Missing from Asia's boardrooms? Women

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The problem is most acute at the very top of the corporate ladder, where in many cases, women are nowhere to be found.

Women occupied only 6% of corporate board seats in Asia in 2011, according to a study conducted by McKinsey. That puts the region well behind Europe and the United States, where 17% and 15% of board seats are held by women.

In South Korea, only around 1% of company board members are women. The figure is 2% in Japan, 5% in India, 6% in Indonesia and 7% in Singapore.

Even in Hong Kong -- Asia's finance capital and one of the most progressive cities in the region -- data compiled by transparency advocate David Webb shows that 40% of companies have no women on the board. Another 38% of boards have only one female representative.

"Where we are today is so woefully inadequate," said Su-Mei Thompson, CEO of The Women's Foundation. "The statistics show the pace of change is too slow."

The argument for more women on corporate boards -- aside from basic issues of equality -- is that companies make better decisions when a variety of views are considered. There is even some evidence to suggest that firms with diverse boards outperform their more homogenous rivals.

Related story: Why the U.S. lags Europe (and others) on board diversity

There are a few bright spots in Asia -- Australia, for one. But overall, women in Asia are underrepresented regardless of their home country's wealth or development level. The disparity is even more alarming given that half of Asia's college graduates are female.

Part of the gap can be attributed to cultural factors, which contribute to Asia's relatively low rate of female participation in the workforce. In countries like India, women have significantly lower literacy rates and reduced access to education. In other parts of the region, women face outright sexism and an entrenched old boys' club.

Japan's female employment rate is currently around 60%, far below the 80% rate for men.

Related story: 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

Women in Asia also encounter pressure at home -- and large numbers of educated women exit the workforce after having children. The end result is fewer qualified women in company ranks.

The McKinsey report suggests that corporations deserve some blame for not making the issue a priority. According to a survey conducted by the group, 70% of executives in Asia said greater gender diversity was not a strategic imperative.

"If companies want to see more women in their leadership teams, they will have to address the cultural and organizational issues that prevent them moving through the corporate pipeline," the McKinsey researchers wrote.

Related story: Why are there still so few women in top leadership jobs?

Some progress is being made. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, for example, has introduced a rule that requires listed companies to report on their board diversity. While it does not mandate more women on boards, Thompson said it will force companies to consider the issue in a more serious way.

"We would hope that companies would not just pay lip service to this requirement, and actually really examine the makeup of their boards," she said.

For now, there is little chance of rules requiring more diversity -- a strategy tried elsewhere with some success. Norway, for example, enacted a law in 2003 that forced companies to appoint women to 40% of board posts. After some grumbling, firms complied, and today the country's boardrooms are the most diverse in the world.

First Published: September 29, 2013: 9:59 PM ET

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China cuts ribbon on free trade zone

China launched its new free-trade zone in Shanghai on Sunday.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The zone of about 29 square kilometers is an experiment in promoting trade, expanding foreign investment access and liberalizing the financial sector, all of which are tightly controlled and regulated now by the government.

China's Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng, said at the ceremony in Shanghai that the free trade pilot "reflects a more active strategy of opening-up."

China's general framework for the area includes expanded foreign access in industries that previously placed heavy restrictions on outside companies, including banking.

The government said that 11 financial institutions have been authorized to launch in the free trade zone, including the Chinese joint ventures of U.S.-based Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Singapore's DBS. A total of 36 companies have been licensed to launch in the zone, according to state media.

While Citi and DBS are already operating in Shanghai, this green light means they'll be able to engage in China's financial experiments in the free trade zone. That means greater yuan convertibility and looser cross-border currency flows. The banks may also benefit from market-based interest rates "under the precondition that risks can be controlled," according to a blueprint released Friday. The government hasn't said how it will implement these changes.

Related story: China's new richest man worth $22 billion

Nomura economist Zhiwei Zhang called these measures "rather limited," as they only liberalize some interest rates, such as for bonds, and not deposit rates. "The government is still cautious," he said.

Other sectors the government plans to open up includes shipping, investment management, construction, human resources, medical services and entertainment.

Experts have said a successful free-trade zone in Shanghai is a game changer in the long-term, as the government could roll out similar reforms across the country.

Shanghai's economy has expanded at a slower pace than the national average since 2008, and is likely to see a strong boost, said HSBC economist Hongbin Qu. That's because the free trade zone targets the trade and services sectors, both of which are major contributors to Shanghai's economy. About 60% of the city's GDP comes from the services sector, and Shanghai alone accounts for 20% of China's trade.

Related story: China stocks rebound as economy improves

But for the country as a whole, there will be "negligible impact on the economy in the near term," Zhang said. The zone is too small to have "meaningful impact on the macro [economic] numbers."

The opening of the Shanghai free-trade zone comes as China is battling to stabilize its economy after years of exponential growth. Although second-quarter GDP dropped to 7.5%, economic data in recent months has prompted a more optimistic outlook.

The government has put in place some minor stimulus measures to keep the world's second-largest economy chugging along, and more details of the free-trade zone and other economic reforms are expected to be announced in November at a meeting of China's Central Committee.

First Published: September 30, 2013: 3:06 AM ET

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How the government will shut down

If Congress fails to reach a deal on spending by midnight, the powering down of the government's sprawling business will start on Tuesday morning.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In fact, the powering down of the government's sprawling business likely won't start in earnest until Tuesday morning.

The White House Office of Management and Budget will serve as a kind of shutdown command center. 

If it becomes clear Monday that Congress won't get its job done in time, OMB will issue guidance to agencies at or before midnight to implement their shutdown plans on Tuesday.  

Agencies have been putting those plans together in recent weeks as the possibility of a shutdown became more real. 

Related: Jobs report could be delayed

There is not a lot of precedent for actual shutdowns -- the last one started in late 1995 and lasted 21 days. 

But Congress, because of its longstanding penchant for doing budget deals at the last minute, has given agencies plenty of experience planning for shutdowns. Agencies had last put together full-blown contingency plans as recently as 2011.

The federal workers due to be furloughed without pay must be given official notice, said Colleen M. Kelley, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union.

They will be expected to show up for work on Tuesday morning, both to get their notice and to help with the shut down of operations. Some agencies may issue notices electronically and let some of their employees perform their shutdown duties remotely.

By many estimates, an orderly shutdown will take four hours or so to complete.

What has to happen to suspend operations? That all depends on what agencies and their employees are working on. 

The Office of Personnel Management, for example, will play a key "government-wide role" in a shutdown. Its activities include sending out furlough notices, following up to make sure employees were properly notified, and meeting legal requirements for keeping records.

Then there's the hand-off of duties from employees deemed "non essential" to those required to work throughout the shutdown.

At some agencies, parts of a furloughed worker's job -- if they are required by statute -- will still have to be performed. So the furloughed employee may need to make clear what needs to happen in his absence before leaving on Tuesday.

How will a shutdown affect you?

Planning for and executing an orderly shutdown is complicated by the breadth of government services and programs that would be affected by a lapse in funding and by the many rules governing who should be furloughed without pay.

Indeed, the energy and resources that go into such planning could have been put to better use. 

"The amount of time being spent by agencies ... it's really a waste," Kelly said.

First Published: September 30, 2013: 3:34 AM ET

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Wells Fargo: A bargain if you're bullish on housing

Wells Fargo has become the leading bank in home mortgages.

(Money Magazine)

The nation's fourth-largest bank is a powerhouse in mortgages, thanks to the fact it ended up with fewer toxic assets than other big banks, and was able to snap up another large mortgage player, Wachovia.

Refis as a % of mortgage applications

Source: Wells Fargo

So is Wells, whose stock price has already risen 64% in two years, a good buy now that home prices are rising? That depends on what's driving the rebound: Is it just low rates -- now rising -- or a healthier economy too?

The housing heavyweight

Home prices are up more than 10% this year, and many signs point to a continued recovery. Builders are hiring more workers, sales of foreclosures are falling, and inventory has been getting tighter in markets from Southern California to Washington, D.C.

"[Wells] has a lot to gain from a housing recovery," says Morningstar analyst James Sinegal. It originates more than 22% of home mortgages -- double the amount of the second-biggest lender. Its balance sheet is getting healthier too. Charge-offs, or loans Wells considers uncollectible, are at their lowest since 2006.

Related: Are we still heading toward 5% mortgages?

Wells increased its dividend 20% in April to $1.20, and Edward Jones analyst Shannon Stemm expects the payout to grow 7% a year into 2018.

Rising rates hit refis

After sinking to historic lows, interest rates are rising as investors anticipate higher growth because the Federal Reserve is signaling it will slow down its economic stimulus effort, a bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.

The good news: Higher rates mean Wells' fee stream from mortgages it services becomes more predictable as fewer borrowers refinance, says S&P Capital IQ analyst Erik Oja.

The flip side is that Wells is losing a big chunk of its mortgage originations. If the economy strengthens, more home sales will make up for some of that lost refi revenue, but Christopher Mutascio, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, thinks it won't close the gap for Wells.

Leaning in to Wall Street

Another increasingly important part of Wells Fargo's success is its asset management business. In the second quarter of 2013, net income from managing money rose 27% compared with 2012. The stock market's performance -- the S&P 500 (SPX) returned 16% in the past year -- has bolstered results. But Wells "may not be able to sustain this momentum in a tougher equity market," Sinegal wrote in a recent report. Mutascio worries the end of quantitative easing could trigger that tough market.

Related: Wells Fargo lays off 2,300 employees

With a price/earnings ratio of 11 based on 2014 expected earnings, Wells' shares are a bit cheaper than other banks' stocks, but it has more riding on the performance of both real estate and Wall Street. That makes Wells Fargo a buy only for bulls.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 4:11 PM ET

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ExxonMobil to extend benefits to same-sex couples

ExxonMobil announced Friday it will extend benefits to same-sex couples.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Beginning Oct. 1, ExxonMobil employees in legal same-sex marriages will be eligible to receive health insurance coverage for their spouses, the oil giant said in a statement.

The company's decision was less of a change of heart than it was a technical update stemming from this summer's Supreme Court decision to recognize same-sex marriages for federal purposes.

Related: Pasta maker Barilla under fire for anti-gay comments

"The decision is consistent with the direction of most U.S. government agencies," ExxonMobil said in the statement. "We have made no change in the definition of eligibility for our U.S. benefit plans. Spousal eligibility in our U.S. benefit plans has been and continues to be governed by the federal definition of marriage and spouse."

ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500) has long been criticized for having anti-LGBT policies. It currently has a lawsuit pending against it for discriminating against a lesbian applicant, and it received the lowest "corporate equality" score of any U.S. company in last year's Human Rights Campaign rankings.

Related: Same-sex benefits at conservative Wal-Mart: What gives?

Friday's announcement was therefore welcomed by gay rights groups.

"After years of stubbornly refusing, we commend Exxon for joining the majority of the Fortune 500 business leaders that already treat gay and lesbian married couples equally under employee benefit plans," Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said in a statement. "It's a shame Exxon waited until after the Labor Department issued official guidance explaining that their old policy does not comply with American law, and now it's time to move forward."

A growing number of companies have been updating their policies to become more LGBT-friendly. This summer, Walmart (WMT, Fortune 500) announced it will offer benefits to same-sex and domestic partners. As of the beginning of this year, 89% of U.S. companies provide health benefits to same-sex couples, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

But other companies continue to get bad press from the LGBT community. Just Thursday, pasta maker Barilla came under fire for comments its CEO made about refusing to feature same-sex couples in the company's commercials. The remarks sparked a firestorm on Twitter and led to a boycott of the company's products.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 4:41 PM ET

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Airbnb wins legal victory in New York City

Users list spaces for rent on Airbnb.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Airbnb offers a platform for people to rent out their homes or apartments to travelers. New York's Environmental Control Board ruled Thursday that Airbnb user Nigel Warren was permitted under city housing laws to rent out a portion of the apartment through the service because his roommate was present at the time.

Warren's landlord had been facing a $2,400 fine following an earlier ruling.

The decision is a significant one for Airbnb, which has been frustrated in New York by a law stating that residents can't rent out all or part of a property for fewer than 30 days. Airbnb has argued that the law is meant to crack down on landlords who buy residential buildings and run hotels out of them, not on individual tenants.

Related: Hey, taxi company, you talkin' to me?

Airbnb called the decision "a victory for the sharing economy and the countless New Yorkers who make the Airbnb community vibrant and strong."

"This episode highlights how complicated the New York law is, and it took far too long for Nigel to be vindicated," the company said in a blog post. "That is why we are continuing our work to clarify the law and ensure New Yorkers can share their homes and their city with travelers from around the world."

Airbnb filed motions in support of Warren, though the site warns users in its terms of service that they're the ones on the hook if they fall into legal trouble.

The New York City Buildings Department did not respond to a request for comment.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 6:59 PM ET

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Wells Fargo: A bargain if you're bullish on housing

Wells Fargo has become the leading bank in home mortgages.

(Money Magazine)

The nation's fourth-largest bank is a powerhouse in mortgages, thanks to the fact it ended up with fewer toxic assets than other big banks, and was able to snap up another large mortgage player, Wachovia.

Refis as a % of mortgage applications

Source: Wells Fargo

So is Wells, whose stock price has already risen 64% in two years, a good buy now that home prices are rising? That depends on what's driving the rebound: Is it just low rates -- now rising -- or a healthier economy too?

The housing heavyweight

Home prices are up more than 10% this year, and many signs point to a continued recovery. Builders are hiring more workers, sales of foreclosures are falling, and inventory has been getting tighter in markets from Southern California to Washington, D.C.

"[Wells] has a lot to gain from a housing recovery," says Morningstar analyst James Sinegal. It originates more than 22% of home mortgages -- double the amount of the second-biggest lender. Its balance sheet is getting healthier too. Charge-offs, or loans Wells considers uncollectible, are at their lowest since 2006.

Related: Are we still heading toward 5% mortgages?

Wells increased its dividend 20% in April to $1.20, and Edward Jones analyst Shannon Stemm expects the payout to grow 7% a year into 2018.

Rising rates hit refis

After sinking to historic lows, interest rates are rising as investors anticipate higher growth because the Federal Reserve is signaling it will slow down its economic stimulus effort, a bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.

The good news: Higher rates mean Wells' fee stream from mortgages it services becomes more predictable as fewer borrowers refinance, says S&P Capital IQ analyst Erik Oja.

The flip side is that Wells is losing a big chunk of its mortgage originations. If the economy strengthens, more home sales will make up for some of that lost refi revenue, but Christopher Mutascio, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, thinks it won't close the gap for Wells.

Leaning in to Wall Street

Another increasingly important part of Wells Fargo's success is its asset management business. In the second quarter of 2013, net income from managing money rose 27% compared with 2012. The stock market's performance -- the S&P 500 (SPX) returned 16% in the past year -- has bolstered results. But Wells "may not be able to sustain this momentum in a tougher equity market," Sinegal wrote in a recent report. Mutascio worries the end of quantitative easing could trigger that tough market.

Related: Wells Fargo lays off 2,300 employees

With a price/earnings ratio of 11 based on 2014 expected earnings, Wells' shares are a bit cheaper than other banks' stocks, but it has more riding on the performance of both real estate and Wall Street. That makes Wells Fargo a buy only for bulls.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 4:11 PM ET

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ExxonMobil to extend benefits to same-sex couples

ExxonMobil announced Friday it will extend benefits to same-sex couples.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Beginning Oct. 1, ExxonMobil employees in legal same-sex marriages will be eligible to receive health insurance coverage for their spouses, the oil giant said in a statement.

The company's decision was less of a change of heart than it was a technical update stemming from this summer's Supreme Court decision to recognize same-sex marriages for federal purposes.

Related: Pasta maker Barilla under fire for anti-gay comments

"The decision is consistent with the direction of most U.S. government agencies," ExxonMobil said in the statement. "We have made no change in the definition of eligibility for our U.S. benefit plans. Spousal eligibility in our U.S. benefit plans has been and continues to be governed by the federal definition of marriage and spouse."

ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500) has long been criticized for having anti-LGBT policies. It currently has a lawsuit pending against it for discriminating against a lesbian applicant, and it received the lowest "corporate equality" score of any U.S. company in last year's Human Rights Campaign rankings.

Related: Same-sex benefits at conservative Wal-Mart: What gives?

Friday's announcement was therefore welcomed by gay rights groups.

"After years of stubbornly refusing, we commend Exxon for joining the majority of the Fortune 500 business leaders that already treat gay and lesbian married couples equally under employee benefit plans," Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said in a statement. "It's a shame Exxon waited until after the Labor Department issued official guidance explaining that their old policy does not comply with American law, and now it's time to move forward."

A growing number of companies have been updating their policies to become more LGBT-friendly. This summer, Walmart (WMT, Fortune 500) announced it will offer benefits to same-sex and domestic partners. As of the beginning of this year, 89% of U.S. companies provide health benefits to same-sex couples, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

But other companies continue to get bad press from the LGBT community. Just Thursday, pasta maker Barilla came under fire for comments its CEO made about refusing to feature same-sex couples in the company's commercials. The remarks sparked a firestorm on Twitter and led to a boycott of the company's products.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 4:41 PM ET

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Airbnb wins legal victory in New York City

Users list spaces for rent on Airbnb.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Airbnb offers a platform for people to rent out their homes or apartments to travelers. New York's Environmental Control Board ruled Thursday that Airbnb user Nigel Warren was permitted under city housing laws to rent out a portion of the apartment through the service because his roommate was present at the time.

Warren's landlord had been facing a $2,400 fine following an earlier ruling.

The decision is a significant one for Airbnb, which has been frustrated in New York by a law stating that residents can't rent out all or part of a property for fewer than 30 days. Airbnb has argued that the law is meant to crack down on landlords who buy residential buildings and run hotels out of them, not on individual tenants.

Related: Hey, taxi company, you talkin' to me?

Airbnb called the decision "a victory for the sharing economy and the countless New Yorkers who make the Airbnb community vibrant and strong."

"This episode highlights how complicated the New York law is, and it took far too long for Nigel to be vindicated," the company said in a blog post. "That is why we are continuing our work to clarify the law and ensure New Yorkers can share their homes and their city with travelers from around the world."

Airbnb filed motions in support of Warren, though the site warns users in its terms of service that they're the ones on the hook if they fall into legal trouble.

The New York City Buildings Department did not respond to a request for comment.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 6:59 PM ET

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The best (and worst) crash avoidance technologies

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety used a target made from inflatable tubes and vinyl sheets to test which collision avoidance systems best reduced impacts.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Crash statistics show that these systems really do reduce car crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducted tests to measure effectiveness. But they don't come cheaply.

"Front crash prevention systems can add a thousand dollars or more to the cost of a new car. Our new ratings let consumers know which systems offer the most promise for the extra expense," said David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer.

The Institute rated the systems as Basic, Advanced or Superior. Auto-braking systems in vehicles rated Superior substantially reduced speeds, and in some cases stopped the vehicles altogether, in tests at 12 and 25 miles per hour. In many cases even top-rated systems couldn't avoid a crash but only reduced the severity of an impact. Even that is significant for safety, the Institute said.

To earn an Advanced rating, a vehicle had to avoid a crash or reduce impact speed by at least 5 miles per hour in either the 12 or 25 mph tests, but not necessarily in both. (In the tests, the vehicles were driven toward a large cloth box designed to simulate the back end of a stopped SUV.) Some of the systems rated as Advanced reduced speeds only slightly or not at all at the higher speed.

Related - Tesla: Our crash test score is better than perfect

In this round of tests, the Subaru Legacy and Outback were the only vehicles to entirely avoid a collision even at 25 mph.

In its first round of ratings, the Insurance Institute looked at 74 different vehicles. Those that earned the rating of Superior were properly equipped versions of General Motor' (GM, Fortune 500) Cadillac ATS and SRX, Mercedes-Benz' C-class, Subaru's Legacy and Outback and the Volvo S60 and XC60.

Vehicles that earned the Advanced rating were the Acura MDX, Audi A4 and Q5 SUV, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lexus ES, Mazda6, Volvo S60 and XC60. The Volvo models that earned this rating had less expensive versions of the auto-braking system.

To earn the lowest rating of Basic, a vehicle is not required to have automatic braking but must at least provide a warning of an imminent collision in five of seven tests. Most of the vehicles rated as Basic didn't have systems designed to provide automatic braking at all. The few that had automatic braking systems just weren't good enough, the Institute said.

Gallery - 8 little cars with big space inside

For instance, the system on the Infiniti JX35 -- recently renamed the QX60 -- didn't perform well enough. Institute spokesman Russ Rader called the JX35's braking "minimal."

"Infiniti is proud to have been a pioneer in automotive crash avoidance and mitigation systems. We will study the result of this new test by IIHS as we continue to develop future technologies," said Nissan (NSANF) spokesman Steve Oldham. Nissan makes Infinity vehicles.

The Toyota Prius V hybrid wagon offers an auto-braking system that performed so poorly in tests by the federal government's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that the Insurance Institute didn't even include it in its own tests. The Prius V failed to meet NHTSA criteria for collision warning -- let alone automatic braking -- the Institute said, so it didn't meet the minimum criteria to be included.

Toyota spokesman John Hanson explained that Toyota's system was designed before NHTSA had announced its criteria for collision warning systems. Also, Hanson said, the Prius V's system is an inexpensive technology designed to minimize, but not prevent, collisions while being affordable in a non-luxury vehicle.

"We agree with IIHS that we need to move these technologies into the mainstream quickly," he said.

The BMW 3-series, meanwhile, has a system that's designed to work only if radar detects the vehicle ahead moving before it stops. The Insurance Institute said that was not good enough.

"The point of auto-brake systems is to help inattentive drivers avoid rear-ending another car," Zuby said. "It's clear that the ability to automatically brake for both stopped and moving vehicles prevents the most crashes."

In 2014 model year vehicles, BMW does offer a system that responds to stationary vehicles, BMW spokesman David Buchko said.

A complete list of the test results is available on the Insurance Institute's Web site. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a private group financed by insurance companies.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 12:25 AM ET

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Many same-sex couples eligible for big tax refunds

Married same-sex couples can amend their tax returns and claim refunds for the past three years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, defined marriage as between a man and a woman, which meant married same-sex couples had to file their taxes individually. But the Supreme Court's summer ruling overturned that law. Now these couples are not only able to file as married going forward, but they have the option of amending their tax returns for the past three years if it would benefit them.

For some couples, doing this will reduce their overall tax liability and result in big refunds, which is typically the case when there is a large disparity in incomes (for example, when one spouse doesn't work).They can also claim any tax paid on health insurance benefits extended from one spouse to another through an employer-sponsored plan.

Related: Same-sex marriage ruling - 'A huge relief'

Refunds will vary widely by couple, and could be as high as tens of thousands of dollars. Janet and Janet Emery-Black, from Nampa, Idaho, are anticipating retroactive refunds totaling $30,000. Another couple, Adele and Jennifer Hoppe-House, from Los Angeles, expect to get back $13,000.

The statute of limitations for amending a return is generally three years from the date your most recent taxes were filed. Couples who filed protective refund claims before the Supreme Court even issued its ruling may receive four years of refunds.

Spouses can also claim refunds if they paid federal estate tax when a partner passed away, says Janis McDonagh, a partner at accounting firm Marcum LLP. Under DOMA, same-sex couples were required to pay a 40% tax on assets exceeding $5 million -- a tax opposite-sex couples didn't face.

This issue was at the center of the Supreme Court case. The plaintiff, 83-year old Edith Windsor, argued it was unconstitutional that she had to pay estate tax when her wife passed away. Thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling, she is owed a refund of more than $600,000 in estate tax.

Related: Married same-sex couples gain equal tax benefits

Amending past returns is optional, so those who would owe more tax by filing jointly don't have to do anything. You can also choose which returns to amend depending on what benefits you most -- so you could opt to amend returns for 2010 but not 2011, for example. And only couples who are married can file jointly -- people in domestic partnerships or civil unions aren't eligible for retroactive refunds at this time.

Determining whether you're eligible for a refund will typically require redoing your taxes -- either yourself, with a tax preparer or with a site like Turbotax, said Michael McCarthy, a managing director at U.S. Trust.

Going forward, married same-sex couples must file all returns as married.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 3:25 AM ET

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Breaking Bad economy: How Walt made $80 million

The $80 million profit Walt turned by selling meth for just one year is a very realistic sum for a true-life drug kingpin.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It's not until the last season of Breaking Bad that viewers learn just how much cash their favorite meth-making anti-hero has accumulated by cooking crank. The $80 million is a staggering sum for less than a year's worth of work.

But experts say that pallet full of cash portrayed in the show is realistic, given the economics of the meth trade.

"The show has a lot of reality to it," said Ralph Weisheit, a professor of criminal justice at Illinois State and an author of the book, "Methamphetamine: It's History, Pharmacology and Treatment." "It clearly employs consultants who know a lot of about the business," he added.

The story of a quiet high school chemistry teacher who built a crystal methamphetamine empire will air its series finale on Sunday, amid strong ratings for AMC Networks (AMCX) and even stronger buzz.

Related: How you can buy a 'Breaking Bad' prop

Walt's fortune is built on the premise that he's selling his meth at the modest price of about $60 a gram. That's spelled out in the fifth season episode "Hazard Pay," when Walt and his partners sell a 50 pound batch of their high quality blue meth for $1,379,560, after the commission that goes to street dealers.

According to Weisheit, $60 a gram "is not at all unreasonable, especially for meth of a very high quality."

"The price of meth varies wildly from one part of the country to another, and from one time a year to another, depending on supplies," he added. "It can go from $50 a gram to $150 a gram. It makes oil prices look stable."

It's a long way from $60 for a gram of meth to the seven, 55-gallon drums of cash Walt has holding $80 million. But the volumes of meth on the show are enough to produce that mountain of cash. And the demand for the product is strong enough that Walt could move that much meth in less than a year, especially given his empire's expansion into eastern Europe this season.

Related: How to spot a meth lab house

Walt was able to make such a large volume of meth because he and his partners stole 1,000 gallons of the industrial chemical methylamine from a train. After the heist, Walt's partners want to sell the chemical for $15,000 a gallon, instead of cooking it up into meth and selling it.

On the black market, that's a reasonable price for the chemical, says Weisheit.

Related: My home was a former meth lab

But Walt argues that if he cooks the methylamine, he and his partners can make far more money - somewhere between $300 million and $370 million. Using the retail price of $60 a gram, that means they'd have to sell between 11,000 and 13,500 pounds of meth.

And as it turns out, the 1,000 gallons of methylamine they stole would produce anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 pounds of very pure meth, according to Steve Preisler, a chemist who wrote the book "Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacturer" while serving time in prison on meth charges.

Walt cooks almost 400 gallons of the methylamine before deciding to quit the business. He agrees to pay another drug dealer a 35% cut of his sales in return for handling the distribution.

That would net Walt between $78 million to $96 million in profit, or enough to fill those seven 55-gallon drums with cash.

First Published: September 27, 2013: 3:36 AM ET

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JPMorgan in talks to settle mortgage probes for $11 billion

JPMorgan has faced a cascade of legal problems in the last few months.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The proposed deal would include $7 billion in penalties and $4 billion in consumer relief of some kind, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Those numbers aren't final, however, and it's unclear if or when the two sides may come to an agreement.

The deal would come under the auspices of a joint federal-and-state task force announced by the Obama Administration last year to investigate the packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities, which became a key cause of the financial crisis when they failed in droves as the housing market cratered.

"The talks are ongoing, we don't anticipate that there will be an announcement today," Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, said in an email Wednesday.

Related: Three ex-ICAP employees indicted in Libor scandal

JPMorgan -- America's largest bank by assets -- is fresh off of a settlement last week in which it agreed to pay $920 million in connection with the "London Whale" trading debacle. Also last week, regulators ordered the firm to refund $309 million to customers and pay $80 million in fines over alleged unfair credit-card billing practices.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) declined to comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

First Published: September 25, 2013: 6:44 PM ET

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Hertz now renting Tesla Model S cars in California

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Hertz (HTZ, Fortune 500) announced Wednesday that it was adding Tesla's (TSLA) signature model to its rental fleet as part of its "Dream Cars" line, which also offers high-end rentals from companies like Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Unfortunately for most of the U.S., the Model S will only be available for rental in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"[S]hould customer demand warrant it, we will consider expanding availability to other locations," Hertz spokeswoman Paula Rivera said in an email.

Rental rates start around $500 per day, plus $0.49 a mile after the 75-mile mark, Rivera said.

Related: Tesla superchargers take over America

The plug-in Model S has garnered rave reviews in recent months. It aced its first crash test last month, and Consumer Reports called the Model S the best car it had ever tested.

A Tesla spokeswoman said the automaker had "seen interest from rental car companies and fleet buyers who want to provide their customers access to a high-performance sedan, which also happens to be electric."

First Published: September 25, 2013: 4:15 PM ET

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Early Twitter employees to miss out on millions

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But not all members of Twitter's founding team will cash in. Like many Silicon Valley startups in their infancy, Twitter's original team changed quickly. Ideas evolved, and some of the people who played an integral part in the early days soon found that they were no longer needed.

"Your position has been eliminated": Such was the case for Dom Sagolla, or @Dom, the ninth Twitter user and one of the original employees at the social network.

In 2006, Sagolla was head of quality at Odeo, the podcasting company that would eventually spin off into Twitter. As Odeo grew rapidly, Sagolla's role grew more important. But when Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) decided to launch podcasting in iTunes in 2005, Odeo knew it was in trouble. The company decided to reinvent itself.

The employees at Odeo decided to hold a hackathon, an event where everyone splits into teams and comes up with new ideas. Jack Dorsey created the idea for what would eventually become Twitter. He teamed up with Sagolla and German engineer Florian Weber to pitch it to the Odeo crew. The idea was a hit. Odeo co-founder Noah Glass joined in four days later.

But Sagolla's role in Twitter was short-lived. Twitter's other co-founders took him for a walk in a San Francisco park. They told Sagolla they were eliminating his position.

"It was clear that they were just cutting headcount," Sagolla told CNNMoney. Sagolla was one of four people who lost their jobs that day.

Though he potentially lost out on a fortune, Sagolla is good-natured about his dismissal.

Related story: Who'll be getting rich off Twitter

"I call it my billion dollar MBA, because I got nothing," he joked. "I don't know what I would have deserved. If I had stuck around and contributed more maybe I could feel like I deserved more."

Since being let go, Sagolla worked at Adobe (ADBE) and set up an iPhone developer camp.

Can't get a visa: Weber, or @florian, stuck around for a bit longer. He played an integral role in Odeo's transition to Twitter, and, along with Dorsey, Weber built the first prototype of Twitter.

"I still remember the time Jack and I were sitting in the conference room at Twitter and discussing the concept of 'following,' whether it implies obedience," Weber told CNNMoney.

But after working on Twitter for six months after it had launched, Weber was unable to obtain a visa to move to the United States. He had difficulty working with the team while in another time zone.

"Everybody was in the office, and I'm not," he recalled. "I'm nine hours ahead."

Weber left the company soon after.

Since Weber started his work at Odeo as an independent contractor, he never received stock options in Twitter. But Weber said he doesn't regret his decision to leave.

Weber went on to co-found a Berlin-based startup that wound up being acquired.

Hard feelings: Not everyone who left the company in the early days took their departure as well as Sagolla and Weber did.

According to multiple sources, Odeo's co-founder Glass (@noah) has since fallen off the grid. Known in Silicon Valley circles as the forgotten founder of Twitter, Glass admitted to Business Insider years ago that being left out of the founding story was "hard to swallow."

Glass' Twitter bio, presumably a reference to the company, remains "I started this."

The day after Twitter's plans to go public were revealed, Glass tweeted for the first time in months.

"I wish the twitter team the best of luck and trust that they will be successful in continuing to develop this important communication tool."

First Published: September 26, 2013: 3:36 AM ET

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China stocks rebound as economy improves

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Whether the rally can continue through the end of the year may depend on big policy decisions expected in November.

For much of the first half of the year, China's main indexes took a beating as investor appetite soured over concerns about the prospects for the world's second-biggest economy.

Only the tiny Shenzhen market managed to buck the trend, thanks to the predominance of small technology firms with high growth potential.

But Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite bottomed out in late June and have surged by about 18% and 12% respectively since then. And the Shenzhen Composite has continued its push higher, gaining 20% over the same period.

"Market sentiment has been recovering slowly from its trough in late-June," said Barclays economist Jian Chang. "Economic data has been stronger than expected."

Related story: China's underdog market surges

The latest sign of a recovery came Monday, when HSBC's "flash" measure of manufacturing purchasing managers' sentiment hit a six-month high.

That followed a slew of positive economic data, including strong industrial output, robust trade and moderate inflation, raising confidence that China is back on track to meet its 7.5% growth target for the year.

Chinese stocks also got a boost when the U.S. Federal Reserve unexpectedly announced last week that it would continue its $85-billion a month bond-buying program, putting off the moment when it will start pumping less money into markets.

Despite the third quarter rally, Chinese stocks are still lagging other major world markets so far this year. The Hang Seng is up about 2%, while the Shanghai Composite is still in negative territory. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 19%, and Germany's DAX almost 14%.

And some experts are reluctant to predict further gains in China this year, given uncertainty about future economic policy.

Related story: China's $8 billion plan to rival Hollywood

Right now, China has "a window to perform" said Joseph Tang, an investment director at Invesco.

Whether or not growth is sustained -- and stocks continue to rally -- may well depend on the kind of reforms adopted at a meeting of China's Communist Party leadership in November.

Nomura economist Zhiwei Zhang said new monetary policies could slow China's building economic momentum as the government moves "to shift its focus away from the speed of growth, towards efforts to rebalance the economy and improve the quality of growth."

China's recovery is unlikely to be sustained going into next year, he said.

First Published: September 24, 2013: 10:33 PM ET

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China lifts Facebook ban ... a bit - report

China could soon allow access to Facebook in a new free trade zone.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

According to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese government has decided to lift a ban on foreign websites deemed politically sensitive, albeit only within the newly developed Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

That means those within the 17-square-mile area will be able to access Facebook (FB), Twitter, The New York Times (NYT) and more. The Free Trade Zone launches on Sunday and is intended to serve as a testing ground for financial and service sector reforms, including increased access to the tightly-controlled yuan. Should Beijing deem the experiment a success over the long run, some of the policies could be implemented in other parts of China.

Currently, Facebook and Twitter are among websites that remain blocked by the government's censorship system, casually referred to as the Great Firewall of China. Attempts to access Facebook result in an error message: "Network Timeout."

Related: It's lights out for BlackBerry

This latest development lets Facebook and Twitter get their feet in the door of the most populous and fastest-growing Internet community in the world. Both companies have acknowledged a desire to tap into the world's largest social media market, with 513 million Internet users -- more than double the size in the United States.

News of the partially lifted ban caught several major players by surprise. A Facebook spokeswoman said the company was only aware of the Post news report.

A spokeswoman at the New York Times had only this to say: "We are hearing the same thing you are." Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.

Lifting the ban would mark the first time in years that people in the mainland will have access to Facebook and Twitter without disruption. Facebook was blocked after the minority Uighur group used the social media site to organize against the government in 2009. The Chinese government was keen to keep strict control over social media after Twitter was widely used to coordinate protests during the 2011 Arab Spring.

Related: BlackBerry's patents could spark a bidding war

Still, some Chinese citizens have managed to get around the censors, according to data compiled by Global Web Index, a research firm. Between 2009 and 2012, the number of those secretly using Facebook in China grew from 8 million to 63 million. During that span, the number of Chinese Twitter users grew from 12 million to 35 million.

Those numbers are still a drop in the bucket compared to those using government-approved social media sites, including Renren, (RENN) Sina (SINA) Weibo and WeChat, whose users number in the hundreds of millions.

Global Web Index estimates 15% of Chinese citizens use Facebook, while 56% or more use Tencent Weibo, Sina Weibo or Qzone.

Facebook is well aware of the competition and government challenges, even noting that in its initial public offering registration document.

First Published: September 24, 2013: 11:09 PM ET

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What killed BlackBerry: Terrible apps

It's too late for BlackBerry to change its fortunes now, but looking back, its approach to apps doomed it from the start.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The sorry state of the BlackBerry App World is one of the primary contributing factors to BlackBerry's (BBRY) rapid demise. The company announced Monday that it plans to go private in a $4.7 billion deal that essentially places no value on BlackBerry's core handset business.

BlackBerry's new hardware has gotten some good reviews, but software is another story. Many of the most popular apps on the iPhone and Android are nowhere to be found. There's no Instagram, Netflix (NFLX), Candy Crush or Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) Maps. Many of the big-brand apps that do exist for BlackBerry, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, are infrequently updated and have received dismal reviews from users.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry news site BerryReview revealed last month that a single developer is responsible for 48,000, or 40%, of BlackBerry's apps. Some of those apps developed by Hong Kong outfit S4BB many seem legit and functional. But many of them are either generic clones of other apps or possess minimal usefulness.

For example, one app made by S4BB is a "camera scanner" that converts photos to PDF files. Another turns off the sounds in your camera app. There are also hundreds of world factbooks, subway maps and city guides.

Related story: BlackBerry's valuable patents could spark a bidding war

So it's not just that most of BlackBerry's apps are bad -- the majority of million-or-so apps in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store are also terrible. What makes BlackBerry's app situation so devastating is that the company exercises no control over its own app store.

BlackBerry is also rapidly losing subscribers, so big app makers don't want to devote resources to a vanishing platform. But BlackBerry also gives free rein to small developers to fill its app store with spam apps.

Although the open-ended strategy may be mildly beneficial to BlackBerry and a few ambitious developers in the short term, encouraging such a large ratio of garbage apps to quality apps poses consequences in the long run: Smaller developers don't want to invest in BlackBerry, because it it's hard for consumers to stumble upon their apps in a diluted pool.

It's no coincidence that the major mobile platforms don't let that kind of activity fly inside their app stores.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), whose stringent app approval process often errs on the conservative side, has all but made it impossible for app spammers to exist on a ridiculous scale.

Even Google, a company that preaches openness for its Android mobile platform, imposes limits on app spam. While it does not prevent anyone from downloading and installing apps outside its app store, Google frowns upon apps delivering repetitive content in its Play Store. Google requires developers to individually submit each app for approval, which works as a deterrent towards app spam.

BlackBerry thought it could attract users by giving Android developers the ability to quickly port their existing apps to the BlackBerry 10 platform. But many of those apps were still garbage ones, and the ones that were decent still provided an inferior experience.

BlackBerry can produce all of the nicest phones in the world if it wants, but the low standards it has for the apps in its app store, and the seemingly minimal effort it has put into trying to improve it, ultimately contributed to the once-venerable company's demise.

First Published: September 25, 2013: 3:41 AM ET

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Microsoft Surface 2: Hardly an afterthought

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Instead, Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) is pushing the Surface 2 with as much vigor as ever.

Last year's Surface existed in a no man's land -- slightly too big to truly appeal as a tablet, slightly too underpowered to function as a laptop replacement. This year's model offers key improvements in both areas.

While the Surface RT was heavier and thicker than many 10-inch tablets, the Surface 2 is thinner than the current iPad, and nearly as light. The original Surface's processor lacked the muscle to run Windows, the processor inside the Surface 2 promises a three- to fourt-fold boost in performance. The slightly grainy display of last year's tablet is gone, in favor of a 1080p high-definition picture.

Even the name got an update: the confusing "RT" got the boot.

Still present is the kickstand, which now lets the screen fold back to a 44 degree angle, which Microsoft says improves the experience of using the Surface on your lap.

Related story: Windows 8.1's little changes are a huge improvement

Also remaining are the Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboard cases, both of which have been slimmed down, backlit and made more responsive -- especially important for the Touch Cover, which lacks any mechanical parts. There's even a Power Cover now, which packs an extra battery for those constantly away from a power source.

The Surface Pro 2, which is more of PC that masquerades as a tablet, received a few improvements over its predecessor as well. The new Surface Pro includes a display with improved color accuracy, a 50% faster Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) processor powerful enough to edit professional video, and improved battery life. But its update was far less dramatic. This event was really about the other Surface -- and fixing some obvious mistakes.

Spending a few minutes with the new Surface, the benefits of those changes were immediately apparent. The Surface 2 is much more pleasant to hold with one hand. Using the Touch Cover Typing felt much more reliable, and even intuitive. The trackpad, while still feeling a bit cramped, seemed less jumpy, and more responsive than before. Meanwhile, the thinner Type Cover seems to be a much more portable than it was last year, while managing to retain its tactile benefits.

But hardware alone -- vastly improved as it may be -- is not going to solve all the Surface's problems. Microsoft's emphasis on the Surface 2 over its more powerful Pro sibling means that Windows RT is here to stay. For newbies, Windows RT is the mobile-optimized version of Windows which doesn't run legacy applications like iTunes.

Microsoft failed horribly last year at communicating the differences between its two versions of Windows, leading many hardware partners to abandon Windows RT entirely. And while it has done well to grow its app store over the last year, Windows RT still lacks the full range of high-profile apps found on the iPad and Android tablets. Innovative apps like Paper and big time games like Infinity Blade are nary to be found on the Surface 2.

This year's challenge for Microsoft will be to convince us all of Windows RT's (and, by proxy the Surface 2's) virtues.

The good news is that Windows 8.1 RT, Microsoft's much-needed Windows RT update, is coming soon. It offers a lot of improvements for any device you use it on, but it will benefit RT devices like the Surface 2 the most. The improved multitasking in particular makes the Surface 2 much easier to use.

But if Microsoft wants the Surface to be taken seriously, the company needs to continue pushing developers into developing apps for Windows RT..

On paper, Microsoft has done enough with the Surface 2 to warrant our attention. Whether or not that translates to a device we want to use on a daily basis remains to be seen.

First Published: September 23, 2013: 4:54 PM ET

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Chrysler files for IPO

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The shares being sold in the proposed offering come from the stake of a trust established to cover medical benefits for retired workers that now owns 41.5% of the company.

The trust was set up in 2007 as a way of reducing Chrysler's financial burden of paying these health care costs. It was never supposed to have a large share of its assets in the form of a privately held stock, but with Chrysler running out of cash the following year and falling into bankruptcy in 2009, the only asset it could offer was its own stock.

Similar trusts were set up at General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Ford (F, Fortune 500) as the U.S. auto industry reeled during the economic downturn. GM announced plans Monday to to repurchase 120 million preferred shares from its trust.

Related: The demise of the minivan

The price range and number of shares in the Chrysler offering haven't yet been determined. The company's registration document with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that the trust would continue to hold a stake after its sale of shares to the public.

The offering is being led by JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500).

Italian automaker Fiat rescued Chrysler from bankruptcy in 2009 and now owns 58.5% of the the company. Previously, the company was purchased in 1998 by Germany's Daimler-Benz, which offloaded an 80% stake to investment firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2007.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is on record as saying he wants Fiat to own all of Chrysler and to merge the two companies. The preparations for an IPO suggest he has been unable to reach a deal with the trust to buy its shares directly, rather than sell them to the public.

Still, the IPO process could help the trust and Fiat agree on a fair market value for the company -- Kelly Blue Book senior analyst Alec Gutierrez said the filing "may only serve as a negotiating tactic."

Related - Car sales surge back to pre-recession levels

Marchionne has been the CEO of both carmakers since Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, with the two companies almost operating as one. Chrysler, which also produces Jeep and Dodge vehicles, has even started selling Fiat cars in the United States for the first time in decades.

Fiat bought the 8% of the shares in the company that were initially owned by the U.S. Treasury as a result of Chrysler's government bailout. It gained additional shares through the transfer of Fiat technology to Chrysler.

Chrysler has mounted a strong comeback in recent years. The company reported a double-digit sales increase in August versus 2012.

"Chrysler has come a long way since bankruptcy and the IPO is further proof as their sales continue to soar to new heights," Gutierrez said.

First Published: September 23, 2013: 6:03 PM ET

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Wonder Bread returns to shelves

The wait is over.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The iconic bread brand returned to store shelves Monday, said Flowers Foods (FLO), the company that snatched it up earlier this year along with most of the other breads from the now-defunct Hostess for $360 million.

Flowers said Wonder and other former Hostess brands like Merita and Home Pride would be available throughout its delivery markets, which encompass roughly 77% of the U.S. population. The bread is being packaged with a retro logo from Wonder's early days.

"We are using the same recipes and paying close attention to quality and freshness," Keith Aldredge, Flowers' vice president of marketing, said in a statement.

Flowers also produces Tastykake snacks and Nature's Own bread.

The news comes months after a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Wonder, Twinkies and other assets from Hostess Brands.

Former Hostess snack brands like Twinkies, Ho Hos and Ding Dongs were sold for $410 million to a joint venture of private equity firms Apollo Global Management (APO) and Metropoulos & Co. Twinkies resumed sales in July.

Hostess suspended production in November of last year, moving to liquidate after years of financial distress and a failure to reach a new contract with its bakers' union.

The demise of Hostess led fans of the company's products to quickly scoop them up at grocery stores, fearing that they would never be able to purchase them again.

But it was always widely expected by analysts that Hostess would be able to sell its most popular brands to other food makers through the liquidation process.

First Published: September 23, 2013: 5:06 PM ET

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BlackBerry slashes staff, warns of $1 billion loss

Click the chart to track shares of BlackBerry.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) were halted at about 3:30 p.m. ET and plunged 20% when trading resumed. For the day they closed down 17%. BlackBerry's stock is down 26.5% this year.

The news of 4,500 job cuts came late Friday afternoon, confirming layoff rumors that have been swirling about problems at the smartphone maker. It attributed the loss to a charge it will take to restructure its business as well as an "increasingly competitive business environment."

It also said it will offer just four smartphones instead of six.

The anticipated operating loss is about three times larger than the consensus forecast of analysts. The company is due to report financial results on September 27.

"We expected bad results but the device sales are pretty bad," said James Moorman, analyst with S&P Capital IQ. "I like their strategy of cutting back, but it's kind of late. This should have been done about a year ago."

Neeraj Monga, analyst with Veritas Investment Research, says that BlackBerry made a stunning admission about the lack of demand for its new BlackBerry 10 upon which it has placed so much hope. Normally companies book revenue when they ship products to retailers but Friday's statement said it will instead wait to book revenue from those phones until they're sold to customers.

"It's a bigger flop than anybody thought it could be," he said. "They expect 80% (of shipped phones) to come back."

The company reported last month that it is exploring ways to keep itself afloat -- including a possible sale of the company.

Related: BlackBerry explores a sale of the company

Moorman said the constant drumbeat of bad news is scaring away potential customers, and added that taking the company private would be the best course of action.

"Now with the stock taking a hit, that's more attractive," he said. "Going private takes you out of the spotlight. When you're on CNBC every day talking about a death spiral, that's not good. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy if you stay public."

There have been rumors that Toronto-based investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF) might be interested in taking the company private. It's already Blackberry's largest shareholder, with nearly a 10% stake.

But Monga said he thinks that time is running out for BlackBerry.

"I do not believe this business can be turned around. I don't think an acquisition is in the offering. This suggests the end is coming pretty soon," he said.

Experts predict that BlackBerry would have a tough time finding a buyer for the entire company, since no suitor is likely to be interested in its hardware business.

But BlackBerry does possess some lucrative patents that could be attractive to a potential buyer or partner. That's a massive advantage in the competitive and highly litigious world of smartphones, and it could be attractive to a big rival like Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) or Samsung.

At least BlackBerry has some breathing room: The company has $2.6 billion in cash. But that's down about $500 million from the previous quarter, a cash burn rate that Moorman described as "shocking."

If BlackBerry's smartphones themselves are a deal-killer, peeling off the company's software business could help gain interest from a number of buyers. BlackBerry's brand has lost consumer cachet, but it still holds a strong reputation for corporate security.

- Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 3:39 PM ET

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Target to reduce 2013 holiday hiring

A Target store in Daly City, Calif. advertises for employment.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The discount store chain said Friday that it plans to hire about 70,000 temporary workers this year, down from 88,000 a year ago.

Target said it planned to offer more holiday hours to full-time staff members -- "as much as five to 10 percent more for the busiest periods around Black Friday and the week before Christmas."

"This approach takes into account recent trends that are becoming more and more pronounced—the busy periods are busier than ever, while the early part of December is quieter," Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said. "And with year-round team members looking for more hours, we want to accommodate their requests first."

Related: Hot toys for the 2013 holidays

Off the 88,000 seasonal workers hired last year, Target said 34,000 were offered year-round roles.

Industry tracker ShopperTrak said this week that it expects retail sales to rise 2.4% versus last year in November and December.

"Although the economy continues to recover slowly, consumers remain cautious about spending and are not ready to splurge," ShopperTrak Founder Bill Martin said .

Retailers have to contend with a shorter peak-shopping season this year. Black Friday doesn't fall until Nov. 29, compared with Nov. 23 in 2012.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 4:24 PM ET

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Father and son charged in $6.5 million deathbed bond scam

The SEC says the two men "exploited the tragic circumstances surrounding a terminally ill diagnosis and turned the misfortune of others into a profit-making enterprise for themselves."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The dying people were accessories to a scheme that defrauded banks and bond issuers by taking advantage of features in some corporate bonds known as "survivor's options," the Securities and Exchange Commission said. A survivor's option requires bond issuers to repay the full principal amount before maturity if an owner of the bonds dies.

The accused are 62-year-old Benjamin S. Staples and his son, 28-year-old Benjamin O. Staples, both of Lexington, S.C.

Related: Beanie Babies creator pinched for tax evasion

The alleged scheme, the SEC says, worked like this: First, the Staples would find people close to death who were concerned about being able to afford their funerals. The pair allegedly offered to pay for the funerals if the terminally ill agreed to open joint brokerage accounts with them.

In setting up the accounts, the Staples are accused of requiring the sick to sign agreements relinquishing any ownership interest. Then, they allegedly purchased discounted corporate bonds through the accounts.

Upon the deaths of the individuals they recruited, the Staples wrote to brokerage firms asking to redeem the discounted bonds at full value pursuant to the survivor's option, the SEC said.

The profits the pair earned came from the difference "between the discounted price of the bonds they purchased and the full principal amount they obtained when redeeming the bonds early," the SEC said.

Related: Still no charges for Wall Street execs five years after crash

All told, the Stapes are alleged to have recruited at least 44 dying people and purchased $26.5 million in bonds, earning at least $6.5 million in profits.

"The Stapleses deceived brokerage firms and bond issuers by casting themselves as survivors of a joint ownership situation when the deceased had no legal ties to the bonds at all," Kenneth Israel, director of the SEC's Salt Lake regional office, said in a statement.

Attorneys for the two men did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 6:37 PM ET

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BlackBerry slashes staff, warns of $1 billion loss

Click the chart to track shares of BlackBerry.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) were halted at about 3:30 p.m. ET and plunged 20% when trading resumed. For the day they closed down 17%. BlackBerry's stock is down 26.5% this year.

The news of 4,500 job cuts came late Friday afternoon, confirming layoff rumors that have been swirling about problems at the smartphone maker. It attributed the loss to a charge it will take to restructure its business as well as an "increasingly competitive business environment."

It also said it will offer just four smartphones instead of six.

The anticipated operating loss is about three times larger than the consensus forecast of analysts. The company is due to report financial results on September 27.

"We expected bad results but the device sales are pretty bad," said James Moorman, analyst with S&P Capital IQ. "I like their strategy of cutting back, but it's kind of late. This should have been done about a year ago."

Neeraj Monga, analyst with Veritas Investment Research, says that BlackBerry made a stunning admission about the lack of demand for its new BlackBerry 10 upon which it has placed so much hope. Normally companies book revenue when they ship products to retailers but Friday's statement said it will instead wait to book revenue from those phones until they're sold to customers.

"It's a bigger flop than anybody thought it could be," he said. "They expect 80% (of shipped phones) to come back."

The company reported last month that it is exploring ways to keep itself afloat -- including a possible sale of the company.

Related: BlackBerry explores a sale of the company

Moorman said the constant drumbeat of bad news is scaring away potential customers, and added that taking the company private would be the best course of action.

"Now with the stock taking a hit, that's more attractive," he said. "Going private takes you out of the spotlight. When you're on CNBC every day talking about a death spiral, that's not good. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy if you stay public."

There have been rumors that Toronto-based investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF) might be interested in taking the company private. It's already Blackberry's largest shareholder, with nearly a 10% stake.

But Monga said he thinks that time is running out for BlackBerry.

"I do not believe this business can be turned around. I don't think an acquisition is in the offering. This suggests the end is coming pretty soon," he said.

Experts predict that BlackBerry would have a tough time finding a buyer for the entire company, since no suitor is likely to be interested in its hardware business.

But BlackBerry does possess some lucrative patents that could be attractive to a potential buyer or partner. That's a massive advantage in the competitive and highly litigious world of smartphones, and it could be attractive to a big rival like Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) or Samsung.

At least BlackBerry has some breathing room: The company has $2.6 billion in cash. But that's down about $500 million from the previous quarter, a cash burn rate that Moorman described as "shocking."

If BlackBerry's smartphones themselves are a deal-killer, peeling off the company's software business could help gain interest from a number of buyers. BlackBerry's brand has lost consumer cachet, but it still holds a strong reputation for corporate security.

- Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 3:39 PM ET

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Target to reduce 2013 holiday hiring

A Target store in Daly City, Calif. advertises for employment.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The discount store chain said Friday that it plans to hire about 70,000 temporary workers this year, down from 88,000 a year ago.

Target said it planned to offer more holiday hours to full-time staff members -- "as much as five to 10 percent more for the busiest periods around Black Friday and the week before Christmas."

"This approach takes into account recent trends that are becoming more and more pronounced—the busy periods are busier than ever, while the early part of December is quieter," Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said. "And with year-round team members looking for more hours, we want to accommodate their requests first."

Related: Hot toys for the 2013 holidays

Off the 88,000 seasonal workers hired last year, Target said 34,000 were offered year-round roles.

Industry tracker ShopperTrak said this week that it expects retail sales to rise 2.4% versus last year in November and December.

"Although the economy continues to recover slowly, consumers remain cautious about spending and are not ready to splurge," ShopperTrak Founder Bill Martin said .

Retailers have to contend with a shorter peak-shopping season this year. Black Friday doesn't fall until Nov. 29, compared with Nov. 23 in 2012.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 4:24 PM ET

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Father and son charged in $6.5 million deathbed bond scam

The SEC says the two men "exploited the tragic circumstances surrounding a terminally ill diagnosis and turned the misfortune of others into a profit-making enterprise for themselves."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The dying people were accessories to a scheme that defrauded banks and bond issuers by taking advantage of features in some corporate bonds known as "survivor's options," the Securities and Exchange Commission said. A survivor's option requires bond issuers to repay the full principal amount before maturity if an owner of the bonds dies.

The accused are 62-year-old Benjamin S. Staples and his son, 28-year-old Benjamin O. Staples, both of Lexington, S.C.

Related: Beanie Babies creator pinched for tax evasion

The alleged scheme, the SEC says, worked like this: First, the Staples would find people close to death who were concerned about being able to afford their funerals. The pair allegedly offered to pay for the funerals if the terminally ill agreed to open joint brokerage accounts with them.

In setting up the accounts, the Staples are accused of requiring the sick to sign agreements relinquishing any ownership interest. Then, they allegedly purchased discounted corporate bonds through the accounts.

Upon the deaths of the individuals they recruited, the Staples wrote to brokerage firms asking to redeem the discounted bonds at full value pursuant to the survivor's option, the SEC said.

The profits the pair earned came from the difference "between the discounted price of the bonds they purchased and the full principal amount they obtained when redeeming the bonds early," the SEC said.

Related: Still no charges for Wall Street execs five years after crash

All told, the Stapes are alleged to have recruited at least 44 dying people and purchased $26.5 million in bonds, earning at least $6.5 million in profits.

"The Stapleses deceived brokerage firms and bond issuers by casting themselves as survivors of a joint ownership situation when the deceased had no legal ties to the bonds at all," Kenneth Israel, director of the SEC's Salt Lake regional office, said in a statement.

Attorneys for the two men did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

First Published: September 20, 2013: 6:37 PM ET

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Hedge fund head: Microsoft will beat Apple

Hedge fund manager Jeff Ubben is thought to be a driving force behind the recent shakeups at Microsoft. And he says the company is better than Apple.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Jeffrey Ubben of ValueAct made the comments at the Value Investing Conference in New York. Ubben's firm announced a $2 billion position in Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) earlier this year and is thought to be a driving force behind CEO Steve Ballmer's decision to retire as well as Microsoft's new stock buyback and dividend increase announced earlier Tuesday.

Ubben said he likes that Microsoft charges a lot of money, makes a lot of money, and has enterprise contracts that will last for years. He noted that Microsoft is "in the plumbing" of big corporations.

Related: Is Stephen Elop the next Microsoft CEO?

By contrast, companies like Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Samsung (SSNLF), which cater more to average consumers, have to keep churning out new products every few months even if changes are incremental.

"They have to run faster every year to keep up," he said.

Ubben conceded that Apple, which trades at 11 times 2014 earnings estimates, is fairly valued. But Microsoft, which trades at nearly 13 times 2014 profit forecasts, is still a better bargain, according to Ubben.

With activists circling both Microsoft and Apple, Microsoft made the first move to whittle down its cash hoard. The company announced a 22% increase in its dividend and a new $40 billion share repurchase Tuesday.

Carl Icahn, who recently invested in Apple, has been pushing its CEO Tim Cook to buy back more stock as well.

Related: The Microsoft CEO candidate no one is discussing

Ubben refused to discuss his stake in Microsoft in greater detail, saying his hedge fund and Microsoft "are in the middle of stuff."

ValueAct should play in even more active role in deciding what's next for the company. Microsoft offered a board seat to ValueAct president Mason Morfit in late August.

Microsoft's board has a busy few months ahead of it. The company needs to find a CEO to replace Ballmer and also figure out how to integrate the $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia's (NOK) mobile device business.

First Published: September 17, 2013: 4:45 PM ET

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