Business
Gas price secrets revealed
A series by The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed a daily price database of gas prices at 716 stations in the Greater Cincinnati region, including northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, to better understand the many aspects of retail gas pricing. Rising gas prices and stiff competition are causing many major oil companies, like BP and Shell, to…
Read MoreA look inside the fall of Bear Stearns
Vanity Fair’s Bryan Burrough investigated the fall of Bear Stearns. Through internal accounts of the investment bank’s demise, some suggest that an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission would point to evidence that Bear was the victim of short-sellers who make bets that a firm’s stock will go down. Burrough’s investigation found that many…
Read MoreBorrowers Betrayed
An eight-month investigation by Miami Herald reporters Jack Dolan, Matt Haggman and Rob Barry found the Florida agency in charge of regulating mortgage professionals broke down at every level, allowing thousands of people with criminal records to get licenses — many who went on to steal millions from borrowers and banks. The newspaper also found…
Read MoreFive years later, bankrupt company’s bills continue to mount
Adam Bell of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer analyzed several years of records from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to detail how five years after Pillowtek, a major textile company, abruptly closed — leaving 7,650 people out of work — the bills for lawyers and other professionals handling the case have topped $33 million, and continue to…
Read MoreRepossession business booms as economy struggles
The current credit crisis and rising fuel costs mean an increase in business for repo men according to a report by Jaweed Kaleem in The Miami Herald. For National Liquidators, a boat repossessor and auctioneer, “business has tripled in the last 18 months as higher maintenance fees, fuel and docking costs — as well as…
Read MoreCharities lose funds to for-profit fundraisers
Los Angeles Times reporters Charles Piller and Doug Smith found that for-profit fundraisers in California are collecting significant amounts, while the nonprofits they claim to support see little of the money. “In more than 5,800 campaigns on behalf of charities that were registered with the state attorney general from 1997 to 2006, the fundraisers reported…
Read MoreCountrywide V.I.P. deals exposed
A report by Dan Golden, of Condé Nast Portfolio, investigates the breadth of the Countrywide V.I.P.-loan scandal. Angelo Mozilo, C.E.O. of Countrywide, extended favors well beyond members of Congress. Among those granted favors were “former Countrywide director Henry Cisneros, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration; former White House…
Read MoreLack of logging oversight leads to landslides
Despite Washington state forestry rules that allow the Department of Natural Resources to restrict logging in problem areas, an investigation by The Seattle Times revealed that Weyerhaeuser, a logging company, operated without oversight and clear-cut large areas on unstable slopes. Landslides last December in Washington’s Chehalis River basin, where Weyerhaeuser was operating, left nearly 3,000…
Read MorePentagon’s logistics concerns mean profit for transportation companies
Air freight companies are profiting from the war as the Pentagon increases its investment in logistics, reports Michael Fabey for Air Cargo World . "Contracts and contract modifications for companies flying cargo and passengers to the war zones in 2006 and 2007 totaled about $5.6 billion, according to an Air Cargo World analysis of data.…
Read MoreRace track deal emerged at great cost to taxpayers
A Charlotte Observer investigation by Adam Bell revealed what happened behind the scenes after a race track owner threatened to move his speedway following a dispute with a community over plans to add a drag strip there. The billionaire owner landed $80 million in taxpayer incentives in exchange for staying in town. A review of…
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