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Actor Michael Douglas is playing a new and rather surprising role as spokesman for the FBI to fight corruption on Wall Street.  The actor – famous for his line “greed is good” in the 1987 film “Wall Street” – is sending a new message in a public service announcement, explaining that insider trading is a […]

With home sales increasing in six of the last nine months and prices still 30 percent below the peak, the housing market is quite confounding.  That’s the opinion of Jafer Hasnain, Principal and co-founder of Lifeline Assets, a private equity firm that invests in single-family homes. In a recent interview for the Alter NOW Podcasts, […]

Debt collectors and credit reporting agencies — businesses that impact thousands of consumers — would face federal supervision for the first time under a rule a new federal watchdog proposal, which would allow the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to examine approximately 200 firms, including large debt collectors. According to the proposal, these two segments […]

Within 24 hours of pop songstress’ Whitney Houston’s death, the Nielsen SoundScan retail sales monitoring service reported that 91,000 digital albums and another 10,000 physical albums, as well as with 887,000 digital tracks had been sold.  The top-selling album that day was her 2000 compilation “Whitney Houston — Greatest Hits,” which sold 64,000 copies, enough […]

“They’re going to pry it out of my hands…” That was President-Elect Obama protesting the idea of giving up his beloved BlackBerry. At one point, Obama suggested that retaining his BlackBerry was one way to stay connected to the real world.  “I’ve got to look for every opportunity to do that – ways that aren’t […]

Although the economy has improved in the past year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers that they still must cut the growing budget deficit.  “We still have a long way to go before the labor market can be said to be operating normally,” Bernanke said in testimony to the Senate Budget Committee.  “Particularly troubling […]

In good news for beleaguered homeowners, the Obama administration announced a $26 billion mortgage settlement, which 49 out of 50 state attorneys general signed on to.  The deal won praise from such groups as the Mortgage Bankers Association, the industry trade group for lenders, and the Center for Responsible Lending, a public interest group advocating […]

Green roofs are springing up in the concrete jungle of New York City – plants growing on waterproof membranes on top of buildings – in all five boroughs.  Considering the potential to reduce greenhouse gases, increase energy efficiency and capture storm-water runoff, this movement is understandable.  “Most of this work is small in scale so […]

If you’d like to slash your electric bill, switch to the LED light bulb, the “light-emitting diode” that General Electric invented 50 years ago.  Now, LED bulbs are the focus of intense competition among all of the major lighting manufacturers.  “There are two races going on,” said Todd Manegold, LED product manager for Philips Electric. […]

Sears is trading at its lowest level levels since John Kerry won the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary in 2004 — and that’s not good news for one of America’s oldest retailers. The retailer, which owns Kmart as well as the Kenmore, Craftsman and Lands’ End brands, announced  after Christmas that it would close […]