Praire Gun Works – Shooting Off Top New Stories Of The Day

Cited: CNN

Apple will be paying a close eye to a report regarding those companies that supply them with components for their various gadgets that we all seem to love so much. The report called the supplier responsibility report covers 197 of Apple’s supplier factories around the world, though 97% of them are located in the Far East. The report point out many violations that were discovered at these factories and exactly what action took or is planning on taking to remedy the situation.

The report shows that in 52 plants that supply Apple there were no procedures in place that prohibit discrimination on the results of medical tests, including hepatitis B.  In 24 suppliers, pregnancy tests were given but again there were no policies in place to keep women from being let go because they were pregnant. At 93 plants 50% of the workers were on shift in excess of 60 hours in a week, with many also working more than 6 days in row. At least 37 of the facilities lacked any way to track and ensure that work hour guidelines were being followed. Among the problems were 42 plants with payment issues, included delayed payments and no payslips. Many others don’t have proper benefits as required by law and regulation while others used deductions from pay as disciplinary action.

Almost all of the plants were cited for one or more violation but at least 70% were found not to be paying adequate overtime. At this time Apple has only cut its ties to one of these suppliers as they have failed to be in compliance on numerous occasions. Critics are likely to come down hard on Apple since they are at the top, but others do note that Apple is one of the only American electronics makers to conduct the annual reports.

My take:

It is refreshing to see that Apple isn’t afraid to bring scrutiny on itself in conducting these audits. Now it remains to be seen what they intend to do about it.

Cited: MSNBC 

Borrowing by small businesses may have moderated slightly in September, but the pace that these retailers and small distributors are borrowing money still posted double digit gains for the 14th consecutive month. Many industry analysts see this as a sign that the economy is moving ahead and that it could start moving even more quickly pretty soon. Small business owners tend to be much more cautious when increasing their debt levels due to their minimal resources to pay back the loans should business decline.

Economists are also quick to point out that small businesses are the engine for growth in the job market, so if they are borrowing it is a good sign that they will be hiring soon, if they haven’t done so already. Firms use these funds to buy new equipment, or to expand into new markets, or advertising. This is spending that usually results in the need for more people to manage the growth that goes hand-in-hand with these borrowed investment funds.

The information on small business borrowing comes at a time when the Federal Reserve Bank is meeting to discuss monetary policy as well as the overall economic conditions in all sectors. They will no doubt look at this data as a good sign for economic activity moving forward.

Another source of good news for the Fed is that while small businesses are indeed borrowing more, they are also servicing this debt in a timely fashion. Recent data shows that loans 90 days or more late fell to 0.41% in September from 0.46% in August. Accounts even more in arrears, those likely to never be repaid, also fell in September, giving bankers a little more reason to consider putting some money to work with their most credit worthy borrowers.

My take:

This is good news, especially the part where loans are actually be paid back by these borrowers. It does bode well for the economy moving forward and hopefully will also help the employment picture.

Cited: MSNBC

Starbucks is on every corner of America, and on a few sides streets too. And now, Starbucks’s banks might be there too – well, sort of. The iconic retail coffee giant has decided to do its part to help small businesses and to hopefully get them to start hiring again by teaming up with Opportunity Finance Network to get some development loan funding out to low-income communities. Opportunity Finance is a network of 180 community development institutions that help to pull money together for these depressed economic zones and now they will have a little caffeine behind the effort.

The partnership is being called Create Jobs for USA Fund, and it has already come up with $1 million in donations for this development network. For its part, Starbucks threw $5 million into the pot at the get-go, which it is hoped will be just the beginning to generate over $42 million in loans for Create Jobs for USA Fund. Individual donations are being sought around the country with those who donate $5 given a red, white, and blue wristband.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz pushed through the idea for the development funds after watching lawmakers in Washington grind to a halt every time they were trying to reduce debt levels and get the economy moving again. In fact, he pledged to withhold all contributions from Starbucks to political campaigns until the stalemate ended. Getting anyone in Washington to agree to almost anything is impossible these days and realizing this fact, Schultz decided that in addition to cutting off funds to D.C. he start a jobs initiative moving in his idea for partnering with the Opportunity Finance Network.

The rough flow of funds to jobs that Starbucks hopes will come about under the plan is as follows: Starbucks gives the money to the Opportunity Finance Network, they in turn give lend the money to a small business, and then with a little luck, jobs are created in the community where the money goes. The OFN has a great track record for return on its loan portfolio and their research indicates that one job is created for every $21,000 in loans.

My take:

This is a fantastic way for the private sector to team up with a local development agency to put productive money back into the community. At the end of the day, if the plans work, the private business donating the funds stands to reap huge rewards while also helping to revitalize the country where they made their money in the first place.

Cited: Google News

The social media continues to seep into almost every corner of our lives, even for those who claim to know nothing about Facebook or Twitter. Businesses, social organizations, local churches and other religious groups are all on some social networking medium or are making plans to do so. Therefore, along with the growth and insidious nature of this charming beast comes the obvious legal issues that arise when something like Facebook is so widespread. The cases can be very complicated with  no easy answers or quick remedies because for the most part there is no precedent for the courts or lawyers to follow.

First there is the issue of Publicity Rights in posting almost anything on the Internet, and especially on say Facebook, where many others will then pass it around the network. There are privacy laws to be considered as well as copyright laws and infringement should you post someone else’s work without citation or their permission, especially if you might be making some money on it.

Another thing to think about is, just who owns certain of these accounts, such as Twitter. Does the business own the twitter account used for  branding, or does the employee who uses the account. In a recent lawsuit it was found that a company may claim ownership of an employee’s social media account however the ramifications for employees who post to Facebook are not all that clear. It might be your account and your posts but if it is being done under a company “banner” they can claim it for their own.

Workers also have to be very careful about accessing these networks during working hours as they could be dismissed if they are doing so without explicit permission. Social media is also being used more and more as evidence in court so be oh so careful what you post because you never know when it might come back to you, and perhaps not in ways that you could ever have imagined.

My take:

Sounds like just another way that the lawyers are going to make things even more complicated than they already are. Litigation after litigation to follow on the back of everything from posting your aunt’s chicken soup recipe on Facebook to the FBI knocking on your door because of something posted by someone else that just happened to make it onto your Twitter account.

Cited: Google News/Daily News

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used something of a different approach in wanting to get tough with teachers, he’s offering the best of the a $20,000 raise. In his state of the city address, given yesterday, the mayor decided that the best way to get tough with the teacher’s union is to disarm them and to provide incentives to get them to warm to, and to adopt his plan for merit-based pay, and much more critical teacher evaluations. The mayor is a shrewd businessman and is known for his no-nonsense approach to dealing with the complexities of running New York City, as was evidenced in his proposal to the teacher; the $20,000 bonus will only happen if the unions agree to a rating system for the city’s school teachers.

The Mayor said that he hopes that this incentive will help all involved to come up with a good system that rewards teachers who do a great job and excel in their classrooms, while at the same time, weeding out those under-performers that are hurting the education of our children. The Mayor also advised that he will cut up to half of the teachers now teaching at the 33 lowest performing schools in New York City, and without the consent of the unions. Recent talks between the city and the teacher’s union regarding an evaluation system for the teachers in these schools ended without a deal and with both sides walking away from the discussions. This has now becoming something of a game of “Chicken” and Bloomberg is going to see if the teacher’s union and their rank and file blink first.

United Federation of Teacher’s President, Michael Mulgrew, is opposed to the teacher bonuses saying that the Mayor is dangling a carrot that he knows doesn’t work because it has been tried in other cities with failing school systems and the results have been  negligible at best.

My take:

Sounds like Washington D.C. type politics. Neither side will agree and in the end we, the ones that elected all of them suffer, and in this case its our children who suffer. There must be a way to give teacher’s the protections they deserve against being unfairly punished for the failings of everyone involved and trying to make them accountable for doing a good job.

Cited: Google News

Industry analysts have seen more and more interest in the US housing market from foreign investors than anytime in the recent past. With interest rates in the US at record low levels, and housing prices continuing to fall across the country, many overseas investors are finding that the wise old investing advise about buying real estate is best carried out in the U.S. The state that gets the most interest from foreign buyers is Florida, with its pleasant climate, vacation and tourist attractions, and relatively low cost of real estate, its not surprising that The Sunshine State tops the list, especially in the Latino community.

Recent data show that over 31% of all home purchases in Florida are made by foreign buyers. Going back just a couple of years, to 2009, foreign buyers in the U.S. housing market accounted for $66 billion of the market. By 2010 that figure had jumped to $82 billion. Adding to the allure of a new home state-side, at least for a while, was the positive benefit that most currencies had vs. the usd, making these purchases even more attractive to foreign buyers. And, while credit conditions are still very tight with most banks still holding back the reigns on their loan portfolios, in many cases foreign buyers have cash and therefore are not as concerned about finding a loan.

Mexico is the top country where foreign buyers come from to buy houses in the United sates. Coming in a close second to Florida with the most foreign investment in their housing market is California, with many of these buyers coming from Mexico, the Philippines, China, India, and Vietnam. Texas is third, and not surprisingly, many of its foreign home buyers come from Mexico also. Rounding out the top is Arizona, taking in 6% of all foreign money coming into the U.S. housing market.

My take:

It isn’t surprising to see foreigner taking advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the U.S. housing market, especially among those more wealthy individuals who don’t necessarily want to move to the U.S. but just to buy at the bottom. Foreign investment has always taken place in the commercial real estate markets by much more well-heeled individuals so I guess more and more foreigners are following the lead.

Cited: CNN

Experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) are urging a cautious but optimistic view of India’s milestone in its fight against polio – no new cases in a full year. The last case of this killer disease occurred in a young girl in the western side of the state of Bengal in January 2011. In not having any reported cases of polio in the last year India moves out of the company of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria, countries where polio is still prevalent. Leaders of India’s health organizations are cautious to point out that just because there haven’t been any new reported cases over the last twelve months that doesn’t mean that the virus can’t be re-imported into India or that there may still be other new cases out there that haven’t been reported.

India won’t be certified as “polio-free” until there have been no reported  cases for another two years, however, officials are happy to see that the steps that they took toward eradicating polio from India are finally starting to bear fruit. Polio is a disease that effected even wealthy nations up until the 1950′s. The polio virus attacks the nervous system and is spread in areas with poor sanitation, a factor the helped to keep the disease so prevalent in Third World countries for so much longer than in developed nations.

The success in combating polio in India is the result of a massive effort costing billions of dollars to have all of India’s children immunized against the virus. To accomplish this unprecedented undertaking, India used mobile vaccination teams that tracked children down at bus stops, train stations, and in marketplaces.

My take:

To know that there is a cure for a disease like polio and that so many children still contract this deadly disease is heartbreaking. It is gratifying to see that India made it a mission from which there was no losing it making sure that all of its children were vaccinated and now, hopefully they are rid of this disease. This government action is so much more productive than building nuclear weapons and fighting with neighbors.

Cited:CNN

The Euro zone is bracing for potential downgrade to some of its sovereign members from S&P, or at least that’s the latest rumor shaking the European debt markets. As per the norm, S&P declined comment. Likely targets of the downgrade are several countries that now still enjoy a AAA rating from the rating agency, France in particular.  The markets have been expecting some action by S&P and perhaps other rating agencies for several weeks so the impact on prices might be somewhat muted as the various exchanges have more than likely discounted the info into the present prices traded in debt markets, foreign exchange, and equities.

Initial returns from European equity markets saw most of the major indexes off just over 1% at their mid-day. EU leaders had hoped that the new fiscal measures announced in December might be the fix that could forestall a downgrade of European debt and more importantly, to be the remedy that would start these countries back on the road to fiscal stability. The deal hashed out mostly between France and Germany was a combination of 200 billion euro loan to the IMF to support its contingency fund, penalties for those countries whose debt levels rise above a 3% deficit ceiling, as well as a permanent bailout fund for emergency funding in conjunction with the European Financial Stability Facility.

European leaders have tried to put on calm, resolute face while the headwinds of the market are making it increasingly difficult to maintain a positive outlook. However, it is hoped that the package of measures will be signed by all members by the end of January, in time for the first EU summit of 2012.

My take:

It sounds like a classic case of good money chasing bad, especially when you consider that the fiscal picture for many EU members remains bleak no matter how many euros you throw at the problem. Greece, Italy, to name but two, came into the EU only with smoke and mirrors to help them to reach the fiscal guidelines set out in the Maastricht Agreement and now that the global economy is slowing, the fragile foundation is starting to crumble.