Business News

People here in east Texas will be interested to know that thousands of protesters gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House Sunday, to oppose a plan for a transnational oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Dust off all the cliches. There's nothing new under the sun.  All things old are new again.  Remember that funny looking rabbit ear antenna that used to sit on top of  your old TV set?  Don't laugh, but rabbit ears are making a comeback.

In September, Bank of America announced it would soon begin charging customers a $5 monthly fee for using their debit cards, saying it was recouping losses from new laws that limited how much it could charge merchants when debit cards were swiped during transactions. But after a firestorm of negative publicity, BofA waved the white flag of surrender and scrapped the controversial plan.

While child care-givers such as babysitters and nannies have traditionally been women, the recent dip in the economy lead some men into the profession as well. Dubbed “mannies,” the guys are often unemployed teachers, daycare workers or fathers.

While many in the US are feeling the pinch of the recession, others are enjoying unprecedented boom times. So says Phoenix Marketing International, which just released its annual roundup of the states with the most millionaires and found that for the second year in a row, the overall number of millionaire households in the US actually went up.

According to a new report from the Center for Retail Research, the most frequently stolen food on the planet is… cheese. The report says four percent of the protein and calcium-rich (not to mention tasty) food winds up being shoplifted worldwide every year, besting the theft-rates for other items like candy and alcohol and causing cheese to be labeled “high risk” for retailers.

Netflix, the one-time master of customer service, just can’t seem to get it right anymore. On Monday, the video rental giant revealed in its third quarter report that it has lost about 800,000 subscribers since June, and the company expects to lose more in the coming months.

A social worker in a group home for the disabled almost lost his life trying to save residents when a tornado decimated much of Joplin, Missouri this spring. Now, his company’s insurance provider is denying him workman’s compensation.