| Laptop with workers' personal information stolen from auditors
A laptop stolen from a Kettering auditing firm contained personal information on employees of up to 10 businesses, including Springfield-based Ohio Masonic Home, officials said Friday. Battelle & Battelle LLC would not disclose the number of individuals affected by the theft but Masonic Home officials said 600 of its employees' information was stored in the laptop. .
Extending credit can be risky
While many small businesses could not exist without extending credit, it is a high-risk venture for the business owner. Why? It deals with the limited amount of ready cash that remains in the business at any one time. The more outstanding debt, the less cash in hand. If you plan to offer credit, manage the process carefully. A cash-flow analysis is necessary to assure you will not run out of cash when extending credit. Vendor payments and operating expenses must be met while awaiting payment from customers. Often businesses will offer a cash discount for early payment, which speeds up the cash flow and lowers risk. Credit must come with firm controls. The objective is to achieve the greatest sales with the least amount of loss. A written credit policy is crucial. The policy should state specific standards under which credit will be extended, such as a good credit history from a credit bureau or Dun & Bradstreet report, plus good bank references.
SKorean technology shares close lower for 2nd day as foreign investors exit
SEOUL (Thomson Financial) - South Korean technology shares closed lower on Tuesday, extending their decline for a second consecutive day as more foreign investors shunned the market in the face of risks from the still unfolding US credit crisis. Trading volumes were thin, but the tech stocks trimMED their losses toward the close, in line with the movement on the mainboard and other Asian bourses as retail investors saw a chance at bargain-hunting FOLLOWING a report that the Fed will publish upbeat economic forecasts for the US when it releases the minutes of its October meeting later Tuesday. The KOSDAQ index closed down 11.32 points or 1.5 percent at the day's best level of 739.47, after having fallen to as low as 723.61. Volume was 410 million shares worth 1.6 trillion won.
Housing, credit markets may hurt economy
The painful collapse of the housing market along with the credit crunch will weigh down economic growth in the final three months of this year and cause economic activity to lag in 2008. It all means that the risk of a recession has increased, economic forecasters say. The latest look-ahead from the National Association for Business Economics says the gross domestic product is on track to expand at just a 1.5 percent pace from October through December. If that proves correct, it would mark a sizable decline from the July-September rate of 3.9 percent. The group's new fourth-quarter projection compared with September's prediction of a 2.5 percent growth rate. The GDP - the value of all goods and services produced in the United States- is considered the best barometer of the country's economic fitness.
SBI sought evidence on Wright allegations
A State Bureau of Investigation agent searched a Durham nonprofit last week looking for evidence of new allegations that state Rep. Thomas Wright, a Wilmington Democrat, committed loan fraud.According to a copy of a search warrant filed in Wake County today, SBI Agent Rufus Williams searched the N.C. Minority Support Center for "financial records, copies of loan files, copies of account statements, deposit slips with photostats of items deposited, wire transfers, and canceled checks" under the control of Wright and a foundation he helped create.Williams said in an affidavit that he sought the search after officials with the support center said that Wright obtained a loan for the foundation from a subsidiary, the Southeast Community Credit Union. Williams said the loan had not been deposited in the foundation's account.Wright has been under investigation for nearly a year.
Porn's lost sex appeal amid constant exposure
It's been a tough couple of weeks for porn. On Oct. 12, two Arizona men were sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for generating pornographic e-mail spam, a venture in which they'd sent out millions of e-mails and earned more than a million dollars. That's justice well served, but the same day, a jury awarded a Nashville, Tennessee woman US$85,000 in damages after her children were inadvertently exposed to hard-core pornography in a California motel room. It seems that in August 2006, Edwina McCombs and her two daughters, ages 7 and 8, checked into a Value Lodge in Artesia. While McCombs was taking a bath, her children channel surfed and, according to the lawsuit, eventually stumbled on close-up, explicit images of sex acts. The award was based on McCombs' claim of "negligence and emotional distress." Notwithstanding the fact that offering free porn is probably the best marketing tool an economy hotel chain could hope for (during the trial, an investigator said that Value Lodge does not block porn channels from rooms unless guests request it), McCombs' lawsuit is sure to elicit smirks from several corners.
National trend shows students studying abroad at record numbers
An increasing number of students from Minnesota colleges and universities opted to study overseas during the 2005-06 academic year, mirroring a national trend that saw the total number of students studying abroad rise to record numbers, according to Open Doors, a study conducted annually by the Institute of International Education with support from U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. By Tim Harlow, Star Tribune Last update: November 12, 2007 – 1:41 PM .
SNP gathers forces to fight Trident missile replacement
THE Scottish Government yesterday took the first steps towards stopping a new nuclear weapons system being stationed in Scotland. The Ministry of Defence wants the £20 billion replacement for Trident to be based on the Clyde. Ultimately, the decision is up to UK MPs because defence is a reserved issue. .
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