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01/18/12--04:18: Easier visa entry, more foreign tourists: President Obama's gift this week to Florida? (chan 2091202)



More foreign tourists on the way? Two young Brazilian tourists play a little soccer during a rain delay last summer at Tampa's Busch Gardens. Brazil’s strong currency has the visitors spending large amounts at stores across Florida. (Photo: Willie J. Allen Jr., Tampa Bay Times.)

Wake up and good morning. There's growing buzz about President Obama's planned visit tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 19) to Orlando and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom where he will supposedly unveil a new way to boost tourism. ... Read more




01/19/12--03:57: For some major banks in Florida, things not working out as hoped (chan 2091202)

Wake up and good morning. It's not a good week to be a bank doing business in Florida. Several financial institutions and bankers got their fingers burned recently. Here's the tally. ... Read more




01/20/12--04:17: Alex Sink: Florida economy's looking up but new data hint many people living on the edge (chan 2091202)



After the 2010 election, still trying to make a difference. Alex Sink was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida and faced Republican nominee Rick Scott in the 2010 state gubernatorial election, losing to Scott by a 1 percent margin. AP photo.

Wake up and good morning. Alex Sink came within a whisker of becoming Florida's governor, losing to Rick Scott and his personal wallet, but she's still trying to influence the direction of the Sunshine State economy. ... Read more




01/20/12--13:41: Two months after St. Pete called "saddest" city, Tampa Bay nailed as "most stressful" (chan 2091202)

Hey, quit picking on Tampa Bay. And the rest of Florida, too. Two months ago, Men's Health magazine decided to run a "Frown Towns" survey that said St. Petersburg was the saddest city in America. Don't worry. Tampa and Miami and Orlando were not far behind.

Now comes another survey from CNBC that says Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is the "most stressful" metro area. It beats out No. 2 Las Vegas, which is quickly followed by No. 3 Miami and No. 4 Jacksonville. ... Read more




01/23/12--04:31: Are we getting too bullish on Florida's housing recovery? (chan 2091202)

Wake up and good morning. Just an early morning note of caution to the brief euphoria we've started to see about the Florida housing market in early 2012. The optimists suggest we've hit bottom on home prices and our inventory of unsold homes is now small enough to absorb that coming "shadow inventory" of foreclosures bank are supposed to dump on the market. The crux of this thinking was well reported in Tampa Bay Times real estate reporter Mark Puente's recent story. ... Read more




01/24/12--03:25: Florida's challenge: What happens as aging population depends solely on Social Security? (chan 2091202)

Wake up and good morning. Some startling statistics follow with tough implications for Florida as Baby Boomers age... 

A third of Florida's senior Social Security recipients survive on only their monthly government checks, according to an analysis by AARP, says a South Florida Sun-Sentinel story. Contrast that with the nation as a whole where only 25 percent of retirees 65 and older depend solely on Social Security, the senior advocacy group said. Advanced age has a lot to do with it, meaning Florida has plenty of aging people who simply outlive their other means of support. ... Read more




01/25/12--04:36: Rarest of creatures Lee Farkas, a convicted mortgage executive serving time, now seeks retrial (chan 2091202)

Wake up and good morning. That rarest of events -- a successful federal prosection of a financial executive who allegedly scammed the mortgage industry -- is now under fresh attack. Lee Farkas, the Ocala ex-CEO of the Taylor, Bean & Whitaker mortgage corporation and -- I can't believe I'm saying this, the government’s biggest criminal conviction of the financial crisis -- wants a retrial. ... Read more




01/26/12--04:03: Buckle up, Florida: As President, Gingrich sees next U.S. state on the moon (chan 2091202)



Wake up and good morning. It was a stellar performance in pandering to regional voters. Newt Gingrich wandered into the Final Frontier Wednesday by telling a Brevard County/Space Coast audience that there will be a permanent U.S. base on the moon and a "continuous propulsion system" to allow travel to Mars by 2020 or, as he put it, by the "end of his second term" as president. Better hurry. Both China and Russia are talking moon colonies, too. (Photo: AP)

(Heck, we can't even decide to build a nuclear power plant in Florida by 2020.) ... Read more




01/26/12--11:07: Celebratory Jabil Circuit CEO Tim Main at annual meeting: 'We smoked the S&P' (chan 2091202)



The Tampa Bay Times visited a Jabil Circuit plant (above) in Panyu, China, in 2003, but the company now operates plants in nine other Chinese cities. Photo by David G. McIntyre.

Very happy campers after two record years in a row, the (mostly) boys running Jabil Circuit looked relaxed and ready to kick butt this year, too, at the St. Petersburg electronics manufacturer's annual meeting this morning. Analysts peg Jabil's annual revenues this year at $17.5 billion, up from 2011's $16.5 billion. Jabil CEO Tim Main says he has no problem with the latest analyst prediction. ... Read more




01/27/12--04:19: Don CeSar Hotel to BP: 'Show us the money' for lost business from oil spill (chan 2091202)



Wake up and good morning. Looks like the landmark Loews Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach is tired of waiting for BP to make good on a $5 million claim for lost business from the 2010 Gulf oil spill. So the Don CeSar's hired Houston attorney and pit bull in BP litigation Tony Buzbee (photo below) of The Buzbee Law Firm to press BP in court. ... Read more