VOL. 127 | NO. 108 | Monday, June 4, 2012
The announcement that Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to settle a three-year-old lawsuit filed by Memphis and Shelby County governments over the company’s lending practices – with the settlement including certain local lending commitments on Wells’ part – was certainly a denouement in the case.

Technology makes house hunting, real estate agents’ jobs easier
Amid the fast-pace world of the real estate business, having technology on your side is not only beneficial, but often necessary.
After tallying savings of $97 million by recommending outsourcing transportation and custodial work as well as closing 21 schools, the group planning out a consolidated countywide school system knew there was pain to follow.
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute this year celebrates a century of improving the quality of care for patients with neurological and spine disorders.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
Business owners who lose touch with reality usually end up going out of business. So let’s chat a bit about reality this week. Among a group of people, the most successful person is usually the one whose viewpoint or image of reality is most closely related to reality. But why would someone’s image of reality deviate from reality in the first place? It’s easy to understand how that can happen if you understand how the brain creates images of reality.
THE MEMPHIS NEWS
Hospitals scooping up private practices at rapid clip as health care reform looms
Private practice is fast becoming a thing of the past, as physicians groups across the country scramble to align with large health care systems in a move largely driven by national health care reform.
The out-of-court settlement by the city and county with Wells Fargo of the lawsuit alleging discriminatory and racially motivated home mortgage refinancing practices has great potential.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. economy suddenly looks a lot weaker.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal regulators are changing the rules for when a dramatic shift in value of the stock market or individual stocks triggers exchanges to halt trading.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer spending edged up modestly in April but personal income growth was the slowest in five months, raising concerns about the ability of Americans to keep spending in the future.
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. (AP) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke said Friday that the retailer is committed to integrity in the wake of recent bribery allegations in Mexico.
DETROIT (AP) – General Motors Co. will change the way it makes pension payments to white-collar retirees, cutting its underfunded U.S. pension obligation by $26 billion.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders increased their spending on construction projects for a second month in April. A pickup in home construction and commercial projects offset a fifth consecutive decline in government spending.