US Business News latest RSS headlines - Sacramento Sun.com

Amazon ventures into fan fiction promotion

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:36 -0400

WASHINGTON - Amazon, the largest online retailer of books, movies, music and games, Friday offered its Kindle e-book platform to fan fiction authors to sell some of their work. Fan fiction is literature inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games. Publication outside of blogs and online fanzines is often difficult because of copyright issues. Amazon Publishing has ...

Audra McDonald Releases New Album Appears In Nationally Televised Solo Concert

Sat, 25 May 2013 00:31:38 -0400

televised concert , featuring selections from the album, on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center. She talked recently at the New York office of Nonesuch, her recording company, about her work, influences and ...

5 Steps to Making a Sale Through Social Media

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:24:45 -0400

An integral part of the sales process is getting to know your prospects and establishing relationships—and it turns out that social media can help you accomplish this quickly and easily. Follow these steps to make sales using social ...

Microsoft Reveals The Xbox One

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:24:44 -0400

Microsoft promises the Xbox One will be more than just a game console, but a "living room" with a TV tuner and cable box. Users will be able to switch between watching TV and gaming instantly through the Kinect ...

New Research Social Media Trends For Marketers In 2013

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:24:44 -0400

Social Media Examiner has just released its annual Social Media Marketing report. It reveals some interesting data about this year's social media marketing trends. The entire report is available for ...

Ed OBannon Case Against NCAA Will Gain Herculean Steam If Tim Tebow Johnny Manziel Join Lawsuit

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:18:11 -0400

Tim Tebow seems to always be smiling, but will the NCAA and EA Sports also be smiling if he joins the Ed O'Bannon class-action lawsuit? In the immortal words ...

Stalking the wildly cute koala

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:17:11 -0400

Opening just in time for Memorial Day weekend, the San Diego Zoo's new Conrad Prebys Australian Outback exhibit has twice as much space as the old koala exhibit, with room for bulldozing wombats, cackling kookaburra and snoozy wallabies. Not to mention more koalas and many more places to watch them do what koalas ...

Slacker Internet radio picks up the pace

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:17:11 -0400

Internet radio outfit Slacker detected a touch of gray in its service last year. The retro/biker dashboard player for Web and mobile listeners essentially had gone unchanged since the San Diego company was founded in ...

Market Snapshot Bears cite performance chasing as stocks rise

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:13:03 -0400

"My experience is when managers are overly focused on performance on a near-term basis, and worried they're missing out, it means they're buying stocks for the wrong reasons," said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital ...

Source Xbox Ones Heart-Sensing Tech Not Microsofts Idea

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:30 -0400

has baked into the forthcoming Xbox One is the new Kinect sensor's ability to read your heart rate, which it does optically using a system similar to (or even based ...

Del Negro Firing Decision Making Process

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:30 -0400

Los Angeles Clipper Head Coach Vinny Del Negro, who had the most successful tenure of any Coach in Clipper history, was fired this week by owner Donald Sterling. How does unparalleled success lead to termination? Was it the intervention of star players with the owner that led to his downfall? The Clippers have had a long and inglorious history filled with losing. Since the 1976-77 season, played ...

Do iFarts Not Stink Coping With Tech Envy In The Valley

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:30 -0400

TOS . Safe to say, a pharma executive facing this committee would have had a very different experience. It could well be that Cook's tax reform suggestions are good ones, and that all CEOs, including pharma leaders, deserve intense Congressional grilling. Even so, there's still a conspicuous differential between the way we think about (at least some) tech companies, and how we view ...

Farewell and Good Bye

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:29 -0400

Service Always remember that the world of business, and it's very purpose, is about serving others; it's about taking good care of employees and providing a marketable wage with benefits to buy homes, food and the necessities of life. It's about exceeding customer expectations with valued products and services that go beyond the mark. It's about giving back and sharing ...

Haswell chip primer How Intel pinches power

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:57:55 -0400

(Credit: Intel) How serious is Intel about battery life on its next processor? Very. On Thursday, the world's largest chipmaker hauled out two chip experts to brief journalists on how Intel's fourth-generation core processor, aka Haswell, reduces power consumption and boosts battery life. Intel is claiming a 50 percent improvement in battery life for devices using Haswell ...

IRS exempt unit faulted for group scrutiny in past

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:53:06 -0400

under scrutiny for targeting conservative groups has been faulted previously by the Treasury Department's inspector general for an array of problems, from delayed processing of files to chronic understaffing to inadequate ...

Crave Ep. 122 When the moon hits your 3D-printed pizza pie

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:50:49 -0400

This week on Crave, NASA wants to 3D-print a pizza, and one man plays the guitar during his own brain surgery while another captures a terrifying BASE drive with his helmet ...

HTC One Google edition Its real and coming in summer

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:50:49 -0400

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET) The HTC One will indeed get the Nexus treatment. HTC will sell a Google Edition version of its flagship One smartphone with the ...

Google and Microsoft make Windows Phone YouTube app worse while they write a new one

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:47:58 -0400

complained about Microsoft's Windows Phone YouTube app, it appears that the two companies are now working together to provide some kind of a solution. In the meantime, however, ...

After San Onofre ruling nuke-safety group presses advantage

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:09:00 -0400

Spurred on by a ruling on the significance of safety problems at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, the international environmental group Friends of the Earth has redoubled efforts to establish trial-like public hearings on a proposal to restart the power ...

Coast Highway improvements nearly complete

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:08:58 -0400

A nearly yearlong overhaul of Coast Highway 101 in Solana Beach is heading down the home stretch, and local merchants -- at least those who survived a drastic drop in business during the construction -- couldn't be ...

Top Ten MarketWatch’s top 10 stories May 20-24

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:05:18 -0400

-2.61% shares soared after the company reported financial results that outpaced analyst expectations, but those analysts warned that the "turnaround" tale at the high-tech giant may not have a happy ...

Samsung Debuts The New Galaxy S IV

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:01:41 -0400

People interact with the Samsung Galaxy S IV, March 14, 2013 in New York City. Samsung, the world's largest handset maker, revealed their successor to the Galaxy S III. The Galaxy S IV features a five-inch 1080p screen, a 1.9GHz quad-core processor, a 13-megapixel rear camera and ships with the latest Android version, Jelly ...

Is Sony Worried About Falling Android Sales or the Strength of Samsung

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:01:41 -0400

Sony's lowered estimates for their smartphone sales during the 2014 fiscal year. Originally pencilled in as 1.8 trillion yen, they Japanese company have dropped this to 1.5 trillion yen. What has brought this on? Samsung. The Xperia range of Android smartphones has been making steady improvements, with the current flagship Xperia Z proving to be a solid mid to high end handset. I found the ...

Twitter Amplify Turns Up the Volume On Dual-Screen Advertising

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:01:41 -0400

Sponsored tweet shows instant NBA replay preceded by a short commercial Twitter is creating a new way to make money for itself and media partners with a service called "Twitter Amplify. On ...

Microsoft still stamping out used games fire

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:57:58 -0400

Xbox reveal , though the company did not unveil every bit of information that customers were waiting for. For instance, we still do not know pricing or release date. However, the biggest urbanlegend in circulation -- that of used games -- is under attack from the console maker. On the day of the big reveal, Larry Hrybtook to his blog to assure users "While there have been many potential ...

Bidder buys $1.5 million space date with Leonardo DiCaprio

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:43:08 -0400

How much would you pay to get locked in a spaceship with DiCaprio? At an auction to benefit AIDS research, a man buys three days of training and a trip to suborbital space with the "Gatsby" ...

Top UCSD center named Qualcomm Institute

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:02:14 -0400

A University of California San Diego institute that's emerged as a leader in finding better ways for people to communicate, stay healthy and protect the environment was named Friday after its largest benefactor, chipmaker ...

Trustee opposes $20M payout to American Air CEO

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:59:17 -0400

The Justice Department says a proposed $20 million severance payment for the CEO of American Airlines is too big and should be rejected.The proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American calls for American's current CEO Tom Horton to lose that job and become chairman. American has proposed severance pay of almost $20 million, along with lifetime flight benefits.The objection filed ...

Stocks to Watch Stocks to watch Tiffany United Natural Foods

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:58:55 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tiffany & Co. and United Natural Foods will be among the stocks to watch Tuesday after the three-day holiday ...

Too Far Too Fast

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:18 -0400

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images A prediction: With stocks up nicely year-to-date, we'll soon see myriad headlines warning us stocks have come too far, too fast, and we should "lock in our gains," take our bat and ball and go home. A few things. This notion stocks have come too far, too fast is built on a faulty premise that stocks ought to deliver more measured returns. ...

How To Be A Real Leader - Even When Youre In A Fake Environment

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:18 -0400

hard to be authentic as an executive: there are many forces pushing you to be guarded, even deceptive; to pretend to be someone you're not, or to do things that you don't believe in. And then there's the complication that, even though authenticity has become such a popular word in business, and most people tout it as a desirable attribute...nobody really defines it. So let's ...

Asias Week China Still on Flu Watch

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:18 -0400

Qingdao, for a while, grew to the sky. (Photo: Wikipedia) While Asia basked another week in generally favorable economic winds-minus that little 7% stock squall in Japan in Thursday, whatever that was about-there remained an undercurrent of worry about China. ...

The Supreme Court Must Stop The Trial Lawyers War On Innovation

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:18 -0400

U.S. Supreme Court building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) By Theodore H. Frank If courts want to discourage innovation in America - or to persuade overseas companies to avoid introducing their new products here - they could do no better than to permit the kind of suit the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether or not to review next Thursday, May 30th. The case is ...

The E-Cat Testing Team Real or Ringers

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:17 -0400

The comments to my recent post concerning the "independent tests" of Andrea Rossi's low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) system called the E-Cat make for interesting reading and both here and in other forums the report has been sliced and diced. Amongst the main criticisms of the report are the claims that the testers were not as independent and qualified as many critics would have ...

Irregular Income Heres How To Budget

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:17 -0400

Successful budgeting tends to depend on two things: careful planning and a steady income. The first, anyone can do. The second isn't so simple. If you're self-employed, you might be asking yourself: "But I don't have a regular paycheck coming in. Can I even set up a budget? Should I bother?" You can. And, yes, you should. ...

Metals and agricultural futures prices slip energy futures end mostly lower

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:53:38 -0400

Metals prices ended slightly lower Friday, as did agricultural futures. Crude oil ended the week down 2 percent as traders worried about global demand and shared the stock market's concerns about possible changes to the Federal Reserve economic stimulus program. Gold for June delivery fell $5.20 to $1,386.60 an ounce. Other metals prices also fell. July silver fell 1.2 cents to $22.496 an ...

Energy Stocks Energy stocks fall end week off 0.5

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:49:45 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks fell Friday, ending the week with a loss of 0.5% as gains earlier in the week cushioned heavy losses in recent trading ...

Big Marketing On A Small Budget

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:45:28 -0400

Four or five times a year, we get calls from entrepreneurs, inventors mainly, looking for marketing help. As far as I can tell, that's about average for a small marketing agency. Recently, we heard from a vibrating shoe man, a couple with a terrific new home-schooling program and a woman with a new Luxury Magazine but no circulation! Naturally, they all had small (very small) marketing ...

Hard Times For Trolls As Vermont Sues Patent Mill Over Demand Letters

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:45:27 -0400

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) It has to be one of the strangest consumer-fraud complaints ever: The attorney general of Vermont has sued a Texas lawyer for threatening to sue businesses when he had no intention of suing anybody. ...

Will She Or Wont She D.C. Holds Breath As IRS Official Is Called Back To Testify After Pleading The Fifth

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:45:27 -0400

), Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, would recall Lois Lerner, Director of the Exempt Organizations Division at the Internal Revenue Service. He advised as much on yesterday when Lerner possibly (keep reading!) pleaded the Fifth rather than testify at a Congressional hearing into allegations that ...

Work Free Weekend Does it Still Exist

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:43:28 -0400

Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer and all it evokes: vacations, slower workweeks, casual dress codes, getting the pool ready and pulling out the outdoor furniture. It would seem an ideal time to take a break, but our ability to unplug and relax is under assault. A three-day weekend? We can barely get through three waking hours without working, new research shows. The average ...

How the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes fared Friday

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:35:06 -0400

Major stock indexes closed out their first weekly loss in a month in quiet trading Friday. Both the Dow and S&P 500 had their first weekly losses since the week ending April 19. A disappointing manufacturing report out of China and a sharp fall in Japan's stock market rattled investors' nerves this week. But anxiety over the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program was the main ...

Tech Stocks Salesforce Google losses hit tech stocks

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:29:28 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A sharp drop in shares of Salesforce.com sparked a slump across the corporate-software-vendors group and led the broader tech sector into the red ...

Microsoft refutes reports about Xbox One used game sales

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:27:07 -0400

Xbox One unveiling Tuesday, gamers have wondered how Microsoft will handle the resale of used games for the system. In the absence of a clear answer, speculation and rumors have flooded the Web. Microsoft is now telling gamers that the speculation and rumors aren't true. But it's not saying what the new policy will ...

Why arent more homeowners selling

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:44:16 -0400

The share of San Diego County borrowers who are underwater on their mortgages continues to fall due to home-price gains, says a recent analysis from real estate website Zillow. So why aren't more homeowners freed from negative equity listing their homes in this supply-constrained ...

Oil ends week down 2 pct on tepid demand outlook

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:40:46 -0400

NEW YORK -- The price of oil fell 2 percent this week, as oil traders worried about global demand and shared the stock market's concerns about possible changes to the Federal Reserve economic stimulus program.The loss Friday was just 10 cents, to $94.15 a barrel. But four straight losses resulted in a weekly decline of $1.87 a barrel for the benchmark oil contract.The global economic ...

Investors shift focus to growth stocks

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:19 -0400

NEW YORK - Growth stocks, neglected at the start of the year, are starting to get a bit of love from investors again.The best returns in the Standard & Poor's 500 index over the past month have been posted by technology companies. Industrial companies as well as banks and insurers are also performing better. By contrast, gains for utilities and consumer staples companies - safe-play ...

Government creditors object in CODA bankruptcy

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:18 -0400

DOVER, Del. - Attorneys for the federal government and unsecured creditors have filed objections to electric car maker CODA Holdings' bankruptcy plans.Court papers filed Friday argue that CODA's bankruptcy financing and sale plans unfairly benefit a group of debtors seeking to acquire the company.Lenders led by a Fortress Investment Group affiliate are proposing a credit bid of $25 ...

Microsoft Cleared of Xbox Patent Violation

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:38:14 -0400

Motorola Mobility, which is owned by Google, had asked the US International Trade Commission in 2010 to halt the import of the device due to the alleged patent violation. The case was part of a broader patent war between the companies. Microsoft claims that phones running Google's Android software violate its patents, while Google says ...

Unexpected Health Insurance Rate Shock-California Obamacare Insurance Exchange Announces Premium Rates

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:46 -0400

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Every now and again, a political pundit is required to stand up and admit to the world that he or she got it wrong. For me, this would be one of those moments. For quite some time, I have been predicting that Obamacare would likely mean higher insurance rates in the ...

787 Delays Continue To Boost Airbus

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:46 -0400

As Boeing resumes 787 deliveries and returns the current fleet of 50 Dreamliners to service, attention has focused on what kind of reception the jet will receive. Boeing's battery fix didn't identify a root cause of the two high-profile overheat incidents; Boeing is merely installing a battery cell isolation and containment system to reduce the likelihood of such an event and to contain ...

China Considers Luxury Tax

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:46 -0400

Luxury products have become an important niche in the booming China consumer story. And as part of the country's tax reform plans this year, they could get hit with the first ever luxury tax, said Kong Jingyuan, a director-general at the National Development and Reform Commission. The guidelines for tax reforms were published by the Central Government on ...

Rivaroxaban Gains Approval In Europe For ACS Indication

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:45 -0400

) has been approved in Europe for the prevention of atherothrombotic events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction or stroke) following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The drug was approved at a dose of 2.5 mg twice-daily and should be used in combination with standard antiplatelet therapy. Rivaroxaban is now the only oral anticoagulant to receive an ACS ...

Why Googles Display Ad Business Drew FTC Antitrust Probe

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:45 -0400

probe of its display-ad business . This comes as little surprise to anyone who has been watching the search advertising giant's quiet but steady rise in the past few years in the business of placing banner and video ads on websites. But it's also no sure thing that this probe will go any further than the last one. According to ...

Lafley at PG Ullman at Penney When Does It Make Sense to Rehire the CEO

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:36:45 -0400

Steve Jobs and Harold Schultz have carried it off brilliantly Yesterday Procter & Gamble made the surprise announcement that A.G. Lafley, 65, who successfully ran the 175-year-old Cincinnati consumer products company from 2000 to 2009, would resume the top job, replacing CEO Bob MacDonald, who took over from Lafley. Activist ...

Fast-Money Crowd Dumped Cray Good For Us