VOL. 43 | NO. 49 | Friday, December 6, 2019
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
With Thanksgiving in the taillights and a plethora of religious holidays on the horizon, anyone owning a home should be extremely grateful they are not forced to experience the homebuying process during this frenetic market.
REAL ESTATE
Home sales activity was down 3% in the Nashville area and across Davidson County this November with 1,247 home sales recorded compared to 1,280 sales recorded in November of last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates held steady this week amid mixed signs in the housing market. Rates remain at historically low levels as a lure to prospective homebuyers. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged from the previous week at 3.68%. By contrast, the benchmark rate stood at 4.75% a year ago.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NFL stands for Not For Long, the old adage states with regard to the average length of a player’s career.
The Tennessee Titans find themselves in the midst of the AFC playoff chase with four games remaining, and they must take advantage of opportunities when games are played against other teams in the chase.
Titans 23, Raiders 19: The Titans stay alive in the playoff race by going out to Oakland and downing a young, but talented Raiders team. If the offensive line does its work by opening holes for Derrick Henry and protecting Ryan Tannehill, the Titans should be able to take care of business.
UT SPORTS
Even the most optimistic Tennessee football fan would have been hard-pressed in early October to predict a seasonal resurrection.
NEWSMAKERS
Nathan Kottkamp has joined Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP in the firm’s health care department.
BRIEFS
A newly released analysis by Zillow predicts a flood of homes will come on the market in the next 20 years as Baby Boomers age, creating a ‘silver tsunami’ of available houses.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The average person owns a vehicle for about six and a half years. When it’s time to buy a new one, chances are there’s a lot of new technology to catch up on.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Many of us feel bad about our debt. Most of us probably shouldn’t.
CAREER CORNER
Now’s the time to get started on your resolution to find a new job in the New Year. The holidays are the perfect time to begin your search. Yes, many human resources departments are on vacation, and hiring appears to halt. But, it’s a great time for you to lay the foundation to stand out in 2020.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
It might not come as a surprise that millennials are passionate about giving back.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Four employees at a Tennessee juvenile detention center where four teenagers escaped on Nov. 30 are being fired, according to Nashville's juvenile court administrator.
MIDSTATE
COLUMBIA (AP) — An exotic red stag owned by country music singer Luke Bryan was shot and killed on his private property outside of Nashville last week, Tennessee wildlife officials confirmed.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon's independent investigations office says it will evaluate the legality of the Trump administration's use of the military at the U.S. southwestern border.
GENEVA (AP) — Global commerce will lose its ultimate umpire Tuesday, leaving countries unable to reach a final resolution of disputes at the World Trade Organization and instead facing what critics call "the law of the jungle.''
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to rule that insurance companies can collect $12 billion from the federal government to cover their losses in the early years of the health care law championed by President Barack Obama.
NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil prevailed Tuesday in a lawsuit accusing the energy giant of downplaying the toll that climate change regulations could take on its business, with a judge saying the state attorney general's case didn't prove the company deceived investors — but also didn't excuse it of any accountability for global warming.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two dozen state attorneys general are asking a federal agency to implement better online protections for children.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — Budget revisions and new student training programs are on the agenda for the next Tennessee Board of Regents meeting.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese securities regulators are recommending that automaker Nissan be fined 2.4 billion yen ($22 million) for under-reporting compensation for its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.
BEIJING (AP) — Looking for a new car, Yang Zhibo considered an electric but balked at prices that are thousands of dollars higher after Beijing wound down multibillion-dollar subsidies that made China the biggest market for the technology.
TECHNOLOGY
Facebook is rebuffing efforts by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to give authorities a way to read encrypted messages.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing slightly lower on Wall Street following reports that the U.S. may delay a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods.
The University of Phoenix and its parent company have agreed to pay $50 million in cash and cancel $141 million in student debt to settle allegations of deceptive advertisement brought by the Federal Trade Commission.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Mario Draghi took over as head of the European Central Bank eight years ago amid market speculation that the euro currency union might break up. Christine Lagarde succeeds him with a little more breathing room - but facing serious challenges from a weak economy, policy differences among her own officials, and questions about how much more central banks can do to help.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity fell in the summer, the first decline in nearly four years, underscoring the struggles companies are facing in boosting worker efficiency.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The Cambodian government expressed "strong dismay" Tuesday over a U.S. Treasury decision to sanction two businessmen suspected of corruption and illegal logging.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, declaring his actions toward Ukraine "betrayed the nation" as they pushed toward historic proceedings that are certain to help define his presidency and shape the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The articles of impeachment offered up Tuesday against President Donald Trump are narrow, but consequential. They are also likely to be approved by Democrats alone.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has railed for years against the FBI's investigation into his campaign, making incendiary — and sometimes easily disprovable — allegations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced agreement on a modified North American trade pact, handing President Donald Trump a major Capitol Hill win on the same day that Democrats announced their impeachment charges against him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of political wrangling, House Democrats agreed Tuesday to President Donald Trump's revamped version of a 25-year-old North American free trade agreement. But they pried some concessions out of the Trump administration before saying they'd go along.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that any foreign interference in American elections is "unacceptable" and warned Russia and others that the Trump administration will protect the integrity of the vote.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arms control, Ukraine and Syria are headlining President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's meetings Tuesday with Russia's foreign minister, who is making his first trip to Washington since May 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department's internal watchdog released a report that found the FBI had a legitimate reason to open up one of the most politically sensitive investigations ever, the Russia probe that began in secret during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign that eventually was taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller. But the report, issued Monday, also documented errors during the investigation that Trump and his supporters could seize on as vindication. It had been highly anticipated, in Washington anyway, but the conclusions were nuanced — and as so many other key moments over the past few years — that made it difficult for any side to claim total absolution.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A full year before Election Day 2020, Republicans quietly executed a "dry run" of President Donald Trump's massive reelection machine.
MONDAY, DEC. 9
TENNESSEE TITANS
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The way the Tennessee Titans offense is rolling under Ryan Tannehill, an early interception proved to be an easy obstacle to overcome.
SPORTS
Mississippi State (6-6, SEC) vs. Louisville (7-5, ACC), Dec. 30, 4 p.m. ET
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ahsan Asadullah and KJ Johnson each scored 21 points and Lipscomb beat Division II-member Trevecca Nazarene 96-72 on Sunday.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — In November, newspaper publisher GateHouse completed its acquisition of USA Today owner Gannett, creating the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. Executives behind the merger, which was funded in part by a high-interest, $1.8 billion loan from a private equity firm, have pledged significant cost cuts, but say they are aiming to shield reporting jobs as much as possible.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — General Motors has agreed to loan $40 million to a newly formed company that wants to make electric pickup trucks at a massive Ohio assembly plant GM shut down earlier this year.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has approved 3.2 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in subsidies from seven member countries that want to develop the electric battery industry and challenge China's supremacy.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients before abortions.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House endorsed an emerging bipartisan agreement Monday on legislation aimed at curbing rising health care costs, including taking steps to limit "surprise" medical bills that can plague patients treated in emergency rooms.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
GENEVA (AP) — Global commerce will lose its ultimate umpire Tuesday, leaving countries unable to reach a final resolution of disputes at the World Trade Organization and instead facing what critics call "the law of the jungle.''
Stocks closed modestly lower on Wall Street Monday as losses in technology, health care and financial companies outweighed gains elsewhere in the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is expected to send a clear message when its latest policy meeting ends Wednesday: Interest rates will likely stay ultra-low for the foreseeable future.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two reports last week show that small business hiring still lags behind the strong job growth reported at larger companies, and that owners are unlikely to increase their staffs significantly in 2020.
Washington (AP) — The nation's business economists expect U.S. economic growth to decelerate this year and next but for the economy to avoid stumbling into recession, extending a record-breaking expansion already in its 11th year.
Amazon says President Donald Trump's "improper pressure" and behind-the-scenes attacks harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders and the White House over a rewrite of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that has been a top priority for President Donald Trump.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia is expected to set a new record for the largest stock flotation in history on Wednesday with the sale of part of Aramco, the state-owned oil company valued at $1.7 trillion.
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese official says Beijing wants a prompt settlement of its trade war with Washington.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top House lawyers sparred with lawmakers and each other in an acrimonious hearing Monday over the impeachment case against President Donald Trump as Democrats prepare formal charges.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Debating the grounds for impeachment, Republicans said there's nothing here. Democrats said it's a slam dunk.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Monday defended a top Trump administration health official who sought a reimbursement from taxpayers of $47,000, reportedly including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, for items stolen during a work-related trip.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is rapidly headed toward the real work of impeachment this week, with articles expected to be introduced and voted on in the House Judiciary Committee.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, the Justice Department's internal watchdog declared Monday, undercutting President Donald Trump's repeated claims that he has merely been the target of a "witch hunt."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing almost-certain impeachment, President Donald Trump and his GOP allies are blasting the House inquiry into whether he abused his office as illegal and declaring him completely free of taint on Ukraine and in the Russia investigation.
FRIDAY, DEC. 6
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leading senators are urging Medicare to allow seniors concerned about their drug plan pick for next year to switch if they received inaccurate information due to changes the agency made this sign-up season.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and three of his children asked the Supreme Court on Friday to shield records held by Deutsche Bank and Capital One from House Democrats.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a newspaper cannot use the state's fair report privilege law as a shield against a defamation lawsuit for a story that was based on a one-on-one interview with a police detective.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A blind prisoner convicted of killing his estranged girlfriend by setting her on fire in her car was put to death Thursday in Tennessee's electric chair, becoming only the second inmate without sight to be executed in the U.S. since the reinstatement of the nation's death penalty in 1976.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Social media companies are failing to stop manipulated activity, according to a report Friday by NATO-affiliated researchers who said they were easily able to buy tens of thousands of likes, comments and views on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Major stock indexes are ending a choppy week with solid gains after the government reported that hiring in the U.S. jumped last month to the highest level since January.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers ramped up their credit card spending in October.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber, as part of a long anticipated safety report, revealed that more than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during its U.S. rides in 2018.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When it comes to investing in cannabis stocks, the marijuana bud's faded bloom has shown few signs of returning this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's just a week into the holiday shopping season, and Amazon is already having trouble getting packages to shoppers' doorsteps on time.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring in the United States jumped last month to its highest level since January as U.S. employers shrugged off global trade conflicts and added 266,000 jobs.
China is waiving punitive tariffs on U.S. soybeans and pork while the two sides negotiate a trade deal, the Ministry of Finance said Friday.
The OPEC oil-producing countries and ally Russia said Friday they have agreed to cut their crude production by an extra 500,000 barrels a day as they try to support global energy prices.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House has approved a bill that would restore key sections of the Voting Rights Act that once required officials in all or parts of 15 states to receive federal approval before making changes to the voting process.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump knows he has fierce Democratic adversaries in Congress. But there is also powerful sentiment against him from the Judiciary branch, where black-robed judges who sit in courtrooms just blocks from the Capitol and in New York City have repudiated his view of executive power.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Democrats will draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a crucial step toward a vote of the full House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just get on with it. After months of fighting the House impeachment inquiry, blocking witnesses and ignoring subpoenas, the White House is now publicly embracing a strategy it has privately signaled for weeks: It will accept the reality that President Donald Trump will likely be impeached by the House and focus instead on a made-for-TV trial on friendlier turf in the Republican-controlled Senate.
THURSDAY, DEC. 5
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans are invited to visit the governor's mansion this holiday season for self-guided tours.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to void a subpoena from the House of Representatives that seeks the president's financial records from his accounting firm.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is set to carry out what is expected to be only the second execution of a blind prisoner in the United States since the nation reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
TOURISM
Airbnb is taking more steps to crack down on parties and nuisance guests in the wake of a Halloween shooting at an Airbnb rental in a San Francisco suburb.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKLIN (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. is making its U.S. factory and office employees take two days off without pay amid slumping sales.
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — General Motors and Korea's LG Chem have formed a joint venture to build an electric vehicle battery cell factory near Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department unsealed charges Thursday against the alleged leader and an administrator of a Russian cyber-criminal gang that U.S. officials say developed and distributed malware used to steal at least $100 million from banks and other financial institutions in more than 40 countries over the past decade.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices for prescription drugs edged down by 1% last year, a rare result driven by declines for generics and slow, low growth in the cost of brand-name medications, the government said Thursday.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A company that claims to have the first drug to slow mental decline from Alzheimer's disease made its case to scientists Thursday, disclosing more results that may help explain why one study of the experimental medicine succeeded and another failed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will hold a showdown vote next week on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill empowering Medicare to negotiate prices for costly prescription drugs, her office announced Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is aiming to make the annual U.N.-sponsored climate talks underway in Madrid the last ones for full participation by the United States, which is the world's No. 1 economy and the second-biggest carbon emitter.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street capped a wobbly day of trading Thursday with slight gains for the major stock indexes as technology companies and banks outweighed declines elsewhere in the market.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco on Thursday set a share price for its IPO — expected to be the biggest ever — that puts the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, more than Apple or Microsoft.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in October as imports fell faster than exports. The politically sensitive trade gap with China dropped.
PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower shut down, France's vaunted high-speed trains stood still and several thousand people protested in Paris as unions launched open-ended, nationwide strikes Thursday over the government's plan to overhaul the retirement system.
VIENNA (AP) — The countries that make up the OPEC oil-producing cartel are meeting Thursday to decide whether to cut down on their production and push up prices of fuel and energy around the world.
SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei is asking a U.S. federal court to throw out a rule that bars rural phone carriers from using government money to purchase its equipment on security grounds.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is considering sending several thousand additional troops to the Middle East to help deter Iranian aggression, amid reports of escalating violence in Iran and continued meddling by Tehran in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the region.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House is pressing forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A different chairman. A committee twice the size. A shift from evidence to law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four Border Patrol agents didn't follow department rules when they opened fire in two separate incidents along the U.S.-Mexico Border, both involving agents shooting at drivers who were trying to speed away, a review board has found.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon is arguing in a court case that President Donald Trump's bias against the company harmed its chances at winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract.