Wake up and good morning. Facebook's flawed initial public offering has left egg on the face of the Nasdaq market which the social media giant chose for its IPO. Some banks offering Facebook shares warned favored investors that the company was not delivering financial results to justify its high initial price. Small investors were blindsided and now there's talk of investigations and possibly some reimbursements to investors that may have paid too much at the start. It's all about market fairness, as this New York Times story notes. Why do we care? Because Nasdaq has dozens of other companies in the pipeline waiting to go public. And one of the biggest is the Tampa parent company of such restaurant chains as Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian ... Continue reading →
Wake up and good morning. We learned last week that Florida's unemployment rate continues to dip and now stands at 8.7 percent. That's a horrendously, punishingly high number that actually looks terrific to us here in the Sunshine State after years of double-digit jobless numbers. Now let's put a bit more meat on the bones of Florida's job market so we have a better sense of where we stand. Here are 5 things to know about Florida (un)employment right now. 1. Pink slips are still happening to large groups of people. Just less often. Florida had 70 "mass layoff" actions in April, down from from 98 in April of 2011. Translated? That means 4,900 Floridians lost their jobs in these cutbacks compared to 7,600 a ... Continue reading →
Ever wonder who among our the top paid CEOs of Tampa Bay area companies is worth those super-sized paychecks? Here's a ranking – and a little perspective – of the total compensation of 14 top executives here who received at least $1 million in 2011. Let's compare those sums to how much their companies earned in net income last year. (Two of the 14 companies lost money.) Admittedly, this is a simple snapshot of a more complex picture. But it sheds some light on those most deserving last year.1. $11.7 million went to David Dunkel, CEO of Tampa staffing company Kforce, which earned just over $27 million last year. His pay equaled 43 percent of annual earnings.2. $10.3 million went to Tim Main, CEO of ... Continue reading →
The federal government defused hundreds of potentially explosive devices last week that could have proved dangerous — to Florida investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading in 379 dormant public companies before they could be hijacked by fraudsters. How could investors be harmed? By get-rich-quick scammers using reverse mergers and pump-and-dump schemes at the cost of naive investors wowed by promises of big returns. These 379 companies are the most ever suspended by the SEC in a single day. Among them are such once famous legends as typewriter giant Smith Corona, supercomputer phenom Cray Computer and formerly glamorous Trans World Airlines. All have since faded to empty shell corporations. Others are mostly small-fry companies scattered nationwide. Plenty were founded or operated in Florida and ... Continue reading →
Florida's jobs market in April left economic soothsayers with a mixed message.The unemployment rate fell to 8.7 percent, the lowest since January 2009, but a separate statewide survey showed Florida lost 2,700 jobs month over month.The unemployment rate, down from 9 percent in March, represents 804,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 9.26 million, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.The improvement narrows the gap with the U.S. unemployment rate, which stood at 8.1 percent in April. In a statement, Gov. Rick Scott focused on the jobless rate, not the number of jobs lost."This continued drop in Florida's unemployment rate is proving our economy is on the path to recovery and Floridians are getting back to work," Scott said. "With Florida being ... Continue reading →
Eight west-central Florida finalists were named in the statewide Ernst & Young "entrepreneur of the year 2012" award. Award recipients will be announced June 14 at the Orlando Hilton.Finalists in eight categories are: distribution and manufacturing: R. Charles Murray, CEO, PPi Technologies Group, Sarasota; emerging: Bobby Harris, CEO, BlueGrace Logistics, Riverview; financial services: T. John Jerger, Jr., president, American Traditions Insurance Co. and Modern USA Insurance Co., Pinellas Park; health care: Richard L. Sanchez, CEO, Advantica, Clearwater; real estate and construction: Charles Puccini, CEO, Bauer Foundation Corp., Odessa; retail and consumer products, two finalists: Oscar Horton, CEO, Sun State International Trucks LLC, Tampa, and Rhonda Shear, president, Shear Enterprises LLC, St. Petersburg; and in service: Steven MacDonald, CEO, myMatrixx, Tampa.In addition, the Florida lifetime achievement ... Continue reading →
Wake up and good morning. A new web site that will sell area used cars at a discount from dealerships is coming to the Tampa Bay area. It's called Mojo Motors, which works with area dealers to list used autos "at the lowest price online." The company says its online site will provide the complete pricing history of every vehicle for sale, the time on the dealer lot and the total price drop. Here's how it works. The free web site aggregates used-car inventories from several area dealerships. As reported in this May 17 auto column in the New York Times, the site "requires participating dealers to charge Mojo shoppers less than the lowest advertised price on any particular car." Online browsers remain anonymous and ... Continue reading →
The University of South Florida hopes the geographic reference will help differentiate the school from the area south of its home. Get social: Find us on Twitter and Facebook Submit An Idea For A Story Every year we ask readers to express their great love - or bottomless hatred - for that spectacular holiday cake. Continue reading →
