OTG Daily News

WASHINGTON, December 26, 2011 — For many department stores, today marks a kind of “Black Monday” as staffers gear up for the inevitable onslaught of Christmas gift returns. But for Hollywood, the entire month of December 2011 has been a kind of black hole into which year-end releases fall while rapidly losing escape velocity. Aside from the Tom Cruise thriller, “Mission Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” which topped this weekend’s box office numbers at the number 1 spot with $26.5M in domestic receipts (first-weekend full release), most of the remaining holiday-release films on the docket failed to win much traction. (UPDATE: Today, Reuters updated figures for the four-day weekend MI take to an even more impressive $46.2M.) The Cruise action flick gained a near-perfect score from the online reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes where it's described as “Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces,” further noting that it is “big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works.” ...

Four years ago, 12-year old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache. Extreme neglect had led to an abscess that spread to his brain and killed him. The Drivers were a desperately poor family in Maryland that had trouble locating an oral surgeon who would work for Medicaid rates. But whether rich, poor or in between, regular dental care has declined as out-of-pocket costs have risen during the Great Recession. Few people know that good dental care can be the key to good overall health. According to the Mayo Clinic, a full menu of diseases can result from poor dental care, including endocarditis (an infection of the inner lining of the heart), cardiovascular disease (clogged arteries and stroke may be linked to oral bacteria) and premature birth and low birth weight babies, to name a few. In the months after the Wall Street crash of 2008 , Dr. Aziza Askari faced her own financial crisis. Patients in her Farmington Hills, Mich., dental practice began asking for refunds on prepayments for...

It’s all about the bottom line. Whether your wedding budget is $5.00 or $50.000, these savvy strategies will save you serious change. by Francesca Castagnoli/BRIDES 1-Eat dessert first. Want a big bash, but don’t have the cash? Do a cocktails-and-dessert reception instead of springing for din-din 2-Off-peak is on the money. With the exception of the holidays, dates from November through April are less coveted—so less pricey—than other times. Set on June vows? Book ‘em on an off-night, like Friday or Sunday. 3-Know who your friends are. Nipping the guest list can shrink costs big-time. To avoid offending non-invitees, pepper wedding convos with words like small and intimate. 4-Say okay to day. Throw your party before 5 p.m: Brunches and lunches mean a lower tab for the location, meal, and bar. 5-Find a furnished space. Reduce rental costs by picking a site that’s already outfitted with tables, linens and chairs. 6-Stamp out overspending. Instead of shelling out a ton on...

NEW YORK — Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will be closed, the retailer said Tuesday, after terrible holiday sales during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers. Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources. The company is moving away from its practice of propping up "marginally performing" stores in hopes of improving their performance . Sears said it will now concentrate on cash-generating stores. "Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," said CEO Louis D'Ambrosio. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers." Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut. Sears H...

It's back! With more and more consumers preferring not to use credit cards, stores have reinstated or begun promoting their long-lost layaway policies as a way for shoppers to spread out payments and stay on budget during the holiday season. "It's not just for the low-income shoppers. These days, layaway is just another part of a retailer's effort to give the most customer-service value possible to their customers," says Kathy Grannis, Director of Media Relations for the National Retail Federation. How it works: After selecting your merchandise, a store rings up the total and charges you a percentage of it (usually 10%) as a down payment, plus a nonrefundable fee (usually $5). You then agree to a payment plan (typically a percentage of the total to be paid weekly) with a deadline by which you must pay in full and pick up your stuff. There may be other rules — for example, individual items must cost a certain amount (Walmart requires a minimum of $15), or you...

Last year saw the fewest number of homes sold in 13 years. Now we find the number is even smaller than the 4.91 million sales we thought occurred. The National Association of Realtors, which for decades has published statistics on sales of existing homes, says that its data were wrong and that fewer homes were sold from 2007 to 2010 than it had reported. Video: Market Forces Woman To Auction 16 Homes At Once Questions about the numbers were first raised earlier this year by CoreLogic, a real-estate analysis firm, which said the NAR's home-sales numbers could be as much as 20% too high. While the NAR said 4.91 million existing homes were sold in 2010, CoreLogic said its analysis showed that only 3.3 million homes were sold. The NAR responded by saying it would take another look at the data. In recent months, the group consulted with CoreLogic, as well as the Federal Reserve, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National As...

A South Florida man willed his historic house worth $1 million to the U.S. government to help eliminate the country's growing debt. The Miami Herald reports that Uncle Sam put the Coral Gables house up for auction Saturday. The winning bid was $1.175 million.   The house belonged to James H. Davidson Jr. who lived there from his teenage years until he died last December at 87. He also left $1 million to the government. The Herald reports Davidson had nieces and nephews who live in the area. Barbara Perez was high bidder on the 1929 Spanish style home. Officials say 700 people toured the home last week and 15 registered to participate in the auction. The government will auction off the contents on the home in January. Copyright Associated Press

It's a stereotype as old as dating itself: women seeking guys for material gain, and guys seeking women for their beauty. But when 25-year-old Jessica Sporty spoke honestly about her brief but calculated plan to date men of means while living in New York, her confession sparked outrage online. BusinessInsider.com, the website that featured the interview with Sporty last week, eventually disabled the article's comment section, but angry readers continued to vent on other websites that had picked up the story. Some people called her a "gold digger" and others called her "obscene." After the fallout, Sporty -- who now lives in California -- sat down with "Good Morning America" to tell her side of the story. "I'm a traditional girl," she said. "And to me, I feel a part of dating is if a guy wants to take me out, what's wrong with him taking me out to a dinner and me expecting for the bill to be paid?" Sporty said s...

Every year, the IRS dutifully reports the most common blunders that taxpayers make on their returns. And every year, at or near the top of the “oops” list is forgetting to enter their Social Security number at the top of the tax form -- or making a mistake when entering those nine digits. But think about it for a minute: Do you think that’s the most common mistake... or simply the easiest to notice? One thing we know for sure is that the opportunity to make mistakes is almost unlimited, and missed deductions can be the most costly. About 45 million of us itemize on our 1040s -- claiming more than $1 trillion worth of deductions. That’s right: $1,000,000,000,000, a number rarely spoken out loud until Congress started tying itself up in knots trying to deal with the budget deficit and national debt. Another 92 million taxpayers claim about $700 billion worth using standard deductions -- and some of you who take the easy way out probably shortchange yourselves. (If you turned 65 in 2...

In a rocky market, keep this in mind: Some stocks go up, and some go way up. Here are 8 that rose from 600% to more than 8,000% during the economic downturn of the past few years. Defying tough times Getting rich by investing these days can seem like a pipe dream. The S&P 500 ( $INX ) has gone virtually nowhere for more than a decade. And despite recent gains, problems in Europe and concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. have many analysts thinking stocks are in for more trouble. So why keep trying? One reason is that times like these, when so many people are so scared, are some of the best times to find stocks that make you big profits. To see why, I recently went looking for stocks that could have made you rich -- or at least, made you some good money -- if you bought in during the last three to five years. (It's a follow-up to my earlier list of stocks that could have made you rich over a longer time frame.) With help from Schaeffer's Investment Research, I came u...

Plan B-One Step, the so-called "morning after pill," won't be made available over the counter to girls younger than 17, regardless of a previous Food and Drug Administration recommendation, according to a statement by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In a surprise move, Sebelius invoked her authority as the agency's head to overrule the recommendation of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research -- and the conclusions drawn by FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, according to statements issued today. The move has drawn swift condemnation: “In facing a tough call, HHS has put politics over science when it comes to sex,” said Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and a frequent contributor to msnbc.com. Sebelius said she wasn't convinced that Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. had proven that non-prescription use of emergency contraceptives containing the drug levonorges...

PLANO, Texas (AP) - Department store operator J.C. Penney Co. is buying a minority stake in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. for $38.5 million and teaming with the media and merchandising company on a store-within-a-store and joint web site. J.C. Penney says it will buy 11 million Martha Stewart Living shares at $3.50 per share, giving it a 16.6 percent interest in the New York company. As part of a 10-year deal, the companies will create Martha Stewart retail stores within most J.C. Penney locations starting in February 2013. The joint web site is also expected to launch in 2013. Martha Stewart Living is expected to receive more than $200 million from the 10-year deal. Its stock is up 28 percent to $4 in premarket trading. Penney is based in Plano, Texas. msnmoney

By msnbc.com staff and WSMV-TV SOUTH FULTON, Tenn. -- Firefighters stood by and watched a Tennessee house burn to the ground earlier this week because the homeowners didn't pay the annual subscription fee for fire service. "You could look out my mom's trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance," Vicky Bell, the homeowner, said. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy For Bell, that sight was almost as disturbing as the fire itself. "We just wished we could've gotten more out," she said. It's the second time in two years firefighters in the area have watched a house burn because of unpaid fees. Last year, Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in a house fire, along with three dogs and a cat, because the fire fee wasn't paid. Related: No pay, no spray: Firefighters watch home burn People in the city of South Fulton have fire protection, but those in the sur...

Beyoncé has lost the latest round in her legal battle with a video game company. The pop star was hit with a lawsuit in April from Gate Five, alleging she inadvertently put a staff of 70 people out of work after "abruptly abandoning" her project with the company. Gate Five owners claim they were preparing to release a game called "Starpower: Beyoncé," but it fell through when she walked away from the deal last year. On Tuesday, lawyers for the singer applied to have the case thrown out at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, but Judge Charles Ramos rejected the request and ruled Gate Five can go ahead with the lawsuit. WENN

More than two dozen current and former waiters and their associates from some of the city's top steakhouses have been arrested in an alleged identity theft ring, accused of stealing credit card numbers from wealthy customers, authorities said Friday. The Manhattan district attorney, police and the U.S. Secret Service announced the arrests Friday involving a 28-person ring that operated at top metro-area restaurants like Smith & Wollensky, Capital Grille and Wolfgang Steak, as well as Morton’s in Stamford, Conn. and the Bicycle Club in New Jersey. The story was first reported Thursday by NBC New York. The alleged scam targeted customers who often paid with American Express Black cards and other high-limit credit cards. Prosecutors said restaurant workers used handheld scanners to copy the credit card information as they walked away to process the bill. Later, that information would be sent to leaders of the alleged fraud ring, who would forge new credit cards with the st...

Is Target shooting itself in the foot by trying to be more like Wal-Mart -- or is it making up ground on its much bigger rival? Target's third-quarter earnings, out Wednesday, again showed gains, more evidence that attempts by the champion of "cheap chic" to look more like the chieftain of "just cheap" are paying off for shareholders. To cope with tough economic times after losing out to Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT +0.53% , news ) during the economic slump three years ago, Target ( TGT +0.13% , news ) hatched a game plan that makes it more like the most successful retailer on the planet. That would be the one Sam Walton created. Of course, Target would never describe the strategy that way, and the plan is a work in progress. But we're starting to see signs that it's working. Target has posted sales gains of late, for example, while Wal-Mart's sales have slumped for nine of the past 10 quarters. Wal-Mart reported Tuesday that it broke that string in ...

This post comes from Jeffry Bartash at partner site MarketWatch . Electronic gadgets are huge holiday sellers but it's hard to find really cool stuff for $100 or less. Most of the popular items such as iPads and laptops cost considerably more. With a half-nod toward thriftiness in these tough economic times, here are some gifts to consider that won't cost more than a C-note. uNu battery case for iPhones ($35 for the Power DX-1700B model ). Are you constantly running out of juice? The uNu might be the answer. It's a nifty device that protects your iPhone from damage -- and recharges a dead battery. That's because the uNu is a battery pack shaped like a cover. Beyond Talk wireless plan ($35 a month). Want iPhone capabilities without iPhone costs? Sprint-owned Virgin Mobile has the best-value plan among the major carriers. Beyond Talk allows unlimited text and Internet. The catch: Voice minutes are limited to 300 and customers have to pay full price for a phone. ...

We’re starting to hear bits and pieces of good news on the job front these days. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of job openings in September was 3.4 million, up from 3.1 million in August. Last week, we learned that the unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 percent to 9 percent. And a recent CareerBuilder survey found that 29 percent of retailers plan to hire seasonal workers for the holidays, with 30 percent of employers planning to transition some holiday help into full-time, permanent staff. Want some more good news? Here’s a list of 10 companies hiring this week: 1. American Management Services Industry: Consulting, sales/marketing, management Sample job titles: Field sales manager, consultant/senior executive analyst, business coordinator 2. Bob Evans Industry: Restaurants Sample job titles: Restaurant assistant manager, marketing intern, GM 3. Cardinal Health Industry: Health-care distribution/supplies Sample job titles: Sales represent...

Paula McGowan has cut out soda, switched to store brands for other foods and even sent her boyfriend hunting for deer so she can put food on the table. Still, she finds herself struggling with higher food prices. “It’s milk, bread, just the basic stuff,” she said. “We’re looking at basics and it’s all going up.” After two years in which overall food prices barely budged, groceries are getting more expensive. The price of food at home is projected to rise by 4 to 5 percent this year , and another 2 to 3 percent next year, according to the Agriculture Department. That’s adding another financial worry for many people already living with tight budgets thanks to the weak economy and high jobless rate. The percentage of people who say they had enough money to buy food in the last 12 months fell to its lowest level in three years, according to a Gallup poll released this month. The vast majority of Americans surveyed — 79.4 percent — said they have been able to buy the food they n...

According to financial services consulting firm Javelin Strategies and Research, identity theft affects 11 million people a year, at a cost of $54 billion. If you don't want to become a statistic, a good place to start is to get a shredder... Shredding documents isn’t just for accounting firms and people with something to hide -- every day working Americans have houses full of documents containing potentially compromising information, from Social Security numbers to bank account information. To dispose of them, security experts recommend getting a good cross-cut shredder, which makes your documents into confetti, as opposed to the long strips that a determined thief could reconstruct. Once you've got your shredder, following are the things to put in it. Old tax returns As a general rule, you should save your tax returns on the chance you get audited. But after three years, you’re in the clear -- that is, unless the Internal Revenue Service suspects you are guilty of f...