Charlotteans get

some charlatans

Charlotte is spending $427 million on the first phase of its light rail system, which gives its downtown a guide for future development among the stations. The growth projections for Charlotte’s next 25 years include an economy that will add 374,000 jobs, a 65% increase.

Online investing is

getting cheaper

Consumers are experiencing a price war for their business as online stock traders. The lower fees for trading are reflected in the lower profits and lower values of shares in discount brokerage firms. This year so far Charles Schwab’s shares are down 11.5%, E*Trade is off 21.1%, and Ameritrade is off 25.9%. Maybe it’s time to buy.

SC lottery threatened

For the fiscal year ended last June, the SC lottery paid for education programs worth $953 million. North Carolinians’ share of that was $114, most of which was threatened by the NC House’s vote last week to start a lottery.

The Brits vote

for prime minister

Tony Blair, prime minister for the UK, last week announced a national election to be held on May 5. Blair’s opposition, Conservative candidate Michael Howard, has a 5% lead in the polls.

More costs tied to tsunamis

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, last December’s tsunamis in the Indian Ocean could cost $3 billion and 250,000 jobs to the global tourism industry.

China too successful

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R–Greenwood Mills) kept an amendment alive in the Senate last week. The amendment would slap a 27.5% tariff on Chinese goods if China failed to revalue its currency after six months. In 1990, SC had 85,600 textile workers, and in 2004, 37,700. With 34,300 apparel manufacturing workers in 1990, SC today has 3,600. The investment bank Barclays Capital in London suggested the currency revaluation wouldn’t make much difference in the trade balance here or in Europe. Meanwhile, Euratex, a European textile industry association, feared another million job losses in Europe this year due to trade imbalances with China.

What if...

Warren Buffet, founder and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, meets with stockholders next week in Omaha. If $10,000 were invested with Buffet in 1956, that investment would be worth $350 million today. Buffet himself, according to Forbes Magazine, is worth $41 billion.

Bankruptcy driven

by medical bills

In 2001, 1.45 million American families filed for bankruptcy, and 54.5% blamed medical problems.

SC State Senate votes to put

pension system in stocks

The SC Senate removed a 40% cap on how much of the pension system’s $24 billion in assets can be invested in stocks.

Why Texas can afford more

The Atlantic coast, including SC, could provide 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas if drilling were allowed.

Apartments and offices

nationwide

Apartment vacancies in the US fell to 6.6% in the first quarter from 7.1% a year earlier. The average apartment rents for $882 a month. The average office vacancy rate fell to 16% in the first quarter from 16.2% in the previous quarter. The average office rent is $20.25 per square foot.

Boeing and Northwest

Charleston’s new Boeing plant will participate in the assembly of 203 787–Dreamliner airplanes. That’s the number of orders and commitments so far. Northwest is close to committing to order another 18 with a total value of $2.1 billion at list prices.

The most

Forbes Magazine ’s 2000 largest companies in the world total the following: assets, $81 trillion; market value, $27 trillion; employees, 66 million; sales, $22 trillion; and profits, $1.3 trillion.

Aiken

SC Metal Products, LLC, a new company created by McGregor Brothers Holdings, will invest more than $7 million in Aiken, creating 25 new jobs initially and adding up to 75 additional jobs over the next three to five years. In SC the company will produce metal stampings, split steel pulleys, sprockets, and a variety of welded assemblies.

SC Bank and Trust

SCBT Financial Corporation and its lead banking subsidiary, SC Bank and Trust, announced last week its acquisition of New Commerce BanCorp and its banking subsidiary, New Commerce Bank. Under the terms of the acquisition, New Commerce BanCorp shareholders will receive $18 in cash for each share of New Commerce BanCorp common stock that they own.

Lake Murray development

Mountain Funding, LLC, a private hard money, bridge, mezzanine and equity provider specializing in value–added commercial projects and residential land development, has closed a $6 million hard money loan for The Green at Timberlake, a 192–unit lakefront condominium and townhouse complex set on 2.8 acres on the shore of Lake Murray in Chapin. The developer of the property is Bay Communities, Inc. of Palm Coast, FL.

AcroSoft of Columbia

AcroSoft Corporation last week announced a new alliance with Kanbay Inc., a wholly–owned subsidiary of Kanbay International, Inc., a global IT services firm focused in the financial services industry. This agreement enables both companies to jointly market best–of–breed software and IT services to the insurance markets internationally. Under the agreement, AcroSoft will market and sell Kanbay’s consulting and technical services to its customers.