Where to stash your cash
While wealthy Europeans prefer to park their extra cash in Switzerland, Americans tend to keep their offshore bank accounts in Panama and the balmy Caribbean. Britain, the Channel Islands, and Ireland are second-tier offshore banking destinations for people on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Facebook's tax refund
Facebook’s first annual earnings report showed $1.1 billion in pretax profits, but the social networking firm will likely pay zero federal and state taxes. Instead, thanks to some clever bookkeeping, the company is expected to receive a $429 million tax refund.
Businessweek.com
The value of old phones
Americans are hoarding their old phones. Only 20 percent of Americans sell or recycle their old phones, and more than half say they have two or more unused cellphones lying around. Collectively, those phones stack up to a trade-in value of $34 billion.
MarketWatch.com
The wealth of America's megabanks
They don’t call them big banks for nothing. Assessed by international accounting rules, the four biggest U.S. banks—JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—have combined assets totaling $14.7 trillion. That’s the equivalent of 93 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2012.
Bloomberg.com
Grateful alumni
American colleges and universities raised a total of $31 billion last year. Stanford alone pulled in a record $1 billion. The top 10 fundraisers represent just 0.3 percent of the nation’s accredited nonprofit schools, but they drew 17 percent—or $5.3 billion—of donations nationwide.
Associated Press
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The bottom linefeature Sedentary habits keep rising; A new home for Twinkies; Taco Bell's new hit; Companies stretch the workweek; Women's wages still fall short
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The bottom line
feature High cellphone taxes; Companies shore up pension funds; The bite of high gas prices; More dads stay home; Americans' scarce savings; Clorox sales hit a peak
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The bottom line
feature Taxi drivers with college degrees; Morgan Stanley's revealing nicknames; Sleep deprivation and lost productivity; A retreat for Barnes & Noble; Signs of a stabilizing economy
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The bottom line
feature Companies cut spending because of fiscal cliff; Administrative bloat and tuition costs; Market for new and existing homes improves; Annual federal deficit as share of GDP decreases; Federal rules for contracts get flouted
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The bottom line
feature No-growth small businesses; Swift sales for Taylor's new album; Predicting doctors' costs; Airlines face shortfall in qualified pilots; Will Japan slip into recession?
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The bottom line
feature Apple's corporate tax rate; A housing market still in the tank; Boeing's Dreamliner earns rave reviews; Billions owed in child support; Goldman Sachs trims its ranks
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The bottom line
feature No new jobs in August for small business; Lowest corn harvest in 17 years; Louboutin wins battle over red soles; The growing American lower class; U.S.'s competitive ranking drops; The expanding wealth gap
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The bottom line
feature Facebook tries gambling; The not-so-rich Americans; Pauly D's banner year; Gibson Guitar pays a fine; Let's get women on board!