhaps, now.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Various trends develop as markets transition, and a new one in the Nashville market is the failure of homes to appraise for the contract sales price.
REAL ESTATE
The number of home sales recorded in Nashville and Davidson County were virtually unchanged last month while average home sales prices soared.
U.S. mortgage rates jumped this week to the highest level in seven years, a trend that is pulling down home sales and slowing home price growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homebuilders took a beating Thursday as rising interest rates and home prices discourage potential buyers.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Fowler just glad to be back home
Jalston Fowler knows he is an endangered species, a dinosaur, an eight-track tape, a Pontiac.
1. Tom Brady’s heroics. Brady has only lost to the Titans one time in his career, 16 years ago. New England took the Titans apart in the AFC Divisional Playoffs last year and have shown no signs of slowing. The Titans should be plenty familiar with Brady, more so than most teams, considering they have four former Pats on their roster in Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Josh Kline and Dion Lewis. Will that knowledge of Brady and Bill Belichick be enough to slow them down?
UT SPORTS
Todd Kelly Jr. could have just moved on from the University of Tennessee instead of returning for a fifth year. He was rehabbing from an injury, the Vols were in rebuilding mode under a new coaching staff and he had his degree.
NEWSMAKERS
WSW CPAs founder Bob Whisenant, a veteran of 46 years in the industry, is stepping aside as managing partner on Jan. 1. Taking over those duties will be WSW partner Geoffrey Stewart.
BRIEFS
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has again been named one of the nation’s “most-wired” hospitals and health systems for its innovation and leadership in medical technology and health care information management.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
One of the most common complaints of car buyers is the amount of time it takes to wrap up a vehicle purchase. Depending on whom you ask, the time spent completing a deal at the average dealership is between 3.6 hours (J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index) and an eternity (the average shopper).
PERSONAL FINANCE
NEW YORK (AP) — At some point, you’ll buy your last car and refinance your last mortgage. Surely then you can stop worrying about your credit scores.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
The weekend whizzed by quickly. What little part of weekend you had, that is, because it seems like you’re always working.
CAREER CORNER
I recently had the opportunity to attend Talent Connect, LinkedIn’s annual human resources event, which showcased everything LinkedIn’s been working on in 2018 and its plans for the future.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
If “one size fits all” is the phrase that best describes your email marketing strategy, you have most likely experienced declining opens and clicks and increasing unsubscribes.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tom Brady added another big chunk of NFL history to his resume. The Tennessee Titans made sure the Patriots quarterback didn't finish his 300th game by hitting him over and over again.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A fan reaching for a free T-shirt is in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after losing his balance and falling through the awning that covers the tunnel to the Tennessee Titans' locker room.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vanderbilt's talented freshmen passed their first road test against a Power Five team on Sunday night.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — This Veterans Day, the Tennessee Agriculture Department wants residents to know the state has more than 400 farmer veterans who consumers can support.
TECHNOLOGY
PARIS (AP) — Fifty nations and over 150 tech companies pledged Monday to do more to fight criminal activity on the internet, including interference in elections and hate speech. But the United States, Russia and China are not among them.
HEALTH CARE
Athenahealth shares soared Monday after the struggling medical billing software maker received a $5.7 billion cash buyout offer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A broad sell-off in technology companies pulled U.S. stocks sharply lower Monday, knocking more than 600 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries will likely need to cut crude supplies, perhaps as much as 1 million barrels of oil a day, to rebalance the market after proposed U.S. sanctions on Iran failed to cut Tehran's output, Saudi Arabia's energy minister said Monday.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pabst Brewing Company and MillerCoors are going to trial, with hipster favorite Pabst contending that MillerCoors wants to put it out of business by ending a longstanding partnership through which it brews Pabst's beers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh from a trip to France where his brand of "nationalism" drew rebuke from his hosts, President Donald Trump says "much was accomplished" in his meetings. But he's raising a familiar complaint about American allies' spending on defense.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate's top Democrat says the Federal Aviation Administration isn't moving fast enough to roll out a plan to stop airlines from shrinking passengers' seats.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The man accused of gunning down 17 people at a Florida high school registered to vote as a Republican while behind bars awaiting trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing closely contested election races in Florida and Arizona, President Donald Trump is spreading misleading rhetoric regarding voting fraud.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov.-elect Bill Lee has tapped Nashville businessman Butch Eley to run his transition team.
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Women voters were split on electing Republican Marsha Blackburn as Tennessee's first female U.S. senator, and their age often shaped their preference, according to a wide-ranging survey of voters in Tennessee.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall.
NEW YORK (AP) — Environmentalists cheered a federal court order that blocks a Trump administration permit for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, pending an environmental review.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris has been sworn in as a U.S. District Court judge.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. appeals court blocked President Donald Trump on Thursday from immediately ending an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation, saying the administration's decision was arbitrary because it was based on a flawed legal theory.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The former Pilot Flying J vice president federal prosecutors described as the architect of a scheme to defraud trucking companies has been sentenced by a federal judge in Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Australian telecommunications executive Robyn Denholm brings much-needed financial and auto industry expertise to her new role as Tesla's board chairwoman, but her biggest challenge is whether she can rein in a CEO with a proclivity for misbehavior.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has bought an electric scooter sharing company, expanding its presence in alternative modes of transportation.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's transport minister says automakers are prepared to offer up to 3,000 euros ($3,430) per car to help fix some older diesel vehicles with excessive emissions.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan reported Thursday an 8 percent fall in profit for the latest quarter as declining sales offset the benefits of cost cuts.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's board has named one of its own as chairman to replace Elon Musk, complying with terms of a fraud settlement with U.S. securities regulators.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare is experimenting with a new direction in health care. Starting next year, seniors in many states will be able to get additional services such as help with chores and respite for caregivers through private Medicare Advantage insurance plans.
Health insurers are extending their postelection streak before the opening bell thanks to several ballot initiatives and the increased chance that a divided Congress that may not repeal the Affordable Care Act.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Friday as technology and internet companies take steep losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices rose by the most in six years last month, led higher by more expensive gas, food, and chemicals.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's main gas company signed a long-term contract Thursday to receive deliveries of liquefied natural gas from the United States as part of a larger effort to reduce its energy dependence on Russia.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is promising to be more forceful and open about its handling of sexual misconduct cases, a week after high-paid engineers and others walked out in protest over its male-dominated culture.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has left its key policy rate unchanged but signaled that it plans to keep responding to the strong U.S. economy with more interest rate hikes. The next rate increase is expected in December.
NEW YORK (AP) — Google is planning a major expansion in New York City, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal .
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Getting President Donald Trump's tax returns is high on the list of Democratic priorities now that they have won the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Suddenly facing life under divided government, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders talked bipartisanship but then bluntly previewed the fault lines to come. Trump threatened to go after House Democrats who try to investigate him, while Rep. Nancy Pelosi said her party would be "a check and balance" against the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Beyond trying to get their hands on the Holy Grail of President Donald Trump's business dealings — his tax returns — House Democrats are prepared to use their new majority and subpoena power to go after financial records that could back up their claims that he's using his presidency to enrich himself and his family.