How far Chinese moms will go to have U.S. babies

Some are even willing to commit visa fraud, lie to immigration officers and pay tens of thousands of dollars to shady middlemen -- as long as the payoff is a U.S. passport for their newborn.

An underground "birth tourism" network that stretches from the U.S. to China has sprung up to cater to growing numbers of Chinese mothers who travel stateside to give birth, according to affidavits filed by federal law enforcement officers. The moms are lured by laws that grant U.S. citizenship to anyone born on American soil.

Department of Homeland Security agents carried out a series of "birth tourism" raids earlier this month as part of a larger criminal investigation targeting companies in California that have netted millions helping pregnant Chinese women fraudulently secure visas and scam hospitals.

Related: Why Chinese moms want American babies

Documents made public as part of the investigation shed light on the lengths that expectant Chinese mothers are willing to go for an American baby. Here's a look at some of the tactics:

Lie on your visa application

Pregnant women from China are allowed to vacation in the U.S., after securing a travel visa from the U.S. government. But if someone misrepresents the reason for visiting, that's visa fraud.

DHS documents describe one Chinese woman, and her partner, who claimed to be traveling to the U.S. for tourism on their visa application. A U.S. consular officer concluded after an interview that they were "credible tourists" traveling for fun, according to DHS.

On the visa application, the woman even put a Los Angeles hotel as the address where she would be staying. But she later listed a different one on a U.S. passport application for her newborn. That second address was for a unit in a high-end Irvine, California apartment complex where one birth tourism company had rented a number of homes, according to DHS.

The company that used the apartments, You Win USA, was one of three targets in the DHS raids carried out early March. DHS is investigating the people who run You Win, and similar businesses, for alleged visa fraud, tax evasion, failure to report overseas assets and scamming hospitals.

DHS spokeswoman Virginia Kice said no criminal charges have yet been filed, and no arrests made. DHS is reviewing evidence seized during the raids and statements from witnesses.

You Win recommended moms who wanted to give birth in the U.S. apply for tourist visas far in advance to avoid detection by U.S. authorities, and even coached clients how to lie in their interview, according to DHS documents.

Over the past two years, You Win's alleged visa fraud scheme resulted in more than 400 births at just one California hospital, Fountain Valley Regional. The hospital didn't respond to a request for comment.

The federal government carried out a series of raids in early March on maternity hotels.

Leave without paying hospital bills

Some You Win clients allegedly defrauded hospitals by not paying what they owe. They "either fail to pay anything or pay a greatly-reduced amount designed for indigent or low income patients lacking insurance," according to DHS.

Records obtained by the agency show the couple found to be "credible tourists" paid only $4,080 of a $28,845.29 medical bill from the California hospital where their child was born. The expectant Chinese mother told the hospital that she was unemployed -- though she had listed a job on her original visa application.

DHS documents suggest the couple could have afforded to pay the full bill. They opened a Citibank account within weeks of arriving in the U.S. last February, and wired over $200,000 from China into the account. Plus, numerous charges were made from the account over the course of three months at places like the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, Bose, Rolex in Costa Mesa and Louis Vuitton in Beverly Hills.

Sail past immigration at the airport

In an undercover investigation, DHS found that You Win employees not only prep moms to pass the visa interview, but also train them to clear immigration once they arrive. "The earlier the better, in order to conceal the pregnancy," one You Win agent said, according to government documents.

A cartoon posted on You Win's website shows a pregnant mom entering the U.S. on the left, and returning to China on the right with her American baby.

You Win even suggested that moms fly from China to places like Hawaii before connecting to Los Angeles -- where immigration security is tighter.

California, in particular, is popular with Chinese moms -- they have their pick of maternity hotels, and if their ties to the state deepen over time, the children may be eligible for lower tuition rates at University of California schools.

According to the federal affidavits, You Win clients pay up to $60,000 for the company's services. These firms often also line up chauffeurs, meals, translators and sightseeing trips.

The long run

Once moms get a U.S. passport for their kid, they essentially have a ticket out of China if they grow weary of pollution, food safety scares and political volatility. At 21, American-born children can apply to sponsor their parents for residency in the U.S.

While other foreigners also come to the U.S. for the sole purpose of giving birth, the Chinese appear to be the only group willing to pay high sums for the services of these birth tourism companies.

Following the raids carried out by DHS agents, websites linked to You Win were taken offline. Multiple calls to numbers DHS linked to the company were unsuccessful. At least one of the phone numbers has been disconnected.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 30, 2015: 8:46 PM ET

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How Hong Kong's subway turns a $2 billion annual profit

The city's subway is the face of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) -- a publicly traded company that pulled in $5.2 billion in revenue last year.

With a $2 billion annual profit, the Hong Kong's subway is an anomaly among major rail networks. New York's subway, for example, suffers from chronic funding gaps and will spend nearly $2.5 billion in 2015 to service its debt.

How does Hong Kong's train and bus network manage to clear its mind-boggling margins?

First off, this is one impressive subway system. Even with more than 5 million daily commuters, MTR trains boast a 99.9% on-time arrival rate. Fares are notoriously cheap ($.50 to $3), but cover roughly 175% of the system's operating costs.

But the company's real profits are derived from a lesser-known side of the business: property development. Some 50 major properties across Hong Kong are owned, developed or managed by MTR, including two of the city's tallest skyscrapers.

"Sometimes critics say it's a property development firm doing a side business of rail," said Tim Hau, a professor at University of Hong Kong's School of Economics and Finance.

Here's how it works: MTR enjoys a special relationship with the Hong Kong government, which is also its majority shareholder. The government provides land -- at no cost -- for use by the train operator, and MTR is then allowed to develop the areas above and around its stations.

Related: Taking a ride on the world's most envied metro system

MTR often builds shopping malls right on top of stations -- it owns 13. Last year, rents at the malls went up by an average of 14%. Below ground, each subway stop is jam-packed with retail outlets, which all pay rent to MTR or have a profit-sharing agreement in place.

You can find every kind of retail in the stations -- even Michelin-starred dim sum restaurants.

Wong Sau Lan has been managing one such restaurant, called Tim Ho Wan, for the past two years. She said the restaurant's MTR outlet, located in a subway station that serves the central business district, is twice as popular as its flagship restaurant.

For the 14 hours that Tim Ho Wan is open each day, people will, on average, wait 40 minutes for the MTR dining experience.

MTR is now exporting its model abroad. It's already been commissioned to build and run lines in China, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia, and more projects are in the works.

"They'll go wherever there's a profit," said Hau. "There aren't that many viable competitors in the world."

Related: Beijing's Growing Subway

Related: China's incredible high-speed rail system

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 30, 2015: 8:50 PM ET

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Elizabeth Warren tells Wall Street: 'Bring it on'

The senator from Massachusetts said Monday that she will continue to call for financial reforms and for big Wall Street banks to be broken up, despite potential retaliation against Democratic candidates.

Last week, Reuters reported that Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) might withhold campaign contributions to Senate Democrats because of Warren's negative portrayal of Wall Street.

"You bet I believe it's a serious threat," Warren told a packed room at a Barnes & Noble in New York City's Union Square -- a few miles north of Wall Street.

"It is so brazen. If they think they can say in public, 'I don't like your tone, I don't like the way you talk about financial regulation' ... I got news for them: bring it on," the Democrat said.

Related: Elizabeth Warren says the market is broken

Warren stressed that she only wants two things from Wall Street: banks shouldn't be able to cheat people, and no financial institution should be able to risk destroying the economy because it's too big to fail.

"If they want to fight on either one of those, I'm ready," she said to much applause.

Warren says no to presidential run: Several members of the audience held up "Elizabeth Warren for President" signs and chanted "Run, Liz, Run" during the event.

"No, I am not running for president," Warren said. "I am not going to run for president."

Moumita Ahmed, left, and Emiljana Ulaj hold signs urging Elizabeth Warren to run for president at an event on March 30, 2015 where the senator spoke.

Instead, she called herself a "nerd" who loves her Senate job. Her top priorities at the moment are reducing the interest rate on student loans, increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health and raising the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour.

Related: Elizabeth Warren is worth millions

Emiljana Ulaj was one of the people holding a sign at the bookstore and urging Warren to run. An immigrant from Albania, she has a full-time job but believes the American Dream is at risk.

"I hope she's just deliberating about running and didn't chose this moment to announce," Ulaj, 28, told CNNMoney. She was pleased to hear Warren stand up to the banks, "That's when you know you're making change."

What's ahead: The stakes for Warren may be higher if Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York with close ties to business, becomes the Senate Democratic leader after Sen. Harry Reid retires in 2016. Schumer is widely viewed as the top candidate for the leadership post.

Schumer and Warren would likely clash on financial regulation, and he might push her to soften her tone in order to help fundraising. If the banks didn't contribute, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee could lose up to $15,000 per bank a year -- and possibly more if individual bankers stopped donating as well. Warren is already trying to fight back by asking supporters for donations in a blog post Friday.

Related: Wall Street welcomes expected Chuck Schumer promotion

Warren is currently promoting her book, "A Fighting Chance." She read from a passage about her fight against the big banks to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she says has forced banks to return $5 billion "to consumers they cheated."

Elizabeth Warren: 8 ways to restore the middle class

CNNMoney (New York) March 30, 2015: 10:36 PM ET

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Ford's big Lincoln Continental is coming back

This car has a big job: To regain for Lincoln the respect it once had, decades ago, as a luxury car brand.

In recent years, Lincoln has mostly sold upgraded versions of Ford cars with little difference beyond the design and some added features.

The Continental is, officially, a concept vehicle but something very much like it will go on sale next year, according to Ford (F). And the production car will also be called the Lincoln Continental, making it one of only two Lincoln models, along with the Navigator SUV, to have a name instead of letters like MKZ or MKC.

The Continental is about the same length as a Mercedes-Benz S-class or long-wheelbase BMW 7-series, two expensive high-end luxury cars it is designed to compete against.

Besides BMW and Mercedes, the Continental will also be competing against a new Cadillac flagship sedan. That car is expected to be unveiled in New York this week, as well, in the days leading up to the New York Auto Show.

In the 1950s, Continental was a separate brand offering opulent ultra-luxury cars like this Mark II.

The concept Lincoln has a reclining rear passenger seat, a fold out table in the back with an attached tablet computer and even a champagne cooler. Options like that may be available on the production car. Ford boasts that the Continental has a new turbocharged engine not available in any Ford brand car.

The concept car's front lights, starting with lighted Lincoln four-pointed star, come on in sequence. In the production car, that will happen as the car's owner approaches with the key fob. The interior is bathed in soft golden mood lighting.

The 1961 Lincoln Continental was a styling icon for its era.

Continental is a hallowed name within the Ford Motor Co. In the 1950s, Continental was actually a separate brand priced above Lincoln and offering cars with an even greater level of opulence. Later, in the early 1960s, the Lincoln Continental, with its simple, straight lines and backwards-opening rear doors, became a stylish icon of the Kennedy era.

Photos - Cool car from the Geneva Motor Show

The Continental name also resonates among Chinese car buyers, according to Ford executives, despite the fact that Lincolns only went on sale there last year.

CNNMoney (New York) March 30, 2015: 12:05 AM ET

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Half of Americans are saving next to nothing

For many of us, it's time to step up our savings plan.

Roughly half of Americans are saving 5% or less of their incomes, including 18% that are not saving anything, according to a survey from Bankrate. Only about a quarter of people are saving more than 10% of their earnings.

So how much should you be saving? Bankrate recommends 15%.

"Between emergency savings and the ever-increasing burden of retirement savings that is on the individual, the goal should be 15% of your income," said Greg McBride, the personal finance website's chief financial analyst.

Currently, one in seven people are saving more than 15%, the report showed.

"For a lot of people, it won't happen overnight. It's going to take some time, but it's doable, as the middle class is showing."

Those in the middle class are proving to be the super savers with 35% of people with an annual income of $50,000-$74,999 saving more than 10% of their earnings.

Related: The average tax refund is now $2,893

Of those taking home more than $75,000 a year, 32% were saving more than 10% of their income, according to McBride.

Saving more is easier said than done, which is why McBride suggests making it automatic by having a portion of each paycheck be directly deposited into a savings account and a retirement plan. "Saving needs to happen before you pick up your paycheck."

Bankrate's Financial Security Index, which surveyed 1,000 adults in the U.S., also showed consumers are feeling better about their debt and financial situation compared to a year ago, which could actually be bad news for savings accounts.

"People get frugal fatigue, as the economy improves I think a lot of people will fall back into familiar habits ... more spending, more debt, less savings."

Tool: How fast will my savings grow

CNNMoney (New York) March 30, 2015: 12:01 AM ET

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Andrew Sullivan: Blogging nearly killed me

His prodigious output was supplemented by dispatches from readers, public debates with fellow bloggers and ruminations on everything from the Geneva Conventions to "South Park." Blogging was a medium -- and a lifestyle -- that he helped pioneer. It also nearly proved to be his undoing.

"The truth is, I had to stop primarily because it was killing me," Sullivan said Sunday night at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. "I used to joke that if blogging does kill someone, I would be the first to find out."

He described the grueling pace that he maintained along with a small editorial staff.

"This is 40 posts a day -- every 20 minutes, seven days a week," Sullivan said.

Sullivan has been lying low since he penned his farewell post for "The Dish," the politics and culture blog he founded in 2000. When CNNMoney requested an interview earlier this month, Sullivan declined, saying he was "in detox from media for a while."

In announcing his retirement from blogging in January, Sullivan cited "increasing health challenges." He said those health struggles weren't related to the HIV he's lived with for more than 20 years, but rather the stress of a profession that he helped make mainstream.

On Sunday, while speaking to veteran journalist Jeff Greenfield, Sullivan said that the "crushing" workload was only part of what made his job so overwhelming. The experience, Sullivan said, was often dehumanizing.

"Here's what I would say: I spent a decade of my life, spending around seven hours a day in intimate conversation with around 70,000 to 100,000 people every day, " Sullivan said. "And inevitably, for those seven hours or more, I was not spending time with any actual human being, with a face and a body and a mind and a soul."

Sullivan said the job resulted in lost friendships and minimal contact with his family. He said his husband, whom Sullivan married in 2007, called himself a "blog widow."

Related: Andrew Sullivan bids farewell to blogging

No longer tethered to his computer, Sullivan said he's resolved to exercise and meditate each day, and to get eight hours of sleep. He expressed relief that he wasn't forced to cover the recent controversy over Hillary Clinton's emails.

"I couldn't imagine blogging the next election," he said. "I will not spend another minute of my time writing about the Clintons. Period. Or the Bushes."

Sullivan was one of the earliest adopters of the blog medium, and The Dish was housed at mainstream news organizations such as Time and The Atlantic. In 2013, Sullivan broke from The Daily Beast, making The Dish an independent organization subsidized by subscriptions. He asked readers to pay a minimum of $19.99 for full access to the blog.

Calling The Dish's readers the "most wonderful people" for whom he's ever written, Sullivan on Sunday celebrated the 30,000 subscribers who signed up for his blog. He touted the accomplishment as one that even a certain online juggernaut would be hard-pressed to match.

"I'm intensely proud of having 30,000 subscribers to a site, which is 30,000 more than BuzzFeed will ever have," Sullivan said. "That's my one response to BuzzFeed. When you get 30,000 people willing to pay you 40 bucks a year to read this, then my hat's off to you."

Sullivan's reflections on his shuttered blog were coupled with his thoughts about the industry at large. He lamented both the proliferation of "sponsored content," or paid advertisements that deliberately resemble news stories, and the obsession with page views.

Sullivan recalled a recent visit to The Huffington Post newsroom, where editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington eagerly trumpeted the website's staggering traffic numbers.

"She was so excited," Sullivan said, before mimicking Huffington's Greek accent. "'Andrew, we had 176 million [unique visitors] last month.'"

He said "one of the kids" at The Huffington Post later confessed that he didn't know what the 176 million figure even meant.

"I said, 'You are the smartest kid here,' " Sullivan said. "It means nothing, really."

At one point during Sunday night's conversation, Greenfield read a question from an audience member who complained of "Dish-withdrawal." Is there another website that is comparable to Sullivan's creation?

"I've been looking, and I can't find it," Sullivan said.

Related: BBC sacks Clarkson ... what next for Top Gear?

Related: Lara Logan of '60 Minutes' hospitalized again

CNNMoney (New York) March 30, 2015: 1:50 AM ET

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The activist nun reforming profit-prisons

Mercy Investment Services Inc. is the investment fund for the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, an international religious order.

The fund is managed by Sister Valerie Heinonen, a soft-spoken nun who's been buying shares in for-profit prison companies since early 2000. She's not doing it in the hopes of making big bucks. Rather, she tries to use her leverage as an owner to reform the industry.

"What we want is the establishment of a human rights policy at these companies," Heinonen told CNNMoney.

Even more importantly, she wants the policy to be thoughtfully implemented, monitored and transparently disclosed to shareholders.

Related: 19 stocks to buy now

The issue: Hundreds of prisons and immigrant detention centers in the U.S. are being run or co-run by for-profit companies.

For decades, investors have put billions of dollars into the two largest such companies, Geo Group (GEO) and Corrections Corporation of America (CXW). Many investors saw dollar signs as prison populations swelled. The stock of Geo Group has risen 130% in the past three years.

While profits have been huge, some money managers feel it is unfair for Wall Street to profit from what they see as the inhumane warehousing of human beings. This issue is back in the forefront given the surge of immigrant detainees following the mass deportation effort of the Obama administration.

Immigrant federal prisoners are mostly segregated into 13 "Criminal Alien Requirement" prisons, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. These institutions are unusual in three respects.

"They are some of the only federal prisons operated by for-profit companies instead of being run as federal institutions by the Bureau of Prisons; they house exclusively non-citizens; and they are low-custody institutions with lesser security requirements than the medium and maximum-security institutions run directly by BOP," the ACLU says.

Accusations of mistreatment at for-profit prisons are plentiful.

Related: More undocumented workers moving into management

Prison treatment: Among them, according to an ACLU report released in 2014, is a riot in 2012 where about 300 prisoners at a facility run by CCA in Natchez, Mississippi, housing immigrant detainees over "inadequate food, poor medical care, and mistreatment by guards." The report said "the uprising resulted in the death of one guard and the injury of nearly 20 other people."

GEO Group and CCA say they are committed to protecting the human rights of prisoners and detainees.

"Our company adopted a Global Human Rights policy two years ago, which we believe was a first for any private correctional organization in the United States," Geo Group told CNNMoney in a statement.

CCA said its human rights policy is publicly available on its website and is incorporated into the ethics and professionalism course that every new employee receives. "It has been shared across our organization in communications from our CEO and others in leadership," a CCA spokesman said.

Guards search male detainees inside Homeland Security's Willacy Detention Center, a facility with 10 giant tents that can house up to 2000 detained undocumented immigrants, 10 May 2007 in Raymondville, Texas.

Last month, part of an immigrant detention center in Willacy County, Texas was burned by detainees rioting in protest of what they said were inhumane conditions at the facility. Last week the Federal Bureau of Prisons abruptly canceled its contract there with Management and Training Corporation, the third-largest privately run, for-profit prison company in America.

"Inmates started three small fires during the disturbance but they were minor. Damage by inmates to infrastructure like water and sewer was the reason inmates had to be transferred to other facilities," said Issa Arnita, director of corporate communications for MTC.

The treatment of immigrants at detention centers exploded into the national consciousness this summer as a torrent of undocumented children flowed into the U.S. Kids were being picked up by the border patrol but placing them in immigrant detention facilities was difficult. There just weren't enough facilities available. What was available, however, were prison beds.

With investor money, companies like Geo Group and CCA have been building prisons across the United States, but as crime rates and incarceration levels declined nationwide, those beds sat empty. Now, many of those beds are being used to house immigrants.

How the nuns strive for change: Mercy has raised questions about food, housing and education for the detained children and adults.

"We've also been concerned about legal access for people," Heinonen said.

Implementation and monitoring of human rights policies and transparency in communicating progress to investors is a work in progress.

"How often do the guards get a refresher course and what kind of oversight is there," Heinonen asked.

Mercy and the prison companies say they continue to meet regularly in order to address these issues.

Mercy's relationship with prisons started out pretty warm and fuzzy.

"A number of orders have members who are chaplains in prisons and perhaps this conversation came from what these people saw," she said.

Mercy initially focused on executive compensation. It introduced an investor resolution onto the ballot of both Geo Group and CCA, tying compensation to social as well as financial criteria.

"By the time we got started with the human rights policy, we had had had some success with other shareholder initiatives," Heinonen said. "For example, with the environmental initiative, everyone was recycling their waste."

However, this type of activism can be long and arduous.

Some investors, rather than pushing to reform an industry, simply want to unload their stakes in companies that don't conform to their moral code.

For example, Columbia University students have been recently organizing rallies to push the University to divest itself from private prison companies.

But there's a problem with this strategy: Unless investors sell en-masse, it can do little to spur reform and mainly only helps ease investors' minds about where their profits are generated.

For individuals interested in reforming these companies, Heinonen's recommendation is pretty simple: "I know friends who get materials from companies they used to work for and they just throw them out," she said. "I'd encourage people to read their proxy statements and go out and vote."

Related: Wall Street bets on prison growth from border crisis

Related Undocumented immigrant journalist partners with Los Angeles Times

Related: Cash for passports - how much it costs to buy a visa

Correction: An earlier version of this story said part of the Willacy County immigrant facility was burned to the ground. A Willacy spokesman said that inmates set three small fires that caused minor damage. The story has been updated to reflect that.

CNNMoney (New York) March 28, 2015: 1:36 PM ET

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Angie's List halts Indiana expansion over anti-gay law

CEO Bill Oesterle announced Saturday that the company had put its proposed campus expansion project in Indianapolis "on hold" following the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Angie's List, a business-rating website, was expected to break ground on the campus expansion within days.

"We are putting the 'Ford Building Project' on hold until we fully understand the implications of the freedom restoration act on our employees, both current and future," Oesterle said in a statement.

"Angie's List is open to all and discriminates against none and we are hugely disappointed in what this bill represents."

Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act gives businesses owners who oppose homosexuality for religious reasons the right to turn away gay, lesbian and transgender people. Governor Mike Pence signed the law Thursday, hailing it as a victory for "religious liberty."

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Pence reiterated the Governor's argument that the law does not discriminate against gay people and is similar to 1993 federal law designed to protect American's freedom of religion.

Other businesses have also spoken out against the law saying, it will make it harder to attract employees and customers. They note that Indiana doesn't currently have any laws prohibiting discrimination against gay people.

NBA, WNBA, Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever: "The game of basketball is grounded in long established principles of inclusion and mutual respect. We will continue to ensure that all fans, players and employees feel welcome at all NBA and WNBA events in Indiana and elsewhere."

Pacers and Fever owner Herb Simon added: "The Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever and Bankers Life Fieldhouse have the strongest possible commitment to inclusion and non-discrimination on any basis. Everyone is always welcome at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. That has always been the policy from the very beginning of the Simon family's involvement and it always will be."

Apple: CEO Tim Cook tweeted that "Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana's new law... Around the world, we strive to treat every customer the same — regardless of where they come from, how they worship or who they love."

Indiana Chamber of Commerce: "In our eyes, the law is entirely unnecessary. Passing the law was always going to bring the state unwanted attention."

Eli Lilly: "We certainly understand the implications this legislation has on our ability to attract and retain employees. Simply put, we believe discriminatory legislation is bad for Indiana and for business."

Eli Lilly (LLY) employs more than 11,700 workers in Indiana, mostly in Indianapolis.

Related: Tim Cook 'disappointed' by Indiana anti-gay law

NCAA: "We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees."

Indianapolis is a major destination for conventions and sporting events, including the upcoming NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament.

NCAA President Mark Emmert said the NCAA will "work diligently" to ensure competitors and visitors at next week's Final Four are not "negatively impacted by this bill."

Gen Con, the video game convention: The law would "factor into our decision making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years."

The convention brought 56,000 people to the state last year, according to Gen Con CEO Adrian Swartout.

Related: Guinness returns to sponsor N.Y.'s St. Patrick's Day Parade

Salesforce: CEO Marc Benioff said on Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) that his company will "dramatically reduce our investments" in Indiana, calling the law an "outrage." Benioff called on other CEOs in the tech industry to follow suit.

Yelp: CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said the company will "make every effort" to expand its corporate operations in states that do not have such laws on the books. "These laws set a terrible precedent that will likely harm the broader economic health of the states where they have been adopted, the businesses currently operating in those states and, most importantly, the consumers who could be victimized under these laws."

Related: Will Alabama pass the Tim Cook bill?

CNNMoney (New York) March 28, 2015: 7:03 PM ET

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'Things will not change' after sex bias verdict without push

Ellen Pao lost her sex bias suit against prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers on Friday when a San Francisco jury ruled that the firm did not discriminate against her.

Pao, a former junior partner at Kleiner Perkins, sued the firm in 2012, claiming she was passed over for promotions and eventually terminated because she was a woman, and because she had complained about discrimination.

Following the official verdict, Pao took to Twitter to say, "Thank you, world," the first in a series of tweets.

"Because of social media and live reports, the problem of gender discrimination in venture capital has received attention around the globe," read one tweet, followed by: "If we do not share our stories and shine a light on inequities, things will not change."

Others took to the social media platform to echo her sentiment that the battle may have been lost, but hopefully the fight for equity in Silicon Valley is just beginning.

"I hope our industry can keep making progress," tweeted Alexis Ohanian, who is the executive chairman and co-founder of Reddit, the firm where Pao now serves as interim CEO. (He followed with another tweet, welcoming Pao back "full-time" to Reddit after five weeks of trial.)

Chris Sacca, an angel investor who has backed big-name startups including Twitter, Uber and Instagram, tweeted: "Verdict aside, we have a deep gender discrimination problem in tech. Thx to @ekp for reminding us. Let's not let the conversation end here."

On Friday, the hashtag #thankyouellenpao gained momentum, and tweets using the hashtag are continuing to roll in. But what started as praise for Pao's efforts is now flooded with hate tweets.

Interspersed with tweets like "THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING #ThankYouEllenPao" are tweets like "#ThankYouEllenPao, you failed in business, court, life, but you have a hashtag now so..."

A tweet from Tracy Chou, a software engineer at Pinterest, illustrated the need for more awareness of gender issues in Silicon Valley.

"White male in tech: I care about women in tech. me: so what do you think about #ellenpao. white male in tech: who?" tweeted Chou, who is based in San Francisco. This was a real conversation she had on Friday.

"I was pretty taken aback," she told CNNMoney.

Prior to the verdict coming down, Sarah Kunst, partner at Fortis Partners, encouraged the conversation around women in tech to continue.

"Hey reporters frantically seeking women in tech + vc for #ellenpao comment? Keep getting comments from us about tech issues post verdict," she tweeted.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that a judge had found Kleiner Perkins not liable. It was a jury's decision.

Related: 9 reasons to be hopeful about diversity in tech

Related: Saadia Muzaffer is fighting for women in tech

CNNMoney (New York) March 28, 2015: 10:11 PM ET

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'Ask SeaWorld' marketing campaign backfires

So when it solicited questions about its animal care online as part of a new marketing campaign this week, it seemed to fuel critics rather than dissuade them.

SeaWorld (SEAS) came under fire for its treatment of killer whales when the documentary "Blackfish" aired on CNN in 2013, criticizing the company's practices. PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, has long called out SeaWorld on its animal care.

"Why do you LIE & tell guests collapsed dorsal fins are normal when only 1% suffer this in the wild?" was posted by PETA Thursday. It was retweeted 487 times, and went unanswered by SeaWorld directly.

The company is trying to set the record straight on what it says is "false accusations by activists who oppose whales and other animals in zoological settings."

Related: SeaWorld says PETA 'lies' about killer whales

SeaWorld is encouraging people to use the hashtag #AskSeaWorld on Twitter to ask about topics ranging from breeding to conservation to safety and training. Some questions and answers are posted to the website AskSeaWorld.com.

But a lot of the questions came from activists and animal lovers unhappy with the company.

"Why are your parking lots bigger than your Orca tanks?" asked several Twitter users.

On Friday, SeaWorld addressed what it said were thousands of trolls and bots, hijacking the Q&A.

Related: Harry Potter tour owls 'distressed,' PETA claims

"No time for bots and bullies. We want to answer your questions," it posted on Twitter.

The "Ask SeaWorld" campaign is only part of the company's new marketing push. A website SeaWorldCares.com features videos, research and articles showing how it's a leader in the care and protection of killer whales.

The negative image hasn't helped the company's stock. It's down nearly 40% in the past year and is about 50% below its all-time high.

SeaWorld could not immediately be reached for comment.

Related: Ringling Bros. to phase out elephants from circus shows

CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 7:38 PM ET

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Google strikes back at Wall Street Journal - with a laughing baby

And this was no standard response. Google (GOOGL, Tech30) used playful animated GIFs to make seething points directed at the Journal and its parent company News Corp.

Here's the back story. In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission decided not to sue Google over antitrust issues. However, on March 19, the Journal revealed that FTC investigators back then did actually feel that Google used abusive, anticompetitive tactics.

In a blog post Friday, Google called the Journal's report inaccurate.

Google's senior vice president of communications and policy, Rachel Whetstone, countered several points in the story.

For example, the Journal report hinted at Google's influence in the White House, counting 230 visits there. But Whetstone said engineers were busy fixing Healthcare.gov and discussing patent reform and self-driving cars.

So what about those GIFs? Last year, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson had said that Google is creating a "less informed, more vexatious level of dialogue in our society."

Google's response? A laughing baby.

And to underscore what it felt about the substance of the Journal report, the Google post closes with this image: An old-school Jewish New Yorker saying "Aha!"

This GIF thing might seem odd, but get used to it.

House Speaker John Boehner is resorting to Taylor Swift GIFs to reach out to young Americans. And the Republican-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee just issued an anti-immigration press release full of them.

Related: Google abused its monopoly power, FTC experts found

Related: Google shuts news service in Spain

Related: 'Google tax' targets big tech

CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 6:34 PM ET

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Pebble Time Kickstarter project raised $20.3 million

It broke its first record on its first day, when it became the fastest project to raise $1 million -- in 49 minutes. A week later, it became the most-funded campaign in Kickstarter's history after receiving more than $13.3 million in pledges, besting Coolest Cooler, the previous record holder.

Now, in total, Pebble has raised $20,336,930 from 78,463 people. Pebble's initial goal -- to raise $500,000 -- was too easy of a hurdle. Each watch was sold for $159 to early backers, and $179 for just about everyone else. Once retailers start selling the watch, the price will go up to $199.

"We cannot thank the Pebble community enough for their monumental support," Eric Migicovsky, Pebble CEO, said in a statement. "We continue to listen to and be inspired by the backers who believed in us and supported our vision from day one."

The Pebble Time is Pebble's second generation smartwatch, and this is Pebble's second Kickstarter campaign.

Three years ago, Pebble raised more than $10 million from 69,000 people on the crowdfunding site for its first product, the original Pebble Watch. The company's goal at the time was also an easy target -- $100,000.

Pebble Time is 20% thinner than its predecessor, and features a new color e-paper screen. The Pebble Watch only came with a black and white screen. A one-week battery life has also been another selling point for the Pebble Time.

Kickstarter says that Pebble is one of thousands of companies and creators who have turned to crowdfunding on its site for more than one project.

"Pebble's double success really shows the power of Kickstarter as a way to build community around creative work," John Dimatos, Kickstarter's lead for tech and design projects, said in an email statement. "The Pebble team wanted to come back to the people who supported them at the start, and that community really responded."

Pebble says it will start shipping the Pebble Time watch to its backers in May.

Related: New Pebble smartwatch raises $1 million on Kickstarter in record time

CNNMoney (New York) March 27, 2015: 11:16 PM ET

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The big profits of payday lenders may be over

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called these loans "debt traps" and proposed new rules Thursday to curb the industry's worst practices.

Payday loans typically come with interest rates of over 100% -- far higher than the 15% to 30% annual interest rates on credit card debt.

The stocks of America's top payday lenders fell sharply in reaction to the news of the additional regulations in the works.

EZCorp (EZPW), which owns the EZMoney loan stores, dropped nearly 6% Thursday, and Cash America (CSH), which runs Cash America, Cash Land and Pay Day Advance stores, slipped more than 4%.

Related: Online payday lenders charging 700% APRs

New rules: Borrowers often have to take out more loans to try to pay back the original loan amount. Under the proposed regulations, payday lenders would have to limit loans to an amount that people could repay without defaulting or having to borrow yet again. There would also be a 60-day "cooling off" period before someone could get another loan.

Another rule would prevent lenders from trying to access someone's checking account without notifying them first. Lenders also wouldn't be able to access accounts more than twice in a row. Fees often add up quickly when someone doesn't have enough money in their account to make the payment.

John Hecht, an analyst at Jeffries called the proposed new rules "more stringent and restrictive" than many had anticipated.

Related: The debt collector doing the government's dirty work

But some suggest the sell-off could be premature. These companies don't just do payday loans, but also pawn shops and other short-term cash opportunities.

"Our view is that this may be a positive for the publicly traded payday and installment lenders by forcing many smaller players out of business," wrote Guggenheim Partners in a note to investors.

Desperate measures: The people taking out payday loans are typically at a dire point in their finances.

"Payday loans can seem like easy money at first, but the average borrower ends up spending about 200 days out of the year in debt. If they take out a $500 loan at the typical rates, they wind up paying more than $1,000 in interest and fees," President Obama said in a speech Thursday.

Payday lending spiked in the aftermath of the Great Recession. EZPW stock hit a high of over $38 in 2011 but has since pulled back to trade below $10.

Related: Payday loan borrowers pay more in fees than original loan

CNNMoney (New York) March 26, 2015: 4:29 PM ET

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6 'Matrix' inspired illusions from Oculus' chief scientist

Oculus chief scientist Michael Abrash had doubts too, until a special Keanu Reeves movie came along.

"It was 'The Matrix' that made me believe it," he told an audience on Thursday at F8, Facebook's developer conference.

The virtual reality wizard referred to the 1999 blockbuster film several times during his keynote speech to explain why VR is the next "transformational" technology.

The short version of his pitch to engineers: The movie wasn't totally crazy. The real world is simply a collection of sensory perceptions, and virtual reality can be just as real. Help us create that experience.

"[Our] brain is reverse engineering reality rather than recording it," Abrash said. "Virtual reality is about experiencing the virtual world as real. Experiences are nothing more than what the mind infers from the information it receives."

Or, he said, as Morpheus put it: "What is 'real'? How do you define 'real'? If you are talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

In between movie quotes, Abrash talked about the McGurk effect (why seeing someone speak is key to understanding what you hear), how and why we perceive motion, and our limited visual spectrum. It was a dizzying presentation of scientific explanations, his way of taking everyone down the rabbit hole.

As evidence that we live in a Matrix-esque world -- where we're at the mercy of our limited senses, with only one brain to fill in the gaps -- he demonstrated dozens of optical illusions on stage. See some of them below.

Facebook (FB, Tech30) CTO Mike Schroepfer, who spoke on stage before Abrash, said that hardware to develop virtual reality experiences for Crescent Bay, Oculus' consumer headset, will be available later this year.

So, what does this all mean?

As Abrash put it, quoting the villain Cypher, "It means buckle your seat belt, Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye."

Related: Facebook developer conference F8 day 1 -- 7 big changes coming to Facebook

Here are some of the optical illusions that Abrash used in his presentation:

1. What's real is just what we've come to accept as real. We perceive this straw to pass through the object because we are given visual cues about depth and distortion. Our brain uses past memory and experience to create an impossible image.

The brain can be tricked because it fills in the gaps of what our senses pick up. "Our visual data is astonishingly sparse," said Abrash, who also gave the example of the blue and black dress versus the white and gold dress debate.

2. Blue pill or red pill?

Actually, they're both the same shade of gray.

3. Colors change depending on light conditions.

Like this.

4. And this.

5. Contrasting colors make us perceive angles differently. That's why we see the checkerboard in the background as being curved.

6. Which table is longer?

They're the same length. (Trust us.)

Related: Facebook introduces Timehop-like feature

Read: Google could soon let you pay bills in Gmail

CNNMoney (New York) March 26, 2015: 6:35 PM ET

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How Ferrari maintains its mystique

For him, there is such a thing as selling too many Ferraris. Exclusivity is the key to maintaining the brand's mystique.

"I have the big responsibility to keep alive this dream that is called Ferrari," he said.

He was speaking at the official unveiling of the new Ferrari 488 GTB sports car, the Italian automaker's latest creation, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Even if you have the cash, that doesn't guarantee you a spot anywhere near the top of the months-long waiting list for one of these cars. If you want a Ferrari, it helps to have a relationship with the brand.

When a new Ferrari model comes out, preferential treatment is given to current members of the "Ferrari family." If you have six Ferraris already in your personal stable, your order will get moved up in line ahead of someone who's ordering their first.

That doesn't mean Ferrari isn't happy to welcome new family members. For first-timers, the most popular choice is the convertible Ferrari California T. Almost two-thirds of California buyers are new to the Ferrari brand. With a starting price just a bit under $200,000, it's a relatively affordable car.

The California T is the most popular model for first time Ferrari buyers.

On the other end of the spectrum, for Ferrari's most favored family members, there are very limited edition Ferraris with seven-figure prices that are usually already sold out even before they're unveiled to the general public. For very favored family members, Ferrari will even build completely one-of-a-kind cars. (Actually, Ferrari builds a pair of each of these otherwise unique bodies because one must be crash tested.) This is something Ferrari does two or three times a year as a "reward" for its best customers. It's not a gift, though. Each car costs millions.

But every new Ferrari, from the California on up, is custom built to a degree. The selection process, sifting through thousands of choices of interior and exterior colors and materials among other things, takes time and great care. Ferrari will even match specific colors provided by customers. If a client wants the exterior paint to match his favorite necktie, that can be done.

Only 10 Ferrari F60 Americas were built and all were sold even before the car was revealed to the public.

Now, that sort of thing isn't unique to Ferrari. Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Lamborghini, among others, also go to extremes to meet a buyers' every desire. Ferrari, however, imposes some limits. Ferrari's cherished brand image is, frankly, more important than your desire to paint your F12Berlinetta in a checkerboard of your school colors. Ferrari's design department can -- and will -- gently guide a client away from any request deemed impossibly distasteful.

That's because, for Ferrari, your choices matter. It's not just about your car. It's about the value of every Ferrari on the road. Your appalling personal taste could ruin things for everyone.

This Ferrari race car sold for $38 million.

It's no accident that, last year, nine of the 10 most valuable classic cars sold at auction were Ferraris. (And that was a fairly typical year.) In fact, the most expensive car ever sold at auction was a 1962 Ferrari GTO that went for $38 million last summer. Decades-old Ferraris sell for millions upon millions of dollars today because Ferrari has been managing its brand image for that long. And, of course, they've been making pretty amazing and, usually, beautiful cars, too.

Keeping this virtuous value cycle going is why Ferrari, for years, has said it would not make more than 7,000 passenger each year. Since it's official spin-off from Fiat Group, Ferrari has gotten a bit squishy about that figure. It now says it may make more than that but never too many.

The goal still remains, as always, to build one less Ferrari than the world demands. Someone must always be left wanting.

CNNMoney (Geneva, Switzerland) March 26, 2015: 6:06 PM ET

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The great tech debate: Are we in a bubble or not?

Fledgling startups are capturing millions of dollars from venture capitalists within months of launching. Companies that aren't generating revenue have billion dollar valuations. These are just a couple of concerns that some of Silicon Valley's most powerful have weighed in on recently.

From startup burn rates, to skyhigh valuations, to hefty rounds of funding, here's what investors are saying about the future of startups.

Prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said he's certain the market will turn. When it does, this will be a problem for tech firms with high "burn rates" -- a means of measuring how fast a company spends capital.

"When the market turns, and it will turn, we will find out who has been swimming without trunks on," Andreessen said in an 18-tweet rant in September.

Andreessen minced no words when he told startups to "worry," warning that the firms that do survive will be "few and far between."

But he's still singing the praises of VC funding for entrepreneurs who are pursuing an outcome they can't reach on their own.

"VC is very much not for every company. But for companies that want to do something big, VC = the most aligned capital there is," he tweeted.

Bill Gurley, venture capitalist at Benchmark Capital said we're in a "risk bubble."

Companies are netting millions but they are far from mature.

"Constraints and profitability help you make decisions better," Gurley told author Malcolm Gladwell during a keynote at SXSW. "Being able to do everything leads to poor business execution. Burn rates are higher than they've ever been. In Silicon Valley, you have more people employed by money-losing companies probably than you've ever had before."

Gurley -- whose firm invests in tech firms like Uber -- said Silicon Valley knows no fear, which isn't necessarily a good thing.

"I do think you'll see some dead unicorns this year," he said, referring to startups valued at over $1 billion.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban thinks we're worse off today than in 2000.

"In the tech bubble, it was Broadcast.com, AOL, Netscape, etc. Today it's Uber, Twitter, Facebook, etc.," he wrote on his blog.

During the last bubble, investors were betting on public companies -- today, they're putting money into private enterprises. This is a dangerous proposition, according to Cuban, because there's no liquidity for these investments.

"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that most of these individual angels and crowdfunders are currently underwater in their investments," he said. "The only thing worse than a market with collapsing valuations is a market with no valuations and no liquidity."

Altman spoke out on the topic in an attempt to silence the bubble talk once and for all.

"I'm tired of reading about investors and journalists claiming there's a bubble in tech," wrote Altman in a blog post this week.

Altman acknowledges that there have been some unreasonable early-stage valuations, but those are insignificant compared to the larger market.

He made several predictions about the next five years that would disprove the "bubble" theories. This included that six "unicorns" -- Uber, Palantir, Airbnb, Dropbox, Pinterest and SpaceX -- will be collectively worth over $200 billion by January 1, 2020. That's double what they're worth today, according to Altman.

He challenged a venture capitalist to disagree. Whoever is wrong owes $100,000 to charity.

That didn't quiet talk of a bubble, though.

Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch and general partner at CrunchFund, tweeted in response. "I'm not overly worried about a bubble, but VCs tossing around $100K personal wagers tells me something is off."

CNNMoney (New York) March 25, 2015: 4:32 PM ET

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Tennessee sues FCC over Internet law, hurting one of its own cities: Chattanooga

Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the Internet is fast.

But now Tennessee is suing to stop Chattanooga -- and strengthen the control that cable companies have in the state.

This is an Internet provider turf war.

Last month, the Federal Communications Commission stepped in to protect a city's right to provide high-speed Internet for its own residents.

On Friday, Tennessee attorney general Herbert H. Slatery III sued the FCC. He wants a federal judge to step in and limit the FCC's power.

What led to this? A few cities in the United States have gotten tired of waiting for improvements from big telecom companies. Chattanooga built its own super-fast, publicly-owned Internet, and others have followed.

Chattanooga laid down a fiber-optic network that offers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second for just $70 a month. That's 100 times faster than most current high-speed Internet networks. You could download an entire music album in under six seconds and a feature-length movie in 38 seconds.

Naturally, it got popular. Many living just outside Chattanooga want it too.

But Tennessee state laws, which are supported by the cable industry, would not allow such an expansion.

On February 26, the FCC issued a rule that prohibits states like Tennessee from limiting the expansion of municipal broadband Internet. The FCC said such such laws only strengthened the monopoly power of cable companies.

"Some states have created thickets of red tape designed to limit competition," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said at the hearing. "You can't say you're for competition but deny local elected officials the right to offer competitive choices."

But political conservatives portray this as a federal intrusion on state law.

Tennessee's lawsuit, filed Friday, makes the argument that the FCC has "unlawfully inserted itself" in state matters.

An FCC spokesman said the agency expects its decision to be upheld in court.

This kind of high-speed Internet is more than just a convenience. In recent years, the fast Internet service such as Chattanooga's and others such as Google Fiber has created vibrant zones for high-tech startups, who benefit greatly from faster access.

This is only the latest fight involving the Internet, freedom and powerful companies that provide the service.

On Monday, cable companies sued the FCC over "net neutrality." In that instance, the government wants to enforce equal opportunity rules for the Internet -- like no fast/slow lanes. But AT&T (T, Tech30) and Verizon (VZ, Tech30) want to retain full control of the networks they built. Comcast has also threatened to sue.

Related: Verizon and AT&T sue government over net neutrality

Related: Google abused its monopoly power, FTC experts found

Related: FAA allows Amazon to test drones in U.S.

CNNMoney (New York) March 25, 2015: 4:50 PM ET

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More than half of middle-class kids fail to earn bachelor's degrees

Only 40% of middle-class college entrants who were high school seniors in 2004 had secured bachelor's degrees by 2012, according to the Department of Education.

The low graduation rate has big implications for young adults' ability to remain in the middle class, or to rise a few rungs above their parents on the economic ladder. A college degree, once a ticket to the middle class, is now a must-have to maintain that status.

Why these kids aren't graduating with bachelor's degrees isn't really known. A lot of attention and effort is focused on getting lower-income children into and through college. But few researchers study the path of students from middle class families.

"It's startling. We get people to college, but they don't finish," said Sandy Baum, a research professor at the George Washington University. "The middle class gets lost in the shuffle."

Related: Yes, a college degree is still worth it

The U.S. Department of Education tracks college graduation rates in two ways: It follows kids in the years after they graduate high school, and, separately, it tracks all Americans who enter college in a particular year. The department periodically checks back in with them for several years.

Both stats found that fewer than half of middle class students were actually leaving with a bachelor's degree.

Only 40% of college entrants who were high school seniors in 2004 and whose families earned between $46,000 and $99,000 had secured bachelor's degrees by 2012, according to the first measure.

This compares to a graduation rate of 63% for those from the top of the income ladder, and 28% and 20% for moderate- and lower-income students, respectively.

Similarly, the second measure, which looks at all dependent students who started college in 2003 from families with incomes between $60,000 and $92,000, found that only 45% had earned a bachelor's by 2009.

Share your story: Are you a middle class kid who dropped out of college?

To be sure, some students take longer than eight years to earn their diplomas. But the longer they are in school, the less likely they are to graduate, Baum said.

Full-time students are more likely to graduate with bachelor's degrees. For instance, some 63% of middle class students who entered college in 2003 and went full-time earned diplomas by 2009. The same is true of those who go to more selective colleges, which have higher graduation rates in general.

But why are middle class students overall having such a hard time finishing school?

These students face similar hurdles to graduation as all Americans, regardless of class, experts said.

Related: College degrees with the best bang for your buck

About one-third of middle class students who dropped out told the Education Department they left due to financial considerations, about the same rate as those from other income groups, said Nate Johnson, head of Postsecondary Analytics, a higher education research and consulting firm. About as many cited more amorphous "personal reasons."

Also, many enter college unprepared academically, prompting some to quit because they can't keep up, experts said. Still, others don't have the perseverance needed to get through college.

Some leave school with associate degrees or certificates. When you add these in, the graduation rate goes up to 62% for middle class kids, according to the first measure.

Still, a bachelor's degree is considered the gold standard, said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Workers with a bachelor's degree will earn $2.3 million over their lifetime, on average. That's $600,000 more than someone with an associate's degree and $800,000 more than those who left college with no diploma.

"It's a lot harder to maintain your middle class status without a degree," he said.

Related: Colleges with the highest-paid grads

CNNMoney (New York) March 25, 2015: 7:07 PM ET

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The middle class is getting smaller

Click on the map above to see how much smaller the middle class is in your state.

The percentage of households considered middle class shrunk nationwide between 2000 and 2013, a state-by-state analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts' Stateline news site found.

Wisconsin had the biggest loss, with the share of middle class households plummeting 5.6 percentage points to 48.9%. In Wyoming, meanwhile, the share of middle class families slipped only 0.3 percentage points to 51.2%.

Related: How has the middle class fared in your state?

Stateline defines the middle class as those making between 67% and 200% of the state's median income. Most states saw median incomes fall between 2000 and 2013, an ominous sign for the well-being of the middle class.

But a smaller middle class is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on where the former members of this group are going -- up or down the economic ladder.

A separate Pew Research Center study shows that the share of adults in middle-income households has fallen from 61% in 1970 to 51% in 2013.

But many are moving up. The share of upper-income households grew from 14% to 20% in that time period. Low-income households, meanwhile, narrowed from 29% to 25%.

Related: Middle class families are on financial thin ice

Related: Who actually benefits from Obama's 'Middle Class Economics'

CNNMoney (New York) March 24, 2015: 6:45 PM ET

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What next for Singapore after Lee's death?

A rally for Singapore's ruling party, the People's Action Party, previously led by Lee.

Lee, 91, who passed away on Monday, presided over Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. His leadership turned the quiet port city into a thriving metropolis, and his mix of political control and economic pragmatism inspired others in the region, including China.

Under Lee, Singapore grew rapidly into an international financial hub with the support of the government, offering low corporate tax rates, sound regulation, and strong infrastructure.

While his model of a one-party system spurred fast, robust economic development in Singapore, experts say his death and the rise of the region's middle class will usher in a wave of change.

The middle class "will inevitably challenge the paternalistic, top-down, and centrally controlled governance models Lee adopted," said Ernie Bower, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In many ways, Lee's death could make that change easier, Bower said.

"Instead of having an undeniable father to say 'yes' or 'no,' Singaporeans will now...make more consensus-based decisions," he said. "Singapore could gradually move to a political regime where competing parties and leaders argue to convince a nation that their ideas are best."

Related: This man helped turn China into an economic power

A shift has been brewing quietly in recent years. In 2011, an opposition party won 6 out of 87 seats in Singapore's parliament. That may not sound like much, but experts say it marked the beginning of a change in the political dynamic.

Investors will be watching closely for any move that throws into question Singapore's powerful market status -- in a relatively short time, the city state has risen to rival Hong Kong as the region's top financial center.

Three of the world's biggest banks -- HSBC (HSBC), Standard Chartered (SCBFF) and Citibank (C) -- account for 23% of Singapore's banking assets, according to the International Monetary Fund. And Singapore is growing in importance as an offshore hub for China's currency, the yuan.

There are also concerns that Singapore's notoriously expensive property market may be headed for a crash, after the government implemented a series of measures to cool prices.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 24, 2015: 9:48 PM ET

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Federal workers owe the IRS $3.5 billion

Federal workers and retirees owe the IRS $3.5 billion, according to data released Tuesday.

About 3.1% of all federal employees, including civilian and military employees, are late on their taxes. That means that they either didn't pay the full amount owed when they filed a return, or an IRS audit found that they owed more than they'd paid.

Last year, 3.3% of federal workers owed $3.3 billion.

At 1.2%, the Department of Treasury (which includes the IRS) was the most law-abiding. At a delinquency rate of about 5%, workers at the U.S. Postal Service owe the most: $344.9 million.

The House Oversight Committee will consider a bill Wednesday that would penalize federal workers for not paying on time. If approved, federal workers with "seriously delinquent tax debts" could be fired, or prohibited from being hired.

Currently, the IRS is the only agency that can fire an employee for not paying their taxes.

Related: Free ways to file your taxes

CNNMoney (New York) March 24, 2015: 10:00 PM ET

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Instagram adds app just for collages

A new app from Instagram called Layout lets you make collages of photos.

Instagram is changing that today with a brand new app called Layout. The free app, available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, lets you make mini-collages of photos. It makes it possible to cram multiple cats, babies, sunsets and beach shots into a single Instagram-ready square image.

The very basic app lets you choose up to nine images. You pick one of the arrangements and from there you can resize or flip each photo. There's also an option to take a series of photos directly in the app, like a photo booth. After you're done tweaking a creation, just open it in Instagram to add filters or make other adjustments.

Instead of including the new features in the existing Instagram app, the company has spun them off into a completely separate one. Facebook (FB, Tech30), which owns Instagram, has been pushing to get more individual apps on people's phones. It spun off Messanger last year, and Instagram previously released a standalone app for timelapse movies called Hyperlapse.

The idea for the app isn't original. There are multiple collage apps for iOS and Android that people have been using for years. But the fact that it integrates directly with Instagram just might appeal to devoted users and enthusiastic pet owners.

CNNMoney (San Francisco) March 23, 2015: 6:17 PM ET

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San Francisco's luxury bus puts your commute to shame

A luxury-bus startup called Leap Transit relaunched in San Francisco last week, carting passengers from the wealthy Marina district to downtown. It's the latest company to offer a high-end alternative to public transit.

In just a week, Leap has drawn attention for its almost clichéd list of San Francisco amenities.

The five buses are decked out in creamy leather, blue LED lights and reclaimed wood. There's wifi on board (obviously) and outlets for your mobile devices. You can order food and drinks through the Leap app, which also lets you track and board the buses and see who the other riders are. There's iced coffee (Blue Bottle of course), small-batch yogurt, a box of purified water and some $7 raw organic juices.

An attendant on a Leap Transit luxury bus in San Francisco makes sure passengers are taken care of and serves refreshments.

Each bus has a cheery attendant who mans the QR code scanner when people board, makes sure the temperature is just right, hands out refreshments, and chooses music to play over the Beats Bluetooth speaker.

The 25-seat buses only run during peak hours, heading downtown from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and back to the Marina from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., a 30-minute route that makes four stops at each end.

Elizabeth Rice, who rode the bus Friday morning, was cautious about getting too attached to yet another transit startup. She used to take Loup, which used black cars to pick up multiple passengers along a set route, before it shut down. Similar startups still in business include Chariot and RidePal.

Elizabeth Rice and Peter Roessler check their smartphones while riding the new Leap Transportation bus to work in San Francisco.

The posh shuttles could be an easy target for outrage in San Francisco, where public buses cost $2.25. Protesters have targeted private shuttles for Google (GOOG) and Facebook (FB, Tech30) employees as symbols of the influx of wealthy tech workers and the Bay Area's skyrocketing cost of living.

But the new shuttle isn't necessarily bad, according to Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Private options have the potential to reduce traffic and lesson strain on overcrowded public bus lines.

They also need to work with existing public transit. One major criticism has been that many of these shuttles use public bus stops, literally disrupting people's rush-hour commutes.

Leap made that mistake when it first launched in 2013 with $2 million from Andreessen Horowitz. The startup quietly discontinued service after four months.

Kyle Kirchhoff, Leap's 30-year-old CEO and cofounder, says the early run was a beta test to "see what would happen," and that the company has worked with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) for the past year to design its current route, which only stops at white loading zones.

Leap's new luxury buses are painted bright blue and go from the Marina to downtown San Francisco.

Instead of focusing on the luxury shuttles, private cars and tech buses, advocates should push to improve public transit, says Gabriel Metcalf, the CEO of SPUR, a nonprofit urban policy organization. To retain the wealthier customers who can afford their own car or a service like Leap, Muni has to improve and speed up its service.

"Otherwise the fear is it becomes like public housing, meaning a mobility provider for people with no other option," said Metcalf. "And that just cannot work. We cannot let that happen."

CNNMoney (San Francisco) March 23, 2015: 5:19 PM ET

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China's factories slump amid growth concerns

China's factory activity is slumping adding to growth concerns.

HSBC said its "flash" measure of sentiment among manufacturing purchasing managers fell to 49.2 this month. The slide from the index's final reading of 50.7 in February was worse than economists had expected.

This isn't good news for China -- the world's second-largest economy -- and continues to fuel growing concerns that economic growth in the first quarter was likely ho-hum. And slower growth is putting even more pressure on the central government to take action -- amid ambitious economic reform plans -- in order to reach its own 7% growth target for the year.

Today's economic data "is the latest in a string of disappointing data out of China and strengthens our view that the economy likely slowed sharply in the first quarter," said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics. "We expect policymakers to respond by stepping up measures to support growth."

Related: China posts its worst growth in 24 years

Some possible government measures could include stepping up fiscal spending, alongside further cuts to the required reserve ratio and benchmark interest rates, in efforts to shore up growth, he wrote in a research note.

This is coming after China posted its worst growth in 24 years last year, clocking in 7.4% GDP growth for 2014, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That was below the government's 7.5% goal, and was the slowest since 1990.

GDP growth in China remains the most comprehensive gauge of the country's economic health -- an important number to watch as the government works to shift to consumption-driven growth.

China averaged economic expansion of around 10% a year over the past three decades, pushing it up the list of biggest economies and boosting household wealth. But now, the pace of growth is languishing -- China recorded GDP growth of 7.7% in 2012 and 2013, a marked slowdown from 9.3% in 2011 and 10.5% in 2010.

Markets in Shanghai slipped more than 1% in Tuesday morning trading after the data release.

Read next: India to surpass China in economic growth

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 24, 2015: 1:21 AM ET

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4 ways Asian dating apps are anti-Tinder

At first sight, these apps may look a lot like Tinder, the U.S.-based app that lets users anonymously approve or reject matches with a simple swipe.

But the similarities stop there for Tinder's homegrown Asian rivals.

The entrepreneurs behind these apps say dating in Asia is different -- swapping numbers at a bar or hooking up just isn't common. These apps aim to create a friendly, safe community for users to meet other interesting folk.

"Tinder is bright red, whereas we take toned down colors like blue, purple, green -- it calms," said Joseph Phua, founder of Singapore-based dating app Paktor. "When you're using the app, you don't feel like it's something that's leaning towards hookups -- it's a way to meet new people."

Here's a look at what sets Asia's dating apps apart:

Related: 10 alternatives to Tinder

Get a third wheel

Wish you had a wing man? Need a buddy in case you want to bail on a bad date?

Philippines app Peekawoo will find you a chaperone, or organize a group date. (Supervised dating isn't unusual in this mainly Roman Catholic country.)

Having a chaperone adds security when meeting for the first time, said founder and CEO Valenice Balace, who has acted as a chaperone. And group dating "keeps the conversation light," she said.

Peekawoo's group dates can include up to six people, and they'll even host larger events with "an in-house wing man and wing woman," whose sole responsibility is to help break the ice.

In the Philippines, people "tend to look for someone to talk to, maybe have a direct connection with, but not really boyfriend-girlfriend right away, because people here [take things] really slow," Balace said.

Related: You'll never believe these dating services

No adultery allowed

Looking for a mistress? Forget about it!

"We do not let married men on the app," said Woo co-founder Sumesh Menon. Launched just last year, the app has nearly 1 million users in India.

Woo users must have Facebook (FB, Tech30) to sign up. That's standard for dating apps around the world, but Woo goes further by cross-referencing social media accounts to make sure users represent themselves accurately. The app rejects roughly 30% of sign-ups a day.

For example, Woo will check a user's marital status and look at professional LinkedIn profiles, which Menon says are much less likely to contain false information. There's even a feature that lets users report people who they know are married, he said.

In a country where parents often still vet spouses -- 90% of marriages in India are arranged, according to UNICEF -- this particular feature builds confidence among users that the people they're meeting are indeed genuine.

Paktor, the Singapore-based app, also screens users for fake accounts, and requires you to have at least 50 friends on Facebook to sign up.

Related: Doggie dates have come to Tinder!

Cross-border love

Paktor lets users adjust their preferences to meet people across the region. "If I'm sitting in Singapore, I can actually match with someone in Taiwan," said Phua. (He used his own app to meet his Taiwanese fiancee.)

The app translates messages so users can chat to people who speak another language. Roughly 25% of Paktor's matches are between singles across borders.

Paktor even matches groups of up to eight people who have common interests. The idea is that users will bond over shared experiences, before moving in a romantic direction. "We're trying to take cues from successes in real life and try to put that in the app," Phua said.

Self help guides

Not sure what your best selfie angle is? Or don't even know how to download the app and too embarrassed to ask for help? Peekawoo offers tips on its blog and organizes get-togethers for single gals.

"People have tons of questions," Balace said, about online dating, how to use Peekawoo and more.

Peekawoo even organizes events for singles under 30 to help build a friendly offline community and pave the way for online interaction.

Related: I have a fiance, a girlfriend and two boyfriends

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 22, 2015: 9:29 PM ET

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Rolling Stone to publish review of campus rape article soon

The article, "A Rape on Campus," horrified readers when it was published last November. It described how a University of Virginia freshman named Jackie was sexually assaulted by seven attackers during a frat party, and how the university failed to adequately respond.

The article sparked conversation about sexual violence on college campuses, but the details of the story soon came under withering scrutiny.

As contradictions and discrepancies emerged, Rolling Stone apologized and said it would investigate what went wrong. On December 22, it enlisted Columbia University's graduate journalism school to conduct an independent review.

At the time, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner said Columbia would have free rein to review the magazine's "editorial processes." The actions of the writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely; the editors; and the fact-checkers have all been questioned by critics.

Journalism school dean Steve Coll has been leading the review, and there has been ample speculation about what it has found.

Although its details are not known, a source with knowledge of the review said Saturday it will be released in early April.

Wenner subsequently confirmed the timing in an email message.

"Expecting it in about two weeks and will publishing shortly thereafter in full," he said.

When asked whether he will be making any editorial changes at the magazine as a result of Columbia's review, Wenner said, "Haven't read it so I have no comments to make."

A spokeswoman for the magazine said Sunday that the review will be published in the print magazine. A spokeswoman for the journalism school had previously hinted at this, saying "we are coordinating production schedules with Rolling Stone."

Separately, local police in Virginia are expected to hold a press conference on Monday releasing the results of an investigation into the alleged rape.

CNN reported last month that Charlottesville police "informed the university at the start of the spring semester that its investigation has found no evidence that the brutal gang rape happened at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, as the Rolling Stone story alleged. However, the police have not ruled out that Jackie was raped -- possibly even gang raped, somewhere else, perhaps on a different day."

CNNMoney (New York) March 22, 2015: 11:54 AM ET

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The best performing investment under Obama is...

But it's still useful -- and fun -- to see how investments perform over different time horizons.

Take President Obama's time in office. It's been just over six years since Obama was sworn in during the midst of the Great Recession.

Back then, stocks were tanking. Frankly, most investors were scared to touch just about any asset, although there was some bounce in safe havens like gold and silver.

So which assets have performed the best so far in Obama's tenure?

Related: U.S. companies hoard record amount of cash

Best investment: Your gut inclination might be to say gold, commodities or even the U.S. dollar.

But stocks are the clear winner so far under President Obama.

The only other assets class that comes close is real estate investment trusts (REITs), which trade like stocks but are companies that hold office buildings, malls and other properties and make money off the rents.

The stock market bottomed out in March 2009 and has been on an upswing ever since. In fact, we are in the midst of the fourth-longest bull market in U.S. history (and it could become the third longest if we make it to May).

What's ahead? The question is whether this stock surge can continue. The market is once again within striking distance of setting new records.

"We are advising our clients to continue to stay invested in equities," says Tracie McMillion, asset allocation strategist for Wells Fargo (WFC). "We think that because of the significant downturn that we experienced in 2008 and 2009, this particular bull market could have a longer run than average."

While there's debate today over whether the stock market is getting too expensive, experts almost all agree that stocks are likely to give investors the best return over the next decade.

Related: What an interest rate increase means for real people

Wells Fargo puts it this way: expect stocks to return 9% to 12% (not adjusted for inflation) a year, on average, over the next decade or so while bonds are forecast to return only 3% to 4%.

Experts say it's typically best to stay invested, but it might be a good time to rebalance since stocks have done so well.

As for REITs, this might be a good time to reassess. The phenomenal rise of REITs since Obama took office is largely due to the effects of the financial crisis.

The fallout of so many bad mortgages caused real estate assets to sink dramatically in value. Since then, the property market has roared back, especially for retail spaces and office buildings.

That said, as the Federal Reserve signals it plans to raise interest rates, the property market may start to look less attractive. Mortgages will become more expensive, and investors will have more options for yield.

Related: Play CNNMoney's Stock Market Madness

Obama versus other presidents: So how does Obama's tenure compare with other presidents vis a vis the stock market?

The returns for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq haven't been anywhere near this good since the days of President Reagan.

While many think of the dot-com stock surge under President Clinton, most of the wild returns happened in the last part of his tenure during 1999-2000. Six years into Clinton's time in the White House, stocks were up, but not off the charts.

Related: Nasdaq near all-time high. Is it another bubble?

Interestingly, six years into President George W. Bush's presidency, silver and gold were actually the best performing asset followed closely by REITs and oil.

While the stock market has typically performed better under Democratic presidents, the reality is the commander in chief has limited influence on the market.

"For most presidents, it's more about either good or bad luck in terms of how they show up in the financial markets," says Bill Stone, chief investment strategists for PNC Wealth Management.

"Certainly [Obama] taking over after a horrendous market environment helped. It would be true of anyone after that. The market has always come back," notes Stone.

As investors know, it's hard to know when markets will be up or down, but history continues to show that stocks do best over the long-term.

Related: Apple stock is making regular Americans rich

CNNMoney (New York) March 22, 2015: 6:21 PM ET

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Employers aren't really cutting health benefits

Under Obamacare rules that kicked in this year, large employers have to offer health benefits to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties. Some fretted that the new rules would cost employers a bundle or prompt them to cut workers' hours to get under the cap.

But a new study found that so far there's little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74% of all workers.

The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015

Related: Obamacare is finally hitting employers

The average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 percentage point to 88%, while enrollment of eligible workers dropped 1 percentage point on average, to 83 percent.

Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.

In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law's 30-hour threshold.

Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn't a big change for many employers, "if you were impacted, you were really impacted," says Tracy Watts, Mercer's national leader for health care reform.

Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing to 60% from 57%.

Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.

Related: Obamacare's second round attracts more Americans

But most employers aren't changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Some 73% said they had no plans to change, while 16% said they made sure newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly. Some 19% said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.

Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don't do so, not all of their employees take advantage of the offer.

Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.

Related: Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for 30,000 part-timers

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:27 PM ET

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Millennials: More educated, fewer employed than Gen X

Today's young adults are on track to becoming the most educated generation to date, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

More Millennial women, in particular, are securing their diplomas than their older sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

They also outnumber their male peers when it comes to getting college degrees.

But those degrees aren't helping them get jobs. Thanks to the Great Recession, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers.

Millennial men were hit particularly hard. Not only do they trail Gen Xers in employment, but fewer are employed now than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (who are now mainly in their 70s and 80s) were at the same age.

Instead, Millennial men are more likely to be out of the labor force, either in school or not looking for a job.

Millennial women lost ground in terms of employment when compared to Gen Xers. But they are still more likely to work than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, when it was more common for women to stay home and raise children.

Related: Millennials closing the gap in pay disparity between men and women

Related: Millennials say no to marriage

Related: Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:35 PM ET

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