Extra credit
I wrote a story recently aimed at reminding taxpayers not to forget about several federal tax credits that can lower one’s IRS bill.
My friend and former colleague Greg Elwell over at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation called soon after the story appeared to remind me of a tax credit available to Oklahomans. Essentially, any donation to the OMRF up to $2,000 is eligible for a tax credit of up to half the amount of the donation. For instance, a $100 donation would qualify the donor for a $50 state tax credit. Tax credits directly offset the amount of tax you owe.
For more information, check out the OMRF faq page. For other questions regarding state income taxes, try the Oklahoma Tax Commission. On the federal side, the IRS Web site is a great place to start.
Meanwhile, check out Greg’s fascinating story from OMRF’s Findings magazine titled “The Strange Case of Tom Little” about a man who didn’t swallow for more than 60 years.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
The eagle has landed
Due to a vacation last week, I missed my weekly “Eagle & Beagle” column that focuses on the best and worst performers among stocks of Oklahoma-based public companies. The column will return on Sunday, but I thought I’d post last week’s results as a bonus for our Web readers.
Last week’s eagle was Tronox Inc., an Oklahoma City chemical company that reversed a nearly month-long slide in share price. The maker of titanium dioxide pigment that is used in a plethora of products from paint to plastics to makeup swung to a 30.9 percent gain last week. That boosted the share price from $3.20 to $4.19 in just a week.
Tronox recently issued its audited annual earnings report, which contained a lot of detail of the company’s belt-tightening. Among the details revealed in the 10K filing was the disclosure that the company laid off 46 U.S. employees and decided not to fill 55 vacant positions. Tronox also made changes to its employee benefits program that are expected to save the company about $100 million.
Tronox, the third-largest provider of titanium dioxide, also provided a brighter outlook for the future of its industry:
Following the moderation in growth in 2008, the long-term outlook for TiO2 remains positive with increasing demands in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region. This, coupled with the fact that the industry is not expecting significant increases in capacity due to new plant construction until at least 2011, should contribute to strong supply and demand fundamentals.
Separate from the company’s regulatory filing, Tronox provided a graph showing how a slump in the worldwide Titanium Dioxide industry regularly precedes a recession. It’s yet another piece of evidence that we’re in or heading for a recession.
Last week’s beagle was Gulfport Energy Corp., which slid 17.5 percent. The shares took a hit earlier this month after the Oklahoma City company boosted its profits by 36 percent last year — but analysts had expected even an greater earnings increase. On March 18, an analyst cut his target stock price for Gulfport to $25 based on the company’s “disappointing” results in South Louisiana.
Shareholders would love to hit that lowered target, which is nearly $15 higher than the stock is currently trading.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
I’ve got my geek on
I’ve always been bemused by folks I’ve seen walking through the grocery store or the mall wearing one of those little Bluetooth wireless devices in their ear. They have to shuck a lot of pride to flaunt their geek-ness in such a public way, it seems to me.
Still, I’ve been intrigued by the potential of such a device. Hands free calling. No lunging for the phone when it rings.
So when my family planned a Spring Break trip to Missouri last week I decided it was time to geek up. I bought a Bluetooth device and mounted it on my right ear for the 330-mile trip.
Darned if the thing didn’t work, freeing me up to answer and make calls while racing up the turnpike at 75 mph. When my dad called from Arkansas, for example, I just punched the button on the device and answered the call.
My wife isn’t so convinced. There was a slight glitch when I tried to call my sister using the phone’s voice dialing feature through the Bluetooth device. Her name is Sherry.
When the device asked me what name I wanted to call, I told it and it attempted to repeat it back to me with a stilted, computer-generated inflection. Sounded like “Sherry” to me. So, I said “yes” and the phone dialed the number.
I was just south of Fayetteville, Ark., at the time calling Fort Smith, 60 miles to the south. Then my friend Gary Cook in Edmond, OK, answered the call. I had to tell him that I somehow misdialed without going into any detail.
My wife had a good laugh and said that convinced her she didn’t need or want the device. I told her I bought it for her, actually. No thanks, she said.
So, the Bluetooth is mine. The next time you spot someone flying their Geek flag in their ear at the store, it just might be me.
Be kind.
Business Reporter
In financial crisis, teachers come out on top
Not all Bear Stearns news is depressing, just nearly all of it. Take a retirement fund in Ohio, which held the slammed stock but still wiggled out on top.The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio scored big when JP Morgan Chase & Co. received federal financial assistance and initiated a purchase of Bear Stearns Cos.
How big? Think millions!
The Ohio teachers plan had about 790,000 shares of Bear Stearns shares worth about $30 apiece Friday, March 14. The teachers fund had sold much of that by nightfall Monday, March 17, for between $3.50 and $4 a share, taking a hit of about $17 million. The system retained about 127,000 shares. But that’s just the first part of the story.
The collapse ultimately did not pummel the Ohio fund because it didn’t have all its eggs in one stock basket. Investment professionals — and teachers — in Cincinnati were reading the Enquirer to see how it all turned out. And turn positive it did, quickly.
The Ohio teachers retirement system also owns about 6.6 million JP Morgan shares, which moved up $3.77 Monday, a gain of $25 million. The fund spokesman was quoted as confirming the system made a “considerable amount of money on that.”
With images dancing in their heads of Bear Stearns workers lugging personal property from the stricken headquarters in New York City, Ohio teachers — if they had read the investment list for their retirement fund — must have been shaking in their slippers. Then came the good news: In the end, the fund had at least an $8 million-plus gain on the Bear Stearns – JP Morgan Chase pairing.
How did the Bear Stearns deal affect them? Handsomely, thanks to their JP Morgan stock. Public school teachers deserve a break any day.
Nancy Darnell
Assistant Business Editor
‘DTV Trekker’ Headed our Way
Whether we like it or not, the digital broadcasting age will wash over every American next February when the nation’s broadcasters make the transition to DTV broadcasting.
The switch from traditional analog broadcasting was mandated by the federal government, which is auctioning off the old spectrum that broadcasters use.
According to the National Association of Broadcasters, at least 17 percent of Oklahomans get their TV signal via over-the-air broadcasts. That means their viewing pleasure is at risk if they are still using an old analog TV without a digital converter box after Feb. 17, 2009.
So, the broadcasting group is trying to educate all of us on the upcoming digital transition with a rolling exhibit that comes to town on March 27.
If you are like me, you’ve heard enough on the digital broadcasting transition.
Yes, we need a digital converter box or a digital cable or satellite conneciton to use our old analog TVs after Feb. 17, 2009. Yada, yada, yada.
But here’s the cool thing about the DTV exhibit. It features a gigantic 20-foot television screen that should provide some awesome pictures. I would love to catch some NCAA tournament action on a crystal clear giant screen.
The DTV Trekker will be bivouacked at the Cox Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 27. Admission is free.
Want more information on the DTV transition? Click here.
Business News Reporter
On the Internet, no one knows you’re a prevaricator
Most Americans would pay debts or bank an unexpected $1,000 windfall, according to a recent survey by online banker HSBC Direct.
More than 57 percent said they would pay bills if they received $1,000, according to the survey of 1,700 U.S. consumers. About four out of 10 said they would put the money into their savings. Fourteen percent said they would invest it.
Only 8.4 percent said they would buy something for themselves; another 11.4 percent said they would buy something “special” for their families.
Really?
When the government’s economic stimulus checks begin rolling in this spring, I suspect TVs may rank higher than T-bills among suddenly flush consumers. I hope I’m wrong. Experts tell me that the best investment of such a windfall is exactly what the survey’s respondents favored — paying down high-interest debt.
But I question the results of this online survey.
For instance, the respondents also asked to select an amount of savings they would need to “consider having saved enough to feel secure.”
More than one of three selected the smallest amount, less than $50,000, as the savings they would need to feel secure. The next highest response, 19 percent, said $50,000 to $99,000 would offer them security.
I’m not a wealthy person, but $50,000 in total savings wouldn’t give me a great deal of security.
This survey may suffer from some of the well-documented problems with online surveys, the worst of which that you can’t reach people who aren’t online.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
The Spec House
I spent much of the past two weeks in Tulsa covering the federal court hearing over the state’s request to ban the spread of poultry waste in the Illinois River watershed. The federal courthouse is located in the heart of downtown, so I did a bit of wandering during the daily lunch recess.
This is what I learned: virtually every downtown street is under construction as Tulsa’s central business district undergoes an extreme makeover. It’s amazing that traffic can flow through the downtown area because of so many detours, lane closings and construction barriers. But it does, somehow.
Even walking unobstructed was a challenge because many of the curbs and sidewalks are also being rebuilt.
I’m sure when all is done that Tulsa’s downtown will be transformed into a showcase, and the centerpiece will be the BOK Arena seen in the photo above. I shot this photo under a bright noontime sun to show how far along construction on this $140 million — or is $160 million now? — palace has progressed.
I believe it is supposed to be finished by Sept 1.
Anyway, it is a striking building with a blue exterior and what appears to be a big-glass wrap-around facade. I haven’t seen the inside.
I think the big challenge for that city will be finding a full-time tenant for their new spec house. And building an entertainment district to surround it.
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
CHK is A-OK
Aubrey McClendon is bullish on Chesapeake Energy Corp., and why shouldn’t he be? He founded the company and he’s the chairman and chief executive officer. However, McClendon demonstrates his confidence in the company with his wallet. As I pointed out in a column in The Oklahoman on Wednesday, he has spent more than $70 million this year to buy CHK stock at open market prices (the same price you and I could have bought it at) even though the shares are trading at all-time highs.
Aubrey McClendon
Having skin in the game encourages shareholders and potential shareholders. Chad Brand, president of Peridot Capital Management, blogs on Seeking Alpha about another reason McClendon’s massive investment is good news for shareholders.
…with such a large stake in the company, you can bet that when he wants to retire, the company will be up for sale to maximize shareholder value.
McClendon is 48, and hasn’t mentioned retirement. In the interest of full disclosure, Brand’s fund has a stake in Chesapeake.
Business Writer
Information wants to be free
The Wall Street Journal Web site is free today.
Just thought you’d like to know.
Business Writer
Gas is high, but not that high — yet
I owe one of our readers an apology. When I received an email from my editor that this reader — who will remain nameless in case it’s you — saw unleaded gas for $3.73 at a local store, I rolled my eyes.
“He was probably looking at the price of diesel,” I told my boss.
I’ve done that a million times; gasp at the price of gas, throw a fit and wage a war against the gas station and threaten to carpool — and then realize I’m looking at the price of diesel.
Well, I still gasp and throw a fit when I look at the price of unleaded, but who doesn’t considering the price of gas reached a nationwide record high of $3.246 today. That’s high, but it’s still almost 50 cents cheaper than what was supposedly seen, so I was skeptical.
I decided to call the store in question, expecting to get one of two responses: 1.) No, that was the price of diesel he was looking at or 2.) We’re not going to tell you what our gas was priced at yesterday.
But to my surprise, I got neither of those answers. Instead, Bill Fellers, manager of the Love’s Country Store on NW 122 and Interstate 35, confirmed that our reader was correct. For about an hour Tuesday, one of the price signs at the station read $3.73.
“The high rise sign was broke,” Fellers said. He said the station was changing the price from $3.09 to $3.13 when the motor in the sign went out and wouldn’t budge off the number seven.
This news was a second shock to me: who knew those signs had motors in them. Maybe this is a sign that the motor is no replacement for a shaky employee on an old ladder — they hardly ever get stuck.
Business Writer
