U.S. government to sue JPMorgan in mortgage case

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to sue JPMorgan Chase & Co over mortgage bonds it sold in the run-up to the financial crisis, a sign the bank's legal troubles are not yet over.

A lawsuit, first reported by Reuters, could come as early as Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

JPMorgan spokesman Brian Marchiony and Justice Department spokeswoman Adora Andy Jenkins declined to comment.

The bank disclosed in August that federal prosecutors in California were conducting criminal and civil investigations into the bank's mortgage securities.

In those investigations, government lawyers have concluded that JPMorgan committed civil violations of securities laws in offering mortgage bonds from 2005 to 2007 that were backed by subprime and other risky residential mortgages.

The expected charges come less than one week after the largest U.S. bank paid $1 billion to resolve investigations into its "London Whale" trading scandal and issues surrounding the wrongful billing of credit-card customers. Read more >>

Census: No Sign of Economic Rebound for many

English: US Census map of poverty across US (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Depending on education, race, income and even marriage, not all segments of the population are seeing an economic turnaround.

Poverty is on the rise in single-mother families. More people are falling into the lowest-income group. And after earlier signs of increased mobility, fewer people are moving as homeownership declined for a fifth straight year.

"We're in a selective recovery," said William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer who analyzed the numbers.

Nearly 2.2 million children were poor in California last year, the most of any state, but the child poverty rate was highest in Mississippi, where more than 1 in 3 children was poor. Nationwide, child poverty stood at 21.8 percent, unchanged from the previous year.

"Stubbornly high child poverty rates in the wake of the Great Recession suggest we have not yet turned the corner three years after its official end," said Marybeth Mattingly, director of research on vulnerable families at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute.

The numbers also reflect widening economic inequality, an issue President Barack Obama has pledged would be a top priority of his administration to address. Upward mobility in the U.S. has been hurt by a tight job market and the longer-term disappearance of midskill jobs due to globalization and automation.

The new census data shows that lower-income households are a steadily increasing share of the population, while middle- to higher-income groups shrank or were flat. Read more >>

'Artificial egg' made from PLANTS backed by Bill Gates goes on sale at Whole Foods

A radical ‘artificial egg’ backed by Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel and Bill Gates goes on sale in US supermarkets for the first time today. Made from plants, it can replace eggs in everything from cakes to mayonnaise - without a chicken ever coming close to the production process.

The team today started selling their ‘plant egg’, called Beyond Eggs, in Whole Foods in California - and say it could soon be available in supermarkets worldwide. We want to take animals out of the equation,’ said Josh Tetrick, the firm’s founder. ‘The food industry is begging for innovation, especially where animals are involved - it is a broken industry.’

Tetrick’s idea was to find a mix of easy-to-grow plants that, when mixed together in the right way, replicate the taste, nutritional values and cooking properties of an egg. This, he believes will allow the firm to produce its substitute for mass market foods - and to allow developing worlds to grow their own versions with added nutrients.

‘Eggs are functionally incredible, they do everything from hold oil and water in mayo to making the muffin rise and holding scrambled eggs together,’ he said ‘I started to think what if we can find plants that can do this. We have about 12 plants pre-selected, including a pea already widely grown in Canada. There’s also a bean in South Asia that is incredible in scrambled eggs.’ Read more >>

Unemployment rates rose last month in 28 states

The country's labor market recovery was uneven last month with unemployment rates rising in 28 states and falling in eight, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Monday's data show that 11 states and the District of Columbia with jobless rates higher than the overall U.S. unemployment rate of 7.4%. California, which released its job report Friday, added 38,100 jobs in July, one of its best showings this year. Still, the state's unemployment rate rose 0.2 of a percentage point to 8.7%.

Nationwide, employers added 162,000 net positions last month, but the state job markets turned in mixed performances. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of payroll jobs grew in 32 states but declined in 17.  Read more >>

Bee-killing pesticide found in garden store plants: What does it mean?

A type of pesticide that's a focal point in the controversy over endangered honeybees has turned up in garden-store plants sampled by Friends of the Earth. Other bee experts say the pilot study on neonicotinoids adds an important twist to the plight of the bees — but stress that more rigorous research needs to be done.

The study, co-authored with the Pesticide Research Institute and titled "Gardeners Beware," reported finding traces of neonicotinoid pesticides, or neonics, in seven of 13 plants purchased from garden stores in California's San Francisco Bay area; the Washington, D.C. area; and Minnesota's Twin Cities. The plants included tomatoes, squash, salvia and flowers that would be attractive to pollinators.

“Our investigation is the first to show that so called 'bee-friendly' garden plants contain pesticides that can actually poison bees, with no warning to gardeners," Lisa Archer, director of the Food and Technology Program at Friends of the Earth-US, said in a news release accompanying Wednesday's 34-page report. “Bees are essential to our food system and they are dying at alarming rates. Neonic pesticides are a key part of the problem we can start to fix right now in our own backyards." Read more >>

Desperate GM slashes Chevy Volt price by $5,000

Chevy Volt (Photo credit: John Biehler)

General Motors announced it would trim the price of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in by $5,000. For 2014, the “extended-range electric vehicle” will carry a $34,995 sticker – including delivery charges – 12.5 percent, less than what GM was demanding at the start of the 2013 model-year.

“Dropping the Volt's price removes one of the primary consideration barriers for most buyers,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

As with most of the new plug-based vehicles on the market, Volt will also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, as well as additional incentives in states like California and Colorado, GM officials bet that will further enhance its appeal.

Volt clearly needs a lift. Although sales rose 9.2 percent for the first seven months of 2013, they lagged behind the overall growth of the U.S. new car market – as well as sales gains by key competitors such as the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicles. Volt had outsold both last year, though the Chevy plug-in still missed it original target of 45,000 U.S. sales by a wide margin. Read more >>

Cost of health care to rise 72% in Indiana

Get ready to shell out more money for individual health insurance under Obamacare ... in some states, that is.

While many residents in New York and California may see sizable decreases in their premiums, Americans in many places could face significant increases if they buy insurance through state-based exchanges next year.

That's because these people live in states where insurers were allowed to sell bare-bones plans and exclude the sick, which has kept costs down. Under Obamacare, insurers must offer a package of essential benefits -- including maternity, mental health and medications -- and must cover all who apply. But more comprehensive coverage may lead to more expensive insurance plans.

Under Obamacare, all Americans must have insurance coverage starting in 2014 or face penalties of $95 or 1% of family income, whichever is greater. Enrollment in the exchanges begins October 1, with coverage kicking in in January. Plans will come in four tiers, ranging from bronze to platinum. Read more >>

Federal energy regulator accuses JPMorgan of manipulating electricity market

JPMorgan Chase Tower (Dallas) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. power market regulator took a step toward charging JPMorgan with gaming electricity prices on Monday, confirming months of media reports about "manipulative" trading schemes that have rattled the bank.

The "notice of alleged violations," which outlines bidding strategies used by traders in California and the Midwest, is an intermediate step by the regulator, but brings details of the investigation into public view.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff has found "eight manipulative bidding strategies" used by a JPM affiliate in 2010 and 2011, the regulator said.

JPMorgan declined to comment. The notice comes as little surprise after weeks of reports that JPMorgan and FERC are in talks to settle the alleged trading infractions for as much as $400 million. It did not contain any mention of specific traders or commodities chief Blythe Masters, who had been mentioned in media reports as having been at risk of being singled out. Read more >>

Postal Service looks to end at-your-door mail

If you’re moving to a newly built house, say goodbye to mail delivery at your door. And if some House Republicans get their way, all door-to-door mail delivery will go away.

The U.S. Postal Service is marching towards a more “centralized delivery,” where residents pick up their own mail from clusters of mail boxes located in their neighborhood. Local postmasters are sending hundreds of letters to fast-growing communities, warning that cluster boxes will be the way mail will be delivered to new developments.

In the past year, the cash-strapped Postal Service has been asking companies in industrial parks and shopping malls to also adopt this form of mail delivery.

But Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican leading the House effort to save the postal service, wants more. He has made doing away with doorstep delivery a key part of his bill, which would require everyone to get mail at a curbside box or from a cluster box. Read more >>

Demonstrations in major cities across the country over Zimmerman verdict

Angry crowds gathered in major cities across the country late last night following the not guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin case.

The demonstrators carried signs and gathered en masse from New York to Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Though the marches were largely non-violent, police assembled close by to monitor activity - fearful strong reactions to the verdict could spill over into rioting.

In Oakland, California, long a hotbed of racial tension, some protestors turned violent - vandalizing police cars, breaking windows and setting fire to garbage cans.

One photo from the protests in the city shows men dousing a flag in lighter fluid and setting it alight. More demonstrations are planned today under the banner of 'Justice 4 Trayvon.' At least three separate protests are scheduled for New York City alone - one in lower Manhattan, one in Harlem an a third in Brooklyn. Read more >>

8 of the 10 most polluted US cities are located in California

There is no doubt that great strides have been made in air pollution in the U.S. Awareness, stricter legislation and improved technology have all contributed to improved air, land and water conditions. Despite the improvements, four in 10 Americans still live where pollution levels are often dangerous to breathe.

Since the American Lung Association began studying particle pollution, almost all of the most polluted cities have consistently remained among the worst. The ALA’s 2013 “State of the Air” report measures cities based on low-lying ozone pollution, as well as both short- and long-term particle pollution.

Based on average long-term particle pollution figures collected by the ALA between 2009 and 2011, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 most polluted cities in the country. For each of these metropolitan areas, the ALA noted the population and the number of people in the area with health problems that high pollution can exacerbate, such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Check out the 10 most polluted US cities, 8 are in California:

5 Best & 5 Worst States for Business

It appears CEOs prefer doing business in states run by Republican governors, or so says Chief Executive magazine’s ninth annual “The Best and Worst States for Business” survey.

The survey asked 736 CEOs to grade states on a variety of “competitive metrics that CEOs themselves regard as critical,” including taxation and regulation, quality of workforce, and living environment.

“The tax and regulatory grade includes a measure of how CEOs grade a state’s attitude toward business, a key indicator,” the report write-up notes.

“In the minds of most leaders, a state’s friendliness is closely aligned with its tax and regulatory regime. Similarly, workforce quality also measures the perceived cooperativeness of workers with management, as well as the people’s general work ethic and education attainment,” the write-up reads.

“The living environment metric measures the perceived quality of education and public health facilities, as well as the affordability and quality of real estate, the transportation system and related environmental factors,” it adds.

And although three of the top 10 worst states for business are controlled by Republican governors, the top 10 best states, as noted by the Washington Examiner’s Charlie Spiering, are all run by Republican governors.

Here are the top five best states for business:

For the unemployed, no reprieve on budget cuts

Starting this week, many in California collecting federal unemployment benefits will get about 17.7% less than they got last week, thanks to Washington's across-the-board budget cuts. Those cuts -- the so-called sequester -- require that states pay out less on federal extensions of benefits, and the reduction is retroactive to March 1, when the sequester went into effect.

Federally extended benefits, which may last for up to 47 weeks, kick in after a jobless worker has exhausted state unemployment benefits, which last up to 26 weeks.
Nationwide, the cuts will affect an estimated 3.8 million people through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Just how much a recipient's benefits will be cut depends on how quickly a state implements the change. "In the best case scenario, where the states implemented the cuts right away, the average worker will receive about $31 less each week (10.7% less) in benefits from her $294 weekly check," said Judith Conti, the federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment Law Project, in recent testimony before a House Ways and Means subcommittee. Read more >>

California eyes penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and energy drinks to combat child obesity

In California, big gulps could soon be taxed in a big way. A bill that would tax sweetened beverages like soda and energy drinks a penny per ounce cleared a hurdle Wednesday in the California Legislature. The state Senate Governance and Finance Committee passed SB-622 by a 5-2 vote, sending the controversial measure on for review by the Senate Health Committee.

“This is the first time this state committee has passed a bill that would place a tax on sugary drinks and the first step toward stemming the epidemic of childhood obesity,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Democratic Sen. Bill Monning said in a news release.

The bill exempts drinks that contain fewer than 25 calories, and the funds raised by the excise tax would go to the state’s newly created Children’s Health Promotion Fund, as well as programs that combat childhood obesity.

“By taxing these products we will be able to implement programs that will assist in preventing disease among children and begin to address a public health crisis whose rising health costs affect all Californians,” Monning said. Read more >>

Record 47,791,996 on food stamps

On Friday, the United States Department of Agriculture quietly released new statistics related to the food stamps program, officially known as SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The numbers reveal, in 2012, the food stamps program was the biggest it's ever been, with an average of 46,609,072 people on the program every month of last year. 47,791,996 people were on the program in the month of December 2012.

The federal government also says that in a given month in 2012, the number of households on food stamps was 22,329,713.

The state with the highest average number of participants per month in 2012 was Texas, with an astonishing 4,038,440 folks drawing from the program. The second highest is California, with 3,964,221, and then Florida, at 3,353,064.

Washington, D.C., with an estimated population of 617,996, had an average of 141,147 participants. Meaning, roughly 23 percent of folks living in D.C. are on food stamps, according to the numbers provided by the federal government. The participation rate in Texas, which has an estimated population of 26,059,203, 15.5 percent. Read more >>

Nearly half of Americans are one emergency from financial ruin

Nearly 44% of American households are one emergency away from financial ruin.

That means they don't have enough savings to cover basic living expenses for three months if something unforeseen happens such as losing a job or falling sick, according to a recent study by the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Almost a third of Americans have no savings account at all.

"These families have had to prioritize today's expenses over tomorrow's goals," said Andrea Levere, the group's president.

California ranks 38th among all states for the ability of its residents to achieve financial stability, the report says. Those living in the Golden State are bedeviled with an average $13,825 in credit card debt and high housing costs.

Many people living precariously have jobs. About 75% are working full time, and more than 15% are earning middle-class incomes of more than $55,000 a year, according to the report.

But despite steady jobs, many of those surveyed are surviving paycheck to paycheck, trying to cope with the recession's aftermath; one emergency could tip them over "the edge of financial disaster." Read more >>

California becoming less family-friendly

For all of human history, family has underpinned the rise, and decline, of nations. This may also prove true for the United States, as demographics, economics and policies divide the nation into what may be seen as child-friendly and increasingly child-free zones.

Where California falls in this division also may tell us much about our state's future. Indeed, in his semi-triumphalist budget statement, our 74-year-old governor acknowledged California's rapid aging as one of the more looming threats for our still fiscally challenged state.

Gov. Jerry Brown, unsurprisingly, did not acknowledge or address the many factors driving the aging trend that include his own favored policy prescriptions. Whatever their intent, the usual "progressive" basket of policies have had regressive results: a tougher time for both the poor and middle class, and a set of density-oriented policies that are likely to drive up housing prices, particularly for the single-family houses largely preferred by people with children.

These policies have helped turn California into a state that looks less Sunbelt and more like the long-aging centers of the Northeast and the Midwest. It also mirrors declines in fertility and marriage rates in the most-rapidly aging parts of Europe and east Asia. These regions are shifting toward what Chapman University's recent report, in cooperation with the Civil Service College of Singapore, characterized as post-familialism. Released this past fall in Singapore, the report will be presented in Orange County this week. Read more >>

California manufacturing jobs tank

The shutdown of a 102-year-old California manufacturing company points to a major flaw in California's industrial development policy:

We don't have one.

The company is Pneumatic Scale Angelus, which turned out top-of-the-line machines for sealing lids on soda and beer cans from a factory in Vernon. That was a niche business but not a small one, since bottling companies the world over were Angelus customers.

As we reported just after Christmas, Angelus employees were told on Nov. 2 that its owner, privately held Barry-Wehmiller Cos., would shut down production at the plant Jan. 1 and move it to a factory in Ohio. That meant lost jobs for 111 members of the United Steelworkers in Vernon.

The company appears to have fulfilled its legal obligation to inform city and state officials of its plans; economic development agencies at all three levels of government got notices pursuant to the state WARN Act, which requires notifications of such layoffs 60 days in advance. Another copy went to the office of County Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose district covers Vernon. Her office didn't get back to me to explain how they responded to it, if at all. Read more >>

Dollar Store: The Booming Business of Being Cheap

English: Family Dollar 50th Anniversary Flagship Store, Charlotte, NC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's a reason Christmas as become so crassly commercial. Retailers ring up as much as 40 percent of the entire year's sales between Black Friday and Christmas day. But there is one segment of stores that skips the holiday hoopla. In fact, they seem to fly under the retail radar all year long: Dollar stores.

The three top players, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General, have quietly become a $56 billion industry and they are opening new locations faster than Starbucks. By one estimate, there are more dollar stores in the United States than drug stores.

"Believe it or not, we can still open a lot of stores," said Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine. "Particularly in California where we just opened a store a year ago… this is probably a 1,000-store state."

Right now, Levine overseas an empire of 7,550 stores nationwide -- and counting. Family Dollar opened 500 new stores this year – more than one per day.

"If somebody told me I was cheap, I would take that as a compliment," he said. "That means we are looking for value. That means we don't overpay for stuff."

When asked what his answer was to the stereotype that dollar stores only sell junk, Levine said, "I say you haven't been in a Family Dollar, maybe ever, to make that kind of comment." Read more >>

Senate Votes Down Military Imprisonment Of Americans

The Senate took a step Thursday toward ending the indefinite detention of Americans in the U.S., voting for a narrow amendment that some civil liberties groups opposed, even though they said it was in the right direction.

The measure, offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, specifies that citizens and legal residents suspected of terrorism in the U.S. cannot be held without trial indefinitely.

"I know this is a sensitive subject, but I really believe we stand on the values of our country, and the value of our country is justice for all," said Feinstein before the Senate voted 67 to 29 to add her provision to the NDAA.

Civil libertarians had problems with her amendment, even though many regarded it as a positive step.

The key sentence in her measure says: "An authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States apprehended in the United States, unless an Act of Congress expressly authorizes such detention."

First, the rights groups argued, the measure does not provide justice for all, because it does not apply to non-citizens or Americans caught overseas. Read more >>