Fewer people expect tax refunds this year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In an American Express survey of roughly 1,500 adults, 59% of respondents said they expect a refund check this year, down from 64% last year.

At the same time, 19% expect to owe money come tax time, compared to just 13% in 2012. And nearly 30% of respondents with a household income greater than $100,000 said they expect to owe the IRS this year.

The growing number of people who owe taxes is likely a sign that the economy is improving, said Will McBride, chief economist at the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group.

"They are earning more and that means they get less from the IRS," he said.

Related: Tax audit red flags

Of those who will owe money, most said they would pay with cash from their checking or savings account. But nearly 15% said they would pay with a credit card, up from 7% last year, the American Express Spending & Saving tracker survey found.

Of those expecting a refund, 37% plan to use it to pay down debt or bills, while 26% plan to save the money. Only 28% said they expect to spend their refund check on themselves or family, travel, home improvements or a big-ticket item.

"The mentality from the recession is still there," said Melanie Backs, an American Express spokeswoman. "While people are feeling more confident, they learned some valuable lessons."

Related: More than 600,000 refunds delayed

The coveted refund checks, which averaged about $2,700 last year, should come in handy as consumers deal with smaller paychecks after a two-year payroll tax "holiday" expired this year.

Pennsylvania resident Kelly Benedetti said she and her husband would love to spend their expected tax refund on travel abroad. But instead, Benedetti, 32, and a research scientist with a PhD in educational research from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said she will put the extra cash, which she estimated will be less than $1,000, towards her student loan debt from graduate school.

"Nine years in higher education really gets you," she said.

Related: 3 ways to lower your tax bill

A newlywed and new homeowner, Benedetti said she was surprised to be receiving a refund at all because she aims to pay the exact amount of taxes she owes throughout the year to avoid giving "an interest-free loan to the government."

"I just don't understand how people want these huge giant refunds," she said. "It means they've overpaid all year."

How do you plan on spending your tax refund? Share your plans with melanie.hicken@turner.com.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 5:51 AM ET

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Guns and ammo sales spark jobs boom

The rising enthusiasm for firearms, especially semiautomatic rifles, is fueling a vibrant job market for the manufacturing of guns and ammunition.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Mike Weddle, head of maintenance at Dynamic Research Technologies, an ammunition manufacturer in Albany, Mo., says he is adding 10 new hires to his staff of 35. DRT's machine operators make between $10 and $17 an hour -- a healthy paycheck in a region where it's tough to find a job and the cost of living is relatively low.

DRT currently cranks out 80,000 bullets per shift and operates two shifts per day. But that's not enough to meet demand. So Weddle is adding a third manufacturing shift and building an additional facility.

"Demand picked up a year ago -- it quadrupled," he said. "It just went crazy." He says .223 caliber ammo, which is for semiautomatic rifles, is particularly difficult to keep in stock.

Related: Cheap ammo for sale online

DRT is a tiny part of an industry that employs about 240,000 nationwide, according to an estimate from Brian Rafn, who follows the gun industry for Morgan Dempsey Capital Management. And like DRT, many of the giants in the business of making guns and ammo are also expanding.

"Sturm, Ruger and Smith & Wesson have both added manufacturing capacity, which includes labor and shifts, in the past year," said Wedbush Securities analyst Rommel Dionisio.

Caleb Ogilvie, a concealed-carry instructor who works at Cabot Gun & Ammo in Cabot, Ark., said that employees at a nearby Remington plant in Lonoke are telling him that "they're running full swing up there, running 24-7."

The good news for Smith & Wesson (SWHC), Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR), Colt and Remington is that they're based in regions of New England and upstate New York where manufacturing has vanished, leaving a labor pool that's hungry for work, according to Dionisio. He said that many of the added jobs are "temporary, contract-type hires, as opposed to full-time, permanent hires" since the companies don't know how long the surge in demand will last.

Related: Unemployment rate for post-9/11 vets has gone down

But these companies also need highly-skilled workers. Rafn said that competition among gun makers is fierce for top-notch engineers. That's because it's the engineers that come up with the unique gun-design flourishes that inspire gun buyers to add to their collections.

"To get a guy to buy his 29th or 30th gun, you've got to come up with a whole new frame," said Rafn. "We're always looking at new products, and it's these guys who design them."

New features include ergonomic frames, triggers with innovative safeties or actions, or side-mounted laser sights, to give guns a competitive edge. Engineers with the computer-design skills to create them can easily earn $100,000 a year, he added.

Related: Sturm, Ruger profit surges on gun sales

Jacob Herman, chief operating officer for Red Jacket Firearms in Baton Rouge, La., agrees that finding qualified workers is the biggest hurdle for his business, which has an 18-month long blacklog of orders. Red Jacket, a family-owned company with 30 employees, makes AR15 semiautomatic rifles but has had to stop taking new orders for the time being.

"Finding skilled machinists and advanced skilled labor is one of the biggest problems that we face in getting products out the door," said Herman.

"The firearms industry is fighting for the same employees as the exploding oil business, both here in the Gulf [of Mexico] and in the Dakotas," said Herman, referring to the oil boom in North Dakota, where workers are flocking for jobs with Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500), Continental Resources (CLR), Hess (HES, Fortune 500) and Whiting Petroleum (WLL).

Related: Assault rifles are selling out

Machinists can also go into business for themselves as gunsmiths, making about $60,000 a year repairing and maintaining firearms.

Mark Raines, who spends his days refinishing, rebarrelling and nickel-plating, said the orders are piling up at his shop, Masters of Gun and Rod, in Tallahassee, Fla.

"The demand is so high, that I've probably got 250 guns in here for repair at any given time," said Raines. "You make a good living, [but] you don't get rich. Because any time you work with your hands, you're limited to how much you can turn out in a 24-hour period."

First Published: March 25, 2013: 5:53 AM ET

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For repo men, economic recovery is a blow to business

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Lynbrook, N.Y.-based entrepreneur owns Payback Repo Incorporated, a car repossession company.

"People say, 'Oh you guys must be doing amazing!'" Lennon said. "It's the total opposite."

Repossession specialists, better known as "repo men," are suffering a nationwide decline in business. There were about 1.3 million auto repossessions in 2012, down from 1.9 million at the height of the recession in 2009, according to Tom Webb, chief economist for Manheim Auctions. Data from Experian Automotive shows a one-third drop in repossessions over the same time period.

As the economy recovers, more Americans have been able to keep up with their car payments. The percentage of Americans more than 90 days late on a car loan declined to 4% in the fourth quarter of 2012, down from 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

For those in the repossession business, those are grim statistics.

Seth Rose, owner of Express Results in Hicksville, N.Y., cut his fleet from seven tow trucks in 2011 to just two trucks today.

"I decided to lower my overhead," Rose said. "All the expenses have continuously gone up, and our revenues have gone down."

Three years ago, Rose said he was seizing 75 to 100 cars a week. Now, he's down to 25 to 35 a week.

"Right after the big crash, everything was great," said Rose. "I had two lots that were jam-packed." He has since sold one of those lots.

Related: Companies make fast, pricey cars even more so

It's not just a matter of volume: repo men are also getting paid less.

Payback Repo's Lennon said he currently makes about $300 per car, down from the $400 he averaged during the recession.

"There's a pinch on our clients, and that causes banks to look for ways to cut costs too," Lennon said. "There's been a lot of causalities in the past two to three years. I had to have this mindset that I need to just survive these years, and half my competition would be gone."

Rose is trying to offset his lost revenue with new ventures, like his Orus iPhone app, released last week. Repo agents need to file reports with the banks when they arrive at a residence and the car isn't there. Orus lets them file those dispatches immediately from the field.

Meanwhile, Lennon's key survival tactic is creative cost-cutting. Instead of sending out gas-guzzling tow trucks to hunt down cars, he now uses fuel-efficient vehicles like the Toyota Prius. He equips them with cameras and license-plate recognition software. His repo agents only summon a tow truck after they've found their target -- saving time and money.

"It's a challenging business," Lennon said, "but I tell myself, isn't everyone in the same boat?"

Andrew Welsch is a multimedia journalist and master's student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 5:55 AM ET

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Stocks: Potential rally on Cyprus deal

Click on chart for market data

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

U.S. stock futures were higher ahead of the opening bell.

European markets rallied more than 1% in morning trading, while Asian markets ended mixed. After an initial bump, the euro was little changed against the dollar.

The new bailout program includes a deep restructuring of the country's banking sector, but will also protect deposits will less than €100,000. A plan to tax all bank accounts, a key sticking point that had enraged Cypriots, was shelved.

Without a deal, the tiny state risked losing emergency funding from the European Central Bank as early as Tuesday. That would have meant financial collapse and almost certain exit from the eurozone.

Now that a deal has been reached, investors are breathing a cautious sigh of relief.

Related: Fear & Greed Index: Still greedy

Aside from Cyprus, Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) will draw attention after the PC maker said early Monday that it had received two competing bids to founder Michael Dell's buyout offer. Both Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprise (IEP, Fortune 500), and Blackstone Group (BX) submitted separate buyout offers, which Dell said may turn out to be superior.

Shares of Apollo Group (APOL) rallied after the company reported earnings that blew past estimates, even as enrollment at University of Phoenix declined nearly 16%.

BlackBerry (BBRY) continued to come under pressure, with shares falling more than 6% in premarket trading. The smartphone maker's stock slid Friday after excitement over the new Z10, which made its U.S. debut, quickly faded.

U.S. stocks ended last week with modest declines.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 5:26 AM ET

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Icahn, Blackstone make buyout bids for Dell

Dell said that it has received two buyout bids for the company, in addition to the offer by founder Michael Dell.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The board said it will enter into negotiations with both groups. It also said that CEO Michael Dell has agreed to the "possibility of working with third parties" regarding their buyout proposals.

The announcement does not close the door on Dell's bid, though. Several reports Monday suggested that Michael Dell may agree to raise his bid in response to the new offers.

Blackstone (BX) says its offer would value Dell in excess of $14.25 per share. Icahn values his offer at $15 a share. Financing is not firm for either deal, however.

Both the Icahn and Blackstone bids would allow Dell shareholders to continue holding their stakes in the company, with stock continuing to be traded publicly. Money managers Southeastern Asset Management and T. Rowe Price (TROW), two of the largest institutional holders with more than 10% of Dell shares between them, are on record desiring to keep their Dell holdings, according to the Icahn bid letter.

Shares of Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) rose about 3% to $14.58 in early trading Monday following the announcement.

Michael Dell announced a $13.65-a-share offer to take Dell private on Feb 5. Michael Dell, who owns 15% of the shares of the company he started in his college dorm room, joined with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in making the bid. He also would get a $2 billion loan from Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) to help finance the deal.

The Dell board entered into a "go-shop" period following that offer to see what other bidders were interested in the company.

Fortune reported last week that Blackstone would prefer to have Michael Dell on its side. But if he prefers to remain with Silver Lake, Blackstone has started using back channels to reach out to potential CEO replacements. Top candidates, according to Fortune, include Mark Hurd, the former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) CEO who currently serves as president and a board member of Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), and Michael Capellas, the former boss of Compaq Computer and First Data.

Fortune also reported that rival computer makers Lenovo (LNVGY) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) also weighed bids for Dell during the go-shop period but decided against doing so.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 7:21 AM ET

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Startups have a sexism problem

Sexism at startups came to light in a viral off-color remark at a recent PyCon tech conference event.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It all began when two male attendees made a joke about "big dongles" and "forking," a play on tech terminology at software developer conference PyCon on March 18. Tech developer and evangelist Adria Richards, sitting in front of the men, took offense. She snapped a photo of the two and posted the image along with their joke to Twitter.

The backlash was extreme. One of the men, who worked for mobile gaming platform Playhaven, was fired. Richards started to receive death threats, hackers exposed her private information, and both her personal site and SendGrid, her employer, were hit with cyberattacks. Soon after, Richards was fired for "publicly shaming the offenders," according to a blog post by SendGrid CEO Jim Franklin.

All this raises the question: is the tech world, a sector largely dominated by men, a safe place for women to work and voice their concerns?

"This incident is indicative of larger problems in the tech industry," said Nikki Stevens, director of Engineering at Refinery29, a fashion startup. "What's hard is she isn't the first person to get fired for speaking out, and she won't be the last."

Related story: Black, female, and a Silicon Valley 'trade secret'

The root of those problems, some say, is a lack of awareness rather than a willfulness to do harm.

"There are so many incidents in my career of guys saying stuff like that," said Merrill Beth Ferguson, vice president of technology at data analytics startup Jirafe. "It does occasionally go too far. It's the rare occasion that I have thought there was anything going on other than cluelessness."

That absence of sensitivity in a field already lacking diversity has become part of the public conversation this month. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's (FB) chief operating officer, addressed the issue in her new book, "Lean In."

To combat sexism in the workplace, Sandberg encourages women and men to conduct open conversations about gender issues.

"We need a national conversation that examines the barriers that hold women back and prevent us from achieving true equality," Sandberg wrote in a CNN editorial. "The blunt truth is that men still run the world."

Carol Mirakove, the head of quality assurance at link-shortening site Bitly, agrees. She has worked as a leader in the tech industry for more than a decade, and though she says her current job is a great place for women, others have been the opposite. At previous jobs, office chat rooms and email lists would be filled with sexual and misogynistic jokes and images, she recalled.

Related story: Tech industry's diversity problem starts in college -- and earlier

Mirakove said the PyCon incident was "unfortunate," coming at a time where the stakes are particularly high.

"The technology industry cannot afford for this conversation to be shut down any longer," she said. "It has more open jobs than skilled workers to fill them, and all tech workers are entitled to a fair and safe work environment."

Yet Facebook's Sandberg and others admit that having the conversation isn't enough. Her book has generated sizable controversy for asking that women change their behavior and attitudes to advance their careers.

"Women shouldn't have to grow 'thick skin' to go into a technical field," wrote Eric Matthes, a PyCon attendee who describes himself as a programmer and hacker, on his blog.

To really bring about change, many startup insiders argue that tech companies must hire more women in leadership roles and promote strong female leaders.

"It's up to the leaders of a company to create the culture that they foster," said Jirafe's Ferguson.

But incidents like the one at PyCon could dissuade women from getting involved in tech to begin with. To get women interested in those roles -- and to stick with them -- they must be encouraged, and startups must become safe places for women to work and voice their opinions.

"Women in technology need consistent messaging from birth through retirement they are welcome, competent and valued in the industry," said Richards on her blog.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 10:07 AM ET

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Best Buy founder Schulze named chairman emeritus

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze was named chairman emeritus on Monday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The move is viewed as an endorsement of the company's turnaround plan, which he challenged late last year.

Schulze, the company's largest individual shareholder with a 21% stake in the company, tried to buy the company and take it private. However, a deadline for that deal expired on March 1 without Schulze submitting a final offer.

Best Buy named Hubert Joly as CEO last year after Schulze made his bid.

On Monday, Schulze said he had come back to "support the initiatives" put in place by the new CEO, who previously ran a travel company.

Joly's turnaround plan for Best Buy, which includes closing a number of stores and offering a low price guarantee to compete with online retailers such as Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), has been credited with helping lift results recently.

Shares were up nearly 1% Monday. So far this year, Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500)'s stock has nearly doubled in price and is the second-best performing stock in the S&P 500, trailing only Netflix (NFLX).

Related: Five ways to save Best Buy from extinction

Schulze also named two new directors to the board -- former CEO Brad Anderson and former chief operating officer Allen Lenzmeier, both of whom he had supported bringing back during his bid. Both appointments will be effective immediately.

Schulze, who is not returning to run the board, stepped down as chairman in June 2012 after a scandal led to the resignation of CEO Brian Dunn.

Dunn stepped down after an inappropriate relationship with a female coworker, which violated company policy. Schulze also left, after the board of directors said he "acted inappropriately" by not telling the audit committee about Dunn's relationship, when he found out about it.

The current chairman of the board is Hatim Tyabji.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 11:21 AM ET

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Tough times for Cyprus after EU bailout

Cypriot bank workers protest against a bailout that will see thousands lose their jobs

LONDON (CNNMoney)

But Monday wasn't a day to party.

The €10 billion European Union rescue that Cyprus secured at dawn on Monday will prevent a chaotic financial collapse and secures the island's future in the eurozone. But it will also exact a toll on the Cyprus financial sector and economy.

The EU deal means the closure of the Cyprus' 2nd biggest bank -- Popular Bank of Cyprus -- and radical surgery at other banks that will cut the industry in half, cost thousands of jobs and starve the economy of credit, deepening a painful recession.

Indeed, it remained unclear Monday when the country's banks would reopen after a 10-day shutdown aimed at preventing a catastrophic run on the banks. It was also unknown what limits might be imposed on bank customers who try to move their money.

Related: Dow hits new record on Cyprus deal

The country's political leaders, facing the worst crisis since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, made clear there were tough times to come.

"I cannot say that we rejoice about the agreement. But if this is the only possible way, then I want to assure you that the Cypriots are very resilient," Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides told reporters after leaving a church service.

The deal has been structured to avoid adding significantly to Cyprus' national debt, which should not exceed 100% of gross domestic product by 2020. Instead, it places much of the immediate burden on local and foreign individuals and businesses with more than €100,000 at Popular Bank and market leader Bank of Cyprus.

Both banks have been surviving on emergency funding from the European Central Bank since they sustained heavy losses on Greek government debt when it was restructured as part of an EU bailout.

Cyprus becomes the fifth eurozone country to receive a bail out after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

The deal also requires Cyprus to increase its tax rates on capital gains and businesses, introduce structural reforms, privatize state assets and shrink its banking industry to the EU average size by 2018.

"It's clear that the depth of the financial crisis in Cyprus means that the near future will be very difficult for the country and for its people," said Olli Rehn, the EU's top economic official.

Related: Are you in Cyprus? Tell us your views on the deal.

Cyprus allowed its banks to balloon to four times the size of its economy based on deposits, and more than seven times based on total assets. To hit the 2018 EU target, Cypriot banking -- which employs some 20,000 people in a country with a workforce of about 400,000 -- will have to contract by 50%.

And with wealthy foreigners, including many Russians, facing the loss of all their deposits at Popular, and about 30% at Bank of Cyprus, the island's days as an offshore banking center are numbered.

Cyprus' economy shrank by 2.4% last year and was forecast to contract further this year and next. Unemployment hit 12% last year and is set to rise to over 14% in 2014. Development of natural gas deposits could help ease some of the pain but the events of the last 10 days are likely to mean further deterioration in the medium term.

Indeed, EU officials were reluctant to put a figure on the overall size of the bailout -- which was originally set to equal annual GDP in Cyprus -- given the impact of events since March 16, when the announcement of plans to tax all bank deposits regardless of size prompted a run on cash machines.

Some commentators said the country should reconsider, even at this late stage, and go it alone rather than condemn its people to the same downward spiral of plunging GDP and soaring unemployment.

"Iceland is also a financial center but having its own currency, recovered rather quickly from a similar financial crisis," wrote Peter Morici, economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.

--CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this article.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 11:21 AM ET

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Ford apologizes for art depicting tied-up women

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was depicted driving a Ford Figo with tied-up women in the back.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The cartoonish drawings were never part of a paid campaign but were part of "a creative exercise by a team that was submitting for an ad competition," according to Chris Preuss, Ford (F, Fortune 500) spokesman for WPP. "They were actually posters uploaded to a website, which is where it all took off from."

One of the images depicts Silvio Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy and a candidate in the current campaign, driving a Ford Figo with three tied-up women in the back. Another image depicts Paris Hilton driving a Figo with what's meant to be the three Kardashian sisters tied up in the back. A third image shows three male race-car drivers tied up in the back.

"We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened," said Ford, in a prepared statement. "The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners."

WPP also released a statement saying that it "deeply regret[s]" the existence of the "distasteful" posters.

Related: Ford unveils the Figo for India

India is particularly sensitive to the topic of violence against women, since several high-profile gang rapes have occurred there in recent months.

Ford unveiled the Figo, a subcompact, in 2009 to be produced in India and exported to other Asian countries and Africa.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 11:24 AM ET

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Stocks give up gains on renewed Europe worry

Click chart for more market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The initial euphoria that Cyprus reached a deal with EU negotiators to secure a €10 billion bailout of its banking system gave way to broader fears over the health of the banking systems in other countries, notably Spain and Italy.

"Once you deal with the banking system in Cyprus, you need to address the rest of the periphery in Europe," said Paul Powers, a managing director at Raymond James. "It reminds people how fragile the rest of the system can be."

Investors had largely dismissed Cyprus' bailout as unique to the tiny island nation. But investors got spooked after the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, told news outlets that what happened in Cyprus could be a model for bailouts throughout the EU.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq dropped between 0.3% and 0.5%, but traders said volume was particularly light. Earlier, the Dow hit a new intraday record high and the S&P 500 nearly topped its all-time closing high.

Related: Tough times for Cyprus after EU bailout

European markets turned negative, after earlier rallying more than 1%, while Asian markets ended mixed. The dollar rose against the euro. After an initial pop above $1.30, the euro was trading around $1.28.

European bank stocks also came under pressure, with shares of Societe Generale (SCGLF) falling nearly 7% and Deutsche Bank (DB) shedding 5%. BBVA (BBVA) and Banco Santander (SAN) were also markedly lower.

Cyprus' new bailout program includes a deep restructuring of the country's banking sector. Without a deal, the tiny state risked losing emergency funding from the European Central Bank as early as Tuesday. That would have meant financial collapse and almost certain exit from the eurozone.

Related: Fear & Greed Index: Still greedy

Aside from Cyprus, Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) shares jumped more than 3%, after the PC maker said early Monday that it had received two competing bids to founder Michael Dell's buyout offer. Both Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprise (IEP, Fortune 500), and Blackstone Group (BX) submitted separate buyout offers, which Dell said may turn out to be superior.

Shares of Apollo Group (APOL) rallied 8%, after the company reported earnings that blew past estimates, even as enrollment at University of Phoenix declined nearly 16%.

BlackBerry (BBRY) continued to come under pressure, after its new Z10 phone received a lukewarm reception by U.S. consumers. Goldman Sachs also downgraded the smartphone maker to neutral, calling the U.S. launch "disappointing."

Shares of Dollar General (DG, Fortune 500) rose after the retailer's profit topped expectations.

Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) stock rose after the retailer's founder, who recently dropped a plan to take the company private, announced that he would return to become chairman emeritus.

In the commodities market, oil prices rose 1%, while gold prices edged lower.

The U.S. dollar rose against the British pound and Japanese yen.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 1.91% from 1.95 in early trading Monday.

First Published: March 25, 2013: 9:49 AM ET

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Stocks: Worries over Cyprus bailout deal

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost their grip on a 10-day winning streak on Friday.

Despite that, all three indexes ended higher for the week, and are up between 7% and 11% for the year.

On Saturday, the EU unveiled a €10 billion plan to rescue Cyprus' outsized banking sector and avoid a default. Though the bailout of the tiny nation is relatively small, the EU has required a one-time tax of 6.75% on bank deposits of less than €100,000 and 9.9% for those over that amount, starting Tuesday.

Already, this has sent people in Cyprus rushing to ATMs to withdraw cash. The worry is that investors and depositors in other financial weak European nations might also fear similar bailout provisions in the future from the EU, which has the potential to destabilize global financial markets.

"The question is whether this becomes a full-blown crisis or a mini-crisis," said Steven Englander, global head of foreign exchange strategy at Citi.

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee will hold a two-day meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will culminate in an announcement on interest rates and a closely-watched press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

At its last meeting, the Fed held rates at record lows and said it would continue buying $85 billion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities each month to bolster the economy.

The central bank is expected to maintain its gloomy forecast for this year. Investors will be looking for any comments on how government spending cuts could impact economic growth later this year.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve will also release its survey on general business conditions on Thursday.

A smattering of reports on the housing market are on tap this week. Real estate has steadily been a bright spot in the otherwise slow recovery and investors will be closely watching for any signs of how the market is performing.

The National Association of Home Builders housing market index, housing starts, building permits, FHFA housing price index, existing home sales and MBA mortgage index are all due out throughout the week.

Home prices along with home sales are up, as near record low mortgage rates and a drop in foreclosures have created a much better market for builders. In January, they filed for the greatest number of building permits since 2008.

This has spilled over into the labor market. The February jobs report showed that builders have added 151,000 jobs over the last five months, the sector's best hiring surge since the 2006 housing bubble.

In corporate news, FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) and Nike (NKE, Fortune 500) are expected to report earnings throughout the week.

First Published: March 17, 2013: 1:18 PM ET

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Markets drop amid Cyprus bailout worries

Click on chart for market data

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The terms of the EU bank bailout are controversial, and include a tax on any bank deposits still held in the tiny nation -- the first time such a strategy has been employed during the continent's debt crisis.

Lawmakers must still approve the agreement, but Cypriots reacted over the weekend by rushing to withdraw their savings from bank ATMs. The Cypriot parliament delayed a vote scheduled for Monday.

Depositors in other financially weak nations were left to consider the possibility that a new precedent had been set for future EU bailouts.

In response, the euro weakened Monday to $1.29, its lowest mark this year against the U.S. dollar. The safe-haven Japanese yen strengthened.

European markets closed lower. London's FTSE 100 fell nearly 0.5%, while Frankfurt's DAX and the CAC40 in Paris both dropped 0.9%.

Equity markets in Asia also took a dive. Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%. Stock futures suggested markets in Europe and the United States would follow Asia's lead.

Related: Cyprus deal threatens to backfire

Under the proposed Cyprus deal, a 9.9% tax will be levied on deposits of more than €100,000, while a 6.75% rate will be paid on smaller accounts.

It is the first time that the EU has insisted on such terms for bank depositors as part of a bailout. The EU's bailouts other nations in the last three years, such as Greece and Portugal, have usually been accompanied with strict budget restrictions and led to big losses for bond holders.

"Officials have been at pains to stress the uniqueness of Cyprus and how such a bail-in will not happen elsewhere," said Steven Englander, a foreign exchange strategist at Citi. "The question is whether the depositors elsewhere in the euro zone see things the same way."

Related: Rush to ATMs in Cyprus on EU bailout tax

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades tried to calm his nation Sunday, and convince lawmakers to vote for the bailout plan, which includes the deposit tax.

"A disorderly bankruptcy would have forced us to leave the euro and forced a devaluation," he said in a speech.

The bailout, while small compared to the emergency loans supporting other troubled European nations like Greece, represents more than half the size of the €18 billion Cyprus economy. Cyprus is the EU's smallest state, accounting for just 0.2% of output.

On Monday, Cyprus extended its holiday to Tuesday and Wednesday, a government spokeswoman told CNN, There are indications that steps might be taken to shift more of the tax burden from small to large accounts, according to a report in the Financial Times.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 3:09 AM ET

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Want free checking? Try a credit union

The majority of America's biggest credit unions still boast free checking.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

More than two-thirds, or 72%, of the nation's 50 biggest credit unions still offer free checking accounts without minimum balance or direct deposit requirements, compared to only 39% of banks, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com.

While free checking has declined across the board, it has disappeared more rapidly at the banks -- with 65% of banks and 78% of credit unions offering free checking in 2010.

Related: New ATMs dispense $1 and $5 bills

"While banks have significantly scaled back free checking accounts, free checking remains the rule, rather than the exception, among credit unions," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.

Many banks have been adding fees to checking accounts in recent years as new regulations -- like the 2010 Card Act, which limited fees and interest rates issuers can charge certain customers -- forced them to find alternative revenue streams.

There are usually ways for customers to avoid monthly fees, however, like carrying a minimum amount of money in an account or setting up direct deposits. A total of 96% of credit unions and 95% of banks have checking accounts that allow you to avoid a monthly fee by meeting certain requirements.

Related: Say goodbye to more bank branches

Monthly checking account fees range from $1 to $10 at credit unions, and the most common are $2 and $5. Checking accounts at banks come with an average fee of $5.48.

ATM fees are also higher at banks. The average fee for a non-customer to use a credit union's ATM is $2.29, compared to $2.50 at banks. Meanwhile, using an out-of-network ATM costs a credit union customer $1.01 and costs a bank customer $1.57.

Charges for overdrawing your checking account, known as overdraft fees, average $26.74 at credit unions and $31.26 at banks.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 6:09 AM ET

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Working from home saves me thousands

When Lina Bouc's employer told her she would no longer be allowed to work from home, she faced thousands of dollars a year in additional child care costs for her two children.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Americans who work from home prize their work-life arrangements. Witness the firestorm Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) CEO Marissa Mayer sparked last month when she said her employees could no longer work from home.

The issue resonates -- and in no small part because of the money at stake.

Dan, who asked to remain anonymous, used to work from home. But when his company stopped letting him telecommute last year, he had to start driving 30 miles back and forth to work in his gas-guzzling 1985 Ford Bronco each day. Additional cost: around $300 per month in gas.

"That was our whole grocery bill for a month," he said.

Plus, he had already invested at least $2,000 to set up a home office.

Related: Work from home and still be a part of the office

Though he was paid a decent salary, the time and money spent on the commute wasn't worth it. So he quit and found a job at an Internet startup that promised to let him work remotely.

Earlier this year, however, his new employer ended its telecommuting policy as well. Now's he's looking for yet another job that will let him work from home.

Bill Hazelton, from Los Angeles, also used to work from home two days a week to avoid a 120-mile commute that ate up two hours a day.

"Over and above the roughly $200 in additional gas money it cost me, having those telecommute days taken away from me added up to 20 hours a month in additional commuting time or the equivalent of $1,500 [per] month in compensation that I wasn't paid for," said Hazelton, who worked as a sales director for an Internet startup.

Eventually, Hazelton left his job to start an online advertising company called Optimum Interactive, where he makes a point of allowing his employees to telecommute.

Then there's the story of Deborah McKague. After going through a second hip replacement last year, the 55-year-old McKague could no longer drive the seven hours between her home in Danville, Va., and her job in Washington, D.C., twice a month. She had been allowed to work from home for a year. But after a management change, the option was taken away -- despite notes from her doctor prohibiting her from driving so far.

Related: Marissa Mayer: Yahoos can no longer work from home

McKague couldn't find another job and ultimately retired early on disability. That meant losing her $52,000 salary and relying on a monthly pension and Social Security benefits that totaled less than half of that amount. Even with her husband's Social Security benefits added to the mix, it's been hard to make ends meet.

"We can't go on any trips or vacations, if the car breaks down we have to save, save, save to get it fixed, and we don't have anything saved for emergencies," said McKague.

Add young children into the equation and the financial toll is even steeper when telecommuting is taken away.

Lina Bouc, a mother of two, quit her job at a mortgage company a couple years ago because her boss stopped allowing employees to telecommute. While working from home, she was able to keep an eye on her kids. Giving that up meant spending $700 to $775 a month -- or as much as $9,000 a year -- on daycare and babysitters.

Plus, the commute would have cost her another $200 to $300 a month in gas and parking -- bringing her total additional expenses to as much as $1,075 a month. "Transportation costs, costs for daycare and costs of having to expand my wardrobe buried me into making the choice [to quit]," said Bouc.

Bouc later found a job as a call center agent for Arise Virtual Solutions, where she can work from home and take care of her kids.

Related: Don't worry, the ban on telecommuting won't become a trend

Some telecommuting arrangements aren't as flexible, however. Many companies require employees to get full-time child care outside of the home, said Kenneth Matos, a senior director at Families and Work Institute.

Even though Katrina Alcorn, from Oakland, Calif., is self-employed and could keep her three children with her at home all day, she pays for full-time child care to ensure that she is productive.

But she still saves a couple of thousand of dollars a year by working from home -- limiting after-school care for her kids to four days a week and cutting down the time she sends her kids to camp during breaks. She puts the money she saves toward their college savings.

"We hadn't been saving for a long time, and now we are," she said. "And it's not like I'm working less -- I'm just giving myself a lot more flexibility."

First Published: March 18, 2013: 6:11 AM ET

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Where homebuyers love mirrored closets, Roman tubs

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In some cities, such terms turn up 10 times more often than in other parts of the country, according to data compiled by real estate website Trulia.

In Hawaii, "lanai" -- an open-sided porch that might be called a veranda or portico elsewhere -- is a big selling point for those seeking to enjoy the trade winds off the Pacific, for example.

Less explicable is the popularity of "stone walls" in Fairfield County, Conn. True, the region's bedrock is good for building walls, but this part of New England is hardly unique for the quality and quantity of its rocks -- just ask any Yankee farmer harvesting a bumper crop of granite.

Related: Million-dollar foreclosures

Whether these phrases make immediate sense or not, calculating how often they appear in listings helps sellers and real estate agents better understand how a local housing market works, said Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist.

"Sellers especially need to know, not just market trends like pricing, but what features buyers are focused on," he said.

In Ventura and Orange counties in California, for example, the popularity of "mirrored closet doors" isn't because local residents are especially narcissistic. More likely, said Kolko, there is big demand for homes that were built in an era when that feature became popular.

The same type of trend may explain why "kitchen island" appears in so many Phoenix listings. That became a hot amenity during the housing boom, when many of Phoenix's homes were built.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, listings tout proximity to Whole Foods, the national grocery chain.

One explanation: Close to a third of the area's residents don't have cars, forcing many residents to grocery shop on foot. That would make it a big advantage to be close to a favorite market, especially when the trip home could mean toting heavy bags up the steep San Francisco streets, said Kolko.

Related: 5 best places to buy a home right now

"Coffered ceiling" comes up quite frequently in Houston. A coffer is a sunken panel, usually square, that is used as a decoration, and is also known as a caisson or lacunaria. The coffers, which are a sort of dropped ceiling, can serve as a convenient place to route an air conditioning duct, said Kolko. Or they can add a touch of luxury -- without breaking the bank.

Many amenities that home buyers are looking for are weather-related. In Palm Bay, Fla., frequent hurricanes have made "storm shutters" a major listing point. In tornado-prone Omaha, Neb., listings tout "steel siding," while "heated garages" seem to matter most to residents of frosty Milwaukee and "glass-block windows" -- known for both their insulation and security -- are popular in Buffalo.

Other locally popular terms include "hearth room" in Memphis, Tenn., "Roman tub" in West Palm Beach, Fla., "pole barn" in Grand Rapids, Mich., and "solar screen" in Fort Worth, Texas.

Then, there's the "mother-in-law apartment," which is more popular in Salt Lake City than any place else. Could it be because Utah families tend to be big and tight-knit? The state has the largest average family size in the nation, according to the Census Bureau.

"With bigger families there, I'm not surprised to see that term be common in listings," said Kolko.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 6:07 AM ET

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Cyprus rattles stocks

Click on chart for premarket info

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

U.S. stock futures were sharply lower Monday after a bailout agreement reached over the weekend in Cyprus sparked outrage in the tiny nation.

The European Union unveiled a €10 billion plan early Saturday to rescue Cyprus' outsized banking sector and avoid a default. Though the bailout is relatively small, the EU has required a one-time tax of 6.75% on bank deposits of less than €100,000 and 9.9% for those over that amount.

Cypriots rushed to ATMs as the country tried to win parliamentary support for the plan. The worry is that investors and depositors in other financially weak European nations might fear similar bailout provisions in the future, which has the potential to destabilize global financial markets.

Early Monday, Cypriot leaders said a vote on the plan has been delayed until Tuesday.

"For now, one would suspect that markets are calm enough that the contagion will be limited, but such a move could easily amplify any future crisis in Europe as the specter of deposit losses will now be on the table whatever politicians say in advance," wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid, in a report to investors.

Also, Cyprus isn't just some isolated island nation. The impact of a high tax would be immediately felt by investors in other countries.

Russian investors, in particular, have a lot of money tied up in the country's banks.

"Cypriot banks are widely thought to hold large sums of legally questionable funds - a true tax haven - especially by Russian standards," said Marc Chandler, analyst for Brown Brothers Harriman. "Estimates suggest more than half the deposits in Cyprus belong to non-residents."

Related: Rush to ATMs in Cyprus on EU bailout tax

Bank stocks slumped around the globe. National Bank of Greece (NBG), Banco Santander (SAN) and Barclays (BCS) were all sharply lower.

In the U.S., shares of Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) also fell, by more than 1%.

Markets overseas sold off sharply. Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%. European markets were sharply lower in midday trading, and the euro fell by more than 1% against the dollar.

Related: Fear & Greed Index: Extreme greed!

After rising for the past 10 trading days, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2% Friday, ending the longest winning streak since 1996.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK, Fortune 500)shares fell more than 1% in premarket trading after the company was downgraded on valuation concerns. Chesapeake said late Friday that it would continue its attempt to buy back $1.3 billion of its bonds.

Shares of Carnival Corp. (CCL) slide more than 3%, after the cruise line issued a weak sales forecast for the year on Friday. The company has had a string of mechanical issues over the last several weeks, and the company's stock fell more than 3% in premarket trading on Monday.

-- CNN's Elinda Labropoulou contributed.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 5:00 AM ET

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Cyprus bailout threatens to backfire

Cypriots protested the proposed EU bailout, which would require Cyprus to impose a one-time tax on bank deposits.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Cyprus delayed by 24 hours a vote in parliament on a controversial plan to rescue the tiny island nation, and eurozone finance ministers were reported to be preparing emergency talks Monday to prevent the plan from backfiring.

An unprecedented tax on bank deposits as part of the €10 billion rescue announced Saturday led to a run on cash machines in Cyprus. It also spooked investors, who feared that other weak eurozone states may be forced down the same path, despite EU statements to the contrary.

Shares across the region fell in morning trading, and banks were hit particularly hard. The prices of government bonds across southern Europe also fell, pushing up yields. Early on Monday, however, there were no signs of bank runs in other European countries, including Italy and Spain.

"The contagion from Cyprus is fairly limited but there is a tail risk that this measure could backfire," wrote Berenberg Bank analysts in a note.

As part of the plan to rescue Cyprus' outsized banking sector and head off national default, the EU said deposits of more than €100,000 would be subject to a one-off levy of 9.9%, starting Tuesday. Smaller depositors would be subject to a levy of 6.75%.

It was the first time that the EU has insisted on such terms for bank depositors as part of a bailout. The EU's bailouts of other nations, such as Greece, have been accompanied by strict budget restrictions and led to losses for bond holders and shareholders.

Cyprus state TV said eurozone finance ministers would hold an emergency teleconference later Monday. A spokesman for the group was not immediately available for comment.

Analysts said the levy set a dangerous precedent and could undermine depositors' belief that their savings are safe.

"The Cyprus deal may prompt Europeans to question that," wrote financial markets analyst and blogger Louise Cooper. "A fundamental safeguard to Europe's banking industry has been compromised for a tiny country costing 10-20 billion euros to bailout -- not a good trade."

The parliament in Cyprus was due to vote on the plan Monday. Cyprus was working on last-minute changes to the proposals to force richer savers to bear a bigger share of the cost, reducing the burden on those with less than €100,000 in deposits, according to reports.

As Cypriots heard the news of the tax, they lined up outside to withdraw money from ATMs. Banks placed withdrawal limits of €400 and many ATMs were running out of cash over the weekend. A bank holiday Monday could be extended into Tuesday to give officials more time to nail down the details, according to some reports.

Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades tried to calm his nation on Sunday, and convince lawmakers to vote for the bailout plan.

"A disorderly bankruptcy would have forced us to leave the euro and forced a devaluation," he said in a speech.

The bailout, while small compared to the emergency loans supporting other troubled European nations like Greece, represents more than half the size of the €18 billion Cyprus economy. Cyprus is the EU's smallest state, accounting for just 0.2% of output.

The problem in Cyprus is the banking sector, which is several times the size of its economy. The country made a formal request for help last June after its banks were decimated by losses on Greek debt -- losses that caused lending to stall and sent the economy into a deep recession.

Negotiations on a bailout stalled last year after a previous government objected to the conditions that international lenders were looking to attach. They restarted following the election of Anastasiades last month.

Related: Europe financial sector is fragile, says IMF

EU concerns about money laundering also hampered progress on a bailout. Cypriot banks have large volumes of international deposits, with Russian businesses believed to hold about $19 billion, according to ratings agency Moody's. As part of the bailout deal, Cyprus has agreed to an international anti-money laundering audit.

Russia has come to Cyprus' aid in the past, providing a €2.5 billion loan in 2011 to shore up government finances, but its participation in the new rescue was looking uncertain Monday after President Vladimir Putin attacked the tax on bank deposits.

'If such a decision was made, it would be unfair, unprofessional and dangerous," his spokesman Dmity Peskov was quoted as saying.

A finance ministry spokesman said Russia was reviewing its position after not being consulted on the decision to impose the levy.

The International Monetary Fund was expected to contribute to the deal as it has in others. Christine Lagarde, the fund's managing director, supports the terms and has recommended that the IMF help provide financing for it.

In addition to the tax on bank deposits, other conditions for the bailout loans include an overhaul of the financial sector and an increase in corporate taxes.

Cyprus is the fourth of 17 eurozone states to be granted a bailout by its EU partners and the IMF, after Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Spain has been given EU assistance to rescue its banks, but has so far avoided asking for a full sovereign bailout.

-- CNN's Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this article.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 7:20 AM ET

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Cyprus rattles U.S. stocks

Click for more markets

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both lost 0.5%.

The retreat comes after the Dow's record-setting rally came to a close late last week. After rising for the past 10 trading days, the Dow fell 0.2% Friday, ending its longest winning streak since 1996.

"This could be an excuse for some profit taking after this powerful rally we've been experiencing," said Martin Leclerc, chief investment officer at Barrack Yard Advisors in Bryn Mawr, Penn.

The European Union unveiled a €10 billion plan early Saturday to rescue Cyprus' outsized banking sector and avoid a default. Though the bailout is relatively small, the EU has required a one-time tax of 6.75% on bank deposits of less than €100,000, and 9.9% for those over that amount.

Cypriots rushed to ATMs as the country tried to win parliamentary support. While eurozone leaders stressed that Cyprus is a unique case, investors worry that depositors in other financially weak European nations might face similar bailout provisions in the future.

Early Monday, Cypriot leaders said a vote on the plan has been delayed until Tuesday.

"The news from Cyprus is not good," said Jens Nordvig, currency strategist at Nomura Securities. "Haircuts for depositors were not expected, and it implies several dimensions of increased uncertainty."

Related: Cyprus bailout threatens to backfire

Given the Cypriot economy's size (accounts for less than 0.5% of overall output in the eurozone) and the amount of money involved, it's unlikely financial contagion will spread to other euro area nations, according to analysts at Barclay's Capital.

"We consider the likelihood of a bank run in other periphery countries to be limited, including in Greece," the analysts wrote in a report. The problems in Cyprus stem mainly from losses the nation's banks suffered on Greek bonds.

Meanwhile, the decision to tax bank deposits may impact Russia since half of all the bank deposits in Cyprus are believed to be held by Russians.

The euro plunged 1.1% versus the U.S. dollar to $1.29. European stock markets were also under heavy pressure. London's FTSE (UKX) fell 0.6%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) both fell 1.1%.

Asian markets also tumbled. Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%.

Bank stocks slumped around the globe. National Bank of Greece (NBG), Banco Santander (SAN) and Barclays (BCS) were all sharply lower.

In the U.S., shares of Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) also fell.

Related: Fear & Greed Index backs away from extreme greed

Chesapeake Energy (CHK, Fortune 500)shares bounced back from an earlier decline after the company was downgraded on valuation concerns. Chesapeake said late Friday that it would continue its attempt to buy back $1.3 billion of its bonds.

Shares of Carnival Corp. (CCL) slide 2%, after the cruise line issued a weak sales forecast for the year on Friday. The company has had a string of mechanical issues over the last several weeks.

Constellation Brands (STZ) shares rallied after the Justice Department agreed late last week to give Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) and Modelo Group more time to negotiate the terms of their merger.

First Published: March 18, 2013: 9:44 AM ET

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Travel tips from entrepreneur mom with four kids

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The company's growing quickly. That means she's traveling 10 days a month, often to opposite ends of the country. She began a trip in January with Sundance in Park City, Utah. She then dashed off to meet clients in Orlando. Then came Austin. It ended with a board meeting in New York.

Goldin justifies the pace because she thinks the nation is addicted to sugary drinks and artificial sweeteners. She's on a quest against the likes of Coca-Cola (CCE, Fortune 500), Pepsi (PEP, Fortune 500) and other major distributors.

"Our mission is to get people to live a healthier lifestyle," she said. "America's hooked on sugars and diet sweeteners. I felt like it was my job to go out and do this."

Goldin can't waste time -- or energy -- while traveling. These are the strategies she's developed to stay on her A-game. Her responses have been edited.

Simplify the wardrobe

"I am the best packer on the planet. My secret? My entire wardrobe is navy blue and black, so I mix and match things, and it doesn't look like I'm wearing the same thing every day.

"I don't have a ton of clothes. I have five nice work shirts, three nice sweaters, a couple of pants and skirts. That's it. It's so much easier for me to live that way, especially when I'm traveling."

Calling home? Stay consistent

"I take breaks to talk to my kids at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. their time. They text me before heading to school in the morning, and I call them back.

"At night we talk again. It's very rare that they go to sleep without my husband and I both talking to them."

Local time is real time

"I pay more attention to the external clock than my internal one. I abide by whatever time zone I'm in.

"Wherever I am, I wake up at 6 a.m., even if my body thinks it's much earlier than that. Many people will say they won't get up that early. But I think the key is, your brain psychs you into thinking that you're tired."

Fly with Wi-Fi

"Being able to connect while I travel is super important for me. I get over 1,000 emails a day, and I go through each one.

"To do that while I travel, I only take with flights with Wi-Fi. Otherwise, I lose six hours with coast-to-coast flights. I typically have something to do when I get to my destination. And if I'm coming home, I actually want to be present with my family."

Fly early or very late

"I usually take the first flight in the morning, so I'm able to plan afternoon meetings at my destination.

"On my way back, I prefer to take a red-eye flight instead of losing an entire day en route. That way I'm back home in time to see my kids wake up.

"My favorite airline is Virgin America. I love their schedule, and they always offer Wi-Fi connection."

Avoid energy drinks

"I have one cup of coffee in the morning. People who drink a lot of stimulants during the day tend to have a harder time getting to sleep."

First Published: March 18, 2013: 11:51 AM ET

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Black, female, and a Silicon Valley 'trade secret'

A CNNMoney investigation of 20 of the largest tech companies found that the few firms willing to share data about workplace diversity have mostly white and Asian males in their ranks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In an investigation that began in August 2011, CNNMoney probed 20 of the most influential U.S. technology companies, the Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, filing two Freedom of Information Act requests for workforce diversity data.

A year and a half, a pile of paperwork, and dozens of interviews later, we have a little more insight -- but not much.

Most of the companies stonewalled us, but the data we were able to get showed what one might expect: Ethnic minorities and women are generally underrepresented, sometimes severely so -- particularly in management roles. White and Asian males often dominate their fields.

Our investigation demonstrated how difficult -- and sometimes impossible -- gaining any insight into Silicon Valley's employee diversity can be. It shows a general lack of transparency in an industry known for its openness.

First attempt: In 2011, as part of CNN's Black in America series, CNNMoney reached out to 20 tech companies: the industry's 10 largest firms by annual sales and 10 smaller but prominent companies. We asked each for information about the race and sex makeup of their staff.

Only Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), Ingram Micro (IM, Fortune 500) and Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) played ball. Intel, in stark contrast to the rest of the tech industry, actually makes its employment diversity information public on its website.

"Intel believes that transparency with our data is the best way to have a genuine dialogue," Intel chief diversity officer Rosalind Hudnell told CNNMoney last week. "We are tech companies and data drives our business; we need to get beyond our fears that the numbers are a poor reflection on our individual organizations and work together to address the issue collectively. "

The other 17 companies refused to turn over their data. Having made little headway by asking the companies ourselves, the only way to compel them to release the data was through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Every U.S. company with more than 100 employees is required to fork over an annual report to the government, called the EEO-1, that categorizes U.S. workers by their race and sex. An independent federal agency called the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) collects the data, using it to play watchdog: It keeps a close eye on companies' hiring practices and occasionally assists in investigations.

We sent the EEOC a FOIA request on Aug. 18, 2011, and three weeks later it was denied. The EEOC said it is legally prohibited from releasing EEO-1 reports.

Read CNNMoney's FOIA requests and the government's responses

Second attempt: After consulting with experts and CNN's legal team, we learned the Department of Labor has access to EEOC data for some companies -- and unlike the EEOC, no federal statute bars the DOL from releasing the reports.

We re-filed the FOIA request to the Department of Labor on Nov. 1, 2011. It took more than a year for that request to be processed.

On Dec. 7, 2012, we finally received the data, but for only five companies: Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500), Dell, eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500), Ingram Micro and Intel.

What happened to the other 15 companies' information is complicated.

The Labor Department has no authority to release EEO-1 reports for companies that aren't federal contractors. That knocked out 10 companies: Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), Facebook, Groupon (GRPN), Hulu, LinkedIn (LNKD), LivingSocial, Netflix (NFLX), Twitter, Yelp (YELP) and Zynga (ZNGA).

But even contractors may block the release of their data. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) all submitted written objections, successfully petitioning the Department of Labor for their data to be excluded on the basis that doing so would cause "competitive harm."

Those five companies declined or ignored CNNMoney's requests for comment on their unwillingness to turn over their data.

The information gap: "It's absolutely preposterous," said John Sims, a FOIA expert and law professor at the University of the Pacific. "Knowing how many white male sales workers a company has is a trade secret? Absurd."

Sims questioned why five companies consider these reports trade secrets, while the other five allowed them to be released.

The data show diversity in Silicon Valley remains a serious issue. Some companies cite a "pipeline problem," saying too few minorities and women are graduating with technical degrees. Others argue that people tend to hire people like themselves, and in tech, that's largely white and Asian males.

But the biggest obstacle, according to industry experts, is that few are talking about the problem.

"This data is a just a baseline for discussion, but we can't end the problem if we can't start the conversation," said Aditi Mohapatra, associate tech sector director at BSR, a consulting group that works with companies on social and sustainability issues. "For the tech industry to remain silent about diversity is so not aligned with what they preach."

The Department of Labor said it does sometimes go back to companies and demand defense of their claims.

In "rare" situations, the DOL said, this can escalate into lawsuits between the government and the companies.

But lawsuits and appeals take time and money, and there's no guarantee of data waiting at the end of the road. Mike Swift, a reporter with the San Jose Mercury News, began probing the topic in 2008 by sending similar FOIA requests for data from the region's 15 largest employers.

His inquiry sparked a two-year legal battle, resulting in access to data from just one company -- HP -- that had opposed its release.

The Black Economic Council and the National Asian American Coalition have also attempted to uncover diversity data at major companies, but most of those requests have turned up little information.

"Companies are happy to hide behind a law that provides so little access to this data," said Sims, the law professor. "Tech is the most vibrant sector of the American economy, and rather than trying to fix problems, they want to keep secrets."

Are you a minority and/or woman working for a large technology company? Want to share your story? E-mail julianne.pepitone@turner.com for the chance to be included in an upcoming story.

First Published: March 17, 2013: 5:38 PM ET

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Work from home and still be a part of the office

(Money Magazine)

Just don't get too comfortable. A recent study in the MIT Sloan Management Review found that bosses are more likely to attribute traits like "responsible" and "dependable" to in-office workers than those who work from home.

"This leads to lower performance evaluations for telecommuters," says Kimberly Elsbach, an author of the study and a professor at the University of California at Davis.

If you're among the 13 million U.S. employees who work remotely at least once a week, try these moves to seem as present as those who appear in the office every day.

Communicate constantly

Return calls as well as emails ASAP and make it easier for people to reach you by forwarding your office phone to a dedicated home-office line.

When you have to be out, make sure colleagues know in advance, and put an automatic reply on your email that says when you'll be reachable again.

Related: Best Buy ends work-from-home program

"Telecommuters need to overcompensate for being out of sight," says Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant.

Also, don't be shy about self-promotion. Make a habit of sending your supervisor a weekly update summarizing recent accomplishments.

Working hard on a project? Send some late-day emails to show that you aren't checking out at 5 p.m.

Get personal

When colleagues think of you as an integral part of the crew, they're more likely to praise your efforts on a past project or suggest your participation in a future one.

So carve out some time on phone calls to talk to your co-workers about nonwork stuff like family or weekend plans.

"You want to build relationships the same way you would if you saw them in the hallway every day," says Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.

Related: Yahoos can no longer work from home

These chats can also serve as your virtual water cooler, giving you the inside scoop on office sentiment and clueing you in on potential new opportunities.

Know when to show up

A flexible deal can be an advantage when you want to prove your loyalty.

In the face of a major deadline, however, turn up at the office and show your boss that you're willing to make an extra effort to get the job done, even when it's inconvenient for you.

Poll: Do you think employees should be allowed to work from home?

Coming in for important meetings is also key, since your physical presence will make your contribution more memorable than participation by speakerphone.

Whatever your arrangement, if the company should hit a rough patch or you start to hear layoff rumors, haul your keister into the office as much as possible.

Says New York City executive recruiter Stephen Viscusi: "No matter what your performance level, it's a lot easier for a boss to let go of someone that he doesn't see on a regular basis."

Have you ever worked for a company that stopped allowing employees to work from home, and did this have a financial impact on you? E-mail blake.ellis@turner.com for the chance to be included in an upcoming story.

First Published: March 11, 2013: 6:15 AM ET

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Chip wars could drive mobile customers nuts

Mobile chips wars are beginning to play out like the Mac vs. PC days in the 1990s and early 2000s.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), the world's largest PC chipmaker, wants its chips to be in tablets and smartphones. ARM (ARMH), the biggest designer of mobile processors, wants to put its chips in tablet PCs. Like the Mac vs. PC era in the 1990s and early 2000s, the new chip battles mean some apps you want might not be available on your device, or certain software might not work the way you'd like it to.

That's very different than what we've become accustomed to.

Today, Intel's processors are found in virtually all PCs (including Macs). ARM chips -- made by Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Samsung, Nvidia (NVDA) and others -- are found in 95% of mobile devices. There is one chip platform for mobile and one platform for PC chips. That's convenient for device makers, software developers and consumers alike: The same software is generally available with the same functionality across multiple devices.

But the looming battle between ARM and Intel could make those neat divisions much messier, impacting developers and consumers alike.

ARM threw the first punch, partnering with Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) to support Windows RT, a tablet-optimized version of Windows 8. Due to the low-power architecture of ARM chips, compatibility with Windows 7 applications isn't an option on Windows RT. That left new tablet owners, including Microsoft Surface customers, with little to do on their devices.

Related story: Windows 8 vs. Windows RT: It matters. Let's explain.

Last year, Intel made its first big push into the mobile market, launching a new chipset that's powerful enough to run Windows 8 but also efficient enough to power a mobile device.

Unlike Windows RT's ban on legacy Windows apps, Intel has built-in tools that enable its chips to run ARM-optimized apps. Yet that's not a catch-all solution: For any application that pushes a device's hardware to its limit, performance could take a noticeable hit.

The most-affected app category will likely be games, according to Simon Segars, president of ARM.

Gil Carmel, co-founder of World of Goo maker 2D Boy, said he's not too concerned about the chip battles. Despite the popular game's high production quality and flashy visuals, 2D Boy's current games don't yet require much special optimization.

"In our case, supporting Intel chipsets is easy because the game runs well on most modern hardware and doesn't require too much low-level, architecture-specific optimization," said Carmel. "We've already tested Intel support internally -- it was as easy as flipping a switch."

But in an era of low app profit margins -- particularly on Android -- many smaller development companies don't have the resources to optimize their apps for multiple hardware architectures.

Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android operating system is likely to be impacted the most by the chip wars. Unlike Apple, which puts the same chip in every new iPhone, Google exerts far less control over the dozens of manufacturers that sell Android devices. Some will choose Intel, while others will stick with ARM.

For now, Intel chips are found on a miniscule number of phones, and PCs that run ARM chips aren't a particularly popular option with consumers. But technology analysts believe both challengers will substantially grow their share of their respective markets over the next several years.

That means soon, you may find yourself picking up a smartphone, tablet or laptop and wondering if your favorite app will work on that device.

First Published: March 11, 2013: 6:09 AM ET

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Boomerang buyers return to market after foreclosure

Susan and Dave Edwards lost their home to foreclosure in 2010. Just two years later, they have bought a new place.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Since the housing bubble burst, 4.8 million borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure, and another 2.2 million gave them up in short sales, according to RealtyTrac. While many are still struggling to recover financially, a growing number are starting to bounce back -- and they are looking for a new place to call home.

Susan Edwards and her husband, Dave, lost their Palmdale, Calif., home in 2010 after Susan's severe arthritis made it impossible for her to work her medical device sales job.

The medical bills soon piled up and the couple could no longer afford their $2,300 monthly mortgage payment. In addition, their home's value had plunged 40% below the $325,000 mortgage balance.

"We were living under such pressure," she said. "We looked at the numbers and knew we had to default."

After the foreclosure, Susan's credit score had taken a 70-point hit; Dave's score fell even further.

Related: Million-dollar foreclosures

By paying all of the bills on time, they nursed their credit scores back to health. And in December, two years after they lost their old home, the couple was able to buy a new home with a loan backed by the Veteran's Administration. VA-insured loans can be obtained just two years after a foreclosure, according to the Mike Frueh, director of the VA's Loan Guaranty Program.

The new house is a lot like the Edwards' old one, with one big improvement: The mortgage payment is $1,150 a month -- roughly half the amount they used to pay.

"[After bankruptcy], foreclosure is one of the things that hits your credit score the hardest," said Anthony Sprauve, a spokesman for FICO.

Foreclosures and short sales usually knock about 85 to 160 points off a credit score. Scores suffer less if you pay at least the minimum on all your other bills on time and only allow your mortgage payments to go unpaid, said Jon Maddux, the CEO of YouWalkAway.com, which offers advice to defaulting mortgage borrowers.

Once the damage is done, it can take three to seven years for a score to fully recover. But some lenders are willing to work with borrowers earlier than that.

Related: Zombie foreclosures: Borrowers hit with debt that won't die

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for example, require defaulters to wait five years -- and have a minimum credit score of 680 and put 10% down -- before they can purchase a home again. If they don't meet that criteria the wait is seven years, at which point the foreclosure is expunged from a person's credit report.

If defaulters show that extenuating circumstances caused the foreclosure -- such as a health issue that prevented them from working, a layoff, a divorce or other one-time event -- the wait may be reduced to three years.

The Federal Housing Administration allows banks to issue FHA-insured loans to borrowers three years after a foreclosure or a short sale in which the borrower was in default.

Tony and Ginger Read, who live with their three kids outside of Boise, Idaho, took four years to rebuild their credit after they sold their home in a 2008 short sale. Tony had been laid off and the couple had already sold their camper and other valuables in a fruitless effort to keep their home. Eventually, a broker convinced them to sell.

"It was the hardest thing we ever had to do but we couldn't afford the payments," said Ginger.

Tony now has a job supervising a sand and water pumping crew for the fracking industry and the couple's credit score has regained more than half of what it lost.

In January, they were approved for a 4% interest FHA loan on a $280,000 house in Fruitvale, Idaho. They close April 12.

Related: Best places to buy foreclosures

Mike Edgar, the broker who worked with the Reads to sell their home and buy a new one, has worked with several clients to help them repair their credit and, when they're ready, buy new homes.

In 2012, he worked with 15 "boomerang" buyers, about a quarter of his sales. He expects that number to double in 2013.

Tim Duy, a business manager in Verrado, Ariz., and his wife Christina, lost their house in April 2011. They're eager to become homeowners again, but for now they're concentrating on repairing their credit. The foreclosure, which knocked Duy's credit score down 200 points to below 600, has since rebounded to 730.

Meanwhile, the couple window shops. "We're in the penalty box for another year, maybe," said Duy. "I see houses just what we want selling for $185,000. I would jump all over that if I could."

First Published: March 11, 2013: 6:12 AM ET

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America's fastest growing job pays poorly

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

These nearly 2 million (mostly minorities and women) workers do everything from prepare meals and clean homes, to bathe and change bedpans for elderly and disabled patients.

As Baby Boomers age, this job is expected to explode, growing 70% between 2010 and 2020, according to the Labor Department. That makes it the single fastest growing job in the United States, according to their forecasts.

Call it the silver tsunami. Roughly every eight seconds, a Baby Boomer turns 65. And that has led to surging demand for in-home care.

"This isn't just a surge, a one-time hiring spurt. This is something we will do this year and into the future," said Paul Hogan, chairman of Home Instead Senior Care, which alone plans to hire 45,000 caregivers in North America this year. "It's all driven by the growth in the senior population."

But even though there are plenty of job opportunities, many of these people make the same wage as teenagers flipping burgers or selling clothes at the mall. The average hourly wage is just $9.70 an hour, according to the Labor Department.

For those in the industry who work full-time, this amounts to roughly $20,000 a year. Many health care aides only work part-time though -- and they do not receive benefits.

Related: Stressful jobs that pay badly

Under these conditions, it's no surprise then that about 40% of home aides rely on public assistance, such as Medicaid and food stamps, just to get by.

"What you have is a situation here where the people that we count on to care for our families cannot take care of their own, and that's got to change," said Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

How did this happen?

Many home health care aides are exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime laws, due to a little-known provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1974, which puts them in the same category as casual babysitters. The Obama administration has been trying to change that over the past two years, but its efforts have been met fiercely with lobbying from the industry.

While some states have since passed greater protections for home aides, a survey by the National Domestic Workers Alliance shows roughly a quarter of these workers still make less than the federal minimum wage.

Mary Headlam, 63, is a Jamaican immigrant who takes care of 98-year-old Seymour. She lives in his home in Tenafly, N.J. and earns about $750 for working seven days a week. It's not much, but she finds her work now far more fulfilling than her previous job working in a department store.

"The job is rewarding. It gives you the opportunity to work with people who cannot take care of themselves," she said. When asked her about her wages, she said she's comfortable and thankful for the place to live.

Like Headlam, the majority of home health care aides are minorities and women, and many are foreign born.

A recent study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research estimates immigrants make up 28% of home health care workers, and of those, one in five are undocumented.

The Census Bureau has found that 53% of home health aides are minorities. By their calculations, it is the single most common job for black women, who alone represent nearly a third of the entire profession.

This is part of the reason workers are undervalued and underpaid, say worker advocates like Eileen Boris, a professor of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

"Caring for people is not the same as flipping hamburgers, and the fact that as an economy we value them the same, I think is a testimony to the devaluing of work associated with women, intimacy and the historical association of caring for people with slavery," she said. Boris is the co-author of the book Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State.

Related: Men in female-dominated jobs

Many of these workers are also not as educated -- often with no more than a high school diploma. So it would make sense that these workers have far less bargaining power against the large associations and companies lobbying against a change.

The industry does face other price pressures which keep wages low.

Keeping the cost of home care affordable for the elderly is key. Medicare and Medicaid funding cuts due to healthcare reform as well as state budget constraints are also a factor .

"There is a delicate balance between how much seniors and their families can afford -- because they have limited resources -- and how much is appropriate to pay a caregiver," Home Instead Senior Care's Hogan said.

The industry argues that if they're forced to pay minimum wage and overtime, they'll have to restrict workers' hours to 40 hours a week or less. That could actually lead to a reduction in pay for live-in workers. They also fiercely dispute the government's claim that it would only cost an extra $166 per worker a year to comply with federal minimum wage and overtime regulations.

"It's going to increase costs, and it's going to make things more difficult at all levels," said Val Halamandaris, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. "A lot of these individuals could end up losing these jobs."

- CNNMoney video producer Jordan Malter and CNN correspondent Zain Asher contributed to this report.

First Published: March 11, 2013: 6:18 AM ET

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Alibaba names low-profile exec as CEO

Alibaba's new CEO has 13 years experience of working across the group

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The 43 year-old Alibaba executive has been named as chief executive, succeeding billionaire company founder Jack Ma, who is resigning to make way for younger leaders.

Ma and several partners launched the company from his apartment in Hangzhou in 1999. He will continue to set Alibaba's strategic direction and develop future leaders, but hand over his responsibilities as chief executive to Lu by May 10.

Lu joined Alibaba in 2000 and is the only senior company executive to have headed all of its major divisions.

Alibaba's company blog describes him as an operations whiz who shuns the spotlight.

His ability to execute will be tested immediately. In January, the company said it was splitting operations into 25 divisions to become more flexible.

Lu led the development of online payments service Alipay. Later, as chief executive of Tabao, the dominant e-commerce site in China, he oversaw an eight-fold increase in value of goods traded on the platform.

Related: Jack Ma steps down as Alibaba CEO

"Serving as Alibaba Group CEO is an extremely challenging and difficult job, especially succeeding a founder CEO like me," Ma wrote in a letter to employees obtained by CNNMoney. "I strongly believe that with all your support and assistance, he can lead Alibaba Group to achieve even more seemingly impossible things in our pursuit of building a business ecosystem."

Alibaba said Lu had laid the groundwork for early development of Taobao's group shopping initiative, known as Juhuasuan, and oversaw the development and early growth of Taobao Mall, a service that lets consumers buy goods directly from retailers online.

Most recently he served as chief data officer, building a data-sharing platform for small businesses and consumers, and had responsibility for the group's Aliyun mobile operating system.

Before joining Alibaba, Lu worked in the hotel industry and co-founded a network communication company.

Ma, 48, said in January he wanted to make way for younger Alibaba executives with "better, more brilliant dreams than mine".

Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) once owned 40% of Alibaba, but sold back about half its stake in the company last year after a series of disputes soured the relationship.

First Published: March 11, 2013: 6:50 AM ET

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Intrade shut down due to financial probe

Intrade's online prediction site was shut down Monday due to a probe into financial irregularities.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A notice on the site's home page gave few details of the probe, but said that it had halted trading on the site "due to circumstances recently discovered" that require further investigation and "may include financial irregularities."

The site says it has closed and settled all open contracts at fair market value as of the close of business Sunday. But it said it is not possible to make any payments to members until the investigation is concluded.

The site, which allowed customers to place bets on matters such as U.S. presidential election outcomes, the weather or other upcoming events, is based in Ireland. The odds are set based on the bets made on both sides of the various predictions.

While the betters are right about some of the events they bet on, including President Obama's re-election last year, they are also wrong on some high-profile predictions, including setting odds at 80% that the U.S. Supreme Court would rule the health care reform act was unconstitutional.

The most active prediction contracts ahead of the shutdown were about the papal succession process now underway and whether the Democrats will win the 2016 presidential election. It predicted Archbishop Angelo Scola of Italy as the favorite papal candidate with a 25% chance of election, and said Democrats have a 56% of winning the White House again in 2016.

In late November, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint against Intrade that forced U.S. customers to close their accounts by the end of last year. The CFTC complaint charged Intrade with violating U.S. laws on options trading and making false statements in official filings.

It cited prediction contracts on certain U.S. economic numbers, when the prices of gold and currencies would reach a certain level, and whether specific acts of war would occur by a certain future date. The CFTC complaint said such prediction contracts needed to be traded on a CFTC-registered exchange. It said the rule was important because it "enables the CFTC to police market activity and protect market integrity."

First Published: March 11, 2013: 7:07 AM ET

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