BUSINESS NEWS
Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Close to 35 million Americans will mark the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day weekend by hitting the road, a new forecast from AAA shows.
The automobile group projects 34.8 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home between Thursday and Monday -- a 0.9 percent decrease over last year.
“Although AAA expects to see more people traveling this summer as a whole, it looks like the summer travel season will begin with a relatively stable start,” Jessica Brady, spokeswoman, AAA Travel, The Auto Club Group, said in a statement.
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Virgin America(NEW YORK) -- Planning on taking a vacation soon? You may want to consider booking your flight with Virgin America.
The carrier is listed as the top-rated airline in a new Consumer Reports survey.
"Virgin America got very high ratings across the board. In fact, it was some of the highest ratings we've seen on an airliner for years," says Mandy Walker, a Consumer Reports senior project editor.
"People were very happy with the check-in ease, they like the
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Adam Gault/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- For somebody who's facing doctor bills or has missed a mortgage payment, selling your pension benefits for a lump sum can be tempting.
Partly for that reason, pensioners in growing numbers are accepting such offers, say financial regulators. But not all offers are legal, and some contain hidden costs.
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a joint investor-alert cautioning pensioners to think twice before accepting cash-up-front deals.
In it, Gerri Walsh, FINRA's senior vice president for investor education, said:
Brett Deering/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Even for those who don't lose a loved one after a tornado, the process to rebuild is "long" and "emotional," according to Tammy Cady, 59, who survived the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011.
It took Cady, a graphic designer, and her husband, Kevin, 52, a year and eight months to rebuild their destroyed home in Joplin.
Fortunately for the Cady family, no one was injured, including their six children. But when the tornado hit, they had no homeowner's insurance for the home they bought in 1994. They had dropped their $50-a-month policy in 2010, after Kevin lost his job in construction.
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Benjamin Krain/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The tornadoes that struck the Midwest this week, killing dozens and destroying hundreds of homes and schools in the Oklahoma City-suburb of Moore, likely caused more than $1 billion in damages.
And it's not just tornadoes that wreak this kind of havoc. From wildfires to hurricanes, the country has suffered dozens of natural disasters that have left billions of dollars of damage in their wake.
Here's a look at seven of the most recent well-known U.S. natural disasters that cost at least a billion dollars:
Hurricane Sandy - October 2012
The storm that destroyed beachside communities along
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Jaclyn Fraley(ZALESKI, Ohio) -- An online fundraising effort has surpassed its goal to allow a 91-year-old man in Zaleski, Ohio, to buy back his home before his daughter has the chance to evict him from it.
Jaclyn Fraley, 35, and her grandfather, John Potter, started fundraising for enough money to make an offer on the home he built 56 years ago.
"It means a little bit of everything," Potter said, when asked what his home means to him. "I bought the land when I was a teenager."
After an ABC News story last week described Potter's situation, Potter and his granddaughter have raised about $138,000, topping their goal of $125,000.
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Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Tuesday stocks closed higher as investors banked on continued policy support from the Federal Reserve.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its latest policy meeting. Investors are looking for hints that the Central Bank will ease up on its multi-billion-dollar bond-buying program, which helped push the stock market to all-time highs.
For the 19th straight week, The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Tuesday trading in positive territory, up 52.30 points, or 0.34 percent, at 15,387.58. Since the Tuesday winning streak began on Jan. 15 of this year, close to 85 percent of the Dow's
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Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images(TAMPA, Fla.) -- JPMorgan Chase [NYSE: JPM] shareholders voted to allow CEO Jamie Dimon to keep his dual role as CEO and chairman of the board of directors, which critics say gives him too much unchecked power over the biggest bank in the U.S. by assets.
About 68.8 percent of the shareholders voted to keep Dimon's existing executive roles. Dimon has been chairman of the board since Dec. 2006 and CEO and president since Dec. 2005. He has been a director since 2000, according to the company.
"The voting showed that a lot of shareholders are upset with recent risk management problems, but aren't sure exactly where to
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Microsoft(REDMOND, Wash.) -- Eight years after releasing the Xbox 360, Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its gaming console.
The new gaming system, which it plans to release before the end of the year, is full of new features that go beyond new hardware, including Skype connectivity, television integration and new ways of controlling the system with your voice and body.
"We have an ambitious vision to become the all-in-one system for every living room," Microsoft president of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick said at the Xbox event in Redmond, Wash., Tuesday afternoon. Highlighting that the Xbox is not just a gaming system anymore,
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook, in Washington, D.C. to answer questions about his company's avoidance of billions of dollars in U.S. taxes, told a Senate hearing the tech giant followed the law and "comprehensive tax reform" must be passed to even the playing field for multi-national companies.
In his testimony, Cook called for a simplification of the U.S. corporate tax code that will allow the "free flow of capital back to the United States."
"We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws," said Cook, whose company has more than $140 billion in cash parked overseas.
Cook was accompanied
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ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says she's not worried about the adult content on her new acquisition -- Tumblr -- and she'll make sure that people who don't want to see it won't.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Tumblr CEO and co-founder David Karp will stay on, and he's growing more comfortable with the notion of advertising on his mostly ad-free site.
Mayer and Karp made the comments on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday during their first broadcast interview since the $1.1 billion acquisition.
In announcing the deal on her very own Tumblr account, Mayer vowed "not to screw it up."
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Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Ferrero, the Italian company that makes Nutella, has scrapped a superfan's global tribute to the chocolaty spread. Sara Rosso started World Nutella Day back in 2007, dubbing February 5 the day Nutella's legions of fans can celebrate the stuff.
However, after years of fans sharing recipes and their love for the hazelnut and chocolate spread on her site NutellaDay.com, Ferrero slapped Rosso with a cease-and-desist letter, legally warning her from posting about the trademarked name or using its logo again.
World Nutella Day has 40,000 fans on Facebook and nearly 7,000 followers on Twitter.
On NutellaDay.com,
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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images(TAMPA, Fla.) -- A shareholder showdown is scheduled Tuesday at the annual meeting of JPMorgan Chase in Tampa, Fla.
A vote is expected on a proposal to separate the jobs of chairman and CEO at the big bank. If the effort -- which was started by several large pension funds -- is successful, it would be a major blow for Jamie Dimon, who now holds both jobs.
Under Dimon’s watch, JPMorgan has been more profitable than most other banks; its share price held up very well despite the 2008 financial crisis.
But last year’s “London whale” trading losses on risky trades exposed the bank to widespread
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Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- While one's earning potential increases with a college degree, you don't necessarily need to spend $40,000 a year for a diploma for a job that pays as much.
Jobs search site CareerCast.com released a list of 14 of the best jobs without a college degree.
Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com, said opportunities for high school grads and post-high school training are increasing.
CareerCast.com pulled the 14 jobs from its 200 Jobs Rated Report, which uses data from the Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics. The site judged the jobs on criteria, including environment,
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Microsoft(NEW YORK) -- After eight years on the shelves and having sold some 70 million units, Microsoft's Xbox 360 is finally getting a successor on Tuesday.
The Xbox reveal comes a bit late to the party as the last of the big three home console makers to announce a new system. Exactly three months ago on Tuesday, Sony introduced the PlayStation 4, which will be out this holiday season and Nintendo released its Wii U late last year.
So what does Microsoft have to put on the track in the forthcoming gaming console race? We'll get details on Tuesday at Microsoft's event in Washington state at 10 a.m. PT/ 1 p.m. ET.
In
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