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Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks

Written By limadu on Senin, 30 Juni 2014 | 21.29

Gen X is the forgotten generation.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

They are called Gen X, but they are often overlooked by pollsters, the media and just about everyone else.

Born between 1964 and 1980, Gen X got its name from a 1991 book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, by Canadian author Douglas Coupland.

When they were coming of age in the 1990s, they were considered slackers and aimless. But then, they were just forgotten.

The Pew Research Center recently shed some light on what it termed "America's neglected middle child." Turns out they are less likely to be married than the Baby Boomers, but more religious than Millennials.

When it comes to social and political views, the liberal Millennials didn't spring from nowhere. Gen Xers were already leaning that way, breaking from the more button-down Baby Boomers.

But even Gen Xers aren't sure what their cohort stands for, according to Paul Taylor, Pew's executive vice president for special projects. They are less likely than Millennials and Baby Boomers to think their generation is unique, and they don't have as firm a view on what makes them special.

There's are reasons why Gen X is so often ignored, said Taylor. There are fewer of them: Just 65 million, compared to 77 million Boomers and roughly 83 million Millennials. And they span just 16 years, whereas most generations encompass two decades.

Then again, they may not care either.

"From everything we know about them, they're savvy, skeptical and self-reliant. They're not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all," Taylor wrote.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 9:40 AM ET

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Stocks: Expect drama on last day of quarter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Here are the five things you need to know as trading gets underway in New York.

1. Halftime report: The S&P 500 posted slight losses and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 30 points in early trading. But the Nasdaq fared better, flirting with slight gains.

The year started ominously due to emerging market concerns and severe winter weather, but things have turned around on Wall Street along with the warmer temperatures.

Related: The 2014 half-time report

The S&P 500 is up about 6% during the first six months of 2014, even after losing some ground last week. Of course, the first-half rally pales in comparison with 2013 when the S&P 500 soared 12.6% by this point.

Volatility has all but vanished on Wall Street. The VIX, or so-called "fear gauge," recently plunged to seven-year lows and remains at just over 11 -- which is far lower than its historical average of about 20.

Related: Fear & Greed Index still extremely greedy

2. Stock movers -- Yahoo, Mannkind, BNP Paribas: Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) enjoyed a 2% bump after the Internet company was upgraded to "overweight" by Piper Jaffray.

While Yahoo's core business remains "challenged," analyst Gene Munster said his bullish call is based on the belief that the company's stake in Alibaba is "undervalued." Last week, the Chinese e-commerce giant revealed plans to list its highly anticipated initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of MannKind (MNKD) soared 10% after the company said the Food and Drug Administration approved a powder form of insulin that is inhaled.

The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to announce a multi-billion dollar settlement with French banking giant BNP Paribas (BNPQY) on Monday. The bank has been subject to a long running criminal investigation over accusations that it breached U.S. sanctions on Iran, Sudan and other countries. Shares of BNP dipped slightly in Paris.

U.S. Steel (X) shed 1% as investors react to the company being kicked out of the S&P 500. The steel maker, an original member of the S&P 500, is being replaced by Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), which traded about 2% higher on Monday.

3. GM details compensation: Kenneth Feinberg, a consultant who worked on payouts after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the BP (BP) oil spill, is set to announce a victim compensation plan for General Motors (GM) later on Monday. At least 13 people have died and many more were injured as a result of a defect in GM cars. GM shares started slightly higher.

4. Will Facebook fury hit stock?: Facebook (FB, Tech30) is in hot water after it was revealed the social network conducted a 'mood' experiment on users without their knowledge or explicit consent.

Facebook's terms of service give the company permission to conduct this kind of research, but many users have reacted with anger. Investors are not nearly as bothered, with Facebook shares up modestly.

5. Dubai crumbles, Bulgaria booms: Investors continue to give Dubai's stock market a big thumbs down.

The DFM General Index plunged 4.4% on Monday due to worries about property stocks, especially contracting giant Arabtec Holdings. Dubai plummeted 22% in June, its worst month since 2008.

On the other hand, Bulgaria's stock market raced almost 5% higher after the European Union gave the green light to the country providing $2.3 billion in state aid for banks. The move follows a series of arrests of men accused of fueling bank runs.

Other European markets were mixed in midday trading. Asian markets closed mixed. The main loser of the day was Australia's ASX All Ordinaries index, which dropped by 0.9%.

It's also worth keeping an eye on Argentina's markets. The country faces a Monday deadline to pay two groups of bondholders. The way things unfold from here will determine Argentina's ability to move past its 2001 default and regain access to foreign funds.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 9:50 AM ET

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GM offers victims more than $1 million

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The automaker will give another $300,000 for each surviving spouse and dependent, in addition to a sum of money that will be determined by the victims' earning potential.

At least 13 people died, and many more were injured as result of a faulty ignition switch installed in 2.6 million GM cars.

The automaker is also offering money to drivers, passengers and pedestrians injured in crashes that were caused by the defect in those cars. The amount they'll be compensated will depend on the severity of their injuries.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who devised compensation plans for victims after 9/11 and the BP oil spill, issued the details at a press conference Monday, about four months after GM recalled the affected vehicles. He was hired by GM (GM) in April as a consultant.

GM employees first knew that the ignition switches were malfunctioning back in 2004. But the automaker didn't issue a recall until a decade later. Some deaths and injuries could have been avoided had the recall been issued sooner.

Anyone who lost a loved one or was seriously injured in a crash related to the recall can file a claim with GM between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, 2014.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 10:20 AM ET

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Why you don't need to buy extra car rental insurance

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Often times, people end up buying supplemental insurance protection that they really don't need, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of credit card comparison site, CardHub.com. That can add anywhere from $15 to $30 a day to the cost of a rental.

Related: Best travel site rewards programs

"The majority of consumers are covered by their own auto insurance, but they may not know it," he said. "They may be spending extra money when they don't have to."

And those who aren't covered by their own insurance, are likely covered by their credit card, he said. All four major credit card issuers, Visa (V), American Express (AXP), MasterCard (MA) and Discover (DFS), provide some form of rental car insurance coverage. Although, MasterCard issues a few cards that don't offer coverage.

Related: For sale: Dream beach homes

CardHub rated the card issuers based on the extent and length of the coverage they provide, how clearly they state what's covered and how easy it is to get claims paid. American Express (AXP) received the highest rating of 90% for its car rental insurance; Discover (DFS) was second at 88%; MasterCard (MA) third at 79%; and Visa (V) ranked last at 74%.

To make sure you get covered, you must charge your entire car rental on your credit card and decline the supplemental collision damage coverage offered by the rental company. If you sign up for that insurance, you won't be covered by the credit card company.

Coverage from your credit card comes with restrictions, though, said Papadimitriou. Several types of vehicles aren't covered, including trucks with open beds and off-road vehicles, as well as exotic or expensive cars like Ferraris or Jaguars. And American Express doesn't cover certain popular SUVs, such as Chevy Suburbans, Ford Expeditions and Range Rovers.

Related: The riskiest spots for natural disasters in the U.S.

Visa and MasterCard may not cover damages that occur on dirt or gravel roads and other cards don't cover wheels and rims. Some card issuers cap rental periods at 15 days, after which the insurance lapses. None of the card issuers will insure a rental car for more than 30 days straight.

Rental cars in some countries are not eligible for credit card insurance. The ones most often named include Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and Australia.

One other important note: Unless your personal auto insurance also covers business use, your personal policy won't cover damage caused when you're renting a car for a business trip.

Drivers who aren't sure about their coverage should call their credit card company before they leave for their trip.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 6:04 AM ET

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Hong Kong's 'Occupy' takes on Beijing

Black-clad lawyers gather at Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal to protest Beijing's influence.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The pro-democracy protests, which recall the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, have divided the powerful business community. Some worry that they could deter investors.

Tuesday's march to the city's business district takes place on the 17th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule, and could attract hundreds of thousands of protesters.

Political and economic tensions in the territory have been rising recently, fanned by Beijing's release of a controversial white paper asserting its control.

City activists accuse China of reneging on its "one country, two systems" pledge that was a condition of Hong Kong's return in 1997.

Hong Kong enjoys a high level of economic autonomy, but Beijing's critics say it is encroaching on judicial and political freedoms. On Friday, 1,800 of the city's lawyers, dressed in black, marched in protest.

Bigger flash points are likely over the next few months before a decision over how Hong Kong will elect its next chief executive, the city's highest office.

Pro-democracy activists want Hong Kong residents to elect the chief executive directly. Beijing is said to favor a process that would allow it to screen candidates.

The most visible pro-democracy group -- Occupy Central With Love and Peace -- conducted an unofficial election of its own this month, drawing nearly 790,000 voters, or almost a quarter of the electorate.

The group is also planning a demonstration and other acts of civil disobedience designed to snarl traffic and disrupt operations in the central business district.

Related: Why Occupy Wall Street fizzled

Although they share a moniker, Hong Kong's "Occupy" supporters are not affiliated with the protest movement that got its start in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park. The groups share concerns over rising income inequality, but the Hong Kong group's immediate goal is to secure full voting rights.

"Hong Kong people really want to show to China, to the whole world, that we are determined to have full democracy," organizer Benny Tai told CNN on Monday.

The group's plan to "occupy Central" has set many in the city's establishment on edge.

Hong Kong affiliates of the big four accounting firms -- Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG -- placed an advertisement in local newspapers last week, trumpeting their opposition to the movement.

"We are concerned that Occupy Central will have a negative effect on the rule of law, social order and the economy of Hong Kong," they said in the ad. "We worry that this would cause international and local investors to relocate their Hong Kong's headquarters or even relocate their businesses."

The highly unusual public intervention by multinational companies in local politics drew widespread criticism. The Financial Times reported that the firms' head offices were not made aware of the plan prior to publication.

Paul Gillis, a professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, wrote on his blog that the "arrogance of the firms is stunning" and the decision would diminish their brand value.

Some employees of the accounting firms shot back Monday -- taking out an ad of their own in support of Occupy Central.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 7:02 AM ET

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Should happiness, more than GDP, define a nation's success?

The tiny nation of Bhutan started measuring "gross national happiness" in the 1970s. More recently, public experts have started to tout the importance of measuring citizens' well-being in addition to GDP.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But in recent years, there's been a quest to define and measure it, especially in the context of a prosperous economy.

That's because economic growth as measured by gross domestic product doesn't really tell us much about citizens' general well-being.

"For example, traffic jams may increase GDP as a result of the increased use of gasoline, but obviously not the quality of life," according to a report by an international commission chaired by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

The assumption is that the more economic growth the better. Legislators are forever debating the merits of a measure on the basis of whether it would create jobs and boost GDP.

But rarely do you hear lawmakers debate whether a measure will boost or detract from citizens' well-being, of which income is just one part.

Related: 10 most stressed out cities

Take North Dakota. Its economy has doubled in the past 25 years thanks to a massive oil boom. Incomes have soared, but so have prices, traffic, crime, and housing shortages.

Well-being, of course, relies on many factors -- from health and education, to environment and culture, to the quality of governance, your community and how you use your time.

There's a growing international chorus that thinks this kind of well-being should be measured and used as a guide when formulating policy and tracking social progress.

The tiny nation of Bhutan pioneered the effort, adopting a "gross national happiness index" decades ago.

The rest of the world has been slow to catch on. But there have been nascent efforts in recent years to address the issue.

In 2011, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution encouraging countries to measure their citizens' happiness and use that measure to help guide public policies.

More recently, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has created guidelines for nations that want to measure well-being.

In the United States, four states -- Maryland, Vermont, Oregon and Colorado -- have developed a "genuine progress indicator," according to Demos, a left-leaning think tank.

The GPI seeks to quantify in a consistent way the cost and value of factors not measured by GDP.

For instance, Maryland -- which was the first state to adopt a GPI -- is seeking to assess, among other things, the "environmental and social costs of what we buy, [and] the quality-of-life impacts of how we live."

Some cities and towns, meanwhile, have started their own "happiness initiatives," distributing gross happiness surveys to residents to give local policymakers a sense of the level of their constituents satisfaction in different areas.

It doesn't appear that there will be any kind of universal agreement to measure citizens' happiness and well-being anytime soon.

But proponents -- such as the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) -- are trying to make the economic case to governments as to why they should.

"Happy people live longer, are more productive, earn more, and are also better citizens. Well-being should be developed both for its own sake and for its side-effects," SDSN noted in its 2013 World Happiness Report.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 7:06 AM ET

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Aereo suspends TV service...but not 'shutting down'

Written By limadu on Minggu, 29 Juni 2014 | 21.29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The court ruling found that Aereo violates copyright law by picking up the signals of local television stations and retransmitting them via the Internet to paying subscribers.

"As a result of that decision, our case has been returned to the lower Court," Aereo founder Chet Kanojia said in an email message to subscribers on Saturday morning.

Related: The future of media

"We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps."

The "pause" will take place at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Kanojia said all subscribers (the company has never specified how many it has) will be refunded "their last paid month."

Kanojia ended his email by saying "our journey is far from done." And in a subsequent email message to reporters, an Aereo representative said "We want to emphasize that this is a pause, and that the company is not shutting down."

However, conventional wisdom following Wednesday's ruling held that Aereo would either have to close up shop or radically change its business model.

Related: 6 cool innovations we're still waiting for

"For broadcasters, this is a huge relief, and lifts a cloud of uncertainty," Needham & Co. analyst Laura Martin wrote in an investors' note on Wednesday. "Although there was a low probability the Supreme Court would decide against them, the cost would have been billions of dollars of lost revenue through lower retransmission fees."

In the wake of the court ruling, "the only option that remains available to Aereo would be to change its model and pay the broadcasters to distribute the content," just like cable and satellite distributors do, Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote in a research note. He said Aereo could essentially offer "a slimmed-down content package delivered over the Internet."

First Published: June 28, 2014: 10:27 AM ET

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American Apparel adopts plan to prevent a takeover

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

On Saturday, the company announced that it has adopted a one-year shareholders rights plan in an effort to prevent Charney, or any other person or group, from seizing a controlling interest in the company.

The company's "poison pill" provision kicks in once anyone purchases 15% or more of the company's outstanding stock. At that point, shareholders will be granted the right to purchase shares at $2.75 each in an effort to dilute any potential acquirer's interest.

Related: American Apparel's ousted CEO fights back!

American Apparel (APP) said the plan is in response to documents Charney filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that expressed his "intent to acquire control or influence over the Company."

On Friday, Charney submitted a regulatory filing with the SEC announcing that he's partnering with investment firm Standard General in an effort to buy large amounts of American Apparel stock.

Charney currently owns 27.2% of the company's stock, according to the filing.

Charney was ousted as chairman earlier this month. An American Apparel director told CNNMoney the decision came after the board learned of "disturbing" information that suggested "misconduct" by Charney.

Allegations of misconduct are not new for Charney, who has faced several lawsuits claiming everything from sexual harassment to assault and battery.

Related: 6 endangered brands

Charney's lawyer Patricia Glaser sent a letter to the company's board of directors last week saying the company acted in "a manner that was not merely unconscionable but illegal."

Charney founded the company in 1998 and took the company public in 2005 at $8 per share. The shares eventually rose to nearly $17. But in recent years, American Apparel has been fighting to stave off bankruptcy.

American Apparel's stock closed Friday at 97 cents a share.

First Published: June 28, 2014: 11:42 AM ET

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Stocks: 2014 half-time report

After a tumultuous start, the S&P 500 has continued its record rise this year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

While the all-important monthly jobs report comes out on Thursday (a day earlier than usual because of the three-day weekend), there's not much else on the economic or earnings calendars to move the markets.

But as the first half of the year comes to a close this week, we here at CNNMoney are in a reflective mood. After all, you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been.

Here's what you need to know about the markets year-to-date, and what to possibly expect for the rest of 2014.

The calm after the storm: It wasn't pretty at first. After a record run in 2013, stocks were hit by turmoil in the first quarter as harsh winter weather dampened corporate profits and the emerging markets rapidly sold off as investors worried that the tightening of Federal Reserve's easy money spigot would reverberate to those countries that were relying on cheap foreign investment to fuel growth.

Throw in the crisis in Ukraine, it it looked like investors were in for a wild ride.

But warmer Spring weather eventually came, the emerging markets' fears subsided, and the tense standoff between Russia and the West has seemingly been dialed back for now.

Related: Russian markets: They're baaack!

Stocks have been the "little engine that could," slowly pushing higher. The S&P 500 closed at a record high 22 times this year, according to Jeffrey Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac.

The blue chip index has gained about 6% so far this year, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 5%. The Dow's rise has been less pronounced, but it is still positive at about 1.6%.

Even emerging markets have rebounded. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, which was battered in the first quarter, is now in positive territory for the year.

Further, as companies take advantage of a rising stock market and ultra-low interest rates, mergers and acquisitions activity and initial public offerings have been hot this year. GoPro (GPRO) is the latest mega success, having jumped 50% since its debut on Thursday.

Winners and Losers: The stocks with the most gains so far in 2014 have come from a wide range of sectors. In the S&P 500: Keurig Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) has jolted up 65%, while Electronic Arts (EA, Tech30), the best performer on CNNMoney's Tech 30 Index, has soared 55%.

Southwest (LUV)and Delta Airlines (DAL) have both climbed over 40%, and Under Armour (UA) has risen around 35%.

In the loser category, Coach (COH) has taken the worst with an almost 40% decline, while Whole Foods (WFM) has dropped over 30%. Staples (SPLS), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Best Buy (BBY), and Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) aren't far behind in the unglamorous contest for the biggest loser.

Ok, now what? What will happen in the second half of the year is anybody's guess, but that doesn't mean market strategists of all stripes aren't trying to predict the future.

In a midyear report, analysts at BlackRock said that while stocks aren't cheap, the market should continue to rise. They recommend favoring large cap stocks and cyclical sectors like energy over small cap stocks and companies in the consumer discretionary sector such as retailers.

CNNMoney's most recent survey of investment strategists finds that most are still bullish. They anticipate a 6.5% gain for the S&P 500 this year. The index is well on track for that already.

Related: Excited for iPhone 6? Check out this stock

Another question for the markets going forward revolves around interest rates. Although the Federal Reserve has maintained that it plans to keep its key federal funds rate near zero for the rest of the year, the Bank of England is likely to start hiking rates in the fall, and that could have repercussions for the U.S., according to economists from Barclays.

"The lesson here is that rate expectations can change very quickly," they said.

First Published: June 29, 2014: 8:52 AM ET

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Aereo suspends TV service...but not 'shutting down'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The court ruling found that Aereo violates copyright law by picking up the signals of local television stations and retransmitting them via the Internet to paying subscribers.

"As a result of that decision, our case has been returned to the lower Court," Aereo founder Chet Kanojia said in an email message to subscribers on Saturday morning.

Related: The future of media

"We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps."

The "pause" will take place at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Kanojia said all subscribers (the company has never specified how many it has) will be refunded "their last paid month."

However, conventional wisdom following Wednesday's ruling held that Aereo would either have to close up shop or radically change its business model.

Related: 6 cool innovations we're still waiting for

First Published: June 28, 2014: 10:27 AM ET

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American Apparel adopts plan to prevent a takeover

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Related: American Apparel's ousted CEO fights back!

On Friday, Charney submitted a regulatory filing with the SEC announcing that he's partnering with investment firm Standard General in an effort to buy large amounts of American Apparel stock.

Charney currently owns 27.2% of the company's stock, according to the filing.

Allegations of misconduct are not new for Charney, who has faced several lawsuits claiming everything from sexual harassment to assault and battery.

Related: 6 endangered brands

Charney's lawyer Patricia Glaser sent a letter to the company's board of directors last week saying the company acted in "a manner that was not merely unconscionable but illegal."

American Apparel's stock closed Friday at 97 cents a share.

First Published: June 28, 2014: 11:42 AM ET

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GM's 'culture' blamed for current crisis

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In an exclusive interview that aired Saturday on CNN's "Smerconish," former GM manager Bill McAleer told host Michael Smerconish that employees who work at GM were "faced with a culture where you get fired if you do talk about quality and safety issues, and you get fired if you don't talk about them."

GM (GM) is dealing with a backlash for delaying the recall of 2.6 million vehicles for an ignition switch defect that's been tied to at least 13 deaths. Some GM employees knew the part was causing trouble more than a decade before the recall was issued in February.

McAleer, who started on the assembly line in 1968, says he was in charge of the Global Delivery Survey from 1988 to 1998 that GM used to help assess the quality of its cars before they were delivered to dealers.

Related: Two died in 2006 Cobalt crash. But GM counts only one

He says he found a "wide variety" of what he called "catastrophic defects" beginning in 1995, when GM added a routine obstacle course drive to its quality checklist. Problems ranged from gasoline leaks to steering linkage issues that pointed to overall quality defects.

McAleer said that while the company seemed responsive to fixing problems in the mid '90's, that changed.

"In 1997 something happened internally in GM where no problem could be admitted. Whether it was safety or any kind of problem. We couldn't have a problem," he said.

"That's what happened with the ignition switch," he added. "People knew there was a problem, but problems were not acceptable. They just ignored it."

McAleer eventually was laid off from GM in 2004. He tried to sue the company under a whistleblower law but said he was unsuccessful.

Related: GM's recall nightmare

McAleer said he sent a letter to the GM board of directors to tell them about the overall quality problems and the lack of action by management, but he thinks that the letter might have been intentionally misdirected once it got there.

GM issued a statement saying,"If McAleer's concerns were submitted by an employee today, they would be thoroughly investigated within the safety organization, however that is not to imply that in this particular case, his issues weren't."

The company also said that while McAleer lost his case against GM, it will still look at his allegations to see what "we can learn."

First Published: June 28, 2014: 9:13 AM ET

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GM's 'culture' blamed for current crisis

Written By limadu on Sabtu, 28 Juni 2014 | 21.29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Related: Two died in 2006 Cobalt crash. But GM counts only one

McAleer said that while the company seemed responsive to fixing problems in the mid '90's, that changed.

"In 1997 something happened internally in GM where no problem could be admitted. Whether it was safety or any kind of problem. We couldn't have a problem," he said.

"That's what happened with the ignition switch," he added. "People knew there was a problem, but problems were not acceptable. They just ignored it."

McAleer eventually was laid off from GM in 2004. He tried to sue the company under a whistleblower law but said he was unsuccessful.

Related: GM's recall nightmare

The company also said that while McAleer lost his case against GM, it will still look at his allegations to see what "we can learn."

First Published: June 28, 2014: 9:13 AM ET

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Team USA dominates World Cup...of stocks

If the World Cup were played in the stock market instead of on the soccer field, the U.S. would be winning big time.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The S&P 500 has risen 1.4% since the World Cup started on June 12, making it the best performer among the 16 countries that survived the first round of play.

Granted, there's no real connection between soccer and stocks. But in the spirit of a little friendly competition, here's how the World Cup nations stack up in terms of stock market performance since the games started.

Uruguay is the second best performing market in the group of 16.

The Bolsa de Valores de Montevideo is lightly traded and consists mainly of fixed-income assets, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. Still, the BVM has gained 0.2% since June 12, giving it an edge over its larger rivals.

The Mexican stock market is in third place. The Bolsa Mexicana de Valores is basically unchanged since the games started.

Related: Retailers score with $90 World Cup jerseys

All of the remaining markets are in negative territory...some more than others.

Countries with relatively modest losses include: Chile (-0.1%), Algeria (-0.3%) and Colombia (-0.3%). The Netherlands and Belgium are tied, with both markets down 0.9%.

Next on the list are Nigeria (-1.2%), Germany (-1.3%), Switzerland (-1.5%) and France (-2.5%).

There hasn't been much of a bounce for the host nation. Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index is down 2.9% since Latin America's largest economy welcomed soccer fans from around the world.

Still, Brazilian stocks have been on a tear over the past few months. After a rough start to the year, the Bovespa has gained more than 18% since bottoming in March.

Stocks in Argentina have had a rough few weeks as well. The Merval index in Buenos Aires has dropped 3% since Lionel Messi and crew arrived in Brazil.

Related: Cashing in on World Cup fever

Investors in Argentina were rattled by default fears after a U.S. court ruled in favor of creditors in a dispute with the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. But the stock market in Argentina is one of the top performing global markets so far this year.

Greece, which had its own brush with default a few years ago, is one of the worst performers. The Athens stock exchange is down 6.5%.

The stock market in Costa Rica (-7.4%) is in last place, but it's also one of the smallest. There are just 11 companies listed on the benchmark exchange.

U.S.A. 1.4%
Uruguay 0.2%
Mexico 0%
Chile -0.1%
Algeria -0.3%
Colombia -0.3%
Netherlands -0.9%
Belgium -0.9%
Nigeria -1.2%
Germany -1.3%
Switzerland -1.5%
France -2.5%
Brazil -2.9%
Argentina -3%
Greece -6.5%
Costa Rica -7.4%

(Based on benchmark stock market data from June 12 to June 26.)

First Published: June 28, 2014: 7:59 AM ET

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Aereo suspending its streaming TV service

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The court ruling found that Aereo violates copyright law by picking up the signals of local television stations and retransmitting them via the Internet to paying subscribers.

"As a result of that decision, our case has been returned to the lower Court," Aereo founder Chet Kanojia said in an email message to subscribers on Saturday morning.

Related: Supreme Court rules against Aereo

"We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps."

The "pause" will take place at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Kanojia said all subscribers (the company has never specified how many it has) will be refunded "their last paid month."

However, conventional wisdom following Wednesday's ruling held that Aereo would either have to close up shop or radically change its business model.

Related: 6 cool innovations we're still waiting for

First Published: June 28, 2014: 10:27 AM ET

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Stocks flat in sleepy summer Friday trading

Written By limadu on Jumat, 27 Juni 2014 | 21.29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were mostly flat . The Dow and S&P were a tad lower while the Nasdaq was slightly higher. But there were still many high-profile companies making news. Here's what you need to know before you take off early on this summer Friday.

It's the shoes: Nike (NKE) and sneaker store chain Finish Line (FINL) both gained in early trading after the companies each reported earnings and sales that surpassed Wall Street expectations.

Nike said in its earnings report that the best news is coming out of Europe, with 18% sales growth. And with all the focus on the World Cup in Brazil, it should come as no surprise that sales from the company's soccer segment were also up sharply.

Shares of Nike rival adidas (ADDDF) and Finish Line competitor Foot Locker (FOOT) also rose slightly after the market opened.

Related: Retailers score with $90 World Cup jerseys from major sports brands

BNP pares dividend: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that BNP Paribas (BNPQF), the French banking giant that's nearing a $9 billion settlement with the Justice Department, will be cutting its dividend by an unspecified amount because the payment will hurt its balance sheet. The Paris-listed shares of the bank rose a bit on the news.

Barclays (BCS), another big European bank in the spotlight because of a dark pool-related lawsuit from the New York Attorney General, is treading water after yesterday's 6.5% drop.

Related: NY Attorney General says Barclays failed to investors about "predators" in its dark pools

International markets: Asian stocks finished the day mixed, with Chinese and Indian stocks closing slightly higher. European markets were up in afternoon trading as well.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 9:58 AM ET

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Obamacare = opportunity for insurers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In Illinois, for example, 10 insurers are submitting proposals to state regulators to market 504 plans on the Obamacare exchange, a huge jump from the eight insurers that offered 165 plans for this year.

"Carriers who sat out Year 1 liked what they saw and want to participate in Year 2," said Jennifer Koehler, executive director of Get Covered Illinois, the state's exchange.

UnitedHealthcare (UNH) has applied to be on the exchanges in Illinois and Washington. This year, it took a cautious approach and only provided policies in a dozen insurance exchanges.

"We feel the exchange markets hold opportunity," said Tyler Mason, a spokesman for UnitedHealthcare.

Related: Thankful for Obamacare- 5 success stories

In some states, including New Hampshire and West Virginia, residents will have a choice of insurers for the first time. In New Hampshire, at least four insurers are looking to join Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, currently the sole option.

Assurant Health has long offered policies to New Hampshire residents, though not on the Obamacare exchange. It now sees the exchanges as a chance to expand its customer base.

"We made the decision to wait and join exchanges this year because it allowed us time to assess and learn how consumers were responding," said Mary Hinderliter, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee-based insurer, which plans to be on several exchanges in 2015.

West Virginians will have a new insurer, in addition to Highmark Blue Cross. Kentucky Health Cooperative is expanding into its neighboring state, whose population shares many characteristics. It will do business there as the West Virginia Health Cooperative.

Kentucky Health exceeded its projections for 2014 in its home state, signing up 50% more people than expected, said Janie Miller, the cooperative's CEO. Now, it plans to target the rural, underserved residents of West Virginia, many of whom can use federal subsidies to make insurance premiums more affordable.

"It's about providing competition, choice and access," Miller said.

All this new competition is good news for consumers. They will likely find more lower-cost options, a wider range of choices in terms of deductibles and coverage and a greater selection of doctor and hospital networks.

Each time a new issuer enters a market, premiums drop 4% on average, said Ceci Connolly, managing director of PwC's Health Research Institute. Last year, there were typically five issuers on each state exchange. So far this year, there are six.

This is not to say that there won't be rate increases. Some states have released rate proposals, and the average increase is about 8%, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Plans in some states could have rate decreases, but others are showing gains of more than 10%.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 7:55 AM ET

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Meet Google's futurist-in-chief

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney)

Kurzweil appeared before a standing-room only crowd at Google's annual software developer conference on Wednesday to discuss his work for the search giant.

He's currently leading a team that's trying to develop artificial intelligence by modeling the functioning of the human brain. The goal is to create software that can recognize language, communicate with users and understand books and documents.

Kurzweil ended up at Google in late 2012 after meeting with CEO Larry Page to give him an advance copy of his book, "How To Create A Mind." Kurzweil was looking for an investment in a company he was planning to launch that would focus on reverse-engineering the brain.

Related: Ray Kurzweil on the future of humanity

Page invited him to do it at Google (GOOGL, Tech30) instead.

"It's been terrific," the 66-year old Kurzweil said of his time with Google. "It's really the only place I could do this project."

Kurzweil is known for provocative statements about how technology will shape our future, and critics have accused him of being long on hype and short on substance.

He didn't disappoint his fans (or critics) at Google I/O. He said Wednesday that we'll be 3D-printing our clothing by 2020, and he hopes to live long enough to achieve "functional immortality" by uploading his consciousness to a computer.

Kurzweil clearly has a tendency toward the grandiose, but there's no doubting his technical chops.

In addition to his best-selling books, he's developed pioneering technologies ranging from music synthesizers to a print-to-speech reading machine for the blind.

Kurzweil said Wednesday that supercomputers can already provide the processing power required to match the raw number of calculations the brain makes each second. The challenge his team is facing is figuring out how to model the development of hierarchical ideas that depend on one another.

Current search technology "is not fully modeling the ideas that you have when you write an article or a blog post," he said. "That's what we'd actually like to understand, and then you'd be able to dialogue with your search engine to give it complex tasks and interact with it the way you would with a human assistant."

Kurzweil said his current work at Google, while cutting edge, is just the latest development in a decades-long project.

"I've been thinking about thinking for 50 years," he said.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 8:07 AM ET

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Meet Google's futurist-in-chief

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney)

Kurzweil appeared before a standing-room only crowd at Google's annual software developer conference on Wednesday to discuss his work for the search giant.

Related: Ray Kurzweil on the future of humanity

Page invited him to do it at Google (GOOGL, Tech30) instead.

"It's been terrific," the 66-year old Kurzweil said of his time with Google. "It's really the only place I could do this project."

Kurzweil is known for provocative statements about how technology will shape our future, and critics have accused him of being long on hype and short on substance.

Kurzweil clearly has a tendency toward the grandiose, but there's no doubting his technical chops.

In addition to his best-selling books, he's developed pioneering technologies ranging from music synthesizers to a print-to-speech reading machine for the blind.

Kurzweil said his current work at Google, while cutting edge, is just the latest development in a decades-long project.

"I've been thinking about thinking for 50 years," he said.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 8:07 AM ET

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Obamacare = opportunity for insurers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"Carriers who sat out Year 1 liked what they saw and want to participate in Year 2," said Jennifer Koehler, executive director of Get Covered Illinois, the state's exchange.

UnitedHealthcare (UNH) has applied to be on the exchanges in Illinois and Washington. This year, it took a cautious approach and only provided policies in a dozen insurance exchanges.

"We feel the exchange markets hold opportunity," said Tyler Mason, a spokesman for UnitedHealthcare.

Related: Thankful for Obamacare- 5 success stories

Assurant Health has long offered policies to New Hampshire residents, though not on the Obamacare exchange. It now sees the exchanges as a chance to expand its customer base.

"It's about providing competition, choice and access," Miller said.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 7:55 AM ET

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3 bites and you're out! Suarez sponsors flee

Sponsors are distancing themselves from Luis Suarez after he bit another player during a World Cup game this week.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Suarez will play no further part in the World Cup after FIFA suspended him for four months from any football activity.

Online betting company 888poker announced it was dropping Suarez "with immediate effect" just weeks after signing him up as a global brand ambassador.

The Liverpool star, who has bitten players three times in his career, has been given the most severe punishment ever handed out at a World Cup for an offense committed on the field of play.

Related: How Adidas plans to win the World Cup

Suarez is also one of 14 World Cup brand ambassadors for Adidas (ADDDF), alongside Argentina star Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben of the Netherlands.

The German company, which makes the official World Cup match ball, said it had no plans to use Suarez for any additional marketing activities during the tournament, and would review their long-standing relationship.

Related: Small businesses cashing in on World Cup fever

Global bank Standard Chartered (SCBFF) -- a key sponsor behind Suarez's Liverpool Football Club -- said they were not making any decisions yet.

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage, until the club has received and reviewed FIFA's report," a spokesperson told CNNMoney.

As part of the punishment, Suarez is also banned from any soccer stadium during his suspension and must pay a fine of 100,000 Swiss Francs ($111,000).

Uruguay is planning to appeal against FIFA's ruling.

Sponsors are often quick to distance themselves from sports stars when the news flow sours.

Tiger Woods lost several major deals in 2009 and 2010 after a sex scandal.

First Published: June 27, 2014: 7:16 AM ET

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How to tame your property bubble

Written By limadu on Kamis, 26 Juni 2014 | 21.29

LONDON (CNNMoney)

But that's the challenge officials took on Thursday in the face of mounting evidence of a property bubble in London and concerns that reckless lending could leave U.K. borrowers struggling when interest rates inevitably rise.

Mortgages make up more than 80% of household debt in the U.K. Larger loans (measured as a multiple of income) now account for a record share of new mortgage lending.

The trick is knowing just how hard to step on the brake to prevent the economy running off the rails in the future without jeopardizing the recovery now.

In a coordinated move, the Bank of England and U.K. government unveiled three measures aimed at curbing some of the excesses.

1. Loans worth more than 4.5 times income must make up no more than 15% of new mortgages.

2. Mortgages worth more than that will no longer qualify for government guarantees under its Help-to-Buy program.

3. Banks will have to assess whether borrowers could make their repayments if interest rates rise by three percentage points in five years.

Related: A property bubble in 4 charts

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the 15% cap on the largest mortgages would start to bite within a year, mostly in London and the southeast of England, but acknowledged the market would continue to gather momentum in the meantime.

"If yesterday you were approved for a mortgage in a bank or building society, today you would still be approved for that mortgage," he told reporters.

The pound rose against the dollar, and shares in construction companies gained more than 5% in London, on relief that officials hadn't taken a tougher stance.

"However, while the measures announced are at the lighter end of expectations, the Bank of England is stressing that it can, and will, take further measures if need be," said Howard Archer, chief European and U.K. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Related: Least stressed out cities

Interest rates were cut to a record low of 0.5% in March 2009 during the financial crisis and haven't moved since. And it's nearly seven years since British borrowers had to cope with a rise in the benchmark rate.

Some economists expect the wider recovery and sharp fall in unemployment will force the central bank to increase rates as early as November, but say further targeted measures may yet be needed to avoid another property bust.

"We expect the [bank] to significantly curtail, and perhaps even cancel, the mortgage guarantee part of the government's Help-to-Buy scheme in September," noted Christian Schulz at Berenberg.

The program was introduced in 2013 to help Brits buy homes through generous equity loans and mortgage guarantees.

First Published: June 26, 2014: 9:50 AM ET

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Ikea lifting minimum wage to nearly $11 an hour

Ikea plans to increase the minimum wage for its U.S. workers, who are seen here celebrating a store opening in Colorado.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Ikea workers in Woodbridge, Va., will get the highest, at $13.22 an hour.

Workers in Pittsburgh and West Chester, Ohio, will get the lowest, at $8.69.

The changes go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25, though some states and cities pay more.

Massachusetts is on track to have the highest state minimum wage, taking it to $11 per hour by 2017, up from $8 today.

Seattle plans to raise the minimum hourly wage to $15 from $9.32. Businesses with fewer than 500 workers have until 2021 to phase it in.

On average, Ikea's pay change will be a 17% increase, the company said.

Cost of living: See how far your salary will go in another city

Ikea will base the pay differences on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which takes into account the cost of housing, food, medical, transportation and taxes.

Ikea is a Swedish company with 38 stores in the U.S., and plans to open three more before the end of 2015.

Related: Stressful jobs that pay badly

First Published: June 26, 2014: 9:12 AM ET

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Stocks tank in early trading

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all kicked off the trading session lower. The Dow is down over 100 points (around 0.7%) with the other two indexes down around the same percent.

Trading volumes could take a hit during the middle of the day as investors turn their attention to the the soccer game, but it's not off to a good start for investors.

"I fully expect no one to be focused on trading today," said Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading, predicting the distraction will eclipse the 2010 slowdown during the U.S. vs. Algeria match. "I am going to be looking for outliers and will be looking to take advantage of those for myself and clients even if I may have one eye on the game. I would buy and sell extremes gladly."

While soccer is clearly front-and-center, there are a number of big name stock movers, including Barclays (BCS), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Alcoa (AA).

Here are six things to watch in the global financial markets:

1. Where's the drama? U.S. markets continue to experience a period of low turbulence.

Volatility remains near seven-year lows and the S&P 500 hasn't generated a close up or down by 1% or more since April 16. That's the longest such streak since 1995.

Still, the major indexes are in striking range of all-time records and the Dow is less than 150 points away from cracking the 17,000 mark for the first time ever. U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday.

Related: Where's the drama on Wall Street?

2. Barclays under fire: Shares of Barclays (BCS) crumbled over 7% after the New York Attorney General unleashed a lawsuit late Wednesday against the British bank alleging a lack of transparency in some of its alternative trading platforms. The attorney general claims the bank misled investors -- even going as far as lying in marketing materials -- about how much high-frequency trading firms were operating in Barclays "dark pool" trading platform.

Related: NY Attorney General goes after Barclays

3. GoPro goes public: Camera maker GoPro has already shown it can withstand drops from space and close encounters with sharks. Now we'll see how the gadget company grapples with life on Wall Street.

Investors can start trading GoPro shares Thursday after the company completed its initial public offering. The consumer electronics company is set to debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "GPRO" later in the morning.

On Wednesday evening, GoPro priced shares at $24 apiece, the high end of the expected range of $21 to $24. This raised roughly $425 million.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

4. Movers & shakers - Alcoa, Bed Bath & Beyond, Philip Morris: It's shaping up to be an ugly day for Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). The houseware retailer tumbled 9% on after earnings came in lower than expected and the retailer doesn't forecast it will get much better the rest of the year.

Philip Morris International (PM) was also stuck in reverse, losing almost 3%, after the cigarette maker dimmed its forecast for the year due to currency troubles and economic challenges in Europe.

On the other hand, Alcoa (AA) bounced 4% after unveiling a $2.85 billion cash-and-stock deal to acquire Firth Rixson, which makes jet-engine parts. The move should help Alcoa diversify amid anemic aluminum prices.

Nabors Industries (NBR) soared 7% after inking a $2.86 billion deal to combine one of its units with C&J Energy Services (CJES).

Nike (NKE) is scheduled to hit the earnings stage after the closing bell.

5. Economic data: Investors will keep an eye on consumer discretionary stocks after the government said consumer spending inched up just 0.2% in May, trailing forecasts for a 0.4% rise. Spending for April was upgraded from a contraction to a 0.1% increase. Personal income rose 0.4%, as expected.

Also, new data showed unemployment claims dipped to 312,000 last week from an upwardly revised 314,000 the week before.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

6. International markets looking chipper: European markets were mostly flat, while Asian markets largely ended with gains. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was a standout performer -- rising by 1.4% during the day.

Gold prices were also declining by roughly 0.5%. Prices for the shiny metal tend to rise when investors are feeling nervous, and tend to fall when investors are feeling confident. Oil prices also dipped slightly.

First Published: June 26, 2014: 9:55 AM ET

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Supreme Court rules against Aereo

Written By limadu on Rabu, 25 Juni 2014 | 21.29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Ever since Aereo was introduced in early 2012, its biggest financial backer, Barry Diller, has said that there is "no plan B" if the courts concluded that it was operating illegally.

Using thousands of miniature TV antennas, Aereo scoops up the freely available signals of local stations in cities like New York, Boston and Atlanta. It then delivers those signals to the smartphones, tablets or computers of paying subscribers.

Subscribers pick what to watch through a traditional on-screen guide. They can also record shows and stream them later.

A group of broadcasters sued Aereo in early 2012, before it had even launched in its first market, New York City. The broadcasters asserted that Aereo violated copyright laws by allowing "public performances" of their TV shows. Aereo said it was only enabling private screenings, just like off-the-shelf TV antennas do.

Related: What the heck is Aereo anyway?

The issue reached the Supreme Court last fall and the case was heard in April.

The formal issue before the court was "whether a company 'publicly performs' a copyrighted television program when it retransmits a broadcast of that program to thousands of paid subscribers over the Internet."

The owners of ABC, CBS, Fox (FOXA), NBC, Univision and other broadcasters put up a united front against Aereo. (Time Warner (TWX), the parent company of CNN and CNNMoney, was not a plaintiff in the case, but did support the broadcasters.)

Fueling the feeling that Aereo was David battling Goliath, the Justice Department and the United States Copyright Office took a public position against Aereo and called it "clearly infringing."

"What Aereo is doing is really the functional equivalent of what Congress in the 1976 [Copyright] Act wanted to define as a public performance," Malcolm Stewart, a deputy solicitor general at the Department of Justice, told the Supreme Court justices during oral arguments in April.

Aereo and its supporters strongly disagreed -- they said the service was expressly created to abide by the law.

"Aereo is, essentially, simply an antenna device that replaces technologically what you used to have to do — to go up to your rooftop and erect an antenna," Diller said.

Diller, in a CNN interview in April, said that a ruling against Aereo would "have profound effects on the development of technology."

Aereo had no immediate comment about Wednesday's ruling.

First Published: June 25, 2014: 10:27 AM ET

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Stocks pop despite terrible GDP news

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Here's what you need to know:

1. Flat stocks: The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq are all flat to slightly positive Wednesday. Stocks dropped sharply Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 119 points, its biggest one-day percentage drop in more than a month. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also fell.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

2. Ugly GDP figures: The Commerce Department said the economy shrank 2.9% in the first quarter, even uglier than the 1.8% decline that economists from Briefing.com had predicted. Analysts were expecting a weak final figure for the period, which included unusually harsh winter weather. In that regard, investors are largely shrugging off the bad news, and have donned their forward-thinking caps.

Related: Three reasons NOT to freak out about -2.9% GDP

3. Movers and shakers -- Barnes and Noble, General Mills, Apollo Education: Barnes and Noble (BKS) shares soared after the struggling bookseller said it has begun taking steps to separate its retail and Nook segments. The stock is up over 9%.

General Mills (GIS) stooped after the cereal maker reported disappointing earnings that were stymied by expensive promotional activity that didn't translate into greater sales.

Apollo Education (APOL) ticked up after the for-profit college operator beat earnings estimates. Still, the company said degree enrollment sank significantly at the University of Phoenix.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

4. M&A still hot: Shares of Hanesbrands (HBI)jumped after the company said it planned to acquire French apparel-maker DBA Apparel in an all-cash deal. Mergers and acquisitions activity has spiked this year as companies try to capitalize on their high stock prices by using the cash to buy other companies.

5. International action: The Dubai stock market suffered a dire tumble to start the week, as concerns about continued turmoil in Iraq damaged investor confidence and one of Dubai's biggest construction companies reported trouble. However, the benchmark Dubai Financial General Market Index recovered about 6% on Wednesday.

Russia's main Micex index declined by nearly 1% on reports that the West might slap more sanctions on Russia.

The Micex has been on a wild ride this year, dropping by over 20% and then fully recovering as worries about the Ukraine crisis and sanctions intensified and then receded.

All major European markets were lower Wednesday. Asian markets ended in negative territory.

First Published: June 25, 2014: 9:52 AM ET

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David Muir to replace Diane Sawyer on "World News"

Diane Sawyer will focus on new programming at ABC after stepping down as "World News" anchor

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

David Muir, the weekend "World News" anchor, will replace her starting September 2.

The announcement ends months of speculation about a transition at ABC's anchor desk.

In a first-of-its-kind arrangement, Muir will not be the main anchor for big breaking news stories or elections -- that spot will go to "Good Morning America" co-host George Stephanopoulos, who will have the title "chief anchor."

Sawyer took over the "World News" chair in 2009, becoming the first woman to solo-anchor the famed newscast.

Inside ABC, Muir has been seen as her heir apparent for some time. That impression was cemented earlier this year when Stephanopoulos renewed his contract at "GMA" with no mention of a "World News" role.

Related: Future of media

"After wonderful years at 'World News' I decided it is time to move to a new full time role at ABC News," Sawyer said in a statement.

Last week, with Sawyer away, Muir anchored "World News" for the full week.

The appointment of Muir, 40, to succeed Sawyer, 68, also represents a generational change for a television time slot sometimes stubbornly resistant to change.

"I can't wait to continue bringing more of my specials to prime time and appearing on all ABC News broadcasts, as well," Sawyer said. "And to my friends and colleagues George and David -- congratulations. I look forward to exciting work together and great times ahead."

First Published: June 25, 2014: 9:53 AM ET

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Your dead ex-spouse's debt can become your problem

Divorce doesn't put an end to your liability for joint debt accrued while you were married, even if the court rules your ex should pay it. If he or she dies before doing so, then creditors can come after you.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

After all, you assumed you were safe because your divorce settlement explicitly stated who should pay which debts accrued during your marriage.

But guess what? That was an agreement between you and your ex, not between the two of you and your creditors.

"No one asked the [creditors] to sign off on that," said Los Angeles bankruptcy attorney Leon Bayer.

This is especially a problem in the nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

With only some exceptions, community property states treat whatever is acquired after marriage and before legal separation as belonging to both spouses equally.

That means both property and debt.

Related: Can you inherit your dead parent's debts?

And in a divorce, all community assets and debt are split between the two of you.

For example, say you and your ex-husband owed money to a creditor while you were married. The divorce settlement may have assigned payment of that debt to your ex. But if he dies before paying up, the creditor could come a-knockin' on your door.

Your only recourse then is to pay the bill yourself, file a claim against your ex's estate, and hope it's not insolvent.

Such a situation may be averted, but only if you thought ahead.

At the time of the divorce, to erase your liability for the debt assigned to your ex, you could try to enter into what's called a "novation" or "accord and satisfaction" with the creditor, said Utah-based estate planning attorney Geoff Germane of Kirton McConkie.

Such agreements effectively can release you from any further obligation to pay the debt.

But, Germane said, "a creditor is unlikely to be interested" in playing along unless the spouse assigned to pay the debt clearly has the money and can offer assets as collateral.

Have you ever had problems with the debt of a deceased parent, spouse or even ex-spouse? Please tell us about your experience at #YourEconomy.

First Published: June 25, 2014: 7:09 AM ET

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Google to focus more on wearable devices

Google co-founder Sergey Brin rocks Google Glass.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney)

Google's annual I/O conference for software developers and designers begins on Wednesday. The company is widely expected to showcase its new smartwatch-ready "Android Wear" software.

Google (GOOGL, Tech30) revealed plans for Android Wear in March, but developers are anxious to get details on its planned features and specifications.

The rumor heading into the conference is that Samsung, whose Galaxy phones already run on Google's software, is set to introduce its first Android Wear smartwatch at the event.

Other firms, including Motorola and LG, are also scheduled to release Android smartwatches this year.

Last year's I/O event was a showcase for Google Glass, the company's head-mounted computing device. But Glass should be in the spotlight again at this year's conference.

Related: Smartphones are fading -- wearables are next

There are several sessions focused on wearable devices. The company will likely discuss new features for Glass and could reveal plans for its expanded sale to the general public.

Google recently announced a series of "developer partners" for Glass, including companies working on medical, business and media applications. It's currently seeking other partners as well.

Aside from wearables, Google may announce an expansion of its TV efforts beyond the basic $35 Chromecast streaming device.

It's also pushing hard to break into the "connected home" business, having acquired smart appliance maker Nest Labs earlier this year and home security firm Dropcam last week. So expect some updates on that front as well.

The I/O conference has also tended to be a lot quirkier than events hosted by Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) and other rivals.

In addition to the product-focused events, this year's gathering includes sessions ranging from the offbeat (a briefing on Google's Santa-tracking technology) to the futuristic (a lecture from Ray Kurzweil, the sci-fi author and inventor who heads Google's machine intelligence efforts). Stay tuned.

First Published: June 25, 2014: 7:11 AM ET

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Squandering the family fortune: Why rich families are losing money

In 90% of cases, the family fortune is squandered by the third generation. Here, New York City mansions built by the Vanderbilt family -- a classic example of wealth made and lost.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Nearly 60% of the time a family's money is exhausted by the children of the person who created the wealth, according to Roy Williams, president of wealth consultancy The Williams Group. In 90% of the cases it's gone by the time the grandchildren die.

"It goes back to the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son," said Williams, referring to the free spending child who blows his father's inheritance yet is welcomed back anyway. "We haven't changed in 2,000 years, and that same unprepared heir issue is now worldwide."

Profligate spending by heirs -- the type chronicled on sites like Rich Kids of Instagram -- is often a reason for a loss of wealth, as is a simple lack of ambition.

"The people who created the wealth were often obsessive," said Russ Prince, president of the wealth research and consulting firm Prince and Associates. "But their kids were not hungry."

Related: The richest Americans in history

Perhaps the most famous example is the Vanderbilt family. Cornelius, the patriarch, built a fortune on railroads and shipping during the mid-1800s. Adjusted for the size of the economy, he was the second richest American ever, worth over $200 billion -- well above Bill Gates.

Yet his children -- and especially, his grandchildren -- lived lavishly, building huge mansions in New York City, Newport, R.I., and elsewhere, and did little to preserve the fortune. By the 1970s, the family held a reunion with 120 members attending, and there wasn't a millionaire among them, wrote Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther in their book The Wealthy 100.

Yet the biggest reason family fortunes are squandered, experts say, is because the people who built the wealth do not pass along clear instructions on how to handle the money after they're gone. That often leads to bitter infighting among surviving family members, and an eventual loss of fortune.

"The intent is good, but there's a communications gap," said Michael Liersch, director of behavioral finance at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. "People can have a different take on what the wealth creator wanted, and that creates dispute."

Avoiding that might seem simple enough -- just divide up the money equally. But in practice, preserving a fortune requires communication and collaboration that's hard to achieve in any organization, let alone a family.

Large bequests should come with detailed instructions like whether the money will be used to pay for the education of all family members, how much will go to charity, whether money be available for entrepreneurial endeavors, and more.

"Families need to take their time to shape their attitudes toward wealth," said Nathan Dungan, who runs the family wealth consultancy Share Save Spend. "It needs to go beyond maximizing returns and reducing taxes."

Related: America's love/hate relationship with the rich

One of the best ways to do this is to set up a philanthropic organization, experts say. That helps the family develop effective tools for communication and decision making, yet no one has a personal interest in the cash at stake. Those tools can then be used to better administer the family's personal wealth.

"They create family banks, seed capitol, and go into businesses together," said Tom Livergood, head of the Family Wealth Alliance. "If you pool your resources, you get scalability."

A good example of this, said Livergood, is the Rockefeller family. They have a prominent foundation, and are still living quite comfortably seven generations after the fortune was made.

"It's not that [John D.] Rockefeller was one of the richest guys in the world," said Livergood. "It's what the family did after."

First Published: June 25, 2014: 7:54 AM ET

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Home prices jump nearly 11% in April

Written By limadu on Selasa, 24 Juni 2014 | 21.29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Prices are up 22.6% since bottoming out just over three years ago, but are still 18% below the peak set in July, 2006. And year-over-year gains are slowing.

Related: Dream beach houses for sale

"Although home prices rose in April, the annual gains weakened," says David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Last year some Sunbelt cities were seeing year-over-year numbers close to 30%, now all are below 20%."

Five cities posted strong month-over-month gains: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, all of which jumped at least 2%.

Low mortgage rates, which the Federal Reserve is expected to keep reined in through mid-2015, and gains in the job market should continue to help the housing market, according to Blitzer.

Related: Which natural disaster will likely destroy your home?

But don't get too comfortable.

"Housing is not back to normal." said Blitzer, "Prices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories and declining foreclosure sales. First time home buyers are not back in force, and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging. The question is whether housing will bounce back before the Fed begins to tighten sometime next year."

First Published: June 24, 2014: 9:09 AM ET

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Stocks lost in summer doldrums

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were down slightly in early trading. The Nasdaq was slightly higher and the "big mover" of the day at a mere 0.15%.

"Following the excitement of the European Central Bank and the Fed meetings earlier this month, we've quickly returned to a familiar pattern of low volatility and even lower volumes," wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid, in a market report.

Stocks soared to all-time highs last week as investors remain confident that global monetary policy will continue to support the market. But the tone has been cautious so far this week as investors look for the next catalyst to move the market one way or another.

Related: Will the Dow crack 17,000 this week?

Dubai enters bear market. U.S. stocks might not be moving much, but they sure are elsewhere.

While oil prices have backed off nine-month highs, the turmoil in Iraq has wreaked havoc on the Dubai stock exchange.

The Dubai DFM General index plunged more than 6% overnight. The index is down more than 22% so far this month, putting the Persian Gulf Emirate in a bear market. It was the worst one-day drop since Oct. 2008, according to a note from analysts at ETX Capital.

"There is a possibility that traders are liquidating positions as a result of the current situation in Iraq which has eaten at sentiment in the Emirate region," the analysts wrote.

Stocks to watch -- Walgreens, Avago, Buffalo Wild Wings: Walgreens (WAG) said earnings rose nearly 16% in the first quarter, but the results missed analysts' expectations. Shares fell more than 1%.

Shares in Avago Technologies (AVGO) were up 2.5% after the Singapore-based chipmaker announced a $309 million cash acquisition of PLX Technology.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

And one company that is really loving the World Cup action is Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD). The company's stock popped 6% Monday after an analyst at Wunderlich Securities increased his price target for shares after seeing all the demand for the flagship wings for soccer games.

Home prices up: Investors will have some economic data to digest Tuesday morning. Home prices nationwide continued to rise in April. The S&P/Case-Shiller index measuring the value of residential real estate in 20 U.S. cities increased 1.1%.

Still to come, the U.S. government will post May data on new home sales at 10 a.m. and the Conference Board will release its monthly consumer confidence index, also at 10 a.m.

Abe lets another arrow fly in Japan: Japan's government has released details on the third and final phase of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambitious plan to jolt the country's economy out of stagnation. Companies may pay less tax as a result, but the response in the stock market was muted. The Nikkei ended flat.

Related: Fear & Greed Index still extremely greedy

European markets were mixed in afternoon trading.

The ruble and Moscow stock index were stronger, continuing their recovery from sharp losses earlier this year as fears about an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine fade. A ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian separatists declared last Friday appears to be holding. Sentiment was also improving after Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said Monday it would buy Russian pharmaceutical company Veropharm for as much as $495 million, underlining the waning threat of sanctions.

First Published: June 24, 2014: 9:53 AM ET

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Meet the Marxist behind Seattle's wage hike

Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant wants more cities to adopt her hometown's new $15 minimum wage.

SEATTLE (CNNMoney)

Now, fresh off Seattle's historic passage of a $15 minimum wage, the self-described Marxist is ready to make it a national fight.

Sawant -- whose full name is pronounced "Shah-mah Sah-want" -- emigrated to the U.S. from India and earned a PhD in economics from North Carolina State University before taking a teaching position at Seattle Central Community College. She says she was radicalized politically by the gaping inequality she observed upon arriving in the world's richest country.

The veteran activist, who supported the Occupy movement that cropped up in the wake of the Great Recession and bank bailout, ran for city council last year under the banner of Socialist Alternative, an organization that calls for "international struggle" against global capitalism.

The "Socialist" label is practically an epithet in many parts of the U.S., but Sawant says it "wasn't really any kind of barrier" in her meetings with voters.

"Everybody said, 'Don't call yourself a Socialist,' but every speech I gave, I started with saying that I'm a member of Socialist Alternative," she said in a recent interview at her City Hall office. "People are hungry for an alternative, but that alternative isn't there."

The cornerstone of Sawant's campaign was her call for a $15 minimum wage, an issue the local press credited her with placing on the city's agenda.

Seattle's city council unanimously passed the wage increase earlier this month, and it will be phased in over several years based on a scale that considers the size of and benefits offered by an employer. It will apply first to many large businesses in 2017 and then to all businesses by 2021.

Related: Some Seattle small business owners say new minimum wage is unfair

Washington already has the nation's highest state-level minimum wage, at $9.32, a rate that also applied to Seattle. The current federal minimum stands at $7.25. Some Democrats in Congress have been pushing for a gradual increase to $10.10, but so far without success.

While Seattle's $15 minimum is a first for a major U.S. city, it's not as if workers will be living lavishly. Working full-time, year-round for $15 an hour with two weeks off yields an annual pre-tax income of around $30,000.

"The cost of everything is going to go up," said Selena Bevers, a convenience store clerk in downtown Seattle. "You're still going to be where you are now."

Annette Kousin, who works at a nearby coffee shop, worries about how the bill will impact food stamps and other federal benefits.

"I have a ton of student loans I need to pay off," she said. "I'm having trouble just surviving."

Local businesses, meanwhile, have complained that the legislation will hurt their bottom lines and harm the local economy.

Supporters counter that the economy could actually see a boost as workers gain more disposable income to spend.

"It has the potential to really help the economy," said Olivia Anderson, a clerk at a Seattle ice cream shop. "I know it will affect small businesses, but big corporations have the money to do this right now."

Related: Massachusetts approves $11 minimum wage

Sawant concedes that she has a number of concerns about the bill that ended up passing. She says it was "watered down" by business interests and the Democratic party establishment. She'd like to shorten the phase-in period, get rid of an allowance for sub-minimum "training wages" and leave tips out of businesses' wage calculations for workers.

But despite those caveats, she called the legislation a major victory, estimating that it will benefit 100,000 low-wage workers and transfer $3 billion from businesses to low-wage workers over the next decade.

Seattle's minimum wage push gained momentum following protests by fast food workers and a vote in the nearby city of SeaTac last fall to raise its minimum wage to $15. Now, Sawant hopes Seattle's example will help the cause of activists fighting for a $15 minimum elsewhere.

Related: Wages are falling in Manhattan and L.A.

Agitation for a higher minimum wage is on the rise, with low-wage workers staging demonstrations across the country in recent months.

She and Socialist Alternative launched an organization in January called 15 Now that has gained chapters in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Sawant said there is "a deep disconnect " between young people today and older generations that grew up with the "American Dream" ideal of hard work leading to a more prosperous life.

"That is not going to happen for most people now, statistically speaking," she said.

First Published: June 24, 2014: 10:09 AM ET

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Seattle $15 wage plan is unfair to me

Kathy Lyons owns a franchise in Seattle and says that her business might not survive the transition to a $15 minimum wage.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

He worries that the city's newly passed $15 minimum wage will hurt his ability to be competitive. That's because his competitors -- other small employers -- will have extra time to transition into the higher minimum wage. But because Subway is a national fast food chain, his restaurant doesn't count.

"In three years, my wages will be up by 60%, but the sandwich shop next door won't have to do it yet. I'll have to charge more, and he can charge less than me," said Hollek, who has been a franchise owner since 1997.

Seattle's city council approved a timetable earlier this month for how the $15 minimum wage would be phased in from its current wage floor of $9.32. Businesses with fewer than 500 workers get until 2021 to phase it in.

Companies with 500 or more employees must begin paying $15 in 2017. Chains like Subway, McDonald's (MCD) or Burger King (BKW) are in the latter category, even if many of their restaurants are run by small business owners.

Franchisees are up in arms over this. The International Franchise Association has sued the city of Seattle, charging that the ordinance unfairly penalizes franchisees.

The average franchisee at the association employs 11 people.

Related: Subway leads fast food industry in underpaying workers

Hollek said that as a franchise owner, he has the advantage of purchasing ingredients through Subway. But he points out that he is already paying a percentage of his earnings to Subway for royalties and advertising.

Kathy Lyons, a plaintiff in the suit against Seattle, said the new plan could put her out of business. She and her husband employ 22 workers at their franchise of BrightStar Care, which supplies nurses and personal attendants for in-home patient care.

Lyon said the cost of her franchise not only eats up her margins, but that non-franchise competitors will inch her out of the market when she's paying $15 an hour and they're not.

"We are at risk of not making it if we can't compete on fair ground," she said.

It hurts a large number of businesses, the association said. Seattle has roughly 600 franchise operators, with 1,700 locations, employing around 19,000 workers.

Chuck Stempler, who owns AlphaGraphics franchises in Seattle, said the transition to a $15 minimum wage could cost jobs.

Seattle city council member Nick Licata said he's more concerned about the quality rather than the number of jobs. He also believes that three years is enough time to adjust.

Related: 10 big overtime pay violators

Chuck Stempler, another plaintiff in the suit against Seattle, said his business is being "miscategorized."

"They are carving out a particular segment of small businesses and treating them like they're a different size," he said.

Stempler employs 69 workers in two AlphaGraphics franchises in Seattle and worries that "every printing company that's not a franchise" will have a meaningful advantage over him.

Stempler said he might end up raising prices, and also cutting jobs.

First Published: June 24, 2014: 6:54 AM ET

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