TheSunNews.com: Business

Between Facebook and JPMorgan, Wall St. woes mount

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:12 EDT

Almost four years after the financial crisis, Wall Street still can't get it right.

Investor anger mounted Wednesday over the initial public offering of Facebook stock last week, which was fumbled by the banks that managed the deal and complicated by technical problems at the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Shareholders filed at least two lawsuits against Facebook and Morgan Stanley, the bank that shepherded the IPO, over reports that it withheld negative analyst reports about Facebook from some clients before the company went public.

Business briefs | Apple executive: New project ‘best work we’ve done’

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:01 EDT

HP to cut 27,000 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to jettison 27,000 workers as the growing popularity of smartphones, the iPad and other mobile devices makes it tougher for the company to sell personal computers.

The cuts announced Wednesday represent HP's largest payroll purge in its 73-year history. The reductions will affect about 8 percent of HP's nearly 350,000 employees by the time the overhaul is completed in October 2014.

Helicopter tours from Broadway at the Beach to start this week

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:15 EDT

A company offering helicopter tours of Myrtle Beach is setting up at Broadway at the Beach with plans to start flying Friday.

Helicopter Adventures will offer aerial tours of Myrtle Beach, though officials were tight-lipped on the details Wednesday as crews were busy putting the finishing touches on a building for the operation off 21st Avenue North behind NASCAR SpeedPark. A red helicopter was taking off and landing on a pad in a fenced-in field behind the new building.

Officials with the company and representatives of Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns Broadway, declined Wednesday to give details about the new tours, including prices and tour length, saying more information would be released during a news conference at 10 a.m. Thursday.

U.S. home sales up across the country, hopeful sign

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:25 EDT

Americans are buying more homes in every region of the country, the latest indication that the housing market could be on the mend.

An increasing portion of those sales are from first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That nearly matches January's pace of 4.63 million – the best in two years. It is still well below the nearly 6 million that most economists equate with healthy markets.

Bikers, military events fueling busy Memorial Day weekend in the Myrtle Beach area

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:56 EDT

The Grand Strand is on track to have a busy Memorial Day weekend -- though not as buzzing as forecasters originally thought – and falling gas prices are prompting some to hit the road for the holiday, officials said.

This week leading up to the holiday weekend in the Myrtle Beach area is a bit off from the same week last year, though lodging occupancy will pick up starting Saturday night and continue to be up through next week, said Taylor Damonte of Coastal Carolina University’s Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism.

Occupancy during that period is expected to be up about 7 percent over the same week last year, he said. The holiday weekend won’t be as busy as originally thought because travelers didn’t make the same amount of last-minute bookings as they have been.

Business briefs | Senate panel OKs airline security fee hike

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:04 EDT

Senate panel OKs airline security fee hike

WASHINGTON A Democratic-controlled Senate panel Tuesday approved a $2.50 increase in airline security fees that would double the per-passenger fee for those taking nonstop flights.

The move by the Senate Appropriations Committee would increase the fee on a nonstop round-trip flight from $5 to $10. Fees on a one-way, nonstop ticket would increase from $2.50 to $5. Passengers who change planes to reach their destinations would continue to pay $5 each way.

Nightclub moving into former Waccamaw Pottery in Myrtle Beach area

Tue, 22 May 2012 21:33 EDT

A country music-themed nightclub plans to open this week in the former Waccamaw Pottery complex near Myrtle Beach, the first business to move in since new owners bought the former shopping center about six months ago aiming to revive it.

Block Party Nightlife has transformed a 6,000-square-foot spot into a nightclub that will feature concerts by houseband Ricshaw and special performances, starting in July, by regional and national acts, owners said, declining to name the bands because final deals haven’t yet been signed.

The nightclub, which aims to target revelers ages 28 to 55 and is across the street from The Boathouse Waterway Bar & Grill, received its liquor license Tuesday and will open at 4 p.m. Thursday, said Suzanne Burgess, one of the nightclub’s owners. The club will be open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, and there’s no admission charge unless a regional or national band is on the bill.

Haley talks business at Canadian event in Myrtle Beach

Tue, 22 May 2012 06:22 EDT

The Grand Strand is great for golf and its beaches, but it is more than just a tourist destination – it is open for companies to locate, said Gov. Nikki Haley after a town hall session Monday during a Canadian conference in Myrtle Beach.

“My focus continues to be on jobs and the economy,” Haley said. “This conference highlights Myrtle Beach, an area for bringing in jobs.”

Haley was among several other U.S. and Canadian leaders who participated Monday morning in a town hall session during the fifth annual conference of the Southeastern United States-Canadian Provinces Alliance, an annual business-to-business conference among six Southeastern U.S. states and seven Canadian provinces.

Facebook has few friend requests as stock plunges

Mon, 21 May 2012 22:47 EDT

Facebook was supposed to soar. Instead, it plunged.

After the social network’s stock fizzled on Friday in its long-awaited debut, its stock fell 11 percent on Monday, even as the rest of the stock market rallied.

The downward spiral has left some people sitting on big losses, and others scratching their heads. After all, nothing fundamental has changed at Facebook in the days since the much-hyped company came to the stock market – Facebook still has more than 900 million users, its 28-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg controls the company, and it is still one of the few profitable Internet companies to go public.

Business briefs | China helps market break losing streak

Mon, 21 May 2012 22:47 EDT

Apple helps market break losing streak

NEW YORK Forget Facebook. This is still Apple's stock market.

Apple – the world's most valuable company – climbed nearly 6 percent on Monday, helping propel major U.S. stock indexes to gains after a week of losses. The Standard & Poor's 500, where Apple accounts for 4 percent of the index, enjoyed its best day in nearly five weeks. The Nasdaq composite index, where Apple accounts for an even heftier 12 percent, notched its biggest gain of the year.