Topic: Industries

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National Spelling Bee: 10 winning business words

In the National Spelling Bee’s 85-year existence, a wide range of words have crowned the winners – from science words like ‘crustaceology,’ to musical terms such as ‘soubrette,’ and ‘appoggiatura.’ The list of winning words also includes several that could slide right into the pages of this newspaper’s business section. In honor of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee, here are 10 business words from past years that have determined the champion. Will this year’s winning word make the list?
Briefing
What would happen if Greece exited the eurozone?

Rumors are rife of a Greek exit from the eurozone. While no country has yet dropped the common currency, there are some indications of what will transpire if Greece does.
Facebook IPO: Six key dates in its debacle

Facebook's first week as a publicly traded company will go down as a terribly botched corporate launch, perhaps one of the worst in recent history for such a highly visible entity. Eight days ago, it was the tech world's most highly anticipated initial public offering in eight years. Now, the social media company faces mounting legal woes and serves as an embarrassing example of how not to run an IPO. Despite rising insider pessimism about its growth prospects, Facebook kept boosting its asking price and the number of shares it would sell. The result: billions of dollars in losses; investigations by two congressional committees, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an industry watchdog, and the state of Massachusetts; at least 13 class-action lawsuits; and thousands of resentful shareholders who days later still were unsure how many Facebook shares they had or at what price. Here are six key dates in Facebook's unfolding IPO disaster.
Queen Victoria: 6 stories from her diaries

A new website features the entire text of Queen Victoria's diaries. Here are six excerpts.
After graduation: Five real-world steps to success

With graduation day around the corner, Modern Parenthood caught up with Cindy Brown, author of the book “The Girls Guide to Swagger,” to ask her what her top tips would be for new graduates going off into the “real world.”

All Content

Feds shut down 26 intercity bus companies for safety violations

The unprecedented motorcoach safety crackdown primarily targeted bus companies operating along the East Coast's I-95, where crashes last spring left several people dead and dozens injured.
Virgin Galactic spaceship cleared for test flights

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, a commercial six-passenger spacecraft, to begin rocket-powered suborbital test flights, the company said on Wednesday. Virgin Galactic is owned by billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
National Spelling Bee: 10 winning business words

In the National Spelling Bee’s 85-year existence, a wide range of words have crowned the winners – from science words like ‘crustaceology,’ to musical terms such as ‘soubrette,’ and ‘appoggiatura.’ The list of winning words also includes several that could slide right into the pages of this newspaper’s business section. In honor of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee, here are 10 business words from past years that have determined the champion. Will this year’s winning word make the list?
The New Economy
Top 40 richest list: Zuckerberg flames out as super-billionaire. Does it matter?

Top 40 richest list from Bloomberg drops Facebook CEO Zuckerberg as his company's valuation ebbs. But making the Top 40 richest list is probably not Zuckerberg's big concern right now. 
EU calls for "banking union" to fight debt crisis

The European Commission proposed Wednesday that such a body should oversee banks directly, sidestepping national governments.
With nomination in hand, Romney turns focus on Obama

His win in Texas on Tuesday put him over the top in the delegate count, and now the entire GOP establishment is focused on November.
Southern Great Plains could run out of groundwater in 30 years, study finds

A new study looking at key aquifers beneath the Great Plains and California's Central Valley suggests that areas of Texas and Kansas are drawing groundwater at an unsustainable rate.
How 'Hatfields and McCoys' became cable's biggest-ever hit

The History Channel miniseries 'Hatfields and McCoys' is the most-watched non-sports show ever on cable. Yes, it's violent and vulgar, but it's also good, movie-style entertainment, critics say.
Briefing
What would happen if Greece exited the eurozone?

Rumors are rife of a Greek exit from the eurozone. While no country has yet dropped the common currency, there are some indications of what will transpire if Greece does.
Facebook opens office in Dubai

Facebook established an office in the Middle East for the first time on Wednesday, in Dubai's Internet City.
Digital Vertigo

Are Facebook and Twitter really forms of "an absurd global prison where we are all forced to live in public?” Author and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen is afraid that the answer is yes.
The Circle Bastiat
Huge mortgage debts keep the housing market tumbling

Experts have been calling for the bottom of the housing market each year since the crash, and prices continue to tumble. Why? In an overwhelming number of cases, homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their houses are actually worth.
Horizons
How Peter Carl Fabergé is the Steve Jobs of bejeweled eggs

Google is celebrating the 166th birthday of Peter Carl Fabergé, whose ornate eggs made him the Steve Jobs of his day. But with eggs instead of consumer electronics. 
Decoder Wire
Mitt Romney has won the nomination. What next? (+video)

Mitt Romney's sweep of the Texas primary gave him 105 delegates, pushing him over the top for the nomination. His campaign now turns to the central theme of the campaign, economic competence.
Paper Economy
Mortgage rates tumble to record lows. Again.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage declined 2 basis points to 3.81 percent  since last week, the lowest value on on record for this MBA series, while the purchase application volume declined 0.6 percent, and the refinance application declined 1.5 percent over the same period.
Facebook stock drops below $29 (+video)

Facebook stock falls 9.6 percent to close at $28.84. In its first seven days of trading, Facebook stock has lost nearly a quarter of its value.
BlackBerry-maker RIM warns of layoffs, operating loss

RIM also hires advisers to look at strategies to reverse its downturn. RIM has seen its share of US smartphone market fall from 44 percent to 10 percent in two years.
Despite oil prices, falling euro, Dow closes up slightly

Oil prices fell, the euro sank to a 22-month low, and the yield on the U.S. government's 10-year Treasury note fell near a historic low. But the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 125 points to close at 12580 as investors continue to hope for a Chinese growth spurt.
Home prices hit post-boom lows: What does that mean for housing market?

Despite fresh optimism about the housing market, home prices in the Case-Shiller Index fell during the first quarter, suggesting that the market is still stabilizing.
Android clears court review of patent claims

Android did not infringe Oracle patents, court rules, in a major blow to Oracle. Android ruling means Oracle won't collect billions of dollars in royalties from Google.
Is Canada about to face US-style housing meltdown?

Skyrocketing home prices in Canada, particularly in cities like Toronto, are fueling concerns that Canadians are overspending as they assume – as the US did – that real estate prices can only go up.
Stock market opens higher on hope for China

Stock market opened higher Tuesday amid optimism that China will take action to reverse the recent slowdown in its economic growth. Rising home prices also gave the stock market a boost.
Family vacation: Airlines asked to cut fees for seating together

Family vacation might be cheaper if Senator Charles Schumer succeeds in getting airlines to allow families with young children to sit together without paying extra for window and aisle.
The Reformed Broker
SEC won't take action against Lehman Brothers

The SEC will likely not seek action against the Lehman for the events that led up to the firm's massive bankruptcy in 2008.
Robert Reich
Memorial Day: the defense America needs

The best way to honor Memorial Day is to fund a rational defense budget. That means eliminating arms contracts that enrich contractors without advancing America's defense