The Baltimore Orioles made history Wednesday by hosting the first-ever Major League Baseball game with an official attendance of zero.

The Orioles’ beat the Chicago White Sox in a stadium with more than 45,000 empty seats after widespread violence and looting hit parts of the city Monday. Maryland’s governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard.

As a result of the unrest, the Orioles stand to lose nearly $1 million in food, parking and ticket sales. But the amount is relatively small compared to the money the team brings in over the entire season.

The Orioles postponed two games meant to be played Monday and Tuesday. Today’s game, however, went on as planned, albeit closed to the public for safety. Though the situation in Baltimore seemed to have calmed down considerably, the team has also switched its upcoming three-game home series against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend to Tampa.

The Orioles, therefore, will lose out on a total of four games’ worth of concessions, as well as parking fees. The team could also lose out on some last-minute ticket sales. But the Orioles aren’t actually refunding fans who have already bought tickets to the four games. Instead, fans will be able to exchange their tickets for seats at other home games later in the season.

From concessions and parking alone, the Orioles could end up losing almost $940,000 in total over the four games. The team is averaging 33,288 fans per game this season and the average fan at Camden Yards spent $5.94 per game on concessions in 2013, which comes out to less than $200,000 per game. As for parking, Camden Yards has about 4,200 parking spaces on-site, according to the Maryland Stadium Authority. Parking passes cost between $8 and $10 for each game, which adds up to about $37,800 per game.

Of course, the team could also offset that lost revenue, in part, by forgoing pay to stadium staff for those four games. But, really, forfeiting just under $1 million over four games is not a huge loss for a team that Forbes values at around $1 billion with roughly $245 million in annual revenue last year. Those numbers place the Orioles in the middle of the pack compared with the rest of the MLB.

A large part of MLB teams’ revenues comes from their lucrative television deals and, despite the lack of fans at the stadium, Wednesday’s game was still broadcast on MASN, the cable network majority-owned by the Orioles. MASN’s annual revenue isn’t typically publicly disclosed. But a recent court fight with the Washington Nationals — which owns the minority stake in the network — revealed that MASN took in $163 million in revenue in 2012. The bulk of that went to Baltimore on top of the additional $29 million the team gets every year for local television rights.

If you want a few more reference points, consider that the average MLB player makes $4.25 million in a season, which works out to just over $26,000 per game. And, with an estimated team payroll of $115.9 million this season, Baltimore pays out roughly $715,345 per game to the players on its 25-person roster. All-Star center-fielder Adam Jones takes home the bulk of that cash with more than $80,000 per game (before taxes).

In other words, losing less than $1 million dollars through this weekend is not likely to hurt the team’s finances too badly.

And, to be fair, Wednesday’s game was not completely empty. In addition to the players and coaches, some staff members and media were on hand on Wednesday (and a small group of dedicated fans posted up just outside the stadium gates). But the two teams squared off more or less in solitude, although the somewhat eerie scene of an empty Camden Yards did make a splash on social media.

Summary: The team's losses over four games are likely to be relative chump change considering the big money it make over the entire season, including from television.


The cast of Full House in 1993

05/01/2015 AT 08:20 AM EDT

After weeks of rumors (and years of longing),

be coming back into our lives as

, a 13-episode Netflix spin-off series.

Candace Cameron-Bure, Jodie Sweetin, John Stamos and Andrea Barber are

, while talks are ongoing with Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin and,

Whatever the final cast, we can't wait for new episodes, a decade-long dream we'd started giving up on.

To prepare for the reboot, we should all brush up on

minutiae and put our fandom to the test with this quiz.

Summary: Prep for the upcoming Netflix reboot by testing your Full House knowledge


Justin Bieber in Seventeen magazine

05/12/2015 AT 10:00 AM EDT

wasn't happy with himself during that time.

"I was rebelling a little bit. I was getting cockier and cockier. I didn't have people to check me," Bieber

of his past mistakes in the magazine's June/July issue. "I looked back and I was disappointed in myself."

The singer – who has been

for his bad decisions – admits, "You have to own up to the mistakes."

"You have to say, 'I'm sorry if I've let you down,' " Bieber, 21, explains. "I always want to be honest and let people know that those mistakes aren't who I am. Who I am is someone who really cares about people."

And the star – who has been a global phenom ever since he shot to fame at 13 – says he was consumed with approval from social media for a bit.

âFor a while, I was busy looking at my Instagram likes, and if a post didn't get a certain amount, I was like, 'Aw, they didn't like the photo,' " Bieber, who has 27 million

He adds: "But there's always a choice: You can let Instagram or stuff on the Internet affect your day, or you can choose to not be bothered by it."

Now, Bieber is focusing on surrounding himself with people who won't pass judgment on him.

"I need healthy relationships with people I can feel safe with," he shares. "People I can say whatever to, and I'm not going to be judged."

As far as a girlfriend, Bieber – who was in an on-and-off relationship with

– seems to know exactly what he's looking for.

"In a girl, I want someone who's confident in herself and honest," he says. "I have to find her very attractive and as someone I can see myself with for the rest of my life."

Summary: "I was getting cockier and cockier. I didn't have people to check me," the singer tells Seventeen


Of the hundreds of articles written in the American press about the terror in Northern Ireland, none has been more lucid, more insightful, more right-minded than Anthony Lewis's column of May 10, ''Terror and Tragedy.''

I am regularly appalled when I listen to Irish-Americans - some of whom are highly educated - support the revolting brutality that the Irish Republican Army has per-petrated on innocent civilians, some of whom are (or eere) children.

Such enormities are reported so frequently that they have been relegated to the back pages of newspapers.

Mr. Lewis makes an interesting point, and he implies an even more interesting question. He writes of the ''curious romantic mist'' that somehow befogs the atrocities of the I.R.A. in Northern Ire-land. And he deplores, rightfully, the romanticization of ''blackshirt tactics.''

Irish rebelliousness is, of course, hardly new. Dates such as 1798 and 1916 are probably as familiar to Irish-Americans as is 1776. And with rebelliousness goes the senti-ment that automatically goes to any underdog.

That plus the great numbers of Americans who derive wholly or in part from Irish immigrants and who have listened to the horror stories of the bad old days - if two or three generations removed - have invested the struggle in Northern Ireland with a kind of mindless romantic sentiment that somehow blocks out the killing of a wounded soldier in a hospital, the use of a pregnant woman as a hostage and the senseless assassination of Earl Mountbatten.

Is it too much to ask Irish-Americans (a group with which this writer has had more than a nodding acquaintance over the years) to consider terrorism - anyone's terrorism - for what it really is? OWEN MCNAMARA, Herkimer, N.Y., May 10, 1981

Summary: To the Editor:    Of the hundreds of articles written in the American press about the terror in Northern Ireland, none has been more lucid, more insightful, more right-minded than Anthony Lewis's column of May 10, ''Terror and Tragedy.''   I am regularly appalled when I listen to Irish-Americans - some of whom are highly educated - support the revolting brutality that the Irish Republican Army has per-petrated on innocent civilians, some of whom are (or eere) children.


WASHINGTON, May 6— The national chairmen of the Republican and Democratic Parties have appointed chairmen of committees to look into possible changes in election campaigns.

Charles T. Manatt, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, chose Theodore C. Sorensen, a New York lawyer, to head a committee to look into the role of independent political action committees that avoid Federal controls on campaign spending by opposing candidates with whom they disagree instead of supporting candidates with whom they agree.

Richard Richards, chairman of the Republican National Committee, chose Ernest Angelo, a petroleum engineer from Midland, Tex., to head a committee whose mandate will include political action committees and independent campaign expenditures but will go beyond that.

Speaking of the panel's primary concern, he said, ''We want to explore reducing the campaign period - the election should not drag out one and one half years.'' Other tasks will include examining campaign financing and the issue of election results being announced before all polls are closed. He said the committee would report by the end of this year. The Sorensen committee is to report this summer.


WASHINGTON, April 21— The Securities and Exchange Commission today ordered creation of a computer linkup between overthe-counter and traditional stock exchange markets by March 1, 1982.

The decision, approved by unanimous vote, is part of the commission's continuing attempt to carry out a six-year-old law that mandated establishment of a national market system to insure that customers get the best possible price on stocks.

Under today's order, the Intermarket Trading System and the National Association of Securities Dealers will be required to develop an automated interconnection among over-the-counter and traditional stock exchange markets. After the computer system is put in place, a six-month experiment involving trading among 30 active stocks would begin.

Theoretically, a broker would use the computer system to locate the market that was offering the lowest price on a stock. Under today's order, if the pilot experiment proved a success, the computer linkup between markets would be extended to cover trading of all newly listed stocks.


A Federal suit against John S. Samuels 3d, the industrialist who is chairman of the City Center of Music and Drama and the Lincoln Center Theater Company at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, alleges that he sold at auction a painting he had given as collateral for money owed to a Dutch concern. Mr. Samuels's lawyer, Roy M. Cohn, said yesterday, however, that his client had ''title and possession of the painting, and every right to sell it.''

The painting, ''La Fenetre sur les Bois, Paysage d'Ile de France,'' an unusually large landscape by the French post-Impressionist painter Edouard Vuillard, was consigned by Mr. Samuels for auction at Sotheby's on Oct. 22. It was bought for $341,000 by a New York dealer in pre-20th century European paintings, Herman Shickman. Mr. Shickman paid for the work, but because of its size, 99 by 129 inches, left it with Sotheby's while negotiating for its sale to a museum.

Several weeks ago, according to Mr. Shickman, lawyers for Sotheby's informed him that there was a lien on the painting and suggested that he leave it on their premises. Alarmed, Mr. Shickman took the painting to a warehouse, where it remains. He says that the lien prevents him from continuing to negotiate for its sale and that attempts to get his money back from Sotheby's have proved futile.

Mr. Shickman's lawyer, Jonathan Zich, said he intended to file a counterclaim against Sotheby's, charging ''breach of a warranty of title.''

Mitchell Zuckerman, lawyer for Sotheby's, said Mr. Samuels had signed a contract with the auction house stating that his title to the painting was clear, and that Mr. Shickman's recourse, as does Sotheby's, ''lies with the seller.''

''We leave the determination as to who owns the painting to the courts,'' he added. ''Until that's decided, there can't be a resolution. But we will pursue it vigorously.''

The suit comes as the latest in a series of problems for Mr. Samuels, a Texan who rapidly built a coal empire in the mid-70's and managed to amass a fortune of several hundred million dollars. A series of reverses, starting in the late 70's, forced him to liquidate many of his personal and corporate assets. In 1979, he abandoned his luxurious office in the former boardroom of the Cunard Steamship Comany at 25 Broadway, dismissed his corporate headquarters staff and moved his operations to his East 79th Street home. Filed March 18

The court papers, filed March 18 in behalf of Eleonora Beheer B.V., with headquarters in Amsterdam, allege Mr. Samuels had consigned the painting to Sotheby's despite the fact that the concern held it and other of his assets as collateral for more than $2.8 million owed by Mr. Samuels.

The papers name as defendants Mr. Samuels and two of his corporations, the Carbomin Group Inc. and the Carbomin International Corporation, as well as Sotheby's, Mr. Shickman and the Morgan and Brother Manhattan Storage Company, the warehouse from which Mr. Samuels allegedly removed the painting for sale.

Among many other items, the Dutch concern also claims as collateral from Mr. Samuels a $1.5 million mortgage on his town house at 123 East 79th Street. In November, the concern was given a foreclosure on the mortgage by Federal District Judge Edward Weinfeld. The judgment is being appealed. Stem From '76 Agreement

Both cases stem from an agreement by Mr. Samuels in 1976, as the result of a suit, to buy out the 25 percent interest of a partner in his coal-mining and trading companies, the late Leonard Cohen. The agreement, according to the complaint filed by Eleonora, Mr. Cohen's assignee, provided that Mr. Samuels and Carbomin, his corporate group, would pay Mr. Cohen $7.2 million in cash and notes.

The Samuels group defaulted on notes amounting to $2.8 million, according to the complaint, and began a court action against Eleonora, charging that the Samuels group had been ''defrauded'' into buying back the Cohen shares.

Eleonora moved for foreclosure on Mr. Samuels's house, according to Steven J. Stein, lawyer for the concern and a partner in the law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, and its claim was upheld by Judge Weinfeld. Determining Release of Art

According to Mr. Cohn, who has not responded formally to Eleonora's complaint, Mr. Samuels had ''overcollaterized'' the debt to Eleonora and the issue is basically what constitutes collateral in the agreement drawn up between his client and Eleonora.

''He has posted collateral worth in excess of $12 million on what's now a $2.8 million debt,'' Mr. Cohn said. ''Whoever drew up the original agreement failed to provide for the return of collateral to John as he paid off the debt.''

A ''recent redoing'' of the arrangements concerning art, Mr. Cohn said, had left ''no one exactly aware of what art is covered and how it's covered. We're trying to find out what art was released and what wasn't, and our position is that the Vuillard was one of the paintings released by the new arrangement.'' 'Become a Tennis Ball'

The Vuillard painting is included in a schedule, appended to the complaint filed by Eleonora, that lists the specific pieces of art, furniture, silver and other items pledged by Mr. Samuels, amounting to more than $1.5 million.

Mr. Shickman worries about the Vuillard painting and how long it will take for its fate to be resolved: ''I feel that I'm an innocent victim who acted in good faith. Everyone knows how expensive money is to borrow these days. I'm not happy I put money in a picture over which I have no control and that has become a tennis ball between contending forces.''

Illustrations: Photo of John S. Samuels 3D


Acosta Nichols Jr., a former history teacher who taught at the Groton School in Massachusets for 40 years, died Saturday at his home in Oyster Bay Cove, L.I. He was 70 years old.

Mr. Nichols was a graduate of Groton and Harvard University.

He served in the Navy during World War II and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1974 he retired from Groton and in 1976 he published ''Forty Years More,'' a sequel to an earlier history of the school that covered its first 50 years.

He was a trustee of Yaddo, a working retreat for artists, writers and composers in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and a trustee and deputy mayor of the incorporated village of Oyster Bay Cove. He was also a trustee of the Doubleday-Babcock Citizens Centre in Oyster Bay and of Christ Church in Oyster Bay.

He leaves no immediate survivors.


By The Associated Press Two men were shot in a confrontation between striking coal miners and independent truckers in Kentucky yesterday, and the police dispersed 75 pickets at a coal mine in southern West Virginia in the 34th day of the United Mine Workers' strike.

The Kentucky men, both truck drivers, were hit by gunfire at a confrontation involving some 200 picketing miners and an undetermined number of coal truck drivers in Floyd County, the state police said.

Ten cars and trucks were damaged.

William Dorton, 25 years old, of Sitka, was treated for a head wound and Charles Hitchcock, 37, of Allen, for a shoulder wound, the Highlands Regional Medical Center reported.

West Virginia troopers converged on a Boone County mine after receiving reports that 75 pickets had broken through a security gate and fired at unarmed guards, said Cpl. R.A. Keaton of the state police. He said a dozen troopers dispersed the pickets without incident. No arrests were reported.

Talks between the 160,000-member miners' union and the Bituminous Coal Operators Association broke down two weeks ago and no new negotiations have been scheduled.


There are two exhibitions that dramatically illustrate the style of an artistic photographer at the International Center of Photography, 1130 Fifth Avenue, at 94th Street (860-1783).

The first is nothing more than a show of 150 vintage prints by a great photographer, Berenice Abbott, who is 83 years old and lives in Maine. ''Berenice Abbott: The 20's and the 30's'' covers the two decades with which her work has been most identified. During these years, Miss Abbott, a Middle Westerner who went to Paris for 10 years before returning to America in 1929, was part of the golden years when Paris was the end of the rainbow for artists, writers and thinkers. She worked for Man Ray and opened her own studio, and her portraits were incisive studies of subjects such as James Joyce, Eugene Atget, Janet Flanner, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eva LeGallienne.

Came the crash and the trip to New York, where her artist's eyes found inspiration in the city, its skyscrapers, streets, houses and incomparable waterfront, a record of urban transitions called ''Changing New York'' sponsored by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project.

The second exhbition is ''Double Take: A Comparative Look at Photographs.'' Here are photos of similar objects that have come out with stylistic variations that distinguish one person's work from another. Miss Abbott's photograph of the old Second Avenue El in 1936 comes out quite differently than Andreas Feininger's shot of the same in 1938. Charles Marville's approach to ''Rue de Sept Voies, Paris,'' about 1865, contrasts in style with that of Atget's ''Rue Vallete with the Pantheon'' about 1920, and so on through 25 pairs of pictures.

The exhibitions run through Jan. 10. They are open Tuesdays 11 A.M. to 8 P.M., free after 5, and Wednesdays through Sundays (but closed New Year's Day) from 11 to 5. Admission is $1.75; 75 cents for students and over-65's, and 50 cents for under-12's. ANIMATION

Animated films have become such a staple since the advent of ''Steamboat Willie'' that they are in constant danger of being elevated with due pomposity to an art form more to be analyzed than enjoyed. A showing of animated film as made, without a seminar, is on tap at Joseph Papp's Film at the Public program in the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

From today through Sunday, including New Year's Day, you can see a 35-millimeter compilation of nine shorts and three features animated by Bruno Bozzetto, who may be best known for his ''Mr. Rossi'' series in 1960. His sense of satire and elegant design have put the Italian artist in a class by himself when it comes to animation.

The shorts are shown daily at 6 and 9 P.M. Today and tomorrow, the full feature that follows them is ''West and Soda,'' made in color in 1965, and an animated western that takes place in a cowboy village under the oppressive thumb of a rich landlord. On Thursday and Friday, the feature will be ''VIP, My Brother Superman'' (1968), and Saturday and Sunday it will be ''Allegro Non Troppo'' (1976).

Admission is $4, and $3 for under-12's, over-65's and students. SHOW BIZ

The only children's museum in Manhattan is the Manhattan Laboratory Museum Center for Art Education, 314 West 54th Street (765-5904). The lab is doing something special today, tomorrow and Thursday at 2 P.M., when its theater troupe presents ''The Sun's Re-birthday Party.'' There are actors in it, naturally, but you, youngster and grown-up, will have more to do than sit around and look.

Everybody who shows up will have a chance to make props and costumes and use them, to help with lighting and special effects and even to perform. So do not dress up as you might to go to other theaters, because if you are lucky you will be working with paint and all the stuff that stage dreams are made of.

The museum is open from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Admission is $2; $1 for children. Tickets to the show are free and are distributed beginning at 1 P.M. RING IT IN

Nobody can ring the season in better than Dizzy Gillespie with his upturned trumpet, and that is what he will be doing for two weeks starting tonight at Fat Tuesday's, 190 Third Avenue (533-7902). Mr. G. goes on at 9 and 11 o'clock nightly (also at 1 A.M. on Fridays and Saturdays).

A $7.50 cover plus a $5 minimum is the tab. Drinks start at $2.50, and main courses run from $3.95 to $10.95. On New Year's Eve, the first show costs $40, which includes a complete dinner and champagne. The second show is $50, with a midnight brunch and champagne.

For Entertainment Events, see page C9. For Sports Today, see page B16. Richard F. Shepard

Illustrations: Detail of Portrait of a Women

Summary: GOOD LOOKERS   There are two exhibitions that dramatically illustrate the style of an artistic photographer at the International Center of Photography, 1130 Fifth Avenue, at 94th Street (860-1783).   The first is nothing more than a show of 150 vintage prints by a great photographer, Berenice Abbott, who is 83 years old and lives in Maine. ''Berenice Abbott: The 20's and the 30's'' covers the two decades with which her work has been most identified. During these years, Miss Abbott, a Middle Westerner who went to Paris for 10 years before returning to America in 1929, was part of the golden years when Paris was the end of the rainbow for artists, writers and thinkers. She worked for Man Ray and opened her own studio, and her portraits were incisive studies of subjects such as James Joyce, Eugene Atget, Janet Flanner, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eva LeGallienne.


One of the most sensitive prerogatives facing an incoming President is his selection of Federal judges. But while all agree that the President's appointments to the Federal bench are among his most important functions, few have articulated what characteristics he should seek in his nominees.

Obviously, the job of a judge requires a paragon of virtue, an intellectual Titan, and an administrative wizard - or, in the words of Mr. Justice Holmes, a ''combination of Justinian, Jesus Christ, and John Marshall.'' Just as clearly, men and women of this stature have not walked the earth since the Golden Age, or before. I have been a Federal judge for 31 years. Perhaps my thoughts on the subject may be of some use to the President and his Attorney General in their selections.

I have always been puzzled by the use of the word ''temperament'' when referring to judges. It seems to be a term applied most frequently to pedigreed dogs and Federal judges. One of my colleagues is a nationally-known breeder of show dogs, and he informs me that the ideal canine temperament is a mixture of quiet dignity, and an obedience that is not blind, but exhibits character when the situation requires. Judicial temperament is not all that different. A judge must be reflective, perhaps even a bit grave, but must always demonstrate an openness consistent with our tradition of giving each side its say before a decision is rendered. The losing party must feel he is not the victim of the judge, but simply the object of a process that is the same for all.

Another part of the desired temperament is the ability to separate the dignity of the office from a sense of self-importance. All the pleasing mummery of the courtroom - bailiffs and court criers, black robes, attendants twittering all around - can lead weak minds astray. The President must pick people who will not be overcome by all the trimmings and trappings.

In his decisions, a judge must be obedient both to the commands of law and to the dictates of the Constitution. We are not the arbiters of what, in our view, should be. We are the interpreters of what is. Our role involves creativity and discretion, but it is imagination of an interstitial character that is required. When faced with a contrary legal mandate, a judge has no choice but to put aside his personal policy preferences.

I do not wish to be misunderstood. I am not cautioning against recommending candidates who have taken sides in national debates on pressing issues. Such participation does not augur bias, but rather a dedication to the commonwealth that should be encouraged in all public officials, judges included.

Beyond these traits of personality, the ideal judge should possess extraordinary intellectual capacity in both the analytic and synthetic modes of thought: analytic because so much of our work involves the parsing of statutes, the sifting of records, and the reconciliation of case law; synthetic because the highest form of the judge's craft involves the creation of an imaginative solution that sweeps away contradiction and ambiguity, advancing the law's true purpose within the bounds of precedent and reason. A judge should be a person who can swiftly pierce the showers of irrelevant detail and spurious argumentation that characterize all too large a proportion of the words pouring out of lawyers in our courts, and who will not hesitate to strike out along new pathways that lead to the just result.

Learned Hand once said that a judge's curriculum vitae should include the study of history, philosophy, and poetry. Today, most observers would include economics, sociology, psychology, and selected sciences as well. Of equal importance with the knowledge gleaned from books is the worldly common sense that enables a judge to read between the lines, to penetrate an advocate's clever obfuscation, and to perceive the realities of the situation. There is no single upbringing for the bench, nor is there a single occupation that can cement them.

As important as the ability to comprehend is the ability to communicate effectively. The ability to write precisely but powerfully is essential. After all, the decision in a case serves as a basis for legal planning as well as for decisions in other cases. It must be written with clarity and sound reasoning.

I hope President Reagan is a great President; he may even be reelected. But no matter how heroic his exploits as Chief Executive, the passage of four or eight years will see him leave the White House. Nonetheless, so long as our Constitution stands, no one will be able to discharge the judges he appoints. The character of those judges, their intellect, their integrity - all these will remain, as inscribed by his appointments, for years to come. They will tangibly shape this country's destiny. The power is subtle, but awesome. I hope the new President will use it wisely. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Irving R. Kaufman is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was Chief Judge of that court from 1973 to 1980.


There was a report abroad yesterday that Harcourt Brace Jovanovich is negotiating to buy Don Gussow's Magazines for Industry, with the exception of Glass Industry magazine, which a book publisher is looking to acquire.

To that Mr. Gussow said, ''I can't discuss it,'' and Robert L. Edgell, executive vice president of H.B.J., said, ''No comment.''

Mr. Gussow once sold his group of publications to Cowles Communications, only to buy them back again. Then he wrote a book about the experience entitled ''Divorce Corporate Style.'' Time for a new book?


In 2014, Google made a virtual reality viewer out of cardboard. In 2015, it’s turning it into a teaching tool for school classrooms.

The Google Cardboard headset, which is mostly made out of cardboard and works with Android phones and special apps, turned out to be a hit beyond just a gimmick at the company’s developer conference last year. Clay Bavor, Google vice president of product management said on-stage at this year’s Google I/O conference Thursday that it’s shipped more than 1 million cardboard headsets in the past year. There are also hundreds of cardboard-compatible apps in Google’s app store.

But now, Google is bringing is cheap and easy set to the classroom, helping teachers take their students on virtual field trips with Cardboard units, mobile devices, and software.

Dubbed “Expeditions,” Google’s program is partnering with organizations such as the Planetary Society and the American Museum of Natural History for content. Through Expeditions, teachers will receive a kit for their classrooms which will include cardboard viewers for each student, Android phones, a tablet, and pre-installed software that will keep all the viewers synced together. All the teacher has to do is get the virtual field trip going on their device to send the whole class on a trip together.

Bavor also said Google is releasing a new version of its cardboard viewer, which will now support phones with 6-inch displays and all Android phone models (it previously only fit certain ones). It will also only require three steps to assemble instead of 12.

Summary: Super-cheap VR has found a home


MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s central bank auctioned off $200 million in dollars Friday to shore up the peso as it neared a historic low against the US currency.

The peso came under new pressure on news of increased job creation in the United States, suggesting an improving US economy. Analysts forecast that could lead to a possible rise in US interest rates, an expectation that creates greater demand for dollars in Mexico.

The central bank announced in December that it would hold daily dollar auctions of $200 million whenever the peso sheds 1.5 percent or more of its value from the previous day. Friday was the second time since then that the auction mechanism was triggered.

The dollar closed the day at 15.48 pesos on the interbank exchange rate, after ending at 15.20 the previous day.

According to central bank statistics, the peso hit a low of 15.49 to the dollar on the interbank exchange rate on March 9, 2009.

Summary: Mexico’s central bank auctioned off $200 million to shore up the peso Friday as it neared a six-year low against the US dollar this week.


HomeAway, which rents apartments or other residences to travelers, conducts about 40 percent of its business outside of the United States, Stepherd said. The company has attempted to make its business "FX neutral" to reduce the risk of currency volatility, like the euro's recent move lower against the dollar.

Read MoreHotel room rates may be hiked 'aggressively,' forecaster says

Currency volatility won't hamper a 2015 in which hotel occupancy rates are expected to hit records, he said. But other factors, including a winter storm that hit parts of the East Coast on Monday and Tuesday, put a slight damper on the conference's upbeat mood.

The storm created issues for Virgin America, CEO David Cush said from the event on Tuesday. It had to cancel about 100 flights over three days and had trouble getting some workers, many of whom had been told to stay home, to airports.

Read MoreMeteorologists apologize for huge blizzard miss

Summary: The euro "has been a concern," but the year is shaping up to be strong for travel, a vacation rental company executive tells CNBC.


Work in Seattle or New York City? Good news: trekking from the office to Starbucks for a caffeine jolt could be optional as soon the second half of the year.

Read MoreStarbucks race discussion draws backlash

Starbucks will have optional delivery for a small fee as part of two programs that it will be testing in the two cities:

In some parts of Seattle, Starbucks customers can order on its mobile app and get food and beverage items delivered as part of a collaboration with on-demand delivery service firm Postmates. Couriers will deliver the items.

Meanwhile in New York, customers in certain office buildings can get food and beverage items delivered by Starbucks baristas.

Read MoreYou will never believe who invented the Frappuccino

Tune in: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will be on CNBC's "Mad Money" at 6 p.m. ET.

Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect the last time Starbucks split its stock and the price of the delivery service.

Summary: Coffee giant Starbucks announced a 2 for 1 stock split on Wednesday, its first split in nearly a decade.


NEW YORK — In the grand, old musical-theater tradition, composer/writer/performer Dave Malloy, 39, followed his dream to New York City seven years ago. There, with several decidedly nontraditional off-Broadway hits, he has found fame, along with many of the accolades that the musical theater world has to offer, including two Obie Awards, the Richard Rodgers Award, and a Jonathan Larson Grant.

According to formula, fortune is sure to follow — though Malloy appears curiously unmotivated by lucre. “I don’t think that art deserves money,” he wrote on the alt-arts website Culturebot in 2013, even as his electropop opera “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” (based on Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”) was drawing rapturous crowds to a custom-built theater tent near Times Square. “I take it when it is offered to me, I’ll ask for a cut. . . . But to make my own work is a private necessity and spiritual gift.”

“The Great Comet” comes to Cambridge in December as an American Repertory Theater mainstage production, and Wednesday through Saturday Malloy will appear at the ART’s second stage, Oberon, in the quirky ensemble piece “Ghost Quartet.” His work — as a composer and performer — has previously been featured at both venues, with “Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage” at Oberon in 2013 and “Three Pianos” at the Loeb Drama Center in 2011-12. We caught up with him at a cafe on his home turf in Brooklyn’s Park Slope.

Q. The ART’s promotional material describes “Ghost Quartet” rather obliquely as a song cycle “spanning seven centuries, with a murderous sister, a treehouse astronomer, a bear, a subway, and the ghost of Thelonious Monk.” Watching the New York production, I found that the harder I tried to follow – or invent? — a throughline, the more perplexed I got. Is that intentional, where you sort of lead the audience on, and then it’s all over the place?

A. Yeah! We talked a lot about how clear we wanted the plot to be. Ultimately we decided we weren’t as interested in the linear narrative as we were in the pure music, the emotions. So we deliberately lay out enough breadcrumbs: You can piece it together if you want to, but it’s not necessary to the experience.

We were very influenced by a lot of ’70s concept records which do the same thing: Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust.” You know there’s a story there, and you can kind of piece together most of it, but there’s always this one song and you don’t know what the story is, but it doesn’t really matter. You still get a feeling from it — it’s more like this kind of mythological understanding.

Q. It’s an interesting experience, having to relinquish any hope of connecting the dots. And then, before you know it, you’re literally in the dark.

A. Totally. And that’s the most challenging thing about the show: how to guide people on that journey of allowing them to let go. It’s like: Here’s a bunch of story pieces — now we’re just going to have fun!

Q. Of course, the flowing bourbon helps. Will you have a similarly intimate setup at Oberon?

A. There’ll be Persian rugs, chandeliers, lots of whiskey — all that.

Q. In various blogs, you describe yourself as suffering from a certain “sad clown social awkwardness” — which surprises me, because you appear totally at ease when performing.

A. I think that’s very standard, though, right? Extrovert on stage and introvert in real life.

Q. But stage fright isn’t really an issue?

A. Because we’re musicians and not actors, I feel way more safer than when I have to act. We’re just playing music. It just feels like what I do. I love being in the room with people and experiencing it all together. It’s helpful, too, to have a great audience, a communal atmosphere.

Q. The “Comet” remount at the Loeb will involve a considerable expansion as well.

A. Yeah, the Loeb has like 600 seats, so it’s tripling in size. They’re basically putting the dinner club on the stage.

Q. During the show’s debut three years ago at New York’s Ars Nova, you made a memorable Pierre. Do you miss playing the role?

A. Honestly, I’m a writer and a composer first, a performer second, and the schedule is grueling. It’s very difficult to find time to write and compose when you’re doing eight shows a week. You go home and you just want to sleep.

Q. Rumors keep surfacing about an imminent “Moby-Dick.” Any other projects on the boil?

A. Director Rachel Chavkin and I are also working on a Prince Hal adaptation: a piece just about his journey over the three plays (“Henry IV,” parts 1 and 2, and “Henry V”) — trying to make Shakespeare’s language accessible to contemporary ears, but obviously without butchering the poetry. I really enjoy taking classics that have a reputation for being overly boring or stuffy and kind of stripping that away.

Q. One thing that impresses me about your work is that you totally avoid the whimsy trap. How do you do that?

A. I guess it’s by trying to stay true to my own sense of humor and avoid the cloying. We try to never be so ironic that we’re making fun of the pieces. With “War and Peace,” for example, we never wanted to be making fun of Tolstoy — though we might make light of Tolstoy at times. You want to be telling a story and give the audience a cathartic experience, which is more rewarding in the end than just cheap laughs.

Q. And you just workshopped yet another play at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco?

A. “The Happiness of Fish” — it’s kind of looking at the debates between atheists and evolutionary biologists and then theists and creationists through the lens of Taoism, which pretty much rejects debate outright. So that’ll be a very weird show. I hope so.

Summary: ”Ziggy Stardust” and “The Wall” helped inspire Dave Malloy’s non-linear approach to telling a story through music.


“Classics” is not holiday-themed, but make no mistake: These songs are meant for snowy nights in front of a crackling fire. She & Him, the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, cover a lot of ground here, rendering each song with warmth and radiance. Aside from an uneasy take on “Oh No, Not My Baby,” Deschanel exudes more confidence on lead vocals — that seismic vibrato at the end of “Stars Fell on Alabama” is a lovely new flourish. She often recalls Nancy Sinatra; both singers have a small range but compensate with charm and presence. Ward, who produced the album and sings lead on Charles Aznavour’s “She,” sprinkles dusky guitar lines and sublime backing vocals and orchestrations throughout. Deschanel offers a sly attack on Dusty Springfield’s “Stay Awhile” and shimmers on “This Girl’s in Love With You.” The biggest surprise is “Unchained Melody,” a shopworn staple (the “Hallelujah” of its day), transformed into a haunting elegy to devotion. The Chapin Sisters shadow Deschanel’s reverbed vocal for a truly mesmerizing rendition. (Out now)

Summary: She &  Him’s new fifth album is not holiday-themed, but make no mistake: These songs are meant for snowy nights in front of a crackling fire.


NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Harwood Feffer LLP (www.hfesq.com) is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Synergetics USA, Inc. ("Synergetics" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SURG) concerning the proposed acquisition of the Company by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. ("Valeant") (NYSE: VRX).

Under the terms of the agreement between the companies, Valeant will promptly commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Synergetics' common stock for $6.50 per share in cash plus one contingent value right entitling the stockholder to receive up to $1.00 per share if specified sales thresholds for Synergetics are achieved following the closing.

Our investigation concerns whether the Synergetics board of directors is fulfilling its fiduciary duties, maximizing the value of the Company, disclosing all material benefits and costs, and obtaining full and fair consideration for Company stockholders.

If you own Synergetics shares and wish to discuss this matter with us, or have any questions concerning your rights and interests with regard to this matter, please contact:

Robert I. Harwood, Esq.Harwood Feffer LLP488 Madison AvenueNew York, New York 10022Phone Numbers: (877) 935-7400(212)935-7400Email: jflynn@hfesq.com Website: http://www.hfesq.com Follow us on Twitter: @HarwoodFeffer

Harwood Feffer has been representing individual and institutional investors for many years, serving as lead counsel in numerous cases in federal and state courts. Please visit the Harwood Feffer LLP website (http://www.hfesq.com) for more information about the firm.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Harwood Feffer LLP (www.hfesq.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harwood-feffer-llp-announces-investigation-of-synergetics-usa-inc-300137210.html

Summary: NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2015/ PRNewswire/-- Harwood Feffer LLP is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Synergetics USA, Inc. concerning the proposed acquisition of the Company by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.. Under the terms of the agreement between the companies, Valeant will promptly commence a tender offer to acquire...


The strait, which connects the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, is 21 miles wide at its narrowest and handles nearly 20 percent of the world's oil supply. Some 17 million barrels of petroleum products travel through the strait each day, according to 2013 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the most recent available.

The volume of oil traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca, which links the Indian and Pacific oceans, makes up 57 percent of overall maritime oil transportation, according to the EIA.

Read MoreStocks rise, oil sells off as Iran vessel incident cools

The Maersk Tigris was taken under the control of the Revolutionary Guard in a portion of the strait that is Iranian territorial waters, but accessible to all ships for "innocent passage." The USS Farragut, a U.S. Navy destroyer is headed to the area, but has "no authority" to enter the Iranian-controlled part of the strait, according to U.S. defense officials.

Summary: Almost 20 percent of the world’s oil supply travels through the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.


The dollar had started to regain ground in the last few days on signs the U.S. economy was beginning to recover after a soft patch earlier in the year.

"May seasonality calls for U.S. dollar gains, but Friday's non-farm payrolls release will be the ultimate determinant of direction," said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX.com, a unit of New York-based FXCM.

"The lingering net-long U.S. dollar positions in the futures market alongside disappointing U.S. economic data from Q1 2015 leave the greenback in a vulnerable place, particularly if the April jobs report disappoints."

Read More Why the dollar rally isn't over

He added that the strength of the labor market was truly the engine of the dollar appreciation since last July.

In late trading, the dollar index fell 0.4 percent to 95.072.

The euro recovered from one-week lows to trade 0.5 percent higher at $1.1195, shrugging off a report that said the International Monetary Fund may cut funding to Greece unless its European partners accept more debt writedowns.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble denied the IMF was insisting on further debt relief, but said the fund had warned that Greece's financial situation was worsening.

Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 119.82 yen, after earlier touching three-week highs.

Data showed on Tuesday that the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector rose to a five-month high in April, lifted by a surge in business activity.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 57.8 last month from 56.5 in March.

The report briefly lifted the dollar.

Earlier in the session, data showed that the trade deficit surged to its highest in nearly 6-1/2 years in March as imports rebounded strongly.

The trade gap jumped to $51.4 billion, the largest since October 2008. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit rising to $41.2 billion.

Summary: The dollar fell from three-week highs against the yen and one-week peaks versus the euro.


09/22/2015 AT 01:15 PM EDT

If you didn't make it to

, you can now breathe a huge sigh of relief. It turns out the cowboy didn't actually ride away, he just rode to Las Vegas!

The singer is heading to Sin City in 2016 for the Strait to Vegas show, he revealed Tuesday. The four announced shows, April 22 and 23, and Sept. 9 and 10, will be held at the brand new Las Vegas Arena. Strait's fellow Texan,

"I'm very excited to be coming back out and playing for the fans out there," Strait, 63, said at the press conference in Vegas.

The Vegas gig gives him the best of both worlds. "I said all along I wasn't going to tour anymore, but I also said I wasn't retiring," said Strait. "I didn't want to do another structured tour. I can come in here and do a couple of dates then go home for a month and come back and do a couple more."

And the good news doesn't end there! The king of country is also releasing new music. His album,

, is out Friday, available exclusively at Walmart and Apple Music. The album's first single, "Cold Beer Conversation" hits country radio on Wednesday.

Strait, who after more than three decades of performing, completed his final tour last year, admits he just couldn't stay away from the stage – and he always intended to continue to record and write.

"When I'm sitting in a rocking chair somewhere, just play me a live album so I can hear the crowd again," Strait added in a video interview shown at the press conference. "That's what it's all about."

Tickets for Strait to Vegas go on sale Oct. 2

Summary: "I'm very excited to be coming back out," said George Strait in a press conference on Tuesday


The past few years have seen David Hockney experimenting with iPads and iPhones, but an auction at Christie's in London will focus on work made with the most basic of art materials. Hockney on Paper will see almost 150 works go under the hammer, from the artist's 1954 lithograph of a fish and chip shop owned by friends of his parents in Bradford, to photomontages of the 1980s.

The sale, on 17 February, will feature numerous works from the artist's years in America, including a set of 16 etchings based on Hogarth's The Rake's Progress and others inspired by the young Hockney's experiences in New York. The etchings are expected to sell for between £150,000 and £200,000, with the whole auction estimated at £1m. On Monday Hockney visited the Royal College of Art in London (RCA), where he graduated 50 years ago, as part of its 175th anniversary celebrations. He told the Guardian: "Drawing and painting was the centre of the old college and I don't know whether it is now, but I always think the phrase 'back to the drawing board' tells you something, doesn't it? Drawing – it's still there. Nothing's altered in that way."

The auction will feature the 1962 sketch The Diploma, which Hockney drew in protest when the RCA said it would not let him graduate. He had refused to write the essay required for the final examination, stating that he should be assessed solely on his artworks. Recognising his talent and growing reputation, the RCA changed its regulations and awarded the diploma.

Hockney's current show at London's Royal Academy has received huge public acclaim, with all advance tickets sold out, though some critics have been less enthusiastic. Hockney said he had watched the reaction unfold on Twitter, although he did not tweet himself.

He said: "The show is actually one enormous piece, and people who don't get that pick out bits and little points – not very smart, really. Especially for a landscape show, if people are queueing for it, it tells you something. We're very, very pleased with the response – and I'm not complaining about the press. Of course not. It doesn't matter what they say either."

Summary: Hockney On Paper sale at Christie's to include etchings inspired by Hogarth, 1954 lithograph and work from his time in America


* Inflation to likely rebound - Fed's Fischer

* Twitter rises after broker upgrade

* Phillips 66 up after Buffett discloses stake

* Indexes down: Dow 0.81 pct, S&P 0.81 pct, Nasdaq 0.70 pct

(Adds details, changes comment, updates prices)

Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for their worst monthly drop in more than three years on worries about the health of China's economy and the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike.

All three major indexes slipped more than 1 percent on Monday after weekend comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer appeared to keep the door open for a rate hike in September.

The No. 2 Fed official said U.S. inflation would likely rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the Fed to raise interest rates gradually.

Fischer's remarks at the global central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming suggest the Fed could look beyond a week of stock market turmoil brought on by persistent fears that China's economy is faltering.

"We can still expect to see some significant drops in the market till we get some direction from the Fed regarding a rate increase," said John DeClue, chief investment officer of U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

"However, we still think there is a less than 50 percent chance of a rate hike in September because we're not really seeing a rise in inflation and unless we get an unbelievably strong jobs report this week, December still seems more likely."

Investors will be keeping a sharp eye on economic data again this week, especially the monthly jobs report on Friday, the last one before the Fed meets on Sept. 16-17.

The U.S. central bank has said it will raise rates only when it sees a sustained recovery in the economy. While the job market has improved steadily, inflation has remained below the central bank's 2 percent target for more than three years.

A decade of near-zero interest rates has helped the U.S. stock market stage a spectacular bull-run since the financial crisis.

But fears about the health of the Chinese economy buffeted global stock markets this month and pushed prices of oil and other commodities lower.

Wall Street closed flat on Friday after a tumultuous week in which the Dow slumped more than 1,000 points at one point last Monday. The market subsequently rallied, posting its biggest two-day gain since the financial crisis.

At 11:04 a.m. ET (1504 GMT) on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 134.89 points, or 0.81 percent, at 16,508.12, the S&P 500 was down 16.08 points, or 0.81 percent, at 1,972.79 and the Nasdaq composite was down 33.66 points, or 0.70 percent, at 4,794.67.

The S&P and the Nasdaq look set to post their biggest monthly loss since May 2012, while the Dow is on track for its worst monthly loss since 2010.

All 10 major S&P sectors were lower with the utilities index's 2.02 percent fall leading the decliners.

The CBOE Volatility index, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," rose about 8 percent to 28.15 on Monday, above its long-term average of 20. It spiked to as much as 53.29 last week.

Twitter was up 2.5 percent at $27.72 after SunTrust Robinson raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral."

Netflix fell 2.3 percent to $114.95 after the company said it chose not to renew its agreement with cable network Epix.

Phillips 66 was up 2.3 percent at $78.99 after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a $4.48 billion stake in the oil refiner.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,995 to 919. On the Nasdaq, 1,515 issues fell and 1,114 rose.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 16 new highs and 13 new lows.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Summary: Aug 31- U.S. stocks were poised for their worst monthly drop in more than three years on worries about the health of China's economy and the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike. All three major indexes slipped more than 1 percent on Monday after weekend comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer appeared to keep the door open for a rate hike in...


Trader Guy Adami believes stocks in Germany could make a strong way to play European headlines. If Deutsche Bank sells off at all next week, it looks appealing on the downside, he noted. If it moves higher, investors should "stick with it," he said.

For traders Steve Grasso and Dan Nathan, focusing on the U.S. looks like the best strategy. Grasso noted that the Federal Reserve's dovish outlook after its policy meeting this week will put "a lid" on interest rates.

Read MoreIf Greece is in crisis, why's the euro so strong?

He sees the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund going higher, as the sector often flourishes in low rate environments.

Nathan believes the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust has upside moving forward.

Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP and SUNE. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX and YHOO.

Dan is long CAT July/August put spread, SPY June put fly, TWTR, SO, INTC July put, LVS July Aug put spread, TWTR SEPT call spread and JPM July put spreads. He is short SO Aug call. Today, he bought JPM July put spreads.

Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BAC, DD, DECK, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR and GDX. His firm is long TWTR. His kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR and SPY.

Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.

Summary: As Greece's debt woes hang over markets, CNBC "Fast Money" traders looked for ways to protect against potential chaos.


"We have shown that we can collaborate, if we get the right forum."

Goldacre, a noted industry critic who leads the All Trials movement which campaigns for all clinical trial results to be disclosed, said: "We need more and more companies to take this more seriously."

It is the lack of affordable innovation rather than innovation per se which is the problem, according to Julian Remnant, partner and life Sciences R&D lead at Deloitte.

"It's an industry without a competitor or peer," Remnant pointed out.

Roche's ongoing bitter battle with the U.K.'s drug pricing body NICE, over whether the U.K.'s health service will pay for its £90,000 per patient breast cancer drug Kadcyla, may help establish the potential rewards of future innovation, Goldacre said.

"Roche is negotiating a new norm for what you can charge, where the cost of the drug isn't the manufacturing, it's the cost of developing it," he said.

- By CNBC's Catherine Boyle

Summary: There is a worrying lack of new billion-dollar "blockbuster" medicines in the pharma sector.


No. 2 Don't sell too soon The stocks that were strong at the beginning of the year were still great at the end of the year, for the most part. Retailers were a great example. Cramer noted that the trick was to hang on to your stocks as hard as you could on down days like Monday. Discipline pays.

"While Apple's stock came in for heavy profit taking at year end, the trick was to own it, not trade it. I think that's still the case as it was very much an Apple iPhone holiday season."

No. 3 If you bet on a turnaround, you made a wrong decision This includes any kind of a turnaround, whether it was a country like China or a stock like J.C. Penney or Avon. Heroes were punished; the key was to go with the flow.

"In 2014 bottom-fishing was for suckers; it will most likely be so again in 2015."

No. 4 Don't buy the stocks of companies in commodities that are going down Seriously, it doesn't matter how well run the company was. The stocks got slaughtered. It's not worth it to buy a commodity on a decline, especially since China didn't grow very fast and Europe seems to have lost its growth.

No. 5 Dividends can't protect you Big dividends in oil companies didn't protect investors. Even a low interest rate environment, they just weren't safe. Rather, Cramer uses the yield rate as a red flag for a stock. If the yield is more than the 10 year treasury, than it's a red flag. Same goes for master limited partnerships.

No. 6 Great growth stocks find ways to reinvent themselves So don't sell them just because they appear to be expensive! Does Cramer need to remind you about Starbucks with its roaster, Disney with Frozen, CVS with its removal of cigarettes or Home Depot's online reinvention? These stocks were the gifts that kept giving in 2014.

No. 7 Great biotechs aren't one-trick ponies Cramer faves Celgene, Biogen Idec and Regeneron kept coming out with more exciting pipeline developments. One after another, they paid off to own.

No. 8 Old dogs can learn new tricks The best performers in the market were the old dogs, like utilities and transports. The airlines finally got their act together and merged, stopped the price wars and changed the game.

No. 9 Mergers help companies more than you think The market loved when Actavis bought Forest Labs and Allergan, and now it is the king of pharma. Cable companies and airlines also merged, and made investors very happy with a positive impact on stocks.

No. 10 Buybacks do matter if they actually shrink the float "Most buybacks didn't mean much because they barely dented the supply out there," Cramer said. But the buybacks of solid companies like Home Depot and AutoZone had a positive impact, which Cramer encouraged investors to buy on a moment of weakness like Monday.

---------------------------------------------------------- Read more from Mad Money with Jim CramerCramer Remix: Avoid these 401(k) mistakes in 2015 Cramer: Do not putthis in your 401(k)Cramer on retirement: Live a little! ----------------------------------------------------------

So while there were plenty of lessons learned in 2014, these were the ones Cramer highlighted as the most important. What do all of these lessons have in common? Conventional wisdom.

In the end, it paid off to stick to your guns rather than to try to be a hero or make a wild and crazy move.

"You just needed to recognize that both the mundane and the tried and true paid off once again."

Summary: On a down day in the market, Jim Cramer thinks this is the perfect time to review the silly preconceptions of 2014.


I draw nearly every day. I have a disordered atlas of fragments picked up and dropped. I return to things again, sometimes years later. It can almost seem like an accident that it should be this rather than that. I go to a museum or a library and draw whatever I can find. Often I never even look at these notes again.

But there are times when progress seems more purposeful and drawing comes very directly - when I simply have a thought and draw from the beginning to the end.

I use drawing to think through, but not to plan, wall paintings. It is more a question of preparing for an event. My method is medieval. I paint directly on to the wall, the ceiling, the floor. These paintings are usually placed in parts of the world where they may not survive, for simple reasons of traffic (where something comes along to replace them). The context for this work is usually the built world around us. I approach that world as if it already had a voice and I see my work as an attempt to release that voice.

These paintings may take several weeks to make and often don't survive as long after they are completed. This approach stemmed in part from the feeling that the world was already too cluttered, and from the desire that painting should become part of everything else. This fleeting aspect also heightens the event. The process is so fragile and so completely exposed. Adrenaline plays its part and a lot can go wrong, but this feeds the work.

• Born in London in 1960, Richard Wright is a Turner prize nominee. He is represented by Gagosian. His work is on display at Tate Britain, London, from 6 October to 3 January 2010.

Summary: Richard Wright, who draws daily, has gradually compiled "a disordered atlas of fragments picked up and dropped"


Long-dated U.S. Treasury debt turned lower on Monday after investors spooked by Greece's newly elected government drove up prices and briefly knocked yields on the U.S. 30-year bond to fresh record lows.

Thirty-year bonds were last off 7/32 in price to yield 2.38 percent after touching a fresh record low in overseas trading of 2.336 percent.

"We were up a lot higher earlier this morning, simply on wait-and-see from the Greek election. But that was pretty well priced in," said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.

Read MoreNew Greek government to keep markets on edge

Greek election winning party Syriza's demands for a debt restructuring raised the prospect of a stand-off between Athens and other European nations that might lead to Greece exiting the euro grouping, although financial markets were treating that as a marginal risk on Monday.

As Europe battles slumping growth with a massive rate-cutting stimulus program detailed last week, investors have been turning to American federal debt as they reach for longer-dated bonds to generate higher yields.

Treasuries, which are widely expected to carry fatter yields when the Federal Reserve begins raising rates, are popular as they already offer significantly higher yields than comparable German or Japanese debt.

On Monday, German 10-year Bund yields, which set the pace for euro zone borrowing costs, fell below 0.30 percent for the first time before rebounding to 0.377 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Benchmark 10-year notes were down 6/32 in price to yield 1.81 percent. Shorter maturities were generally off in price, with the five-year down 8/32 in price and yielding 1.39 percent.

The yield curve between five-year notes and 30-year bonds flattened to 105 basis points from 106.30 late on Friday. It has averaged about 126 basis points over the last three months, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Traders and portfolio managers expect few market ripples from this week's meeting of Fed policymakers scheduled to begin on Tuesday, according to Brien.

"This is kind of a placeholder meeting," Brien said. "They have said nothing much was going to happen at these next two meetings. Nothing much has altered from the trends that were in place to make the Fed issue any sort of dramatic statement."

Summary: U.S. government debt prices strengthened after investors flocked to safety following the victory of anti-austerity Syriza in the Greek election.


Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. (AAP)

The Washington Post has slammed the conviction of its reporter Jason Rezaian in Iran as an "outrageous injustice" and said it is working with his family and lawyer to prepare a quick appeal.

Rezaian, the US newspaper's Tehran correspondent and a dual Iranian-American citizen, was arrested in July last year and accused of spying, along with other crimes against national security.

The 39-year-old Rezaian was tried in four hearings behind closed doors, the last of which was held in August. A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie, said the verdict that had been issued could be appealed.

"The guilty verdict announced by Iran in the trial of The Washington Post's Jason Rezaian represents an outrageous injustice," the paper's executive editor Martin Baron said in a statement.

"Iran has behaved unconscionably throughout this case, but never more so than with this indefensible decision by a Revolutionary Court to convict an innocent journalist of serious crimes after a proceeding that unfolded in secret, with no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing."

It was not immediately clear what Rezaian had been found guilty of. The charges against him are thought to carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Baron, noting no sentence had been handed down, said the paper was "working with Jason's family and Iranian counsel to pursue an immediate appeal," adding that Rezaian's lawyer Leila Ahsan would petition for his release on bail while the case is still pending.

Rezaian's lawyer, wife and mother were "provided no further information" about the verdict "under the guise of a translator not being available" when they went to court Monday to seek clarification, his brother Ali Rezaian said.

"Today's events are just the latest in what has long been a travesty of justice and an ongoing nightmare for Jason and our family," his brother said in a statement.

"This follows an unconscionable pattern by Iranian authorities of silence, obfuscation, delay and a total lack of adherence to international and Iranian law."

Later, Ali Rezaian told CNN that his brother had heard about his own conviction "on Iranian TV."

"It's just taking a huge toll on him. He's very depressed and I'm really worried for him," he told the news network.

The treatment and trial of Rezaian has drawn condemnation from his family, the US government and press freedom groups as well as The Washington Post.

"The contemptible end to this 'judicial process' leaves Iran's senior leaders with an obligation to right this grievous wrong," Baron said.

"The only thing that has ever been clear about this case is Jason's innocence. Any fair and just review would quickly overturn this unfounded verdict. Jason should be exonerated and released," he said.

The US State Department said yesterday it was closely monitoring Rezaian's fate, calling the process "opaque and incomprehensible," and again called for him to be freed.

"Regardless of whether there has been a conviction or not, we continue to call for the government of Iran to drop all charges against Jason and release him immediately," spokesman John Kirby said.

Rezaian was arrested along with his wife Yeganeh Salehi, and a photographer. Salehi and the third individual were later released on bail, though Ahsan has said she expects Salehi to eventually face court action.

Do you have any news photos or videos?

Summary: The Washington Post on Monday slammed the conviction of its reporter Jason Rezaian in Iran as an "outrageous injustice" and said it was working with his family and lawyer to prepare a quick appeal.


Coburn said, "The law clearly states felons convicted of abusing any health program are not entitled to further Medicare privileges."

"So I am very disappointed that, despite repeatedly raising the concern with Medicare officials, such felons continue to retain Medicare privileges," Coburn said. "A simple Internet search shows that Medicare officials have not instituted needed safeguards. This is a straightforward problem that Medicare's administrators can readily fix, but until they do so, the integrity of the program and the safety of patients will remain vulnerable to exploitation."

It's not uncommon for CMS to not meet a deadline imposed by a senator for response, according to Senate staffers who spoke to CNBC.com.

Noting that in the past "we have raised this issue of individuals being convicted of felonies and being able to still bill Medicare, and we have been told, 'Oh, we'll take a look at that,' " said one staffer, referring to CMS.

"We're always hearing that 'we're glad your concerned.' Now what are you going to do about it?"

Another staffer said that the failure to boot felonious doctors from the list isn't only a bureaucratic issue, it's also one that could affect the safety of patients.

"There's a real patient-care angle," that staffer said. "Doctors that have proven they don't regard the law as important, don't necessarily have patients' issues at heart."

The staffer also said that while there is "no silver-bullet solution to medical waste and fraud," kicking doctors off the list of people eligible for Medicare reimbursements when they're convicted of relevant crimes is much easier to tackle than some other issues.

(Read more: SHOP chopped! Online small-biz Obamacare enrollment delayed by year)

"This is kind of low-hanging fruit," the staffer said, noting the ease by which Carper's and Coburn's staffs were able to compile a list of convicted doctors who remained enrolled in Medicare. "If we can do this and point out the problem, then it's easy enough to fix."

Asked whether it was likely that there were many more doctors on the list, beyond the 21 the staff identified through public searches, that should have been bounced because they have been convicted of crimes, a staffer said, "Oh, absolutely. These are the ones that are public."

—By CNBC's Dan Mangan. Follow him on Twitter @_Dan Mangan

Summary: Two U.S. senators are criticizing a federal agency for not booting criminal doctors from a list of approved Medicare providers as required by law.


Not so long ago, 17-year-old Kareem G. didn't know the first thing about fixing computers. But today, the teenager from Mariners Harbor, S.

I., has not only become a budding computer expert - he is set to take his first trip abroad to teach children in Africa the wonders of the Internet. "I think it's going to be very fun and very exciting," Kareem said yesterday, adding that so far, his farthest trip has been to Nebraska. "I feel really good about it. It's good to help other people," he added. "And I'll be able to show them all the stuff I've learned about computers.

" Kareem is one of two teens from a Westchester-based treatment program scheduled to fly to Ghana today as part of an innovative project to teach children technology and coping skills, while bringing computers to students who may never have seen one before. He and his classmate Devin S., also 17, have spent months learning advanced computer repair at Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry, a residential treatment center for emotionally troubled teenagers. Many children are referred to the center from the foster care system. To protect their identities, the Daily News agreed not to use their last names. For Kareem and Devin, the trip to Africa is a high point in their lives. They're excited about their mission, which involves delivering 70 computers they have fixed to schools in Ghana. There, they will install the PCs and teach other youngsters about technology. 'Great experience' "I think it'll be a great experience, and it'll show us to be grateful for what we have," said Devin, who grew up in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island before moving to Yonkers about a year ago. "I just want to see the look on their faces when they see a computer for the first time.

" The project, which is in its first year, is the brainchild of Joe Johnson, a child care counselor who has worked at Children's Village for nearly a decade. Just before joining the staff, Johnson and a friend traveled to Ghana. He has returned every year to the developing country in search of ways to give back. "The people are so nice, yet they are engulfed in poverty," he said. "We decided that we wanted to do everything that we could.

" Johnson also has gathered medical supplies, books and toys to take to Ghana. "This project is something that I've wanted to do for 10 years," he said. The group, which also includes Children's Village President Nan Dale, will stay in Ghana for two weeks to install the computers. Johnson hopes to return next year with more computers and more teens from the center. "The philosophy is that we as human beings should try to assist people who are less fortunate," said Johnson, adding that the project is designed to empower the center's teenagers while helping students abroad. "These computers would normally have been discarded," he said. "But now they will affect the lives of thousands of people for years.

Summary:
Not so long ago, 17-year-old Kareem G. didn't know the first thing about fixing computers.
   But today, the teenager from Mariners Harbor, S.I., has not only become a budding computer expert - he is set to take his first trip abroad to teach children in Africa the wonders of the Internet.
   "I think it's going to be very fun and very exciting," Kareem said yesterday, adding that


President Barack Obama speaks at the Global Health Security Agenda Summit at the White House in Washington, Sept. 26, 2014.

On Monday, Obama said Internet service providers should be regulated more like public utilities to make sure they grant equal access to all content providers.

Read MoreObama: Stronger broadband laws needed

Obama's detailed statement on the issue of "net neutrality," a platform in his 2008 presidential campaign, was a rare intervention by the White House into the policy setting of an independent agency.

The president also said the FCC's new rules should apply equally to mobile and wired ISPs, with a recognition of special challenges that come with managing wireless networks.

"Simply put: No service should be stuck in a 'slow lane' because it does not pay a fee," Obama, currently in Asia, said in a statement released by the White House. "That kind of gate keeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet's growth."

—Reuters contributed to this report.

Summary: The FCC is an independent agency that will rule on facts and current laws, not President Obama's opinion alone, says commish.


At a splashy investor conference in March 2011, Brian Moynihan unveiled a vision for Bank of America that was both extraordinarily ambitious and remarkably conservative. The ambitious part encompassed the chief executive’s pledge to make BofA, which had been hobbled by the financial crisis, one of the world’s most profitable enterprises.

Moynihan, who’d been CEO for just 15 months, boldly predicted that BofA would achieve between $22 billion and $24 billion in annual profits once markets returned to normal.

The conservative part was Moynihan’s strategy for success, a blueprint so old-fashioned it sounded positively radical. That day, in the baroque ballroom of Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, Moynihan championed a traditional, 1950s style of banking: grow with your existing customers rather than court new ones, eschew aggressive sales tactics that lead to risky lending, and, on the investment banking side, avoid risky trading and generate steady fees raising money for clients.

To Moynihan, consumer banking offered a matchless advantage: low-cost deposits furnished by millions of checking accounts. But banks had been squandering the big earnings that those bargain deposits should have generated by pursuing rapid growth and expensive acquisitions.

Moynihan declared that the back-to-basics approach was the ticket to tremendous earnings power. But for four long years, B of A never managed to remotely fulfill the potential its leader kept touting.

If BofA had delivered the top-of-the-range profit prediction of $24 billion last year, it would have out-earned every company on the Fortune 500 except Apple and Walmart. Instead, the bank posted puny profits of just $4.8 billion.

Three main factors account for BofA’s disappointing performance. First, the mortgage settlements and litigation, chiefly a legacy of its disastrous purchase of Countrywide Financial, proved far larger than expected, exceeding $70 billion to date, more than the costs to JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo combined. Second, servicing millions of delinquent mortgages swamped BofA with extra, unexpected expenses for personnel and paperwork. And third, extraordinarily low interest rates curbed revenues from its giant portfolio of consumer and business loans.

Moynihan relentlessly attacked what he could control, BofA’s bloated costs, lowering headcount and shuttering unprofitable branches. He kept promising that once the litigation and servicing expenses faded and interest rates began to rise, revenues would surge while the lean, far-lower structure of personnel and overhead would remain flat. That combination would create strong “operating leverage,” meaning that any rise in revenues would flow directly to earnings.

Finally, Moynihan’s strategy appears poised to deliver. On July 15, he announced surprisingly strong earnings for the second quarter of 2015, results that move BofA far closer to its targets. Profits surged to $5.3 billion; on an annualized basis, that’s around $21 billion, close to the low-range of the 2011 goal. Profits aren’t quite as good as they look: BofA booked around $800 million in after-tax extraordinary items, including proceeds from the sale of real estate loans. So if we adjust profits by that amount to $4.5 billion, then BofA posted “normalized” 12-month earnings of $18 billion. That’s a return on equity of 11.4%, not far from the low-end of its goal of between 12% and 14%.

The cost-throttling campaign proceeds in full force. For the year ended March 30, BofA’s non-interest expense—the cost of people, rent, computers, and the like—fell from $13.1 billion to $12.7 billion. Headcount dropped from 271,000 to 233,000 and continues to fall by around 3% a quarter. As Moynihan predicted, the once-crippling expense of servicing delinquent mortgages is also shrinking, dramatically. It declined from $1.4 billion to $900 million in the past year. At the peak, those servicing costs were running a ruinous $2 billion a quarter.

Once again, during the earnings call, Moynihan cited BofA’s greatest asset: cheap deposits costing just 175 basis points. And BofA has an abundant $1.5 trillion of them, the biggest pool of all the retail banks. What Warren Buffett lauds as those “big, sticky” deposits are a principal reason he became a major BofA shareholder in the dark days of 2011.

Those deposits will become far more profitable as rates inevitably rise. Moynihan predicts that each one-point increase in the yield on Treasuries will contribute $3.9 billion in additional revenues, most of it pure, pre-tax profit.

Because BofA’s results lagged Moynihan’s promises for so long, many analysts and investors figured that either his strategy wouldn’t work or that he was incapable of making it work. In fact, his approach is the right one. And finally, the vision expressed that day at the Plaza is coming into view.

Summary: After years of disappointing performance, Brian Moynihan’s back-to-basics approach to banking is starting to pay off in a very big way. Wednesday’s quarterly earnings results are likely just the beginning.


must have a really, really bad memory -- because TMZ uncovered a brand new set of topless photos "biblically correct"

took before she applied for the crown.

These pics were taken just last year -- meaning Carrie was the ripe ol' LEGAL age of 20.

This time, Carrie dropped her top for a professional photo shoot ... another partially nude gig that she forgot to tell the Miss California

will decide today whether or not he'll give Carrie the heave ho.

: At today's presser, Trump let Carrie

Summary: Carrie Prejean must have a really, really bad memory -- because TMZ uncovered a brand new set of topless photos "biblically correct" Miss California took…


Whether it’s Jack Dorsey or Mark Zuckerberg, America loves the story of the scrappy, young founder. Lost in that narrative is the fact that many people start their first business in their later years. According to the Kauffman Foundation, three-quarters of all new entrepreneurs in 2014 were between the ages of 35 and 64, with most being 45 or older.

People start businesses later in life for a variety of reasons, but experience is a common factor. Often the best ideas reveal themselves with time, learning and exposure to a variety of challenges. “When you are out working in the real world, you might see an opportunity to make a product better or do something more efficiently,” says Jason Wiens, policy director at the Kauffman Foundation. It also doesn’t hurt that people 40 and older tend to have more money saved or assets to borrow against to get their business up and running.

History is rich with successful entrepreneurs who got into the game at 40-plus and changed the way we live our lives. Here’s a look at 10 of them.

1. Donald Fisher co-founded Gap at 41

In August 1969, at the age of 41, Donald Fisher and his wife Doris opened their first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. At the time, they only sold Levi’s jeans; Fisher had convinced the denim giant to let him open a hip store that contained all sizes and styles of its jeans, as department stores carried spotty inventory. The Gap gps quickly expanded to new locations and, in 1974, introduced its own denim label. In 1991, it stopped selling Levi’s entirely. Though it’s not without its struggles, the $9 billion company continues to endure today.

Related: 10 Wildly Successful People on How They View Failure

2. Lynda Weinman co-founded Lynda.com at 40

The self-taught computer whiz and former graphic arts professor recognized early on the potential of the Internet and the need for her students to learn how to publish to the web. In 1995, after struggling to find a book on web design to recommend to her students, she decided to write her own. Designing Web Graphics sold hundreds of thousands of copies and was the springboard to what would become Lynda.com, an Internet based training company she started with her husband Bruce Heavin. It was sold to LinkedIn in April 2015 for $1.5 billion.

3. Herbert Boyer co-founded Genentech at 40

A biochemist and genetic engineer, Herbert Boyer, along with geneticist Stanley Cohen, was first to demonstrate the usefulness of recombinant DNA technology in commercial medicine, laying the groundwork for what would become Genentech genentech , a pioneer in the biotechnology industry. When venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson got wind of Boyer’s breakthrough he requested a meeting and was given 10 minutes. That turned into three hours and the end result: Genentech was launched. Though Swanson and Boyer faced skepticism in the early days they forged ahead, creating a whole new industry that’s still alive and kicking.

Related: Here Are the Top 10 Small Cities to Start Your Own Business

4. Bob Parsons started GoDaddy at 47

Former U.S. Marine Bob Parsons had started two companies — one of which was Parsons Technology, a software company he sold to Intuit for $64 million in 1994 — before he launched GoDaddy gddy , the $4 billion web domain registrar. It was after taking a year off as part of his deal with Intuit that Parsons realized he didn’t want to retire; he started GoDaddy in 1997 to have “something to do.” Since then he has followed one philosophy: “make a little money from a lot of people. This differs from many companies who have just the opposite philosophy,” says Parsons in his online biography. Parsons stepped down as executive chairman in June 2015.

5. Chip Wilson began Lululemon at 42

For Chip Wilson, it was his first yoga class back in 1997 that sparked the idea for a line of comfortable, stylish women’s yoga wear. Wilson had recently sold his share in Westbeach, a snowboard apparel company, and smartly bet he could use the same stretch fabric they used for long underwear to make high-end yoga pants that would appeal to the masses. It was both his ability to find a problem and come up with a solution, and his experience in apparel, that enabled him to not only create yoga pants that were comfortable and appealing to the eye but transform an entire industry. In February 2015, following a major recall, a series of controversial comments about women’s bodies and a standoff with the company’s board, Wilson cut ties Lululemon lulu . His wife and son launched cashmere shop Kit & Ace in 2014.

6. Charles Ranlett Flint launched IBM at 61

Charles Flint was no spring chicken when he orchestrated the consolidation of three companies into the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. That was in 1911 which the established businessman and financier was 61; the company became known as International Business Machines ibm in 1924, when he was 74. Flint reasoned back then that it would be an advantage to have diverse products and revenue streams so that if one segment of the business were to have a bad year, the others would cover it — a strategy that remains true today. Flint stayed on the board of IBM, retiring in 1930.

Related: 6 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Starting a Business

7. Thomas Siebel co-founded Siebel Systems at 41

For Thomas Siebel, it was his experience at Oracle and the money he made as CEO Gain Technology that enabled him to co-found Siebel Systems in 1993 with Patricia House, a former marketer for Oracle. During his years at Oracle, Siebel’s knack for selling propelled him up the ranks. Recognizing inefficiencies within the sales group, he developed a program dubbed Oasis in 1987 that streamlined communication among the sales reps. Two years later, he spoke to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison about commercializing it externally; Ellison didn’t see the potential. Siebel took a leave of absence soon after and never returned. His next role was as CEO of Gain Technology, a small multimedia software company he quickly sold for $110 million in 1992. Netting $10 million from the deal, he set up his own shop. Siebel Systems would eventually become synonymous with customer relationship management software. In 2005, it was bought by Oracle orcl for $5.8 billion.

8. Bernie Marcus co-founded Home Depot at 50

The impetus to start a business comes in many forms; for Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, it was an abrupt firing that sparked the fire. In April 1978, Marcus and his future co-founder Arthur Blank were let go from their executive roles during a corporate power struggle at Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers, a now-defunct home improvement chain. The two were convinced by friend and business colleague Ken Langone to open their own home improvement store; Langone arranged the financing and the rest is history. The first two Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta in 1979. Today, Home Depot has nearly 2,300 locations and boasts annual sales of more than $80 billion.

Related: 5 Major Mistakes in Your Business Plan and How to Fix Them

9. Bill Porter started E*Trade at 54

An early player in the online investment industry, Bill Porter used $15,000 to launch an electronic system for stockbrokers called TradePlus in 1982. In 1991, that company became E*Trade etfc , the $7 billion online trading giant for do-it-yourself investors. While he is best known for that company, Porter had a long legacy of inventing, holding 14 patents and developing more than 20 products including a type of broadcast television camera. After founding E*Trade he went on to launch the International Securities Exchange, or ISE.

10. Robert Noyce co-founded Intel at 41

Robert Noyce was one of the so-called “traitorous eight,” the group of researchers who left Shockley Semiconductor in 1957 due to difficult management to start their own company, Fairchild Semiconductor. Fairchild is credited with establishing Silicon Valley, with as many as 400 companies able to trace their roots to Fairchild’s founders. Noyce, who invented the integrated circuit, and colleague Gordon Moore left Fairchild to launch Intel in 1968, with the backing of venture capital pioneer Arthur Rock. While Intel intc was producing semiconductors for years it wasn’t until the early 1990s when it launched its “Intel Inside” advertising campaign that the computer chip maker became a household name. Today, Intel is a $147 billion company.

Summary: It's not too late.


Sam Poueu and Stephanie Anderson

05/10/2013 AT 01:30 PM EDT

Accustomed to surprises from her time on

, Stephanie Anderson recently received a completely unwelcome one from her

, fellow show alum Sam Poueu.

As the couple prepared for the

, a boy due in July, "Stephanie felt they weren't connecting and decided they should go to counseling," a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE. "It was getting dire."

Finally the truth came out, and it stunned Anderson.

"In one of the counseling sessions, Sam thought he would make it better by confessing," continues the source. "He [admitted] that he had cheated on her with multiple women throughout the course of their courtship and marriage. He told her everything."

Shocked by the news, "Stephanie

" from Poueu just two months before their son is due, says the source.

When approached about the infidelity allegations, Poueu, 28, didn't deny the claims. He tells PEOPLE in a statement, "The circumstances and specifics of our marriage and our separation are extremely difficult and private."

Now Anderson, 33, and Poueu are left trying to pick up the pieces of their broken marriage amid preparing for the arrival of their baby boy this summer.

"Our focus is on Stephanie's continued health through her pregnancy and the delivery of our son," Poueu tells PEOPLE. "We are excited to be blessed as his parents and are focusing all of our energy and attention on doing what is best for his future. He is the most important person right now to both of us."

Summary: With a baby due in July, Anderson learns Poueu was unfaithful multiple times during their relationship, a source tells PEOPLE


AFTER being largely exempt from sales taxes on circulation, newspapers and magazines have come under mounting pressure from state legislatures looking for new revenues to balance budgets ravaged by the recession.

In July, California repealed its long-established exemption on sales taxes for all periodicals, which means newspapers and magazines must now pay up to 8.25 percent in taxes on circulation revenues, plus bear the added administrative costs involved with such a tax.

California is considered a bellwether state and both the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Magazine Publishers Association fear that the repeal of the exemption could prompt a flurry of similar tax proposals.

While a number of such tax laws were stopped in various states in the last year, California's action is going to make them much harder to derail.

"I think that it's going to be very difficult to fight the battle unless and until state treasuries are less in need of additional revenue," said W. Terry Maguire, general counsel of the newspaper association.

Newspapers can pass along the cost of the new tax by increasing prices for both single copies and subscriptions. But with advertising sales lagging, many papers had hoped to use increased circulation rates to bolster their own bottom lines.

The California Legislature goes into session for three weeks starting today and newspapers are mounting a big effort to re-establish the exemption. Thomas Newton, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said that as an alternative, the association would suggest an increase in cigarette taxes.

But Gov. Pete Wilson is against the newspapers' effort, and the press is generally unpopular in the Legislature, in part because of its widespread support for an initiative last year limiting the number of terms that legislators can serve.

"No one at this time believes there is any realistic chance," said George Gross, executive vice president for government affairs of the Magazine Publishers Association. He added that the association was so pessimistic that it would not join the newspaper effort in California.

Free publications have been particularly hard hit by the California law. For them, the tax is being levied on printing costs, but they have no way to pass the expense on by raising subscription and single-copy prices. There are proposals in the Legislature to re-establish the exemption for them, which are more likely to pass.

According to the magazine association, newspapers are exempt from sales taxes in 31 of the 45 states that levy sales or some similar taxes. Three of the states with a tax apply it only to single-copy sales.

Magazine subscriptions, which account for about 75 percent of magazine sales, are exempt in 22 states, but this number includes New York, Illinois and most of the other states where large magazines are published. The political clout of local newspapers in state houses is the principal reason why, in 12 states and the District of Columbia, newspapers are exempt and magazines are not.

Since before the United States was founded, governments have tried to tax the sale of newspapers and newspapers have strenuously resisted.

In 1765, Britain was searching for a way to cut the budget deficit caused by the French and Indian War and, among other solutions, levied a tax on newspapers in the Colonies. This was the notorious Stamp Act, which radicalized many papers and prompted editorial thundering for rebellion.

In the centuries since then, newspapers have paid their corporate and income taxes, but have argued that a tax on newspaper circulation did not promote the First Amendment's underlying policy of encouraging the free flow of information.

Efforts to tax advertising have also been tried. In 1987, Florida passed a tax on advertising and other services, including lawn-mowing and legal advice. Such services are rarely taxed in this country and the law prompted such a huge outcry that it was repealed six months later.

Mr. Maguire of the newspaper association said the prospect of a widespread effort to tax advertising was more remote than the expected blitzkrieg of efforts to tax the newspaper itself, which is considered a manufactured product rather than a service.

While newspapers and magazines have generally been allies in the fight to avoid sales taxes, the willingness of state legislatures to tax magazines, while exempting newspapers, sometimes puts them in opposing camps. Magazines have filed suit, arguing that they should not be singled out.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that in certain cases, states may tax magazines and not newspapers. They may not make a distinction for tax purposes on the basis of content, which would amount to censorship. But the court also said that if the basis of the tax distinction was the form of the publication, rather than the content, then states might tax one and not the other.

Refining the distinction between form and content will probably be tested later this year because of a law passed early this month by the Pennsylvania Legislature that repeals the sales tax exemption on magazines, but leaves newspapers exempt.

Mr. Gross of the magazine association said the state's magazine publishers intended to file suit.

Map of the U.S. highlighting states that tax newspaper sales