My finance view

Fluke Networks said it’s purchased ClearSight Networks of Fremont, Calif., which makes computer networking analysis tools, for an undisclosed price.

Everett-based Fluke installs and certifies the testing, monitoring and analysis of copper, fiber and wireless networks.

“ClearSight’s network analysis solutions maximize network engineers’ ability to actively monitor critical links carrying high volumes of network traffic for performance bottlenecks, security anomalies and intermittent disruptions,” said Arif Kareem, president, Fluke Networks, in a statement.

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Personal income posted its largest gain in half a year in November and spending by individuals rose for a second straight month, according to government data released Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said income climbed by 0.4%, or $49.7 billion, during the month, after an upwardly revised 0.3% rise in October. That was the biggest gain since May, when it rose 1.5%. The figure was still below a consensus estimate of a 0.5% rise collected by Briefing.com.

Spending by individuals rose 0.5% last month, or $47.9 billion, below analysts’ expectations of a 0.7% hike. Personal spending was up 0 emergency payday loan.6% in October.

Personal savings totaled $521.1 billion in November, or 4.7% of disposable income, compared to $516.7 billion in October.

The report came one day after the government said that gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, grew 2.2% in the third quarter.

Tuesday’s report showed that consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s economy, was weaker than previously thought. 

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Home building is picking up once again in the St. Louis region.

The number of permits for new single-family homes jumped 69 percent in November from the same month last year, according to new figures from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis.

The sharp jump was due in part to better weather, and to an exceptionally slow November last year, but it was the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains and echoed a national increase reported last week.

The numbers add to the growing sentiment that the market for new homes has bottomed out and that the supply of new construction is coming back into line with demand, after overbuilding in recent years. That has some market-watchers predicting a home building rebound in the spring.

Still, the market has a long way to go to return to past heights. For the year through November, local permits were running 17 percent behind last year’s pace and two-thirds off their peak in 2005.

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Return policies aren’t what they used to be in the days of Timothy Eaton’s "goods satisfactory or money refunded."

Leon’s Furniture Ltd. has a policy that all sales are final on appliances and electronics products, as Bryan Richards found when he brought back his mother’s Toshiba TV within two weeks.

"The channels would not change, the screen would go blank and the controls would freeze," he said.

While he was told the return policy was printed on the back of the invoice, he said it wasn’t displayed prominently in the store or explained to him before the purchase.

Leon’s spokesman Bruce Bergeron said the store succeeded in getting a replacement through Toshiba.

"Thanks for your intervention," Richards said.

"We have learned a valuable lesson, which I will pass along to friends and relatives."

Peter Coutts was helping his parents with a Sealy mattress bought at Leon’s last year.

"I successfully got Sealy to replace one mattress because the defect met their criteria (a measured amount of sagging)," he said.

A few months later, the replacement was also sagging. His parents couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.

Bergeron said Sealy had agreed to "look after the consumer and offer a reselection," even though the second mattress did not meet the terms for replacement.

Coutts said his parents would follow through on the exchange of the old mattress, even though they had lost confidence in Sealy products.

"I would rate Leon’s a five out of 10 in after-sale service," he said. "They don’t provide direct numbers for service representatives (you must go through the main switchboard), nor do they provide email addresses."

Sandeep Nigam wrote to me when he was denied a refund of a $20 prepaid Rogers card that he purchased at a No Frills grocery store quick guaranteed personal loans.

The cashier had scanned the card – thereby activating it – after it had fallen onto the conveyor belt in error.

He did not want a Rogers card and did not notice the charge on his grocery bill until after he got home.

Although he came back within a half hour, No Frills said he had to deal with Rogers.

Meanwhile, Rogers said the prepaid cards were nonrefundable and he had to take it up with the store manager.

Things were resolved quickly when I forwarded his email to Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which owns No Frills.

"We have offered the customer a $20 gift card and he is returning the Rogers card," said spokeswoman Karen Gumbs.

Anne Hamilton asked for help with Air Miles.

Her father had booked a free flight to Phoenix this Christmas, but did not realize that he had a conflict with his curling team’s final games.

When he called to reschedule, he was told he’d have to pay a $209.50 change fee to the airline and declined to do so.

"Given that he has a personal commitment that cannot be moved to another date, Air Miles will absorb all the change fees charged by the airline so he is able to attend his event," said Shawna Rossi, a spokeswoman for the loyalty program.

Before you buy, always ask: Can I return this? Is there a deadline? Will I get a full or partial refund? This can help avoid surprises later.

Write to onyourside@thestar.ca or check the On Your Side blog at www.ellenroseman.com

eroseman@thestar.ca

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Tiger Woods’ much-publicized marital problems have started to cost him money. But they’re probably going to hurt the pro golf tour, and its various sponsors and broadcasters, even more.

At the very least, Woods could lose significant earnings from the tour. In 2009, he was the sport’s top money winner with purses totaling $10.5 million.

Sports marketing consultant Marc Ganis said that Woods’ estimated $1 billion in lifetime earnings on and off the course mean his finances are completely secure, even if he has to pay a large divorce settlement. He said the bigger hit could be for the rest of his sport.

"The golf industry needs Woods far more today than he needs the golf industry," said Ganis.

The PGA Tour issued its own statement Friday saying it supported Woods’ decision to take a leave. "We look forward to Tiger’s return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him," the statement said.

Ty Votaw, executive vice president of the PGA Tour, said the tour couldn’t speculate on the economic impact of Woods’ absence because the length of his leave isn’t known yet.

He said final financial figures from the 2009 season are not yet available, but that they will show a decrease from the record $124 million the tour donated to charities in 2008, a close approximation of the tour’s profit. He attributed the decline to the recession.

David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California, said losing Woods comes at a bad time for the PGA, given the bite the recession has put on sponsorships.

"The PGA is just now fully appreciating what the financial fallout may be," he said. "Its fallout may last for years."

Viewership for golf tournaments is likely to plunge as long as he stays off the tour. A study by rating firm Nielsen a year ago, when Woods was returning from a six-month injury rehabilitation, found that ratings for tournaments he missed in 2008 after playing them in 2007 were down an average of 47%.

Even the major tournaments are likely to take a hit in their television audience if he misses them. Nielsen found that viewership for the final day of the Masters fell 20% in the years that Woods did not win the most watched tournament.

Neal Pilson, a sports broadcasting consultant who used to run CBS Sports, said the market for ads on this year’s tournaments was soft even before Woods’ problems burst into view. "Now everyone is in a wait-and- see mode," he said.

Most of the tournaments have multi-year contract deals, but networks might need to offer additional ad time to advertisers if the ratings plunge as much as feared, said Pilson. But he said the market won’t collapse altogether, given the fact that the average golf viewer is more affluent than the fans of many other sports.

"We did sell golf before Tiger showed up. But just as there was a Michael Jordan bubble when he was winning championships with the Bulls, there has been a Tiger bubble in golf ratings," he said.

But Ganis said even after Woods returns networks might be less willing to sign new deals for the second-tier tournaments due to losses they might suffer during his absence.

But television deals are only part of the revenue stream for the PGA. It also depends heavily on sponsorship dollars cash till payday. He said Woods’ problems give sponsors one more reason to question the money they’ll spend on golf tournaments.

"They have to try to calibrate what their spending will be in the sport at a time when marketing budgets are very hard to justify," said Carter.

While some tournaments have gone out of business in the last two years, they have generally been replaced by new tournaments, including one which Woods himself hosts along with AT&T (T, Fortune 500), one of his sponsors.

Woods’ sponsors pull back

But the tour isn’t the only one that could lose sponsors. The bad publicity about his admitted infidelity could also cost Woods some of his own sponsorship deals down the road.

The first golf shoe to drop came Sunday when business consultant Accenture, which had previously made Woods the focus of its marketing campaign, announced it would no longer use him because "the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising."

But Accenture did not respond to questions about whether it would have to continue to pay Woods under terms of his contract. Experts in the field say that while sponsors are likely to keep their Tiger Woods commercials off the air while he takes his leave from the game, most will continue to pay him the millions owed under those contracts.

The loss of sponsorship money in the future is inevitable given the damage done to the Woods image in the last couple of weeks.

"He probably won’t have to take less from the sponsors he keeps," said Ganis. "He’s made a lot of money for those guys. But he’ll probably have fewer sponsors in the future as these deals come up for renewal."

He said he thinks the deals with AT&T (T, Fortune 500), PepsiCo’s (PEP, Fortune 500) Gatorade brand and Procter & Gamble’s (PG, Fortune 500) Gillette are the deals most at risk. AT&T issued a statement over the weekend that it is "presently evaluating our ongoing relationship with him."

But Ganis said Woods is certain to keep at least a couple of his top sponsorship deals — including his biggest at Nike (NKE, Fortune 500), reported to be worth $40 million.

"There was no Nike Golf before Tiger. Nike’s not going anywhere," he said. "Neither is (video game maker) Electronic Arts."

Nike issued a statement saying that Woods and his family has "Nike’s full support," and that it looks forward to his return to playing. Nike Golf suffered a $77 million, or 11%, revenue decline in the fiscal year ended May 31, which it attributed to the recession cutting into discretionary spending, even as the company’s overall revenue rose 3%.

EA (ERTS) also issued a statement supporting Woods Friday, stating "At this time, the strategy for our Tiger Woods PGA Tour business remains unchanged."

Gillette’s statement over the weekend did not speak of its long-term plans for its deal with Woods, saying only "As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs."

Gatorade did not respond to requests for comments Monday. 

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Asset bubbles are the No. 1 threat to financial stability in Asia, meaning policy makers should avoid an excessive focus on inflation, said Norman Chan, the head of Hong Kong’s de facto central bank.

Asia’s experience in the past 20 years shows the biggest threat “is from asset bubbles, rather than inflation,” Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said in a speech posted on the organization’s Web site today. “I’m not saying that Asia does not need to worry about or guard against inflation, but I think we should focus more on the risk of asset bubbles forming and the associated damages.”

Chan said more than HK$640 billion ($82.6 billion) flowed into Hong Kong since October last year, helping to drive up housing prices for 10 straight months. Donald Tsang, the city’s chief executive, said Nov. 13 that he was “scared” that money flowing into Asia because of low interest rates in the U.S. could lead to another crisis in the region.

“Many Asian governments are concerned about asset-bubble risks,” said Irina Fan, an economist at the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank Ltd. “Not only are low interest rates in the U.S. and the euro zone fueling concerns, many governments are also pumping money into their markets.”

Chan didn’t say that Hong Kong or Asia had bubbles. It’s difficult to assess when they’re forming, he said.

‘Extremely Loose’ Policies

“If it’s considered that bubbles have started to form, we should adopt appropriate and strong measures to prevent the bubbles from expanding too much,” Chan said in his Chinese- language speech.

Financial officials in Japan and China, Asia’s two largest economies, warned last month that the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy risks spurring speculative capital that may inflate asset prices and derail the global economic recovery.

“The current extremely loose global monetary policies and huge capital inflows provide the ideal conditions and ingredients for Asian asset bubbles to grow, so the potential risk of asset bubbles is not small,” Chan said No teletrak payday loan.

Hong Kong’s monetary policy is limited by the local dollar’s peg to the U.S. currency, meaning that the city’s interest rates track those of the U.S.

Prices for existing Hong Kong homes rose 29 percent this year, according to the Centa-City Leading Index, a weekly measure developed by Centaline Property Agency Ltd. and the City University of Hong Kong.

Betting on Property

Hang Lung Properties Ltd. Chairman Ronnie Chan said Dec. 4 that Hong Kong’s home market is a “good bet,” joining billionaire Lee Shau-kee in forecasting rising prices. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. Vice Chairman Raymond Kwok said Dec. 3 that property prices in Hong Kong are still “reasonable.”

In October, the city tightened down-payment requirements for luxury homes for the first time since 1991 to curtail speculation.

Hong Kong should consider tightening lending rules to stop rapid credit growth and asset-price gains from damaging the economy, the International Monetary Fund said Dec. 3.

“Strong capital inflows and the resultant large liquidity overhang in the financial system could potentially lead to rapid credit growth, fueling asset markets and creating macroeconomic volatility,” the IMF said. “Countervailing prudential measures could play a role in mitigating the credit-asset price cycle.”

In Hong Kong, consumer prices advanced at the fastest pace in nine months in October as the government ended subsidy programs and the city’s economic recovery encouraged spending. The increase was 2.2 percent from a year earlier. In China, consumer prices rose in November for the first time in 10 months.

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NEW YORK–A nine-month rally in oil prices could be faltering as a gradual sell-off that began in late October gains momentum.

Crude prices, which doubled from March to October, slipped Friday for the eighth day in a row. The January contract fell 67 cents to settle at $69.87 (U.S.) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It’s the first time oil has settled below $70 a barrel since early October.

Prices hit two-month lows as the greenback gained strength and investors took a second look at paltry demand figures in the West.

All energy prices were in retreat despite a report Friday from the International Energy Agency saying global oil demand will rise more than previously expected next year payday loans. Analysts said they’ve heard such talk before, and they’re now looking for concrete signs of demand from both consumers and industry.

The IEA, an energy watchdog for some of the biggest oil consuming nations, said it was raising its estimates for 2010 global oil demand because of increased economic activity in Asia and the Middle East.

Associated Press

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One year since the arrest of Ponzi mastermind Bernard Madoff, most of his victims are still trying to recoup their losses.

"We’ve got nothing back," said Dana Foy, a 57-year-old computer programmer in New Mexico.

Foy, who wouldn’t identify how much money he lost, saw his dream of a comfortable retirement with his wife wiped out by Madoff’s scheme, which came crashing down when he was arrested on Dec. 11, 2008.

About $20 billion in investor funds were lost to Madoff’s scam, according to the Web site of the court-appointed trustee Irving Picard, who is tasked with recovering and allocating as much of the money as possible. Some of the victims have been reimbursed, but many are still waiting.

Of the 16,000 claims that have been filed, about 70% have been processed, according to Picard. Of those 11,563 processed claims, 1,647 have been determined to be valid. Most of the claims, some 9,916, have been denied.

Most of the denied claims are "indirect" investors who did not have an account at Madoff’s firm, according to Stephen Harbeck, chief executive of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Indirect investors include those in feeder funds, which are other funds that place their money with Madoff. Claimants have to try and get reimbursement from those fund managers, not through the trustee.

The SIPC has allocated $561.3 million to the 1,647 approved claims. Some of those claims have been paid out and some have not. But that still falls short of the $4.69 billion the trustee has earmarked for victim compensation - much of which would come from the sale of Madoff’s assets.

The trustee has not yet sent out money from confiscated assets, which it is still in the process of recovering.

"We don’t understand why it’s taken so long," said Ilene Kent, coordinator with Investor Action Group, which was organized for Madoff victims like herself.

In an e-mail to CNNMoney.com, Harbeck identified the various factors that can affect "the reconstruction of a claim," including "the length of time a customer had an account, coupled with multiple withdrawals in addition to deposits and the completeness of the paperwork submitted by the customer."

The SIPC covers up to $500,000 per account for victims who’ve lost money. That includes Korean War veteran Allan Goldstein, 77, who said he had invested $2 million with Madoff’s firm.

His final statement from Madoff said his investments had grown to $4.7 million. Goldstein had also drawn down about $300,000 annually to live on for a number of years.

Goldstein said the trustee subtracted the withdrawals from his $2 million investment, resulting in the $320,000 he received from SIPC. He and his wife used that money to buy a house in Great Barrington, Mass. Because of his withdrawals, Goldstein is not expecting to receive money from Madoff’s confiscated assets.

Ponzi schemers operate by masquerading as legitimate money managers. Madoff didn’t invest his clients’ money — he stole it no faxing payday loan. He kept the scam going for years by allowing some of his clients to withdraw money, while fraudulently portraying those withdrawals as legitimate returns.

Goldstein said that he and his wife currently live on Social Security and assistance from their children. That’s a stark contrast from the affluent retirement that he’d planned.

"The whole thing is a nightmare," he said. "We do the best we can, and we’re surviving. We’re very happy, at least, to be living in our own home."

Madoff’s money trail

Any losses beyond SIPC are set to be recouped through the recovery of stolen assets, such as Madoff’s yacht and his multi-million dollar properties in Manhattan, Montauk, N.Y., Palm Beach, Fla. and Cap d’Antibes on the French coast.

Maureen Ebel, 61, of West Chester, Pa., said she invested $5.3 million in Madoff’s firm through two separate accounts, and the latest statement from the firm said her investments had grown to $7.3 million. She recovered $1 million from SIPC — $500,000 for each of her two accounts — but she’s still missing millions.

"I don’t think I’ll ever see any of it, quite frankly," said Ebel. "We don’t even know where it is."

So far, investigators say they have confiscated about $1.5 billion worth of assets from Madoff’s estate, which falls far short of the approximately $20 billion in investor funds that were lost to his scheme.

The recovery process continues. Picard has filed 14 lawsuits against Madoff’s friends and family.

Investigators have no idea how long it will take to track down the stolen money and have not set a deadline for discontinuing the recovery, according to the trustee’s office.

Madoff’s trail of victims

Meanwhile, Madoff languishes in prison. He pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts related to running his Ponzi scheme and was sentenced to 150 years. Madoff, 71, is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Butner in North Carolina and faces an official release date of Nov. 14, 2139.

But this provides little comfort to some of this victims.

"He’s away, he can’t hurt anyone else, and that’s a good thing," said Mike De Vita, a computer programmer from Philadelphia who lost 40 years worth of retirement savings to Madoff’s scam. "But other than that, what happens to Bernard Madoff doesn’t really matter."

Ebel, who ditched her plans for a comfortable retirement and reentered the workforce as an office manager, resents Madoff for wiping out the savings that her late husband had left her.

"[Madoff] has ruined so many lives and caused so much pain to so many people that he will never get what he deserves until he dies," she said. "May God have mercy on him." 

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The Dallas real estate community lost an industry icon with the death Saturday of Henry S. Miller Jr.

Miller Jr., who was 95, greatly expanded the real estate company his father started in 1914. He joined Henry S. Miller Co. in 1946, became chairman and CEO in 1960, and is known for building the firm's expertise in brokerage, property management, as well as the development of shopping centers and office buildings.

Under Miller Jr.’s leadership, the Henry S. Miller Co. helped launch the careers of many notable real estate professionals who went on to form their own companies, including Roger Staubach, Herb Weitzman and Wayne Swearingen.

Henry S. Miller III said Sunday that his father pioneered the concept of specialization of services in different areas of commercial real estate.

“Before, it was all generalists,” Miller III said. “We were the first real estate company to break it up into divisions,” such as retail, multifamily, industrial, office and investment properties.

“We contended that that was the best way for people to really become expert in their fields,” Miller III said.

Other Henry S. Miller Co. innovations included establishing pension and profit-sharing trusts for employees and using psychological assessments for prospective employees, as well as formulizing training for new brokers, according to “The Book,” profiles of Dallas real estate pioneers published in 2008 by the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors.

Miller III said his father’s business success began with his philosophy of treating everybody equally.

“He was so humble,” Miller III said. “He couldn’t have done all the things that he did if he had an ego that got in the way. He never claimed credit for anything, so it was easy for other people to work with him. They didn’t feel like somebody else was competing with them.”

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After a day of rumors, Apple Inc. confirmed late Friday that it has bought online music service Lala.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Palo Alto-based Lala’s backers include Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures, New York-based Warner Music Group and Bellevue, Wash.-based Ignition Partners.

Lala lets users listen to any song once without paying and pay 10 cents to be able to stream the music online, or 89 cents for most songs that can be played on a portable music player.

Cupertino-based Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), by contrast, charges 99 cents for most songs through the iTunes store.

Apple isn’t saying what it will do with Lala.

Mountain View-based Google Inc paperless payday loans. (NASDAQ:GOOG) provided a big boost to Lala’s traffic in November when it started directing music searches to the company’s site when users were looking for songs. But that also appeared to tax Lala’s capacity with previous users complaining of the service slowing down.

Palo Alto-based Facebook Inc. also began allowing its users to purchase songs as gifts to send to their friends on the social network.

But the New Yorks Times reported Friday night that the Apple deal was triggered when Lala executives determined that they could not make a profit in the near term and approached the iTunes owner.

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