My finance view

Home improvement is one of the fastest-growing segments of e-commerce. But the consequences of a bad decision when it comes to finding a contractor or remodeling products online are far worse than buying the wrong paperback.

What if those rave reviews you read about a contractor are ringers posted by his daughter — or if your supposedly in-stock sink order doesn’t ship for two weeks, throwing off your entire work schedule?

Follow these tips to avoid glitches and get the most for your money.

To find a contractor: Sites that are driven by consumer ratings are your best bet. That’s because you get to see what as many as hundreds of prior customers say about all the pros in your area.

Just watch for sites with anonymous postings and ads that appear in search results that look like positive ratings. In the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles metro areas, or a few counties in New York, Connecticut, and Florida, check out Franklin-Report.com, which compiles user comments into Zagat-like ratings.

Beyond those regions, a good alternative is Angieslist.com, which charges $5 a month, and uses the credit card info to prevent anyone from creating more than one login in order to post multiple revews.

To vet a contractor: The next step is to talk to former clients and visit current and completed job sites. Sadly, there are no e-ternatives to doing this in person.

But there is one key step you can do online: a background check high quality business cards. Get a report about a contractor’s licensing, bonding, insurance, bankruptcy, civil judgments, criminal background, liens, and credit rating for $13 at contractorcheck.com, run by the credit bureau Experian.

To order supplies

Sites run by home-improvement chains (such as HomeDepot.com and Lowes.com), boutique manufacturers (BeadBoard.com, Horizon-Shutters.com), and specialty e-tailers (eFaucets.com, TileShop.com) offer bigger selections than local retailers do. But the main attraction is price: Discounts of 10% to 50% aren’t uncommon.

Just keep in mind that if something goes wrong, those savings could turn into cost overruns. As with any online purchase, you run the risk of shipping damage or late deliveries, which can derail a project with multiple tradesmen working around one another’s schedules.

So order online only if your contractor okays it and provides technical specs; you’re far enough ahead of the installation date to make other arrangements if there’s a problem; the site is an authorized dealer for the brands you’re buying; and if possible, you’ve seen the product firsthand.

Otherwise, buy locally. It’ll be easier to get matching items quickly if needed, and you’ll avoid having to deal with a faraway call center if a problem arises.  

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About five years ago, I went to a talk by auto analysts who said Korean manufacturers are starting to worry their Japanese neighbors.

If that was true then, arrivals such as Hyundai’s 2011 Sonata now must be keeping execs up at night. The sixth-generation sedan raises the bar yet again for the Korean automaker with a roomy, smooth riding, well-equipped and neatly finished car priced below Japanese rivals. Not only that, but our Venetian red tester caused a number of double-takes with its stylish look.

The base Sonata GLS starts at $19,915, about $500 more than the 2010. That includes power, heated, folding side mirrors; chrome-tipped exhaust; air conditioning; steering-wheel controls for audio and Bluetooth systems (including phonebook download); power windows; remote locking; cruise control; and audio system with six speakers, CD player, XM and MP3 compatibility, iPOD and USB ports.

On the safety front you get antilock brakes with emergency assist feature, side airbags and curtains, traction and stability control, and tire-pressure monitor.

That price is about two thousand less than the Honda Accord, which along with the Sonata, ride at the larger end the midsize group. The smaller Toyota Camry comes closer in price, but isn’t quite as well equipped.

The base versions of all those cars come with 4-cylinder engines and manual transmissions, which means most people will upgrade. In the case of the Hyundai, you get a 2.4-liter engine rated at 198 or 200 horsepower matched to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. The latter adds $1,000 to the tab.

The standard 4-cylinder gets a little buzzy when you tromp hard on the accelerator. But after a few days behind the wheel, I found it plenty powerful, even fun to drive. The 4-cylinder returns decent fuel economy 22 miles per gallon in the city, 34 on the highway with the automatic.

That’s the only engine available initially, but Hyundai has a 274-horsepower 4-cylinder turbo (expected to deliver mileage at 22/34) and a hybrid estimated at 37/39 in the pipeline.

We tested the mid-level SE, which starts at $23,315, adding the automatic, bigger alloy wheels, sportier suspension, fog lamps, dual exhaust, push-button starter, leather trim, eight-way power driver’s seat, steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles and automatic headlamps instant payday loans.

The sedan made a good first impression. Its coupe-like profile looks sharp on approach. I got in with our editor and managing editor for the first time after deadline. Randi checked out the window sticker and asked us to guess the price. I said $27,000, Ilana $30,000. Looking around at the neat fit and finish, quality materials, roomy surrounds, I said $27,000, Ilana, $30,000 – both well over the real price of $23,315.

Randi wished for a sunroof, which is available as part of a $2,600 package that also includes navigation. Only Ilana had a complaint. Pointing at the stick-figure-shapped buttons that control air-flow directions she said, “That’s cheesy, I wouldn’t buy it just because of that.”

I thought the buttons were OK, even intuitive, but I would have made it smaller and the radio controls larger. Others thought it was a little cheesy too, but certainly not a deal breaker.

All in all, the new Sonata is an impressive car offering a lot for the money. In other words, Hyundai is coming on strong in the race to catch perennial top sellers Camry and Accord. Consider stats at autos.aol.com: No. 1 Camry sold 28,435 cars in June, a 7.7 percent increase, and while Hyundai sold 17,711 Sonatas to take seventh place among all sedans, that represents a nearly 49 percent increase over June 2009.

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The National Football League is the golden child in the world of professional sports. It has the best media deal, highest TV ratings and most lucrative revenue sharing pacts.

Now, its seems the NFL and Arizona Cardinals are avoiding (at least for now) the state's immigration fight over Senate Bill 1070.

There are no indications there will be SB 1070-related protests today at University of Phoenix Stadium for the Cardinals preseason opener against the Houston Texans.

Groups opposed to the immigration law are not planning any major protests at the Glendale stadium. The immigration issue has caused for some headaches for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks in downtown Phoenix.

Hispanics groups opposed to 1070 want Major League Baseball to relocate the 2011 All-Star Game out of Chase Field. D-backs owner Ken Kendrick says he's personally opposed to 1070 but critics of the bill don't like that he gives to Republicans (some of whom back the measure).

A few blocks down the street Suns owner Robert Sarver and guard Steve Nash came out against the law and then wore 'Los Suns' jerseys once during the playoffs in the early days of the immigration controversy. The move earned grief from fans who like the law or don't want sports team being political, but accolades from 1070 opponents. The Cards actually got some ticket calls from a few fans irked by the Suns stance and political move.

The bill was signed in April during the NFL offseason and the team has steered clear of the debate. That's not to say the 1070 fight won't pop up later in the regular season. The Cards do have some nationally televised games and were in the playoffs the past two years.

But at least for now, it appears the immigration fight is avoiding the NFL team as it enters a crossroads season on the field and for its growing and somewhat bandwagon fan base. That fan base includes includes plenty of working class whites more friendly towards 1070, and Hispanics averse to the law.

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Laguna Development Corp. unveiled an additional $15 million in expansions and updates at its Route 66 Casino in the past week.

The company opened the new Thunder Road Steakhouse & Cantina, the 360 Lounge, and added more than 200 new slots, bringing its total to 1,700.

It is the culmination of a larger expansion that firm unveiled over the past several months, including an Irish-themed poker room and pub, a new players club, bingo room and snack bar.

Skip Sayre, director of marketing for Laguna Development, said extensive customer surveys found players wanted a steakhouse, more slots and a non-smoking section.

Thunder Road was influenced by the movie of the same name that starred the late Robert Mitchum. It offers a wide selection of tequilas, as well as barbecue and Mexican dishes. The decor features life-sized cars crashing through walls, neon signs and two-story murals electronic check payday advance. A live entertainment stage, lifted on hydraulics from behind the bar, is another new feature.

This is the third major expansion at Route 66 since 2007. In 2008, a $40 million hotel expansion took place. The Main Street Restaurant, KXX Night Club and Kids Quest, as well as the $4.6 million Buffet 66 opened in 2009. Laguna also renovated its Dancing Eagle Casino last year, to the tune of about $3.9 million, adding 100 more slot machines and a new restaurant and lounge.

Laguna Development Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pueblo of Laguna, whose lands are located mostly east of Albuquerque.

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Just a few months after putting its Buffalo headquarters up for sale, the Girl Scouts of Buffalo and Erie County have found a buyer for their Jewett Parkway complex.

The Hillside Family of Agencies, a not-for-profit that serves youth and others in Erie and Niagara Counties, has agreed to purchase the Girl Scouts headquarters. A formal announcement is due Friday afternoon.

The Girl Scouts, which is merging with three other regional Girl Scout councils, is relocating from Buffalo to a suburban site.

The Girl Scouts listed its Jewett Parkway headquarters, a 10,900-square-foot building located just a few blocks from the Darwin Martin House complex, for sale this winter with a $675,000 asking price. The building was listed by Paula Blanchard and Ed Woods from RealtyUSA.

The council has used the Jewett Parkway building as its headquarters since it bought the property in 1969, Approximately 40 people work in the building.

The decision to put the building on the real estate market was made as an outgrowth from the merger between the Girl Scouts of Buffalo and Erie County, Girl Scouts of Niagara County, Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley and Girl Scouts of Southwestern New York. The council now covers a jurisdictional area that covers nine counties and 6,700 square miles in a region that extends from Niagara and Erie Counties eastward towards Rochester.

The Girl Scouts of Western New York – the newly merged entity – serves more than 22,000 girls and a network of more than 10,000 volunteers.

Girl Scout officials said they needed a more central location.

Besides the 40 people who work in Buffalo, the council has more than 100 employees in offices it operates in Lockport, Jamestown, Rochester and Batavia.

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Research in Motion posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations, but the BlackBerry maker’s forecast for the current quarter easily topped analysts’ estimates.

Shares of RIM (RIMM) plunged 5% in after-hours trading after the company reported a profit of $710.1 million, or $1.27 per share. Net income rose 37% compared with a year earlier, but analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings of $1.28 per share.

The Canadian company said it shipped 10.5 million devices and added 4.9 million users during the quarter, driving sales up 18% to $4.08 billion compared with a year earlier, but the figure was below analysts’ estimates of $4.31 billion.

Even as competition intensifies with Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500)’s iPhone and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)’s Android-based phones, the company maintained its leading role in North America, where the BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone.

And RIM chief executive Jim Balsillie said the company "made great strides in penetrating international markets."

Nearly half of the quarter’s revenue was supported by international sales, he said, and about 38% of new subscribers were from markets outside of North America.

"The fourth quarter results were softer than expected, but the company’s growth in international markets will be a major driver going forward and supports its first-quarter guidance," said Steven Li, analyst at Raymond James.

The company’s cheaper devices, such as the BlackBerry Curve 8520, are strong sellers abroad, but they push the company’s average selling price lower.

But with a new lineup of higher-priced products being introduced in the second half of the year, Balsillie said he is confident in the company’s future growth.

For the current quarter, RIM said it expects to add between 4.9 million and 5.2 million BlackBerry users, driving earning between $1.31 and $1.38 per share, above analysts’ outlook of $1.23. For the three months ended May 29, the company forecast revenue between $4.25 billion and $4.45 billion. Analysts are looking for $4.33 billion.

For the year ended Feb. 27, RIM reported a profit of $2.46 billion, or $4.31 per share, on revenue of $14.95 billion. 

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European confidence in the economic outlook unexpectedly worsened in February after the euro region’s recovery almost stalled in the fourth quarter.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the 16 nations using the euro slipped to 95.9 from a revised 96 in January, the European Commission in Brussels said today. The economic recovery may fail to gather strength for most of 2010, the commission said in a separate report.

European domestic demand remains weak and it’s not yet clear to what extent the euro region will benefit from a global recovery, the commission said. As governments seek to bolster the recovery, they also are trying to stem investor concern about widening budget deficits in Greece and other nations, which is pushing up bond yields.

“There are still some dark clouds in the air,” European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said today at a press conference in Brussels. “Clearly, turning the European economy back on a strong and sustainable path is now our overriding objective.”

The February drop in the confidence index was the first in 11 months. Economists had projected an increase to 96.4 from a previously reported January reading of 95.7, according to the median of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

The euro declined against the dollar and was at $1.3489 as of 1:12 p.m. in London, down 0.4 percent. The yield on the German 10-year bond fell 2 basis points to 3.11 percent.

Cautious Outlook

The German economy, Europe’s largest, may fail to grow in the three months through March before expanding 0.3 percent in the following two quarters, the commission forecast. France may grow 0.4 percent in the first quarter and stall in the second. The U.K., which isn’t part of the euro area, is seen expanding 0.2 percent in both quarters.

The commission sees the euro-area economy expanding 0.7 percent this year after a 4 percent contraction in 2009, unchanged from its previous forecast in November. In the fourth quarter, the economy expanded just 0.1 percent.

Carrefour SA doesn’t “see any change in the European environment for the next six months at least,” Chief Executive Officer Lars Olofsson said on Feb. 19, after Europe’s largest retailer reported a 70 percent drop in full-year profit.

Separate data today showed that loans to households and companies in Europe declined in January from a year earlier after the economic expansion curbed demand for credit. German unemployment increased for a second month in February.

Deficit Woes

Concern about Greece’s ability to finance its deficit and debt has roiled financial markets since the government revealed it had a budget gap of 12 guaranteed approval cash loans.7 percent of GDP last year. That’s more than four times the limit allowed for countries using the euro and the highest in the 27-nation EU.

Standard & Poor’s said late yesterday that it may lower its BBB+ rating on Greece by the end of March and Moody’s Investors Service said today that it may reduce its A2 grade in a few months.

The commission said its deficit forecasts remain “broadly unchanged” from its November assessment, when it projected the region’s average budget gap would widen to 6.9 percent of GDP in 2010. All euro-area nations will breach EU deficit limits this year and next, the commission forecast.

It also said there’s a possibility that the impact of sliding sovereign bonds could be “broader, weighing further on the recovery” by pushing up financing costs.

Euro-Area Inflation

Euro-area inflation may accelerate to 0.8 percent in the current quarter and 1.3 percent in the second quarter, according to the commission. For the full year, the commission sees inflation averaging 1.1 percent, compared with 0.3 percent in 2009. In the confidence report, a gauge of consumers’ price expectations over the next 12 months rose to the highest since March 2009.

The European Central Bank, which aims to keep inflation just below 2 percent, earlier this month kept borrowing costs at a record low of 1 percent. The Frankfurt-based central bank will decide next month on a further “gradual” phasing-out of emergency measures introduced to fight the economic crisis, ECB council member George Provopoulos said.

“It’s premature to talk about a self-sustaining, jobs- creating recovery,” said Martin Van Vliet, an economist at ING Group in Amsterdam. The confidence data “highlight the need for the ECB to tread carefully in unwinding unconventional stimulus and to keep interest rates firmly on hold for the time being.”

Companies across Europe are already seeking ways to expand in faster-growing economies to help boost sales. Paris-based Pernod Ricard SA, the world’s second-largest liquor maker, said on Feb. 18 that sales from China will shortly overtake those in Spain, and emerging markets such as Russia are “starting to turn around.”

“The question is how robust the global cycle will prove to be and how much EU economies will benefit from it,” the commission said. “A rather cautious export outlook is therefore warranted.”

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Goldman Sachs has filed a lawsuit against seven former Atlanta-based executives in its wealth management division for soliciting employees and former clients after their departure for rival Credit Suisse.

The suit, filed Feb. 17 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, alleges that Credit Suisse facilitated the executives’ departure promising payouts worth of millions of dollars.

The suit seeks to block the defendants from contacting their former Goldman clients and colleagues.

The five vice presidents and two associates are accused of “pirating” Goldman’s clients and trying to coax employees to defect to Credit Suisse in violation of non-solicitation clauses, the suit alleges. The suit was first reported by Reuters.

Named in the suit were: David Greene, Craig Savage, Andrew Thompson, Sharran Srivatsaa, John Pitt, Stephanie Dennard and Kim Tyson.

Atlanta’s wealth management firms have been embroiled in the industry-wide shakeup of personnel and clients, with established players and newcomers fighting over top talent.

The lawsuit states that the seven investment executives “abruptly” left Goldman on Feb. 5, after Credit Suisse offered the team “tens of millions of dollars to leave.”

The group “immediately began soliciting Goldman Sachs’ clients and employees in violation of non-solicitation clauses” that Greene, Savage, Thompson, Srivatsaa and Pitt had previously accepted. The suit alleges that Dennard and Tyson did an end around the non-solicitation clauses by approaching former colleagues and clients on their superiors’ behalf to convince them to move over to Credit Suisse, and also improperly used confidential Goldman information.

The suit states that Greene and Savage met with the head of Goldman’s Atlanta office late Feb. 5 and announced their intent to leave, and later Greene said in a phone call that he had been promised $11 million to join Credit Suisse.

The suit also alleges that the defendants told clients about a shakeup and claimed that it had destabilized the Atlanta office.

Another Goldman executive claimed in the suit he received an unsolicited offer to leave for Credit Suisse in exchange for $10 million.

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St. Louis University will tap into the large pool of laid-off Pfizer scientists to launch a new research center focused on discovering drugs to treat medical problems in the developing world.

SLU has committed $5 million over the next two years to fund the Center for World Health & Medicine, which will launch in July, Raymond Tait, SLU’s vice president for research, said Wednesday. The school initially plans to hire a dozen soon-to-be former Pfizer researchers.

In November, Pfizer announced it would lay off 600 of its 1,000 employees in St. Louis, part of a 15 percent reduction of the drugmaker’s global work force. The reductions followed Pfizer’s $68 billion acquisition of the drugmaker Wyeth. Pfizer’s main research campus in the area is located in Chesterfield.

SLU began discussions in early December to figure out ways to keep some of those scientists in St. Louis. In a time of strained university resources, this reflects SLU’s commitment to the region, Tait said.

"St. Louis U. worked with uncharacteristic speed," he said. "The initial reaction was a form of horror to think about the impact of (the layoffs) on the St. Louis region. After we had a chance to digest it, we then thought, ‘Gee, this also provides us with an important opportunity that could be transformative for research at St. Louis U.’"

This is a somewhat unusual venture, in that universities have not typically delved into the realm of drug discovery, Tait acknowledged.

"We’re not going to compete with Pfizer and Wyeth," he said. "We’re not going after blockbuster drugs."

Rather, the appealing part of this idea was that the school could follow its Jesuit mission by helping underserved populations, he said.

Steve Johnson, senior vice president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said SLU’s move is a small but important step in the right direction if St. Louis hopes to plug the leakage of high-skilled workers to other areas.

There are between 1,700 and 2,000 laid-off scientists and skilled technical workers in the region right now, Johnson said. Keeping them, and their skills, in St. Louis is becoming an increasingly high priority, he said.

"That represents a tremendous amount of talent," Johnson said payday advance. "You don’t want to dehumanize people, but those are marketable assets for the region."

They are the kind of assets that can help lure other big medical and technology firms here, or that can seed startups, or that, as in this case, can help launch research groups at local universities.

"We applaud (SLU’s effort)," Johnson said. "And we’ll be digging into this whole issue and look at what other regions are doing."

SLU still has to hash out many of the details about the new center — such as whom exactly it will hire, where it will be housed, and what areas it will focus on.

"This is still a work in progress," Tait said. "Give us another couple of months where we can flesh out who will be working with us."

While many of the scientists have already vacated their laboratories, they are still under contract with Pfizer, Tait said. So SLU has not yet officially hired anyone, but it has spoken with several people who are very interested in the new center, he said.

Targeting childhood diarrhea is one area that some scientists have expressed a special interest in, he added.

Tait said he hopes the center will be sustained down the line in part through research grants, subcontracting work, and perhaps foundation support.

"We’ll see if we cannot make this viable," he said. "Over time, we suspect we will get some intellectual property, but intellectual property is not the lifeblood."

SLU has already started writing up an application for a federal stimulus-funded research grant at the new center, he said.

Down the line, Tait said, SLU could work with pharmaceutical companies — including, but not limited to, Pfizer.

"I don’t see us undertaking clinical trials," he said. "What I can see us doing is identifying some promising treatment approaches, working to where we have some evidence or sense that they are safe. But in order to bring them to market, we will have to partner."

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Carolynn Ingerson Hoffman says she knew even as a little girl that she wanted to become a nurse and help sick people get better.

She says she also gained a strong work ethic from her father, who held two or three jobs at a time to earn enough to support a family of six girls and a boy in north St. Louis County.

Hoffman didn’t let a lack of money for education and partial deafness stemming from illnesses get in her way while pursuing her goal of a nursing degree. She got a scholarship and studied hard. Compounding the difficulty was that she was a divorced mother with a young son.

Then, after working as a registered nurse for several years, she pursued a new dream: a business to provide nursing services throughout the St. Louis area.

Her business, now called MediNurse Inc., marks its 25th anniversary this year. The business, originally named CompreHealth Inc., employs more than 100 full- and part-time workers and provides a wide range of nursing services for hospitals, businesses, organizations and individuals.

I understand that you overcame great personal difficulties to get to where you are in life. What is your best advice for others who similarly face great odds?

I guess I would say that growing up in a large family when I did had its challenges, certainly monetarily. I could also take you through the ’60s and ’70s and tell you what it was like at the time being a divorced mother who had to work.

Now, that was a challenge — just getting housing and credit were challenges. I’d like to think, and I do know, that it was because of women like me who opened doors — or crashed through them — that many women today have been able to move forward and upward. We fought the battles so that they could win the war.

My best advice for anyone is to just keep going. Don’t give up, find a way around every obstacle and find the opportunity in every challenge. You have to take control and make things happen — things you want to happen.

How has your hearing loss affected the way you’ve operated your business?

It has affected my career greatly. In the beginning, I was treated with kid gloves — kind of pitied. That surprised me, because I was elated I could even hear! I didn’t consider wearing hearing aids a handicap but rather blessings.

But because everybody seemed to be so sympathetic, I decided to use it to my best advantage in business. I could always get the best seat in a conference room and could say "excuse me" when I needed to think for a moment. I never hid the fact that I was hearing impaired.

I do need the best seating possible to hear. I do have trouble distinguishing words. Now I have to take a second person on marketing calls just to make sure I’m hearing correctly.

The need for nursing services seems to be ever increasing. Did you foresee that trend when you started your business?

In this business and others you have to pay attention to the trends and stay one step ahead of them. We’ve been through shortages, we’ve been through periods of oversupply. Now we’re looking at a national shortage of nurses unlike all others.

It was perfectly predictable. The largest block of nurses, the baby boomers, are retiring. There aren’t enough qualified faculty available in order to admit more nursing students. Nurses have so many more opportunities today other than actual bedside nursing. Add it all up and it spells shortage.

Would the legislation being considered in Congress do enough to address the nation’s health care crisis and bring affordable care to more people?

I haven’t read the Senate bill. I did, however, read the House bill — every page of it — and was appalled. …

Do I think what we are doing is good for health care and this country? No, I do not.

It seems to me we could have purchased insurance for everyone who didn’t have it, pay the premiums each year and it would have been less than this, and the majority would still have their insurance.

What could we do to make health care more affordable? Let us buy the insurance that meets our needs from any state.

Tort reform also is needed. Physicians practice too much defensive litigation to the extent that it impacts every aspect of health care. Simply put, they’re concerned they will be sued.

I have great concerns about what is happening in Washington. I’ve become a political activist at 64!

Even as your business has grown and thrived, do you wish you had done anything differently along the way?

Yes. I was going to franchise and, in fact, had a check for $50,000 in my hand to take to the lawyers to get started. It was the day the stock market crashed (in 1987). I canceled the appointment, which was the right decision at the time. However, I should have done the franchising when conditions were favorable again.

I try not to look back and second-guess myself. I have always been guided by a strong work ethic and commitment to doing what is right, while maintaining a good profit margin. I got these traits from my father.

We have been number one in size, visibility and profitability. I really don’t have the need to do that again.

Don’t get me wrong — I am very committed to being successful. However, being successful means to me helping others as well as guiding my company into the future.

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