In Brief
Bank of America has hot line to help with mortgage woes
Bank of America established a hot line for Nevada customers to call concerning problems with home mortgage loans, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced on Wednesday.
The number is 877-345-6416.
Reid said Bank of America Corp. CEO Brian Moynihan agreed to create the hot line as part of a program to help Nevada homeowners struggling with mortgage payments.
The bank opened a mortgage office in Henderson on June 1 and intends to open other offices in Las Vegas and Reno by the end of the month. Homeowners who want to talk with a mortgage specialist are urged to call the hot line and to ask for an appointment.
Nevada leads the country in home foreclosure filings despite a 12 percent decrease in May from April, RealtyTrac reported. The state’s foreclosure rate is more than five times the national average.
NEW YORK
FedEx’s international shipments up despite dour trade forecasts
FedEx said people are too pessimistic about a recovery in global trade, after it reported Wednesday that strong exports from Asia and other international shipments drove its improved fourth-quarter results.
While concerns about European economies and their looming debt problems remain, FedEx said international shipments overall grew by 23 percent. Countries like India, China and Brazil in particular are driving the increase.
FedEx said the U.S. economy is steadily growing, too. However, it has a conservative outlook for the next year, expecting rising costs as shipments pick up.
The company’s forecast for earnings of $4.40 to $5 per share for the fiscal year that started June 1 falls short of analysts’ predictions of $5.05 per share. It’s the first time FedEx has issued a full-year forecast since before the recession, indicating the company’s growing confidence in the long-term recovery.
FedEx, based in Memphis, Tenn., expects to earn 85 cents to $1.05 per share for the quarter ending in August. Analysts forecast $1.03 per share.
HELSINKI
Nokia warns competition in smart phones will hurt profits
Nokia Corp. warned Wednesday that its earnings this year will be hit by tough competition from rivals in the smart-phone market. The news sent its stock down 9 percent.
The world’s largest mobile phone maker said competition “particularly at the high-end of the market” would force net sales in the current period to be “at the lower end of, or slightly below, its previously expected range of euro6.7 billion to euro7.2 billion ($8.2 billion to 8.8 billion).”
Nokia also said its operating margin in the period would be at the low end or below its previous prediction of 9 to 12 percent.
The company’s share price plummeted, closing down 8.9 percent at 7.21 euros ($8.85) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
WASHINGTON
Better oversight of financial companies a goal for Fed
Ben Bernanke says the Federal Reserve is working to strengthen oversight of financial companies to better protect the nation from another financial crisis in the future.
The Fed chairman’s comments came Wednesday as Congress moved closer to sending President Barack Obama a final legislative package that revamps the nation’s financial structure to prevent a replay of the recent crisis.
Bernanke welcomes key parts of that package in remarks prepared for delivery to a conference in New York. At the same time, Bernanke says the Fed is moving ahead on strengthening capital requirements for banks and collecting more information on linkages among financial companies.
WASHINGTON
New rules proposed for target-date retirement funds
Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed new disclosure rules for target-date retirement funds that would require sponsors to spell out how they are investing the money and to warn about risks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5-0 to propose that marketing materials for target-date funds include how investments are being allocated among stocks, bonds, cash and such.
The proposed rules could be formally adopted sometime after a 60-day public comment period, possibly with changes.
Target-date funds are pegged to a person’s expected retirement year. They are an increasingly popular way to invest in 401(k) accounts and are appealing because of their “set-it-and-forget-it” approach. The funds allocate investments among types of assets, shifting to a more conservative mix as the target date for retirement approaches.
Under the SEC proposal, target-date funds’ marketing materials, whether electronic or in print, would have to include a prominent table, chart or graph showing the allocations among the assets over the fund’s life. A statement would have to explain that the asset allocation changes over time.
SEATTLE
Gates, Buffett urge fellow billionaires to give to charity
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett are launching a campaign to get other American billionaires to give at least half their wealth to charity.
Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in a letter introducing the concept that he couldn’t be happier with his decision in 2006 to give 99 percent of his roughly $46 billion fortune to charity.
Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Gates and Buffett have been campaigning for the past year to get others to donate the bulk of their wealth.
The friends and philanthropic colleagues are asking people to pledge to donate either during their lifetime or at the time of their death. They estimate their efforts could generate $600 billion dollars in charitable giving. In 2009, American philanthropies received a total of about $300 billion in donations, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
SAN FRANCISCO
Single man seeks mate, must like fine food, jazz and Macs
Apple Inc.’s ads used to challenge consumers to “think different.” Now a website wants to help fans of the iPhone and Mac computer maker date different, too.
Called Cupidtino, an homage to Apple’s home base in Cupertino, Calif., the site aims to connect Apple aficionados with like-minded “Machearts.” The idea is that if you love the iPhone and Mac maker’s products you might be best suited to date a fellow Apple fan.
Profile pages on the site reveal such intimate details as earliest Apple product purchases and lists of favorite iPhone apps.
Cupidtino is the brainchild of Mel Sampat, a former Microsoft employee, who came up with the idea during an argument with his girlfriend over whether he should use his iPad during dinner. Sampat told her that if they ever broke up he would date someone who likes Apple products. That got him thinking about creating a site to help connect those who do.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized people that are true Apple fans might actually have a lot more in common than they realize,” he said.
The site, which was initially available in a free “beta” version but starting Wednesday will charge users about $5 a month to read messages, has snagged 16,000 Apple fanboys and fangirls since it launched in early June.
