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A coalition of 38 states is pressing Google to answer for its unintentional collection of personal data through unsecured private wi-fi networks from its Street View cars.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is leading the multistate investigation, asked the Internet giant whether it had tested its Street View software before use.

That check "should have revealed that the program collected data transmitted over wireless computer network," Blumenthal said in a letter to the company Wednesday.

Blumenthal also asked what Google has done with the data, particularly if it has sold or used the information. He also requested that Google identify the individuals responsible for including the snooping code into the Street View software and the specific locations where the unauthorized data was collected.

"We will take all appropriate steps - including potential legal action if warranted - to obtain complete, comprehensive answers," Blumenthal said payday loans. "Our multistate investigation will determine whether laws were broken and whether legislation is necessary to prevent future privacy breaches."

Google first disclosed that it had mistakenly collected "payload data," which includes what websites people are visiting, from wi-fi networks that were not password-protected in May.

The information was gathered and stored while Google’s Street View cars drove around the world collecting images for the company’s mapping service using local wi-fi hotspots.

Blumenthal launched the investigation last month. Backing the probe are a growing number of states - including Texas, Florida and New York - as well as Washington, D.C.  

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Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan believes Congress should let the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush expire for all Americans in order to address the widening deficit, according to a TV interview airing Friday.

"They should follow the law and let them lapse," Greenspan told Bloomberg TV’s Judy Woodruff.

The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are due to expire at the end of the year. President Obama had promised to make them permanent for families making less than $250,000. (Read ‘Bush tax cuts up in the air’)

But faced with growing fiscal challenges, there’s debate in Washington about whether the country can afford to permanently extend the tax cuts.

Greenspan, who backed the tax cuts when they were enacted, told Woodruff that allowing the cuts to lapse "probably will" slow growth, but that the risk posed by doing nothing about the deficit is greater.

"I think we misunderstand the momentum of this deficit going forward," the former Fed chairman said in the interview. 

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Rockville-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has completed the sale of four properties for $23.4 million.

All four buildings — three office buildings and one industrial property — are on Parklawn Drive in Rockville. WRIT has owned three of the buildings since 1993. It purchased the fourth in 1999.

This is the latest shuffle in WRIT’s local portfolio.

Earlier this month, the real estate investment trust paid $68 million to acquire two office buildings at the Quantico Corporate Office Center near Marine Corps Base Quantico in Stafford, Va.

The company owns more than 90 commercial real estate properties in the Washington market.

WRIT (NYSE: WRE) had $76.5 million in fiscal first-quarter revenue, little changed from year ago results.

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Regulators and Wall Street officials went through millions of trades one by one Friday and canceled thousands as they sought to explain a record plunge in the stock market, undo damage and keep it from happening again.

It wasn’t clear how long the laborious process would take or if it would even solve the mystery behind Thursday’s harrowing trading session that saw the Dow Jones industrial average fall hundreds of points and then recover, all in a matter of minutes. The chaotic slide — some stocks briefly fell to near zero — brought back memories of the darkest days of the financial crisis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission were investigating, but on the day after, there were more questions than answers:

— Did a single trader mistakenly punch the wrong number of shares when making a sell order, maybe mistyping "billion" instead of "million" and setting off a market-wide panic that at one point pulled the Dow down almost 1,000 points?

— Did high-speed computerized trading systems, supposed to make markets work smoothly, go haywire?

— Most important to anyone with money in the stock market: Could it happen again?

Maybe the scariest part was that no one could unravel what happened. That left executives at the major stock exchanges pointing fingers at one another, and the public wondering if the hidden world of high-frequency, computerized trading that fed the panic posed a threat to their 401(k)s.

"It could be awhile before they figure it out because they have to sift through everything trade by trade," said San Diego State University finance professor Dan Seiver, who has followed the markets for 52 years no fax pay day loan. "And humans are a lot slower than machines."

Market officials worked to cancel thousands of "clearly erroneous" trades made during the plunge.

New York Stock Exchange Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer told CNBC that his exchange canceled 4,000 trades.

How did it happen? Speculation on trading floors initially centered on a computerized selloff possibly caused by a typographical error. One theory was that a trader trying to sell millions of shares accidentally sold billions, which would have triggered a wave of automatic selling.

The SEC is poring through trading data containing millions of transactions to try to identify what might have caused the disruption, according to two people familiar with the matter. The two major markets, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, were also examining audits of completed trades, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

At Nasdaq, Thursday’s plunge set off MarketWatch, an internal system that alerts regulators to problems. Regulators are still sifting through the data for irregularities. A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment.

NYSE spokesman Raymond Pellecchia said the Big Board is working with regulators but declined to comment further.

"Right now, there is no way to know what is happening in this marketplace," Kaufman said.

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Ecotality Inc. revenue took a hit last year as the company as it shifted focus to its $100 million federal contract to develop a pilot network of charging stations for electric vehicles — dropping from $11.2 million to $8.6 million.

The company also saw its net loss increase to $29.5 million, or $8.16 per share, from $8.07 million. Officials said increased expenses related to the restructuring of debt and obtaining new capital, contributed to losses. As of Dec. 31, Ecotality had $11.8 million of cash on the balance sheet with assets of $19.6 million.

"Over the course of the year, we successfully transformed the company in to the leading EV infrastructure company both domestically and internationally,” said CEO Jonathan Read in a statement. “During the fourth quarter we strengthened our balance sheet and secured the capital needed to begin the deployment of our charging infrastructure under the DOE agreement.”

Although its stock currently is traded over the counter, the company recently applied for a listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market.

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Source: KV Pharmaceutical Co.

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Although construction firms reported a reduction in work backlog nationwide, the southern U.S. showed the most decline, according to the latest report from Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., a national association which represents 25,000 firms in the construction industry.

ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator sharply declined by 9 percent between November 2009 and January 2010.

This index, a forward-looking indicator which measures the amount of construction work under contract to be completed in the future, has slipped 16.3 percent during the last year.

It currently stands at 5.5 months, the lowest point reported in the 15 months ABC has gathered this data.

The sharpest regional decline occurred in the South, falling from 8.12 months in January 2009 to 6.03 months in January 2010.

“The fact that the CBI is now at its lowest point since ABC began measuring the statistic in November 2008 indicates that the nation’s nonresidential construction industry remains mired in its own recession,” said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist cash advance no fax.

Nonresidential construction tends to lag the overall economy by 12 to 24 months.

“With the broader economy having been in a slow recovery for roughly three quarters, and with the stimulus package still having an impact, the hope had been that some signs of backlog stability would be apparent by now,” Basu said. “However, all indications continue to point toward an ongoing decline in the commercial and industrial construction industry.”

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The complex prescription for successful health care investing usually includes the careful consideration of drug pipelines, current-product sales, patent expirations, potential mergers and stock dividends.

Add to that list in 2010 an untested ingredient called health care reform.

"Institutional investors don’t want to see big headlines about the health care industry that they weren’t able to predict," said Les Funtleyder, health care strategist for Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. "So they’re currently operating on the fear of increased regulation or pricing pressures."

If you’re in any way optimistic that the outcome of health care reform won’t be bad for drug companies, the current fears mean that health care stock prices will never be more reasonable than they are now. Prices are depressed and the dividends solid.

"Once we know what the reform will look like in detail we can then move forward," believes Linda Bannister, health care analyst for Edward Jones in St. Louis. "Managed care is the most at risk from health care reform, and then the risk declines from there."

Beyond the potential negatives of reform on drug stocks there may be some long-term positives.

"If 30 million people who didn’t have health insurance were to have it, imagine what that does for a pharmaceutical company," said James Molloy, pharmaceutical analyst for Caris & Co. in Boston. "The plus side of drugs is that most people with insurance never pay full price, but instead pay a co-pay, and you can imagine what kind of car everyone would drive if they had a co-pay for their gas."

While awaiting a clear prognosis on reform, investors must fall back on traditional considerations that tend to favor big pharma that keeps growing bigger.

Merck & Co., whose stock is flat this year after a 25 percent gain last year, is recommended by Bannister and Funtleyder because its strong product pipeline means it won’t require the endless cutting of costs to be profitable. It faces loss of patents on several key drugs in coming years and fierce competition, yet its financial health is strong and its research excellent.

Merck’s launches of diabetes drug Januvia, papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil and HIV drug Isentress have all been successes, while its acquisition of Schering-Plough could result in $3.5 billion in annual cost-saving synergies by 2012. More than half of Merck’s sales are outside the U.S.

Johnson & Johnson, its stock down slightly this year after last year’s 11 percent rise, has suffered through a period of patent expirations, but Bannister believes its drug pipeline coupled with continued efficiencies should accelerate its growth. It benefits from being the world’s largest and most diverse health-care company, with the top or number-two leadership position in 70 percent of its products.

"I cover mostly smaller names of the world and try to find those with downside protection in the form of some core value," said Molloy.

Warner Chilcott Plc, whose stock is down 8 percent this year after last year’s 96 percent gain, is Molloy’s top pick in part because it has massive cash flow. This marketer of women’s health and dermatology products recently purchased Procter & Gamble’s prescription drug business. Its product mix includes hormonal oral contraceptives and hormone therapy products for menopausal symptoms, as well as topical products for psoriasis and an antibiotic for acne.

The other Molloy favorite is Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc., up 10 percent this year after last year’s 21 percent decline. It is a specialty drug company in pain management whose flagship product is the Lidoderm adhesive patch for post-shingle pain. The company, which cross-sells many of its pain-related products, last year acquired Indevus Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in urology and endocrinology.

"My biggest consideration is whether the good news or bad news is factored into the stock price," explained Molloy. "I also ask whether its primary drug has to be a $1 billion drug for the company’s stock price to go higher."

Novartis AG and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. are Funtleyder’s other favorites. Though he says "no one is firing on all cylinders right now," there is little downside, they offer solid dividends and their upside is the enormous potential of their drug pipelines.

Mergers can come fast and furious among drug companies, but is an unpredictable trend that none of the experts expect will take place soon.

"Pharma has been a consolidating industry ever since it was an industry," said Funtleyder, noting that patent expirations and slowing sales drove the most recent mergers and innovation may someday drive the next go-around. "Consolidation happens in waves and last year was a pretty big wave, so we think there will be a break for a couple of years before we see the next wave of consolidation."

Other Bannister choices include Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer Inc. and Abbott Laboratories.

"If a company like Lilly is unable to execute its pipeline, then at some point it is going to have to make a sizeable acquisition or it will potentially be acquired," concluded Bannister, who considers investment in Lilly a three- to five-year story. "Yet most of these companies’ strategies are licensing deals or small ‘tuck-in’ acquisitions, so I’m not betting on a new wave of industry consolidation."

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Rural/Metro Medical Services is launching a new service designed to help the homebound and seniors in case of emergency.

Many people will remember the television commercials in which an elderly woman pushes a button on a wearable monitor for help after falling. Rural/Metro’s HomeHelpLine service offers a similar service with a major difference: Calls come in to trained emergency medical dispatchers who respond using Rural/Metro’s network of local hospitals and ambulance services.

“When you call a LifeLine or other national providers, calls come through security companies or you’re really dealing with a call center that could be anywhere in the country,” says Jay Smith, public affairs manager. “Our dispatchers are medically trained EMTs and emergency dispatch. We’re local and we’re trained.”

Launched in mid-December, the service has signed up 60 customers so far with a goal of 500 by the end of Rural/Metro’s fiscal year in July. The service is currently available in Erie and Niagara counties, but plans call for extending service into all eight Western New York counties.

The company is targeting seniors and homebound individuals, as well as the children of such people who worry they can’t check in on their loved ones as often as they’d like. Smith says the company is relying on brand recognition and Rural/Metro’s reputation in the region to close the deal.

Additionally, the company is targeting individuals recovering from surgery; those with chronic conditions; and anyone who lives alone or spends several hours at home alone on a regular basis.

The service is available for $24.99 per month. That’s lower than some national services, enabled in part by Rural/Metro’s existing equipment and infrastructure that results in less overhead, Smith says.

Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Rural/Metro Corp. (RURL) is a national provider of emergency services in 22 states.

Locally, the company has more than 550 employees, including 450 EMTs and paramedics, and a fleet of 90 emergency vehicles that responds to more than 100,000 calls every year.

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BRIDGETON — A new Walmart Supercenter would produce an estimated $7 million a year in sales and property tax revenue beginning in 2012, the developer’s proposal says.

Bridgeton Rock Development LLC will present the number Tuesday to a government-appointed TIF Commission as part of the company’s application for up to $8 million in TIF financial benefits.

The $7 million in sales and property taxes is based on projected sales of $82.5 million and would be split among Bridgeton, the state, county and several other taxing jurisdictions. The terms of any TIF arrangement would determine how the money is allocated.

While Bridgeton officials embrace the idea, the proposal has stirred opposition in neighboring St. Ann. Officials there say a supercenter would mean the closing of a smaller, older Walmart on the border of St. Ann and Bridgeton. Ten percent or less of that store is in St. Ann, but it is St. Ann’s second-biggest source of revenue, behind a Shop ‘n Save.

St. Ann’s finances, already staggered by the decline of the Northwest Plaza, cannot take another hit, said city manager Matt Conley. He predicted layoffs of city employees would result, including a loss of police officers.

CHANGE IN TIF LAW

For years, local governments doled out tax-increment financing as a tool to encourage developers to locate in their cities. In 2007, the Missouri Legislature changed the law, taking some authority from the cities and adopting a regional countywide approach. That — combined with the downward spiral of the economy — put a lid on TIF requests.

Walmart’s proposal is only the second in St. Louis County to be considered under the new TIF law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2008. University City recently approved a mixed-use residential and retail project.

Bridgeton officials say the amount of revenue their city would receive from the supercenter clearly would exceed the amount now realized from the current Walmart, at 10835 St. Charles Rock Road. That store originally was built entirely inside Bridgeton, but was expanded with a garden center that crossed over into St. Ann.

Bridgeton Mayor Conrad Bowers said it was safe to assume his city would gain in sales tax. "The store is going be larger, and have many more products, and the sales will be higher," he said.

Bridgeton Rock Development, an affiliate of THF Realty Inc., will make a formal presentation Tuesday to the Tax-Increment Financing Commission, made up of representatives of St. Louis County, the city and other jurisdictions.

TIF is a tax incentive that allows the developer to divert some funds that would go to taxes initially for development costs.

The developer is proposing to build a 159,000-square-foot Supercenter on about 13 acres on the south side of St guaranteed high risk personal loans. Charles Rock Road at Harmony Lane. The existing store, built in 1988, is almost 120,000 square feet — or about 40,000 square feet smaller.

THF said in a written proposal to the city that it was prepared to move immediately after getting approval. THF said it hoped to have title by this summer and open the Supercenter in the fall of 2011.

In addition to construction jobs, THF said the Supercenter would employ about 300 workers.

In September, Walmart closed another older, smaller store in Town and Country and opened a larger supercenter one mile away in neighboring Manchester. In St. Louis, a Sam’s Club was closed at the MarketPlace and reopened in adjacent Maplewood. Sam’s Club is a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

NO SET POLICY

Wal-Mart officials say the company does not have a policy of closing older stores and rebuilding. In fact, the company is engaged in a large-scale remodeling program it calls "Project Impact."

Ryan Horn, senior manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart, said that Project Impact would fully remodel 80 percent of the Walmart stores in the U.S. in the next five years.

At the same time, the company’s other business strategy is to build new supercenter in some communities to modernize.

In Bridgeton, he said, the Supercenter would allow the company to "add full retail-grocery service and make it a modern Walmart. That’s the crux of it. There’s a real need for it in the Bridgeton-St. Ann area and it’s a way of better servicing our customers."

He said Wal-Mart had no intention of tearing down the existing Walmart in St. Ann and would put it on the market.

"We have a very good track record of marketing our buildings," he said.

Even if the TIF Commission recommends against the TIF request, the Bridgeton City Council could overrule it if six of eight council members agreed.

Bowers added: "In my judgment, I think that it (the supercenter) will happen because I really believe it’s good for the area, it’s good for the county. It’s not like we’re stealing this from another area; the store is in Bridgeton."

Bowers said no major development would occur at the now vacant site — formerly a Grandpa Pigeon’s and then a Value City — without financial assistance in part because of the demolition costs.

"The point is Wal-Mart is going to build a Supercenter and I’m pleased they want to be in Bridgeton and at a site that needs to be redeveloped," Bowers said. "As far as I’m concerned it’s the correct use of a TIF."

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