A plea to shed
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WINNIPEG - One of Canada’s largest mutual fund companies says it will reduce the management fees charged on many of its products, starting in July. Investors Group, which is part of IGM Financial (TSX: IGM) and the Power group of companies, says the reductions will affect about two-thirds of its funds.
The team at Payday Loan Company is ready to tell anyone yes for a payday loans or cash advance for up to $1000 cash.
One of the last vestiges of hope for Jamestown Mall has been its JCPenney outlet store.
While other retailers have deserted the mall in droves, the 124,000 square-foot anchor store’s presence – and success — has been something that the mall’s proponents have hung onto as proof of the area’s potential. (A Macy’s is also still open at the mall.)
In January of last year, J.C. Penney Co. announced it was exiting the outlet business. At the time, it sounded like a possible death knell for Jamestown Mall.
“For ten months we were in limbo,” said Steven Bingham, the outlet store’s manager.
But then SB Capital Group came to the rescue, buying most of those outlet stores in October and converting them to a new name: JC’s Five Star Outlet. Glen Gammons, who ran J.C. Penney’s outlet division for years, came on board to run the rebranded chain under the new owner.
In a recent phone interview, Gammons said the company’s plan for the Jamestown Mall store is the following: to keep it open. J.C. Penney still owns the building, he noted.
And what’s more, he said, the store is still profitable. In fact, its sales performance put it within the middle tier among the other 14 stores in the chain, he said.
Gammons thinks the mall could see better days down the road. The city needs to team up with a developer to bring in a retailer such as a Sam’s Club or Burlington Coat Factory to the site, he said.
“There’s potential for the mall to be revived,” he said. “I’m not naïve that there are challenges. … But it’s a good piece of real estate.”
In the meantime, the outlet store is in the midst of a 21-month transition to separate the systems and name between JCPenney and JC’s Five Star Outlet.
The slow changeover has led to some confusion. The sign outside the store still says “JCPenney outlet store.” So does the store’s glossy advertisements. The store no longer accepts JCPenney gift cards, but you can use that retailer’s credit card in the outlet.
While a lot of the systems behind the scenes are in flux, what hasn’t changed as much is what customers see on the sales floor. The store still gets about 20 to 25 percent of its merchandise from overstock and end-of-season inventory from J quick payday loan.C. Penney – the same level as before, Gammons said. But he said the chain is also expanding its other vendors to bring in different products into the store.
Not surprisingly, many customers haven’t realized the store has changed names. At the same, the store is also facing the opposite problem.
“A lot of our customers think we are closed,” Bingham said, referring to the previous publicity about J.C. Penney exiting its outlet stores.
So the store has seen a dip in traffic, he said. But it’s gradually building back up as word spreads that it’s still open.
Another thing the store has going for it is a loyal following. Some customers have been shopping at the outlet since it first opened in East Alton in 1980. It moved a couple times before ending up at Jamestown Mall in 1999.
“We are definitely a destination,” Bingham said. “We have some customers who are here everyday, scoping out the new merchandise.”
KELLWOOD
Kellwood Co.’s newly-minted chief executive didn’t get too settled in during her pit stop to the apparel company’s Town and Country headquarters. Jill Granoff popped into the local office earlier this week in between visits to the company’s New York and California offices.
A Connecticut resident, she will be working out of the company’s New York office.
It makes sense in some ways since New York is the center of the fashion world. But it also makes you wonder a bit about the future of the local headquarters where about 150 people work.
Her predecessor, Michael Kramer, once told me that he would keep the headquarters in this region as long as he was in charge. Then he took a job as chief operating officer for J.C. Penney.
However, Erin Haggerty, a company spokeswoman, noted in an email that the previous CEO before Kramer lived in New York.
“So it’s not uncommon for Kellwood to base its CEO there,” she wrote.
Still, I asked if there were any plans to move the company headquarters. Haggerty said there wasn’t — at least not “at this time.”
European finance ministers are unlikely to reach an agreement Wednesday over how the region’s banks should shore up their defenses against future financial shocks, Germany’s finance chief said.
The European Union is in the process to writing an international agreement on capital buffers for banks into European law. This would determine the level of risk Europe’s banks can take and what regulators can do to ensure that financial crises like the one that brought down U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 do not happen again.
The so-called Basel III deal would force banks gradually to increase their highest-quality capital _ such as equity and reserves _ from 2 percent to 7 percent of risky assets they hold by 2019. An additional 2.5 percent would have to be built up during good times.
Basel III was agreed by the world’s leading economies after the 2008 financial crisis demonstrated that many banks did not have enough of a capital cushion to absorb sudden losses on loans and other risky activities. Once agreed, the new rules would apply to more than 8,300 banks in Europe, forcing them to build up billions in extra capital by selling shares or assets or reining in bonuses and dividends.
The 2008 financial panic brought on by the Lehmans collapse hit Europe hard. Between 2008 and 2010, governments across the 27-country-bloc spent (EURO)4.6 trillion ($6.1 trillion) propping up struggling banks.
What complicated efforts even more was that the open borders in the EU allow banks to operate freely across the bloc, but when lenders ran into trouble it was national governments _ and taxpayers _ who had to foot the bill. While the EU is now striving for a single set of banking rules, there is no pan-European bank resolution fund that could relieve national governments.
The U.K., which had to save three major banks, has seen its debt load almost double since 2007, while much smaller Ireland had to seek an international bailout to help stem the losses of its domestic lenders. And many economists fear that the economic recession in Spain may soon reveal massive bank losses there guaranteed payday loans.
Now, the U.K. is leading a group of countries that want to be able to force their own banks to have bigger cushions than the ones prescribed by the pan-European rules without first getting approval from the European Commission in Brussels.
“We should make it clear that the crisis did not originate exclusively from weak fiscal policy. It originated also from insufficiently strong banks,” said Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski. “So therefore a group of countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom are very determined to see that banking systems in the future should be as healthy as we expect the fiscal side, the budgetary side, to be kept.”
That demand is opposed by France and the Commission, which fear that jacking up capital requirements in one country could force banks based there to cut down lending by their foreign subsidiaries. That, they argue, could hurt small states that don’t have a big domestic banking system.
To bridge the divide between the two camps, Denmark, which currently holds the EU presidency, has proposed a compromise that would allow national regulators to require an extra capital buffer of 3 percent. Anything beyond that would have to be approved by the Commission in Brussels, which would examine not only the level of risk in the home state but also the potential impact in neighboring countries.
Getting full approval for that compromise, however, may not be possible on Wednesday, officials said, partly because France is unlikely to budge from its position ahead of the second round of presidential elections this Sunday.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that he expects an agreement before the end of June.
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Don Melvin contributed to this story.
I have planned my daughters’ weddings for them. As the father of the bride, I claim that prerogative. I get stuck with the bill.
Here’s how we’ll do it, girls. We’ll drop the bride and groom by the church for a quick “I do.” No flowers, crooners or organist. Just get hitched and get out.
The reception will be in our back yard. You’ll recognize the daughter who’s not getting married. She’ll be grilling the hot dogs. My wife will be the DJ (I hope they like the Beatles). I’ll tend bar.
There will be an open bar at my daughters’ weddings – I’m no cheapskate! – all the Pabst you can drink until the mini-keg runs dry.
When the crowd drifts away, I’ll sit down and, with a tear in my eye, write the happy couple a check for $25,000. I’ll be getting off cheap.
The average cost of a wedding today is actually $27,800, according to a survey by the wedding website Theknot.com.
Think of that. $27,800 is the down payment on a nice house. It’s a fancy new car. It’s a year at Mizzou for a grand kid.
Are we going to blow that on a one-day shindig, shiny rocks on a ring and a dress the bride will wear once? Daughter dear, wouldn’t you rather have cash than a bash?
That will be my pitch, anyway. I suspect I’ll get some push back. Girls start dreaming of their weddings when still in middle school, and they keep dreaming until the big day. If my daughters push hard enough, we’ll go to plan B: a nice wedding on a sane budget.
Since I know diddly about this, I asked help from a wedding planner, Ellen Gutierrez, and a very thrifty person, Barbara Ann Hughes.
Hughes is the queen of used. She teaches a course at St. Louis Community College titled “You can’t have enough stuff; the art of going to garage sales, estate sales and flea markets.” She furnished her whole house in Town and Country second hand.
Her advice to parents; Give the young lovers a set amount for the wedding and say, “Anything you don’t spend you can keep.” That encourages thrift.
That gets us to cheap dresses. Back in 1975, my wife bought her wedding dress used, then sold it for a profit. These days, eBay lists used wedding dresses as cheap as $49. What could possibly go wrong?
If you want to actually try on the dress before you buy it, go to the Scholar Shops in Clayton and Webster Groves. Profits go to loans to needy college students. Goodwill thrift stores, another good charity, often have used wedding dresses in stock.
Scholar Shop sells used wedding dresses for $75 to $250, says Kim Abel, director of the Scholarship Foundation, which runs the shops. Some donated dresses still have tags on them; evidence that love can go awry.
Think barter. Abel knows a parent in video production who bartered with a friend in the travel business. One couple got a free wedding video, and the other a cut-rate honeymoon.
Think do-it-yourself. When Hughes was married, she did all the decorating. She put two fish bowls stuffed with silk flowers on the altar. “The pastor said, ‘Those look really pretty. Can we leave them up for tomorrow’s service.’ I said sure,” said Hughes.
Wedding planner Gutierrez, of Brides Vision in Kirkwood, disagrees with the DIY solution.
“I try to keep my brides and moms as calm as possible,” she says. Running around with flowers in fishbowls doesn’t create serenity. “I try to allow them to be a guest at their own wedding,” she says.
Gutierrez’ top recommendation for saving money: Limit the crowd you wine and dine. “Ask yourself, ‘Does this person have meaning in your life in the long run?’”
Consider a lunch instead of a dinner, she says. It’s cheaper.
If you’re planning to celebrate somewhere other than your back yard, prepare to pay through the wazoo. But there are tactics for keeping the cost down.
Consider odd locations. At the St. Louis Zoo, for instance, one couple is planning a wedding witnessed by hippopotami in front of the hippo enclosure. “They love hippos,” says Kathy Lunders, director of group sales, who also planned dizzy weddings on the zoo merry-go-round. (Disclosure: My wife works at the zoo.)
“You can get married at the Four Seasons or at the VFW hall and every place in between,” says Gutierrez. Wedding in the off-season, say January instead of June, might save you a little on a hall rental but not much, she says.
You can cheap out by using a fake wedding cake rented from a bakery, Hughes says. Only the top tier is real, so the bride and groom can cut it. Then it’s wheeled back into the kitchen. The guests eat sheet cake.
Nancy Slade, editor of St. Louis Bride magazine, says brides should set their top priorities up front. “For one bride it may be the photography. She wants pictures she can remember for the rest of her life. For another, it may be the flowers,” Slade says.
Spend your money where it will have the most meaning, she says.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
Sales of new homes probably increased in March for the first time in three months, indicating the market is struggling to stabilize, economists said before a report today.
Purchases rose to a 318,000 annual rate, up 1.6 percent from 313,000 in February, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 77 economists. Other reports may show consumer confidence dropped for a second month and home prices decreased at a slower pace.
Residential real estate remains a soft spot in the economy, challenged by stricter lending standards and more foreclosures, which depress property values. At the same time, an improved labor market and mortgage rates near historic lows may help prevent the market from slipping further.
Japan
Under pressure to take action on rising gasoline prices, President Barack Obama wants Congress to strengthen federal supervision of oil markets, increase penalties for market manipulation and empower regulators to increase the amount of money energy traders are required to put behind their transactions.
The White House plan, which Obama was to unveil Tuesday, is more likely to draw sharp election-year distinctions with Republicans than have an immediate effect on prices at the pump. The measures seek to boost spending for Wall Street enforcement at a time when congressional Republicans are seeking to limit the reach of federal financial regulations.
Obama plans to spell out his $52 million proposal Tuesday at the White House, where he will be joined by Attorney General Eric Holder.
Republicans have been hammering Obama on his energy policies, recognizing the political cost of high gas prices on the president. Obama’s plan would turn the tables on Republicans by taking aim at Wall Street’s role in the oil price chain.
Senior administration officials who put together the proposal said it aims to detect and deter illegal manipulation by energy speculators, the type of practices that many Democrats blame for the high cost of gasoline. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plan ahead of Obama’s announcement.
They would not go as far as to say that market manipulation is responsible for rising gas prices, but the officials said they wanted to curtail the ability of speculators to take unlawful advantage of oil price volatility.
At issue is the increasing role of investment in oil futures contracts by pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, exchange traded funds and other investors. Much of that money is betting that oil prices will rise. Analysts say it is possible that such speculation has somewhat inflated the price of oil.
At the same time, investors can also bet that prices will go down _ indeed, speculators have been credited for low natural gas prices. Studies of the effects of speculation on oil markets indicate that it probably increases volatility, but doesn’t have a major effect on average prices.
Still, seeing a potential problem with speculators is not limited to Obama or Democrats or this election season. When gasoline hit $3 a gallon in 2006, George W business cards. Bush launched an investigation, declaring Americans “don’t want and will not accept … manipulation of the market. And neither will I.” Last year, as prices rose, Obama and Holder announced the creation of a task force to look into fraud in the energy markets.
Obama’s plan this time calls on Congress to:
_ Increase six-fold the surveillance and enforcement staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to better deter oil market manipulation.
_ Increase spending on technology to provide better oversight and surveillance of energy markets.
_ Increase civil and criminal penalties against firms that engage in market manipulation from $1 million to $10 million.
_ Give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority to increase the amount of money that a trader must put up to back a trading position. The administration officials said such authority could help limit disruptions in energy markets.
In addition, the Obama administration, on its own, will increase access to the commission’s data so the White House Council of Economic Advisers can examine and analyze trading information.
The White House effort comes at the same time that Republicans have been pushing Obama with their own energy proposals. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wants to seek votes on more domestic oil and natural gas exploration, a freeze on regulations on refineries and approval of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas, a project Obama has blocked.
Republicans are also trying to place limits on the financial regulation legislation Congress passed in 2010 over Republican objections. Though the House Republican budget, which calls for sharp reductions in government programs, does not specify reduction in spending by the trading commission, the administration officials said that if the cuts were applied the commission would lose more than five times what it spends on regulating energy markets.
The debate will pit Republicans who blame Obama for high gasoline prices against a White House that blames Republicans for coddling Wall Street.
Royal Dutch Shell says it is confident a 10-mile oil sheen spotted in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast didn’t originate from its operations in the area.
In a statement Thursday, the company says it found no sign of leaks and ruled out any well-control issues associated with its operations. The sheen was spotted late Wednesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter with a pollution officer on board was heading out Thursday morning to the site, about 130 miles southeast of New Orleans, in an effort to determine the source of the oil.
Shell estimates the sheen at six barrels of oil, or about 252 gallons. The company sent a response ship to skim the area as a precaution.
The company has two production platforms in the area, called Mars and Ursa.
Shares in Royal Dutch Shell PLC fell in European trading early Thursday after the sheen was reported. After New York trading opened, Shell’s U.S. shares were up 32 cents at $68.07.
Early reports could not determine whether oil was continuing to flow at the site near the Shell platforms.
The Mars and Ursa fields are producing oil and natural gas from huge tension-leg production platforms. The Mars platform is in 2,900 feet of water while Ursa is in 4,000 feet of water.
Shell operates six major offshore facilities, 13 crewed platforms and numerous subsea systems in the Gulf.
The sheen was reported in an area about 50 miles from the site of BP’s Macondo well, which blew out in April 2010 and created the nation’s worst offshore oil disaster. The now-plugged Macondo well is in about 5,000 feet of water.
Sheens spread quickly as oil breaks down and a small amount can cover a large area. Earlier this week, a tanker in the Mississippi River south of New Orleans spilled an estimated 50 gallons of oil. The sheen from the discharge extended almost 30 miles downriver.
Other possible sources, aside from oilfield equipment, could include natural seepage from the Gulf bottom and fuel discharged by passing ships headed into or out of the Mississippi River.