Our Business News

Dear Cashing In, I recently discovered to my surprise that I can’t earn points on my upcoming American Airlines flight, which I purchased using points. That seems unfair. What else am I missing out on in the fine print? I have a Citi AAdvantage card and will probably be travelling a lot in the next year to visit a sick relative.  – Kay Dear Kay, Although road warriors will laugh at this, my instinct is to try to get credit at the gate. After all, I’m putting in the miles. Understandably, however, the airlines don’t feel obligated to reward us [...]

There was an outcry after Syria shut down its internet network — but we should be concerned for the 80% of Syrians who never had access to the Internet in the first place, says Touré.The World Conference on International Telecommunications is currently taking place in DubaiTouré: “It is our chance to chart a globally-agreed roadmap to connect the unconnected”Two-thirds of people globally have no Internet access: “Internet is still a privilege of the minority”Critics have suggested some regimes taking part may propose a ban on anonymity on the webEditor’s note: Dr Hamadoun I. Toure is the Secretary-General of the International [...]

NEW YORK A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday granted a bid by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member Rajat Gupta to remain free on bail while he appeals his insider-trading conviction. A two-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York granted Gupta’s request following a hearing. Gupta had been scheduled to surrender January 8 to start a two-year prison sentence. “Motion is granted,” Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes said in a ruling from the bench. Gupta, 64, was convicted in June of leaking Goldman Sachs boardroom secrets to Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge-fund manager at the [...]

BRUSSELS EU trade ministers agreed on Thursday to start negotiations towards a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Japan, officials said, overcoming resistance from European carmakers who fear a deal might damage their industry. “Commission has a mandate for Japan FTA negotiation,” said one EU official in a text message. The agreement gives the European Commission, the EU executive, authority to negotiate with Japan on behalf of the 27 EU member states. An EU-Japan FTA would bring together two trading partners responsible for a third of global economic output and could create 400,000 jobs in Europe alone. But the complexity of the [...]

53 Century Blvd, Suite 250 Nashville, TN 37214 Toll Free in US: 1-800-634-2669 Direct: 615-872-5800© 2001 – 2012 National Federation of Independent Business. All Rights Reserved

HONG KONG Chinese budget carrier Spring Airlines has canceled an offer of free tickets to Japan, bowing to pressure after bloggers slammed the company online and labeled it a traitor, in a sign of heightened nationalist sentiment amid a territorial dispute. The country’s largest private low-cost carrier withdrew the offer of free round-trip tickets between Shanghai’s Pudong airport and Japan’s Saga prefecture, a rural area in southern Japan near the city of Fukuoka, just 2-1/2 days after it was launched. “We canceled the offer last night after taking into consideration the feeling of netizens,” airline spokesman Zhang Wuan told Reuters. [...]

LONDON Britain will veto the proposed $ 45 billion merger between EADS and BAE Systems if its “red line” conditions are not met, British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday. He told BBC radio the merged aerospace-defence group could not be controlled by any one government. “It is not necessary to have no French or German government interest in the company. It is necessary to reduce that stake below the level at which it can control or direct the way the company acts,” he said. (Reporting by Tim Castle; editing by Ron Askew)

Have you ever run across something online that seems a little off, and wondered if it’s a scam? Or maybe you’ve found yourself standing in a store, about to make a purchase and pondered that store’s reputation. Or perhaps you just had a terrible experience and you need to complain on the spot. There’s an app for all of that!   Smartphones are now so smart they can help you from getting ripped off. Here are some of the latest apps, that won’t cost you a dime, but could save you your shirt: 1. Scam Detector The award-winning Scam Detector app [...]

Daphne Koller: Three Stanford computer science courses were opened to all onlineShe says thousands took part, showing the hunger for education around worldOnline education could upgrade skills, reach people who couldn’t afford college, she saysKoller: Online education enables lifelong learning and promotes innovationEditor’s note: Daphne Koller is Rajeev Motwani Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University and co-founder and co-CEO of Coursera. She is the recipient of awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Koller spoke at the TED Global conference in June in Edinburgh. TED is a nonprofit [...]

Autumn is fast approaching and between work, family time and social engagements it’s hard to imagine summer has come and gone already. When life becomes hectic, it can be hard to find the time to sit down and reassess your financial life, but not carving out time to budget can lead to unnecessary spending, debt and a stunted savings account. So what’s a busy person to do? Let someone (or something) else do it for you. There are several free personal finance tools that help organize and manage your finances. Most of these applications are accessible online, on tablets and [...]