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Spanish Lender Requests $24 Billion Bailout

A troubled Spanish lender has asked the government for 19 billion euros ($24 million) of public money to keep the bank from collapsing. As The New York Times reports, this is far beyond what the government was expecting when it took over Bankia and “its portfolio of delinquent real estate loans.” There are conflicting reports [...]

Consumer Confidence Highest Since Before Recession, Survey Says

Here’s news that could affect both the economy and the presidential race: Consumer confidence has improved “in each of the past nine monthly surveys” and is now at “its highest level since October 2007,” according to the latest Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. The most recent recession officially began in December 2007, and [...]

The Price Of College Tuition, In 1 Graphic

Here are two ways to think about the price of college tuition: 1. Sticker price is the full price colleges list in their brochures and on their websites. 2. Net price is the price students actually pay. Net price accounts for the fact that many students receive grants or scholarships. So can be considerably lower [...]

Radio Legend And Civil Rights Activist Hal Jackson Dies

Hal Jackson, radio pioneer and the first African American to be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters’ Hall Of Fame in 1990, died Wednesday in New York. He was 96 years old. Jackson spent his career cracking many color barriers, becoming the first African American network radio announcer, first black play-by-play sports announcer and [...]

Preparing For A Greek Exit, In 3 Easy Steps

“Finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro agreed earlier this week on the need to develop national contingency plans in case Greece drops out of the common currency, officials said.” – WSJ This is awkward, because you’re really not supposed to talk about this sort of thing out loud. You’re supposed to [...]

A Meat Mea Culpa: What Went Wrong With ‘Pink Slime’

It came as no surprise to us when outrage over “pink slime,” the catchy nickname given to lean finely textured beef (LFTB), went viral a couple of months ago. Murky government rules, off-limits meatpacking floors, and a “gotcha” media mentality have created a fear and mistrust that’s left the public highly opinionated but often woefully [...]

Keys To Success From BJ’s CEO: Be Nice, Speak Up

May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. All month, Tell Me More is talking to people who trace their heritage to that part of the world and have changed the game in various fields. Business “game changer” Laura Sen is president and CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club. She was among the small group of [...]

Investors Question Fairness Of Facebook IPO

Shares of Facebook on Wednesday made up a little of the ground they’ve lost since the company’s troubled stock offering last week. But the company and its lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, still face a lot of legal problems. Some of the investors who bought shares of the company filed a lawsuit alleging that the two [...]

Many Americans Say Doing Taxes Is Easier Than Eating Right

Filing your taxes may be a dreaded task. But eating healthy can be an even bigger struggle for many Americans. According to the results of a new survey of more than 1,000 Americans, almost half of us think its harder to eat right than do our taxes. And genderwise, 55 percent of men say it’s [...]

HP Will Cut 8 Percent Of Workforce Or 27,000 Jobs

As part of what it calls “a multi-year restructuring,” Hewlett-Packard announced it was cutting 27,000 jobs or 8 percent of its workforce. HP said the cuts would happen over an extended period and should be done by the end of 2014. “The restructuring is expected to generate annualized savings in the range of $3.0 to [...]