Michael Dell may have to hike the price he's willing to pay if he wants to take the computer company he founded private, thanks to competition from two new acquisition offers.

A special committee of independent Dell Inc. directors said Monday that it will negotiate with buyout specialist Blackstone Group and activist investor Carl Icahn over bids that rival an offer of more than $24 billion from CEO and Chairman Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.

2. Barnes & Noble Chair Wants to Buy Retail Business - Tuesday, February 26, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) – The last remaining national bookstore chain is being taken off the shelf and dusted off for sale.

Founder Barnes & Noble's founder Leonard Riggio disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. No price was disclosed.

3. Lawmakers to Resume Education Focus in New Session - Tuesday, January 08, 2013

NASHVILLE (AP) – Legislation that would allow parents to decide the fate of a struggling school is among several education-related proposals lawmakers are likely to discuss during the 108th Tennessee General Assembly that convenes Tuesday.

4. Best Buy Reports Third-Quarter Loss - Wednesday, November 21, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Struggling Best Buy Co. reported another dismal quarter on Tuesday, recording a third quarter loss and continued sales slump just as the crucial holiday season revs up.

5. Weak Hiring Shows Economy Still Hurting - Monday, July 09, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – A third straight month of weak hiring shows the U.S. economy is still struggling three years after the recession officially ended.

U.S. employers added just 80,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

6. Best Buy Profit Falls 26 Pct. in First Quarter - Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit dropped 26 percent on restructuring charges as the struggling electronics retailer began implementing a turnaround plan.

7. J.C. Penney Gets Rid of Hundreds of Sales - Thursday, January 26, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – J.C. Penney is permanently marking down all of its merchandise by at least 40 percent so shoppers no longer have to wait for sales to get bargains.

Penney said Wednesday that it is getting rid of the hundreds of sales it offers each year in favor of a simpler approach to pricing. Starting on Feb. 1, the retailer is rolling out an "Every Day" pricing strategy with much fewer sales throughout the year.

8. Patrick Travels Long Road Before Opening Rizzos - Monday, January 09, 2012

Michael Patrick came to Memphis in 1997. Things are finally starting to look up.

“Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration,” the chef said, sitting at the front sun-drenched table in his three-month-old Rizzos Diner. “At certain times, my time in Memphis has been disappointing. Sometimes it was going great, and then I had the carpet pulled out from under me. I got the rep of a person who had too many jobs.”

9. Sears Adds Ex-Brookstone CEO to Head Merchandising - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Sears Holdings Corp.'s CEO says he's looking to former Brookstone head Ron Boire as its new chief merchandising officer to help meld the store experience with online and mobile shopping.

10. Sears to Close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears Stores - Wednesday, December 28, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) – Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores to raise cash after a weak holiday shopping season for the retailer.

11. Shoppers Say 'Ho-Hum' Not 'Ho-Ho-Ho' to Sales - Thursday, December 08, 2011

Sale, schmale.

Used to be, customers would come running when stores cut prices. But these days, more Americans are becoming blasé about bargains.

Jennifer Beasley recently left a Toys R Us in Cary, N.C., unimpressed by the retailer's offers that day of 50 percent discounts on things like a $150 Sylvania tablet computer and a $45 My Baby Alive Doll.

12. Retailers Bank on Kindle Fire for Holidays - Tuesday, October 04, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon's Kindle Fire is a Catch-22 for retailers: The $199 tablet computer could both help Christmas traffic and hurt future sales.

Retailers hope the Kindle Fire's low price tag – which is less than half that of Apple's cheapest iPad tablet – will attract shoppers to stores during the busy holiday season. But the device, which offers free shipping and other incentives for customers to shop at Amazon, ultimately could drive sales to their online nemesis.

13. AP IMPACT: Hospital Drug Shortages Deadly, Costly - Monday, September 26, 2011

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – A drug for dangerously high blood pressure, normally priced at $25.90 per dose, offered to hospitals for $1,200. Fifteen deaths in 15 months blamed on shortages of life-saving medications.

14. Drug Prices to Plummet in Wave of Expiring Patents - Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The cost of prescription medicines used by millions of people every day is about to plummet.

The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the world's 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.

15. Auto Industry, Seeing New Life, is on Hiring Spree - Thursday, July 07, 2011

DETROIT (AP) – Volkswagen opened a plant in Tennessee last month with 2,000 workers. Honda is hiring 1,000 in Indiana to meet demand for its best-selling Civic. General Motors is looking for 2,500 in Detroit to build the Chevy Volt.

16. Home Prices Falling in Most Major US Cities - Wednesday, March 30, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) – Home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities, and the average prices in four of them are at their lowest point in 11 years. Analysts expect further prices declines in most cities in the coming months.

17. Early Deals Draw Shoppers, Raise Retail Spirits - Tuesday, November 23, 2010

NEW YORK (AP) – Shoppers spent a bit more in early November, raising retailers’ spirits about the holiday season right before it kicks into high gear.

Early discounting on everything from TVs and sweaters as well as free shipping deals helped pull in shoppers in the first two weeks of November. Consumers coming out of their shells could be a gift for an economy that has suffered from depressed spending for almost three years.

18. Economy Offers Mixed Picture Day Before Election - Tuesday, November 02, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – A mixed picture of the economy emerged one day before key midterm elections that have focused on the nation's financial health.

Spending by Americans slowed in September and their incomes fell for the first time in more than a year. At the same time, manufacturing activity grew by the most in five months and the weak construction industry showed a little life.

19. State Bandages Tenn. BEST Tuition Program Again - Tuesday, July 20, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State officials have put another $15 million into the Baccalaureate Education System Trust.

The fund was envisioned as self-sustaining and would use investment returns to pay for an eventual college education for children whose parents prepay at current tuition rates.

20. BP Floating Financial Lifeline to Station Owners - Wednesday, June 30, 2010

HOUSTON (AP) – Oil giant BP PLC is floating a financial lifeline to the owners, operators and suppliers of the gas stations around America that bear its name and have been struggling because of boycotts prompted by the Gulf spill.

21. Consumer Confidence Grows as Economy Strengthens - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

NEW YORK (AP) — Key pillars of the U.S. economy are getting stronger.

The best consumer confidence reading since September 2008's financial meltdown and bullish earnings reports this week from companies ranging from Whirlpool to UPS show increasing demand and a rebound gathering steam. Americans are even feeling a bit better about the job market.

22. Trainer Gets Around Tighter Business Climate - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The fear of public speaking is as common as the fear of heights, but Don Hutson found that knowing what to say and how to say it makes good business sense.

23. The Cost of Progress - Monday, March 08, 2010

The development of Norfolk Southern Corp.’s $112 million intermodal yard on a former cattle ranch in Fayette County has polarized the community for more than a year.

24. Housing Divided - Monday, November 23, 2009

A couple of years ago, when Clay Thompson of Memphis decided it was time to stop renting, he set his sights on the Downtown condominium market. He was especially interested in the old warehouses in the South Main Historic Arts District that had been converted to condos.

25. Braking Point: Inside MATA's identity crisis - Monday, August 24, 2009

The bus system in Memphis has an undeserved “mythology,” according to the people who run it. However, some who ride Memphis Area Transit Authority buses everyday – and many who don’t – contend the system is far from perfect.

26. GM, Chrysler Say Slashing Dealerships Necessary - Thursday, June 04, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chiefs of General Motors and Chrysler told skeptical lawmakers on Wednesday they have too many dealers to support their slimmed down operations and sacrifices must be shared as they fight to overcome bankruptcy and survive. They acknowledged that slashing dealerships is causing pain in communities around the country.

27. Finance Unit Woes Lower GE Earns 36 Pct - Monday, April 20, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - General Electric Co.'s first-quarter earnings fell 36 percent as profits tumbled at its troubled finance arm, but the results beat Wall Street forecasts in a glimmer of good news for the struggling company.

28. After 60 Years Circuit City Powers Down - Tuesday, March 10, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - What began 60 years ago as a humble television store in this sleepy Southern capital ended Sunday as Circuit City closed its doors for good – its 567 remaining U.S. stores to be left broom clean and vacant.

29. Associate Retention Challenge For Firms In Tough Times - Thursday, February 05, 2009

When a young lawyer joins a firm as an associate, it used to mean they were on partner track at that firm.

Changing times combined with the struggling economy, however, have transformed the partnership track idea for many associates. In a recent article published in The Memphis Lawyer titled “Stop Loss: The Scoop on Associate Retention,” several co-authors wrote, “Firms across Memphis are getting frustrated by an attrition rate many see as alarming.”

30. Circuit City Ripples Go Beyond Vacancies, Layoffs - Thursday, February 05, 2009

Circuit City will finally flicker out when its last 567 stores close this year, but the bankruptcy of the nation's second-largest electronics retailer will ripple across the U.S. economy for years.

31. Fiat and Chrysler Sign Alliance Plan - Wednesday, January 21, 2009

ROME (AP) - Fiat and Chrysler said Tuesday they have agreed to form a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35-percent stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker and could eventually bring it full control.

32. GMAC Gives Up Some Car Financing - Monday, January 05, 2009

DETROIT (AP) – GMAC will no longer have exclusive rights to provide low-interest loans to people who buy General Motors Corp. vehicles, and it will stop financing leases under a complex deal to get federal aid for the troubled lender.

33. Holiday Shopping Season Off to a Modest Start - Tuesday, December 02, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - The Thanksgiving shopping weekend may not have been the disaster some had feared, but unprecedented discounts and tempered buying likely resulted in overall soft sales as a buying binge on Friday quickly fizzled. Now, online retailers are ramping up deals to turn skittish shoppers into "Cyber Monday" spenders.

34. Government Announces New Loan Programs - Wednesday, November 26, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government, still struggling to manage a severe financial crisis, unveiled two new programs Tuesday that will provide $800 billion to try to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt from home mortgages to credit cards.

35. Conway Looks for Better Ways to Build Business - Friday, October 31, 2008

John Conway pointed to a likeness of himself emblazoned in full color on a Conway Services van that lets people know he’s in the heating and air conditioning business.

36. MAAR Forms Group For Young Brokers - Friday, October 03, 2008

Commercial real estate can be a tough profession at any age, but it’s especially difficult for a young agent breaking into the industry to find his or her footing alongside the established practitioners.

37. Renovations Pick Up At Local Hospitals - Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Several area hospitals have major renovation projects going on.

The Regional Medical Center at Memphis soon will join that group, as U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, continue working with their respective legislative bodies to secure $500,000 so the hospital can renovate its emergency department.

38. Boeing Sends Machinists Final Offer - Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Boeing Co. delivered a final contract offer to its union machinists Thursday that it said would boost pay by 11 percent on average over three years, the latest effort by the airplane maker to avoid a strike which could cost the company millions of dollars a day.

39. McCain, Obama Duel on Economic Fix-It Plans - Wednesday, July 09, 2008

DENVER (AP) - Barack Obama and John McCain agree on this much: The economy is staggering under the Bush administration, and Americans are hurting. But who's to blame and how best to fix it?

Well, they part ways on that, as they made clear in dueling economic speeches Monday on the issue that has taken center stage in their presidential contest.

40. Calls to Modify Mortgage Loans Pit Regulators Against Investors - Thursday, September 13, 2007

NEW YORK (Dow Jones/AP) - Regulators want banks to help subprime mortgage borrowers avert disaster by easing their loan terms, but for bond investors, the cure may not be better than the disease.

41. Tick Bite is Far Cry From Brain Tumor Woes - Friday, August 25, 2006

As Gov. Phil Bredesen - a multi-millionaire whose net worth some sources estimate at between $50 million and $150 million - made his trek Wednesday to the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for help with "flu-like" symptoms, people like Kim Fields of Millington struggled to survive.

42. Archived Article: Tech Focus - Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Multi-sensory books hone reading skills locally

Multi-sensory books hone reading skills locally

By ANDREW BELL

The Daily News

Caldwell Elementary School first grade teacher Ashley Woodard left school for Christmas break worried about the...