Teens charging gas?
A new poll from Junior Achievement and The All State Foundation shows that nearly 70 percent of teens are using credit cards to buy gas.
It also shows that gas is now the top item teens buy with credit cards, surpassing clothes, which had led the list in previous years.
Results from the poll, which is not yet online, led Junior Achievement USA President Jack Kosakowski to wonder if the debt being charged on the cards is just being passed on to parents.
I’m curious too.
If you are a parent with a driving teen that’s going crazy because of gas-related credit card bills, I want to hear from you. E-mail me at jmoney@oklahoman.com or leave me a voice mail at 475-3470.
Jack Money, Business Writer, The Oklahoman
The Citywide Wi-Fi network is dead (but access expands)
I’ve always been intrigued by the thought of a citywide Wi-Fi network that would offer the Internet anywhere, any time.
There was talk a few years ago about offering a public version of Oklahoma City’s municipal Wi-Fi network, but nothing ever came of it. Still, think of it, 620 square miles of unlimited Wi-Fi access anywhere in the city.
Anyway, the citywide Wi-Fi network has been tried and failed in several cities around the country, none more spectacularly than in Philadelphia. That’s where EarthLink sank millions of dollars into a citywide network only to announce it will pull the plug in June.
EarthLink counted on a minimum of 100,000 subscribers to pay for the $17 million investment. It got 5,000.
Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press report on the situation:
EarthLink, which pinned its future on municipal Wi-Fi networks following rapid declines in its dial-up Internet access business, said Tuesday that it could not find a buyer for the $17 million network. ”It’s been an unfortunate situation,” Earthlink Chief Executive Officer Rolla Huff told The Associated Press. “It was a great idea a few years ago, … but it’s an idea that simply didn’t make it.”
Actually, the time for a citywide Wi-Fi network may have already come and gone. That’s because the iPhone has made surfing the Web and data access ubiquitous for millions of users.
A 3G iPhone — which can surf at even faster speeds over the wireless provider’s network — is expected to be released as early as next month. Long live the “new” citywide Wi-Fi network.
Jim Stafford
Business News Reporter
A good time was had by all
The 2008 Bike to Work event in Edmond was bigger and better than last year. About 80 bikers participated, including some of Edmond’s finest and Mayor Dan O’Neil. Here are a few photos I shot this morning.
Mayor Dan O’Neil chats with some of the police bike squad.
Hey, it’s a media event!
Heading north after leaving the University of Central Oklahoma.
Riding through downtown Edmond.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Bike to work
Friday is the day to bike to work, or at least ride your bike. If you’re looking for a fun way to take note of the occasion, participate in a local bike ride. The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments has a list of metro area events.
I rode in the Edmond event last year and plan to do so again today. It’s a short ride on city streets with a police escort. I would encourage anyone who is even considering pulling their bike out to give it a try. You’ll have fun.
Here’s a video report on my bicycle commute on Tuesday. Even including the time it took me to shower and change, I arrived at my desk an hour before my colleague Jim Stafford who rode a series of Metro Transit buses.
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Business Writer
Sorry, but I have to take this call
It is 11 a.m. on Monday and your sales manager at the weekly meeting has droned on for an hour and a half with no relief in site. How are you going to get out of this nightmare meeting?
A new Web site called PhoneMyPhone.com offers an answer. The unique free service will call any number entered at the time a user chooses.
I fell in love with this service at our weekly Business news staff meeting this week. I plugged in both my number and that of a co-worker to ring about 15 minutes into the meeting so that we would have to jump up and run out of the meeting to take the calls.
However, the meeting got off to a late start, so our phones rang before our editor had even called it to order. Stuck again for another hour of yada, yada, yada.
We will try again next week.
Jim Stafford
Business News Reporter
What a gas
We’re all looking for ways to save money on gasoline. Some unusual offers have surfaced seeking to exploit this understandable trend.
Chrysler has offered buyers of new vehicles a credit card that ensures that they won’t pay more than $2.99 a gallon for gas until 2011.
Program participants use a special card linked to their MasterCard or Visa credit card account. The card may be used to purchase enough fuel at $2.99 per gallon to travel up to12,000 miles per year in each of the next 3 years. So no matter what the price at the pump says, you’ll never have to pay more than $2.99 per gallon for qualifying fuel.
To qualify, you must purchase or lease an eligible Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep® vehicle from May 7 through June 2, 2008 and have a valid MasterCard or Visa credit card.
There are two interesting aspects of the fine print. Even if you sell the Chrysler vehicle that qualified you for the offer, you retain the rights to buy the $2.99 gasoline. Also, the discounted gasoline can be used in any vehicle.
There’s a pretty good debate on the pros and cons of the offer over at the Freakonomics blog on the New York Times Web site.
In the same vein, the Wall Street Journal reports on an exchange traded fund has been created that allows consumers an opportunity to hedge higher gasoline prices.
Collins then suggested that same family could invest an initial $5,800 — its estimated gas expenses — in the United States Gasoline ETF at the beginning of the year. This fund tries to match the percentage increase in the unleaded gasoline futures that trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In concept, this fund would increase in value by the same amount that gas rises in price at the pump. At the end of the year the family would sell the position and bank a tidy $1,500. In other words, they would have locked in their annual gas costs at $3 a gallon.
And if you get really desperate, you can buy a bike.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Fuel inventory reports not surprising
Well, the federal government’s latest inventory reports on oil and gas are out, and I’m not surprised by what they show.
Crude oil inventories are up, a little — by about 200,000 barrels — and analysts had expected that number to rise more.
And gasoline inventories are down by quite a bit — about 1.7 million barrels.
So, what is going on?
Well, my opinion is that refiners are not buying as much oil as they could because of its continued march into record-price territory.
On Tuesday, it closed at $125.80 a barrel, which set yet another record.
At the same time, there’s still no reason for them to ramp up gasoline production. Even with the drop in supplies, inventories still are 6 percent higher than they were a year ago, and demand for the past month was lower than it was a year ago.
So, don’t look for much relief at the pump. Refiners are still trying to recover their high oil costs they paid a months ago to make the gasoline we are buying now.
By Jack Money, Business Writer
YouTube Fun (part 2)
Another trip to the archives — this time actually to archive.org — to find some fun, sorta business-related blog fodder. This time, it’s a 12-minute commercial for Chevrolet that doesn’t mention the product for several minutes. But it winds up with a whiz-bang performance by Dinah Shore of one of the classic jingles of all time.
See the USA in your Chevrolet!
America is asking you to call
Drive your Chevrolet through the USA
America’s the greatest land of all
On a highway or a road upon a levy
Performance is sweeter
Nothing can beat her
Life is completer in a Chevy.
So make a date today to see the USA
and see it in your Chevrolet
Traveling east, Traveling west
Wherever you go, Chevy service is best.
Southward or north, near plains or far
There’s a Chevrolet dealer for your Chevrolet car.
See the USA in a Chevrolet
The Rockies way out west are calling you.
Drive your Chevrolet through the USA
Where fields of golden wheat pass in review
Whether traveling light or with a load that’s heavy
Performance is sweeter
Nothing can beat her
Life is completer in a Chevy.
So make a date today to see the USA
and see it in your Chevrolet.
More classic auto ads linked at Metafilter, the site that led me to the above link.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
The check is in the mall
The government’s economic stimulus package violates two of the “biggest lies.” Those being, ‘the check is in the mail,’ and ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.’
The Internal Revenue Service is fielding a lot of questions about the economic stimulus payments that have or soon will arrive in the mailboxes and bank accounts of 140 million Americans. Here are some of the most popular questions the agency is fielding:
Q. When will I get my payment?
A. Payments are going out now for those returns processed by April 15 and will continue on a weekly schedule through mid-July. See the payment schedule for both direct deposit and paper checks for further information. Payments will continue through 2008 for returns filed after April 15.
Q. I filed after April 15 and the payment date for my Social Security number has passed. How long will it take for me to get my stimulus payment?
A. It will generally take a minimum of six weeks after you file your return to get your stimulus payment.
Q. I filed my return on time, but I haven’t received my stimulus payment, even though the payment date listed for my Social Security number has passed. Why?
A. In general, the payment schedule only applies if your return was received and the IRS finished processing it before April 15. If you filed your return on time, but close to the April 15 deadline, the IRS may not have finished processing it before April 15.
Processing times for tax returns and stimulus payments vary. If you are getting a regular income-tax refund, the IRS will send you that refund first. Normally, your stimulus payment will follow one to two weeks later.
If you are not expecting a regular tax refund, your stimulus payment generally should arrive a minimum of six weeks after you file.
Also, if you chose direct deposit and requested a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) or had your refund deposited into more than one account, you will receive a paper check based on the distribution schedule for paper checks.
Q. I received my stimulus payment, but it was less than what my friends and neighbors received. Why?
A. Your economic stimulus payment is based on information provided on your 2007 income tax return.
Many but not all taxpayers qualify for the maximum basic payment of $600 for singles or $1,200 for married couples. Many parents are also receiving an additional $300 for each qualifying child, born after Dec. 31, 1990.
Your payment may be less than the maximum for one or more of the following reasons:
You are single and your net income tax liability is less than $600. If you file Form 1040 net income tax liability is the amount shown on Line 57, plus the amount on Line 52.
You are married and your net income tax liability is less than $1,200.
You are single and your adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than $75,000. On Form 1040, AGI is the amount on Line 37.
You are married filing a joint return and your AGI is more than $150,000.
You owe back taxes that reduced your payment.
You have non-tax federal debts such as unpaid student loans or child-support obligations that reduced your payment.
Around the time you receive your payment, you will also receive a notice from the IRS explaining how your payment was calculated. It is important to keep this notice as a record of your economic stimulus payment. In addition, you’ll get a separate notice if you owe back taxes or non-tax debts that were offset or deducted from your stimulus payment.
The Economic Stimulus Payments FAQs section has more details on how the payments are calculated. A schedule showing when you can expect your payment also can be found on the IRS site.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Early news
Let’s take a quick look at pre-market news from some Oklahoma companies today.
Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy announced this morning that the company will begin a private placement of $500 million in senior notes. The proceeds will repay borrowings under its senior revolving credit facility and help fund its capital expenditure program. This type of financing should look familiar to followers of Chesapeake Energy, the company SandRidge CEO Tom Ward co-founded with Aubrey McClendon.
Elsewhere, Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group reported its earnings, and updated its earnings forecast for the remainder of 2008. The Tulsa company posted a net loss of $298 million, or $14.07 a share, mainly due to a huge charge related to goodwill. Much of that impairment was related to DTG’s falling stock price. In the same period last year, Dollar-Thrifty booked a $5.2 million profit.
Excluding one-time items, such as the goodwill charge, Dollar-Thrifty’s loss was $16.2 million, or 77 cents per share. Analysts forecast a loss of 18 cents per share excluding the one-time charges.
The company also reaffirmed its previous expectation of 2008 profits of $1 to $1.50 per share for the year.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
