VOL. 127 | NO. 74 | Monday, April 16, 2012
SPECIAL EMPHASIS: Public Companies
AutoZone continues pushing pedal to the metal with record earnings
Forbes magazine recently published an article ranking the best CEOs in the country over the past year. Bill Rhodes, CEO at AutoZone Inc. since 1995, was one of the men who made that list of “best bosses.”
As Facebook prepares for its multibillion-dollar initial public offering (IPO) next month, it sheds light on how companies – including local ones – decide whether to go public or not.
Dr. Mitchell Steiner recently returned from a trip to Eastern Europe, where he visited hospitals participating in international clinical trials for the drug enobosarm, which is being developed by his Memphis-based public biopharmaceutical company GTx Inc.
Memphis is home to several publicly traded companies that have made an indelible mark on industries ranging from transportation to finance and manufacturing.
Local home sales saw a 20 percent boost during the first quarter, with increases in both traditional and foreclosure sales, and agents suggest that among such low inventory levels, it’s a move in the right direction.
Mirroring the first quarter of the year, March home sales were up 18 percent with 1,263 recorded for the month compared to 1,067 in March 2011.
When he returned to Memphis last week from Charlotte, N.C., Memphis City Schools superintendent Kriner Cash went directly to The Racquet Club of Memphis where a group of 500 was winding up a rally in support of the Teacher Effectiveness Initiative.
The local economy is inching toward improvement. A newly released report from the Federal Reserve shows the central bank’s regional district that includes Memphis saw modest improvement in residential real estate as well as the commercial real estate market since the Fed’s last survey.
There will be another vote probably next month. But the schools consolidation planning commission has endorsed the general idea that students in the merged Shelby County Schools system will have the same school assignments for at least the first two years of the merger.
April is proving to be a banner month for alternative energy as two solar arrays formally opened within days of each other last week.
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
From an office on the second floor of the EmergeMemphis building at 516 Tennessee St., a small company called Cloud for Good is harnessing the power of cloud technology to help nonprofits develop customized, cost-effective solutions, advance their missions and raise the social return on their investments.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
World changing is a fairly common goal among human beings, and I personally think being thought of as a world changer would be pretty cool. When people ask me what I like to do with my time, talent and energy, I could cleverly work being a change agent for the world into the conversation by saying, “I write books, watch some TV, play guitar, change the world, enjoy good meals, and drink a little wine from time to time.” Yes, I think being a world-changer has a good ring to it. It is a nice conversation starter.
THE MEMPHIS NEWS
City’s minor-league baseball team looks to re-energize fan base
One of baseball’s enduring maxims is that anytime you go to a game you’ve got a chance to see something you’ve never seen before.
The Memphis Redbirds Foundation should make a full-on move to private ownership with no interim step to possible city control or ownership of the franchise and AutoZone Park.
Long before Disney created the pumpkin carriage, the dancing mice or the well-known lyrics “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” there was Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet “Cinderella,” which will take the stage for Ballet Memphis.
REGIONAL
MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi's recycling industry is turning into an economic powerhouse and industry officials say the state needs to better position itself to become a national leader.
LITTLE ROCK (AP) – A state court official said Friday there has been some improvement in court fee and fine collections after a recent drop that prompted state officials to direct one-time money to prop up a fund that pays for much of Arkansas' judicial operations.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) – The price of oil slipped to near $103 per barrel following weak economic reports out of China and Europe.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has re-released years of his old tax returns in an attempt to pressure the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, to do the same.