Using a credit card? Watch out for the 'checkout fee'

Stores in most states could start charging you a fee on Sunday when you buy something with credit cards, as a result of a Visa and Mastercard settlement last summer.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The new fees stem from a multi-billion dollar settlement announced in July between credit card issuers and millions of merchants.

Visa (V, Fortune 500), MasterCard (MA, Fortune 500) and nine major banks agreed to a $7.25 billion deal to settle charges that they were fixing credit card processing fees. As part of the settlement, credit card issuers said they would reduce these "swipe fees" -- fees paid by merchants to issuers when cards are used -- but only for eight months.

In addition, the settlement also gave retailers the option to tack on a surcharge if a customer uses a credit card. The retailer can only charge enough to cover the processing costs, which is about 1.5% to 3% of the total purchase, according to watchdog group Consumer Action.

This fee doesn't apply to purchases made using debit cards. And it will still be illegal to charge the new fee in 10 states, including New York, California and Texas.

Many big players in the retail industry have been up in arms about the settlement. Stores from the nation's largest retailer down to small businesses have lamented the agreement, claiming that it transferred the wrongdoings of credit card issuers to the consumer.

In November, the National Retail Federation and more than a dozen retailers asked a judge to reject the proposed settlement. In a brief submitted to a U.S. District Court judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., the trade organization wrote that the new fees threaten a merchant's ability to keep prices low for customers.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Macy's (M, Fortune 500), JCPenney (JCP, Fortune 500), Limited Brands (LTD, Fortune 500), Gap Inc (GPS, Fortune 500). and The Neiman Marcus Group were among those who joined the NRF in claiming that "raising consumer prices by adding an 'interchange tax' is no remedy for Visa's and MasterCard's continuing monopoly abuse."

Related: Local merchants not crazy about swipe fee deal

In a separate statement, Wal-Mart said that it would cost consumers "tens of billions of dollars each year." Target (TGT, Fortune 500) called the agreement "bad for both retailers and consumers."

Merchants have a choice as to whether to implement the surcharge, but it poses quite a dilemma for them: Either get stuck footing the bill for the swipe fees, or risk transferring the cost to customers in an already competitive environment.

Last summer, Target said it had no interest in charging customers who use credit cards more "in order to allow Visa and MasterCard to continue charging unfair fees."

Smaller merchants echoed these concerns over the deal, saying it doesn't go far enough.

MasterCard said it doesn't expect most merchants to put the surcharge into effect, since stores won't want to drive away business.

"We anticipate that they will not impose checkout fees, particularly because the value merchants derive from card acceptance far exceeds their costs," the credit card company said in a statement.

First Published: January 27, 2013: 3:45 PM ET

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China's growth to hit 8% in 2013

Davos, Switzerland (CNNMoney)

"I think China's growth rate will be about 8% this year," Yi Gang said during a debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said consumer price inflation could reach 3% or slightly higher.

The world's second-biggest economy grew by 7.8% last year, well below the average 10% growth seen in the past three decades but better than the government's own target of 7.5% and above analyst expectations.

The annual figure was boosted by a recovery in industrial production and exports in the fourth quarter, which grew 7.9%, prompting economists to forecast a slow but steady recovery in 2013

The acceleration in the last three months of 2012 followed seven quarters of slowing growth as China felt the impact of weak activity in the United States and Europe, as well as its own efforts to control a real estate boom and contain inflation.

Related: China's hottest companies

China's manufacturing sector showed more signs of improvement this month, with a preliminary reading of purchasing managers' sentiment rising to its highest level in two years.

Inflation rose to 2.5% in December, as a spurt of extremely cold weather drove food prices higher. That compared with 2% in November, but still represents tame inflation -- the government aims to keep annual inflation below 4%.

China is trying to rebalance its economy, placing greater emphasis on consumption. Yi said domestic demand was playing an ever more important role in the economy as growth in incomes outpaced GDP growth.

"Consumption is very robust," he said.

China would continue to aim for a reduction in its current account surplus as a percentage of GDP, he said. The figure stood at 2.8% of GDP in 2012.

First Published: January 26, 2013: 11:42 AM ET

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Stocks: Jobs reports in focus this week

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Investors will get a complete view of the U.S. job market, with three days in a row of labor data on tap. The jobs barrage kicks off on Wednesday, with payroll processor ADP's monthly report on the private sector, followed by numbers on corporate job cuts from outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The week's most hotly anticipated report is due out on Friday, when the Labor Department releases its first monthly employment report for 2013.

On the whole, the labor market's performance in 2012 was pretty lackluster. The economy added 155,000 jobs in December, bringing the total number of jobs created in 2012 to 1.84 million. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.8%.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

But just last week, the number of Americans filing for initial claims for unemployment benefits hovered at its lowest level in five years, after falling for a second week in a row.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are optimistic about January's numbers. They are expecting the economy to add 180,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to fall slightly to 7.7%.

Beyond the employment picture, investors will get another broad measure of the nation's economic health, with an advance estimate of fourth quarter gross domestic product due out on Wednesday.

Also on tap: a smattering of reports on how the consumer felt and spent over the last two months. Numbers on consumer confidence, personal income and spending and Michigan consumer sentiment will come out throughout the week. Auto and truck sales are also due out on Friday.

Related: Retail sales lifted by car buying

Investors will keep an eye on the reports to see if households are starting to open their pocketbooks more after a disappointing holiday season, throughout which consumers were weary of spending ahead of a fiscal cliff deal in Washington.

The data deluge continues with a series of reports on the housing market, with construction spending, pending home sales and the Case-Shiller 20 city home price index coming out throughout the week.

The housing landscape has been particularly strong in the otherwise slow economic recovery, bolstered by near record low mortgage rates, lower unemployment and a rebound in home prices.

U.S. stock markets ended last week on a high note for the fourth week in a row, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 1.8%, the S&P 500 rising 1.1% and the Nasdaq adding 0.5%.

First Published: January 27, 2013: 11:54 AM ET

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Europe: No retreat from austerity

As Europe's economy has struggled, tough austerity measures have drawn protests like this one in London last fall.

Davos, Switzerland (CNNMoney)

One after another, politicians and central bankers queued up at the World Economic Forum in Davos to warn against the risk of fiscal complacency. They urged European governments to stay the course and continue to cut budget deficits, make economies more competitive and drive closer eurozone integration.

But with the 17-nation currency zone economy set to contract for a second year running, regional leaders are still trying to square the circle of austerity and growth.

The hope is that cheap central bank cash will sustain confidence and activity long enough for reforms to bear fruit in two or three years' time.

Trevor Manuel, South Africa's national planning minister and a former finance minister, was blunt with his criticism.

"It's not going to work," he said. "Deficits are going to continue to grow in the absence of growth," he added, saying Europe needed a change of mindset.

Other observers were also clear about why the region was not growing.

"Europe as a whole is suffering from this austerity program, which is pushing it into recession," billionaire investor George Soros told CNN. "Europe remains in a trap."

Related: Europe eyes growth windfall from US trade pact

A year ago, the euro stood on the brink of collapse as Italy and Spain saw borrowing costs soar to dangerous levels. That risk has passed thanks to the European Central Bank, aggressive fiscal consolidation by indebted governments and steps toward a closer union.

And none of Europe's top officials showed any signs of moderating policies that have brought a return to financial stability, although not growth.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe must make the most of the pressure created by the crisis to push on with reform. Fiscal consolidation and growth were two sides of the same coin, she argued.

Mario Draghi, the president of Europe's central bank, took a similar line. The painful medicine was necessary and was already strengthening the European economy, he said.

"Fiscal consolidation is unavoidable," Draghi said. "There can't be any sustainable growth ... achieved through an endless creation of debt."

British Prime Minister David Cameron told business leaders that the only way for countries to compete was to "deal with your debts, cut business taxes and tackle the bloat in welfare."

And his finance minister rejected a suggestion from the International Monetary Fund that it might be time to review his austerity drive -- already blown off course by a stagnating economy -- just before it was confirmed that GDP shrank in the fourth quarter, leaving the UK teetering on the edge of a triple-dip recession.

Related: Jury still out on eurozone - Draghi

Draghi acknowledged that fiscal consolidation was "contractionary" in the near term. At the same time, he said governments can mitigate that effect by acting quickly and decisively, introducing structural reforms and making sure spending cuts and tax increases did not damage capital investment.

"Front-loading is important to reap the benefits of credibility and lower interest rates," he said.

Mario Monti, Italy's outgoing prime minister, said governments should do a better job balancing fiscal consolidation and growth. But he also trumpeted the success of his program that commits Italy to eliminating its cyclical budget deficit this year.

"Whatever the next government in Italy, I hope they will be able to keep the same spirit of emergency and urgency that we felt as we were on the brink of the catastrophe," he said.

-- CNN's Poppy Harlow contributed to this article.

First Published: January 27, 2013: 12:31 PM ET

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Housing to drive economic growth (finally!)

Economists expect the housing market to be the primary driver of growth this year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Just over half of economists surveyed by CNNMoney identified a housing recovery as the primary driver of economic growth this year. The rest were split fairly evenly between consumer spending, increased domestic energy production and stimulus from the Federal Reserve as major growth drivers.

"Homebuilding activity will likely remain the strongest growing component of the economy in 2013," said Keith Hembre, chief economist of Nuveen Asset Management. "After several years of excess supply, demand and supply conditions are now in much better balance."

Home sales rebounded to the strongest level in five years in 2012, as home building bounced back to levels not seen since early in the recession. Near record low mortgage rates, rising home prices and a drop in foreclosures have combined to bring buyers back to the market.

The economists surveyed also forecast that there will be just under 1 million housing starts this year -- roughly matching the 28% rise in home building in 2012. Moody's Analytics is forecasting much stronger growth -- a 50% rise both this year and next year, which it estimates will create more than 1 million new jobs.

"There's a lot of pent-up demand for housing, and very little supply," said Celia Chen, housing economist for Moody's Analytics. "As demand continues to improve, home builders have nothing to sell. They'll have to build." She said that growth in building will mean adding not just construction jobs, but also manufacturing jobs building the appliances and furniture needed in the new homes, which in turn drives overall consumption higher.

Related: The road to real recovery is open

And economists say the tight supply and renewed demand for housing should lead to higher home values -- about a 3.7% increase according to the survey.

"One of the most significant indirect effects from the housing recovery is the 'wealth effect' on consumers due to the recovery in home prices," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist of Deutsche Bank, who said better home values can affect both consumer psychology on spending as well as their actual finances.

"Even small moves in home prices can have large effects on consumption, because housing comprises such a significant share of household assets," he said.

But even with the bullish outlook on housing, economists are still forecasting only a modest rise in the overall economy this year. The consensus estimate is for economic growth of about 2.4% in 2013, only a modest improvement from the 2012 growth rate of about 2% they're forecasting when the final numbers are in.

By far the biggest concern is a standoff on Capitol Hill. About three-quarters of those surveyed picked Congressional gridlock -- which could result in a cutback in federal spending -- as the biggest problem facing the U.S. economy. Other choices, such as the European sovereign debt crisis, continued high unemployment and increased government regulation, were much less of a concern.

"Washington is now the primary impediment to stronger economic growth," said Russell Price, senior economist of Ameriprise Financial.

First Published: January 27, 2013: 5:33 PM ET

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Super Bowl alert: Chicken wings will cost you

McDonald's is testing out Mighty Wings in select locations, a move that some experts say is helping to drive up chicken wing prices.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But what will really hurt your wallet come game day? Chicken wings.

Every year, the cost of the beloved game-time grub shoots up at the end of January as restaurants gear up to feed the masses for the NFL's big showdown.

Prices usually go down soon after. But that drop never happened last year, because sweeping droughts in the Midwest drove up feed prices, agricultural experts say. As a result, the price of chicken farming, and therefore wings, has been gradually increasing.

The wholesale price of wings was up 26%, to $1.90 a pound in December from a year earlier, according to David Harvey, an agricultural economist specializing in poultry and eggs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Related: Super Bowl spots, Gangnam Style

While rising feed costs certainly play a large role, Harvey said there's another reason why you'll have to pony up even more for chicken wings this year: McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500).

Over the last year, the hamburger joint has been testing out the Mighty Wing, its own version of the popular appetizer. McDonald's first rolled out the new product in Atlanta last fall before moving to Chicago earlier this month.

The fast food chain will test Mighty Wings at 500 of its Windy City locations until March, according to Tyler Litchenberger, a McDonald's spokeswoman. There are no other plans to expand to additional cities at this time.

If McDonalds rolls out Mighty Wings in other cities, analysts say demand from the Golden Arches could put even more pressure on prices.

"McDonald's, just given its size and the fact that it has 14,000 stores across the country, could affect the supply," said Mitchell Speiser, an analyst who follows the fast food chain for Buckingham Research.

By testing Mighty Wings in a few select cities, Speiser said McDonald's is likely figuring out whether or not it will be able to source enough wings for locations nationwide.

Litchenberger said that McDonald's has been beefing up its supply as it expands into Chicago. But she said the chain is going to build it up over time so as not to take over the market.

Related: 10 things you'll pay more for in 2013

"When we were looking to launch wild berry smoothies, we found out that we would have taken up 30% of all blackberries available, so we took a two-year approach to make sure we weren't taking a huge amount from everyone else," she said. By doing so, there was more time for farmers to plant more crops and for the market to adjust.

"That's what we're doing as we go into chicken wings," she said.

The USDA's Harvey said he has already seen a larger stockpile of wings since McDonald's unveiled its new product. There were 75 million pounds of chicken wings in frozen storage at the end of December -- a 68% increase from a year earlier.

While Harvey couldn't say who owns what share of wings in storage, he said the fast food change likely plays a role in the increase.

"When companies like McDonald's go into an advertising campaign for wings, they start stockpiling the product so they have it waiting for them," he said.

Those looking to score a Super Bowl McDeal on wings should look elsewhere, however. Litchenberger said the chain won't offer any Mighty Wings promotions for the game.

First Published: January 28, 2013: 5:53 AM ET

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Stocks: Caterpillar, durable goods give early lift

Click the chart for more premarket data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Census Bureau said durable goods orders rose 4.6% in December. Analysts were looking orders to rise just 1.6% last month, following a 0.7% uptick in November.

Caterpillar's fourth-quarter earnings topped analyst expectations, sending shares of the company up more than 1% in premarket trading. As the biggest seller of construction equipment in the world, with major operations in China, Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) is considered a bellwether for the global economy.

Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) earnings are up after the bell. The company's fourth-quarter results are a big test for CEO Marissa Mayer, who shocked the world last summer by taking the top spot at Yahoo. The results will be a look into Yahoo's new business strategy -- the results of which Mayer began laying out in an all-staff meeting in September.

Of the 141 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 67% have reported results above analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. Overall, fourth-quarter earnings are expected to grow 2.8% from a year ago.

Related: 4 ways the market could really surprise you

Also on the corporate front, shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) will be in focus Monday, with shares edging slightly higher in premarket treading. The iPhone and iPad maker's stock is down almost 20% this year. On Friday, Apple lost its title as the world's most valuable company to Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) as shares closed at a 1-year low.

Following the opening bell, the National Association of Realtors will release pending home sales for December.

Related: Fear & Greed Index steeped in extreme greed

U.S. stocks have had quite a run in 2013, with four straight weeks of gains so far this year. The Dow finished Friday at its highest level since October 2007, while the S&P 500 closed above the 1,500 mark for the first time since December 2007. The Dow is now just 2% away from its all-time high, and the S&P 500 is off about 5% from its record high.

European markets were slightly higher in morning trading Monday, while Asian markets ended finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite added more than 2%, closing at its highest level since June, while the Nikkei tumbled nearly 1%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged slightly higher.

First Published: January 28, 2013: 6:35 AM ET

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Yahoo earnings: Mayer still has much to prove

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Since then, Yahoo's stock has been on a tear and analysts are pinning their hopes for a Big Purple Turnaround squarely on Mayer.

Mayer has laid out her plans to usher in a new era at Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500), and she's generated more excitement about the company than any of the numerous other CEOs Yahoo has had in the past decade. That includes a buzz-worthy appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

But industry watchers are now starting to look for proof that Mayer can deliver on her promises.

To be fair, Mayer has only been on the job for two full quarters. In October, results for the third quarter beat estimates but were hardly fantastic. Mayer's next test comes via Monday's fourth-quarter earnings report, and it will be a look into the new Yahoo business strategy -- the results of which Mayer began laying out in an all-staff meeting in September.

Mayer wants Yahoo to focus on personalizing the Web for its users. She's also trying to shake up the company culture, urging Yahoo staffers to move more quickly and interact with the Web the way the company's users do. To that end, she eliminated company-issued BlackBerrys in favor of new Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) phones.

Mayer has also discussed efforts to revamp search and display advertising, as well as focusing on attracting top talent to Yahoo. Her message is convincing, at least to investors: Shares closed Thursday at their highest level since September 18, 2008.

And so Marissa-love has proliferated, with Yahoos and techies alike wondering if Mayer will finally be the one to right the Yahoo ship after years of failings. Adding to the Mayer obsession is her personal life: She gave birth to a baby boy on September 30 and returned to work after a two-week maternity leave.

Related story: Yahoo CEO Mayer's "God" and "baby is easy" quotes go viral

But, as always in business, the proof is in the numbers. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Yahoo to report fourth-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share, up 18% from a year ago. But they're forecasting just a 4% gain in revenue.

Of particular concern is Yahoo's display revenue: sales from banners, videos and other graphic ads. Display sales were flat in the third quarter, but that's an improvement over the sharp falls from previous quarters.

Still, analysts want to see a return to strong growth, not just stabilization.

BCG Financial analyst Colin Gillis put his thoughts in a haiku: "Time for the next stage, of the turnaround story: drive revenue growth," he wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.

Related story: Yahoo ordered to pay $2.7 billion in bizarre Mexico lawsuit

Gillis called Yahoo's display performance "anemic," and he's not happy with revenue from Yahoo's search partnership with Microsoft's Bing. Mayer herself called Yahoo's search results "disappointing" last quarter, and analysts will look to her after Monday's earnings report for more clarity on what she plans to change.

J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth offered tepid optimism about Mayer's reign, saying in a note Friday that he was "encouraged" by her focus on user experience, search, mobile, and more. Like Gillis, he wants more information on changes to search and display, plus investment and recruitment efforts.

Overall, Anmuth said he wants "to see a better path toward improved execution in the core business."

In other words, Mayer's honeymoon period with Wall Street may soon be over. It's time for Mayer to begin proving that her plan to get Yahoo back on track works, starting with Monday's results.

First Published: January 27, 2013: 12:57 PM ET

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Toyota reclaims global auto sales crown

Final sales numbers confirm that Toyota's 2012 car sales topped those of General Motors and Volkswagen.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Earlier this month, General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) announced global sales of 9.29 million vehicles for the year. On Monday, Toyota Motor (TM) reported global global sales of 9.75 million, topping its forecast 9.7 million vehicles.

Volkswagen Group (VLKAY), which includes the VW, Audi and Porsche brands, came in at No. 3 with 9.09 million vehicles, the first time the company has topped 9 million.

GM is the leading automaker in the world's two largest markets, China and the United States. But Toyota is a clear leader in its home market of Japan, where non-Japanese automakers have had trouble competing due to limited dealerships. Toyota enjoyed a bounce-back year in Japan, with sales rebounding 35% from 2011, when they were hurt by the earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota's sales totals also were helped by the fact that it made more than 600,000 heavy-duty trucks and buses during the year, a vehicle segment GM essentially pulled out of in 2009.

Toyota is No. 3 in terms of sales in the U.S., a key market where Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) is No. 2. Ford took that ranking back from Toyota in 2010 when the Japanese automaker was hit with recall problems that forced it to stop selling its most popular models for a period of time.

Related: Bringing GM back from the brink

GM led in global sales for 77 years through 2007, when it finished just barely ahead of Toyota. Both automakers' sales suffered in 2008 as the bottom fell out of the U.S. economy, but high gas prices and a looming bankruptcy at GM ultimately nudged Toyota into the lead, where it stayed for the next two years.

The federal bailout of GM in 2009, and the problems at Toyota over the next two years allowed the U.S. company to recapture the lead much quicker than most expected.

Toyota did not have a comment on the rankings earlier this month when GM's sales figures essentially insured Toyota would move back into the global sales lead. GM spokesman Jim Cain said his company was not particularly concerned with the sales ranking when it moved into the top spot a year ago, and isn't overly concerned now.

"It was entirely predictable that Toyota was going to do better this year given the bounce back from the earthquake and tsunami," he said. "What's important to us is we remain the market leader in the United States, we gained a full percentage point of share in China and we'll soon have one of the newest [lineup of vehicles] in the industry. Without handicapping any races, we think we'll do very well with profitable growth this year."

Related: Cool cars from Detroit auto show

Mike Wall, auto analyst for IHS Global Insight, said it's possible GM could come out on top in 2013. A territorial dispute between China and Japan could adversely affect Toyota, while the recession in Europe could be a drag on Volkswagen's sales growth.

"In terms of GM returning to the lead, I certainly wouldn't count them out, especially with the product they're set to introduce this year," he said. "I actually think all three will be huddled close together for the next few years."

Wall says GM is a much healthier company today at No. 2 than when it held the sales lead in the previous decade but posted huge financial losses.

"The sales lead makes for bragging rights, but GM is a stronger company than it was then," he said.

First Published: January 28, 2013: 7:18 AM ET

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Stocks pause after recent run

Click for more market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq was little changed.

Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) was the worst performing Dow component, while American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) were also weak.

U.S. stocks are coming off four straight weeks of gains. The Dow finished Friday at its highest level since October 2007, while the S&P 500 closed above the 1,500 mark for the first time since December 2007. The Dow is now just 2% away from its all-time high, and the S&P 500 is 5% from its record high.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose above 2% for the first time since April 2012. The rise in yield, which reflects a fall in price, came after Fitch said the temporary increase in the U.S. debt limit removes the "near-term risk" that America's credit rating will be downgraded.

In economic news, the Census Bureau said durable goods orders rose 4.6% in December. Analysts were looking for orders to rise just 1.6% last month, following a 0.7% uptick in November. The increase, driven by strength in new orders for transportation and defense goods, is consistent with economic growth of 1% in the fourth quarter, according to Action Economics.

The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales fell 4.3% in December. The index is based on the number of contracts signed in a month, but does not measure actual closings.

Meanwhile, Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) said fourth quarter earnings fell 55% to $1.04 per share, reflecting a previously disclosed $580 million charge. Excluding the one-time item, Caterpillar's results topped analyst estimates, sending shares up 2% in early trading.

Caterpillar, the biggest seller of construction equipment in the world, said the U.S. economy will continue to improve this year, but warned that "growth is expected to be relatively weak." Despite an uncertain outlook for the global economy, Caterpillar said 2013 could be a record year for the company.

Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) earnings are up after the bell. The company's fourth-quarter results are a big test for CEO Marissa Mayer, who shocked the world last summer by taking the top spot at Yahoo. The results will be a look into Yahoo's new business strategy -- the results of which Mayer began laying out in an all-staff meeting in September.

Of the 141 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 67% have reported results above analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. Overall, fourth-quarter earnings are expected to grow 2.8% from a year ago.

Related: 4 ways the market could really surprise you

Also on the corporate front, shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) will be in focus Monday. The iPhone and iPad maker's stock is down almost 20% this year. On Friday, Apple lost its title as the world's most valuable company to Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) as shares closed at a 1-year low.

Shares of Hess (HES, Fortune 500) rose 5% after the oil and gas company said it would sell more assets as it exits the refining business. The company also disclosed that it activist investor Elliot Associates is interested in buying up to $800 million worth of Hess stock.

Related: Fear & Greed Index deep in extreme greed

European markets were mixed Monday, while Asian markets ended finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite added more than 2%, closing at its highest level since June, while the Nikkei tumbled nearly 1%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged slightly higher.

Oil and gold prices were little changed. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and Japanese yen, but gained on the British pound.

First Published: January 28, 2013: 9:46 AM ET

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HSBC in $249 million foreclosure settlement

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Under the deal with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, HSBC (HBC) will offer $96 million in direct cash payments to borrowers and $153 million worth of other relief, including loan modifications and the forgiveness of deficiency judgments.

The agreement follows similar settlements announced this month with a dozen other banks over foreclosure issues. In total, nearly 4.2 million borrowers will split $3.6 billion in cash compensation, with payments ranging from a few hundred dollars to potentially as much as $125,000 in a small percentage of cases.

Roughly $5.7 billion has been earmarked for non-cash forms of relief.

HSBC's settlement covers roughly 112,000 borrowers whose homes were in foreclosure in 2009 and 2010 and whose loans were serviced by the bank or its subsidiaries.

In April of 2011, regulators hit HSBC and 13 other banks with an enforcement action after finding evidence that, among other things, the firms had in some cases charged excessive fees, wrongfully foreclosed on borrowers or used improper documents.

The enforcement action required the banks to hire independent consultants to investigate alleged foreclosure abuses and compensate victims. But this process, known as the Independent Foreclosure Review, proved expensive and slow-going, and has been abandoned in favor of the settlements announced this month.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement, in line with 12 others in the industry who have arrived at similar settlements, and believe it is a positive development that will benefit homeowners," HSBC spokesman Neil Brazil said in an email.

Last month, HSBC agreed to pay $1.92 billion in a record settlement with U.S. regulators to resolve money-laundering allegations.

First Published: January 18, 2013: 3:49 PM ET

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$21 million payday for Goldman Sachs CEO

Goldman Sachs' CEO Lloyd Blankfein got a 75% raise in 2012.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Four other executives at the helm of the investment bank were rewarded with similar spikes in their 2012 pay.

On top of his base salary of $2 million, Goldman Sachs' board granted Blankfein a nearly $19 million bonus: $13.3 million in stock and $5.6 million in cash.

Goldman Sachs reveals stock options awarded to its top five executives in regulatory filings, but does not disclose their cash bonuses. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs declined to comment beyond what was outlined in the bank's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Related: The old Goldman Sachs is back

Goldman's other top four executives had salaries of $1.85 million. On top of that, both Goldman Sachs' President and COO Gary Cohn and its recently departed CFO Dave Viniar received $17 million bonuses last year, according to the source. Michael Evans and John Weinberg, both vice chairmen, received $15.1 million in 2012 bonuses.

With this spike in salary, Blankfein is likely to be one of the highest paid executives on Wall Street. JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon won't be in the running for 2012. After topping the list in 2011 with a $23.1 pay package, JPMorgan's board cut Dimon's bonus by 53% to $10 million, citing the bank's trading losses from the so-called London Whale.

Shares of Goldman Sachs rose 49% in 2012, after dropping 46% the prior year. So far in 2013, Goldman's stock is still running higher. It's up more than 13%.

First Published: January 18, 2013: 4:06 PM ET

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Your future self thinks you should save more

NEW YORK (Money Magazine)

You've got a bit of an uphill battle for the simple reason that it's a lot more fun to spend than save. Still, I have a suggestion that may be able to help you convince your hubby to rein in his free-spending ways and throw a few more bucks into the old retirement account: Introduce your husband to his future self.

How, you may ask, can you do that? Before I tell you, you first need to know why such a meeting might spur your husband to save more.

Ultimately, saving comes down to foregoing spending money today so you can spend it (plus however much it earns) later in life.

Problem is, research shows that the present day you doesn't identify particularly well with the older you. Given that disconnect, you don't have much of an incentive to abstain from spending and the pleasure it can bring today to make life better for this stranger in the future.

But apparently there's a way to bridge the gap between our current and future selves.

Researchers at Stanford University conducted experiments in which they put two groups of students into virtual reality headgear and had them interact with realistic computer renderings of themselves. But one group was shown only images of themselves at their current age, while the other also saw age-morphed versions of how they may look in retirement.

Related: Get help meeting your financial goals

When each group was later asked how much they would save for retirement, the ones who saw their older selves said they would save twice as much on average as the other group. Apparently they felt more of a bond with their future self and thus were more disposed to do something today to help that person.

You can do a somewhat similar experiment with your hubby. Just have him go to Merrill Edge Face Retirement and click on "Meet the Future You." After entering his age and gender, he'll be able to snap an online photo of himself (assuming his computer has a built-in camera) to which the site applies facial-aging software. He'll then see a series of photos simulating what he might look like at different ages late in life.

The idea is that seeing a version of himself at, say 77, may make him think more seriously about the fact that he'll still be around at that age and have to support himself in retirement.

The little factoids that accompany the photos at different ages -- Cost of a new car in 2034: $62,000; Cost of living increase from 2012 to 2054: 307% -- may also help drive home the point that he'll need a sizable nest egg if he hopes to maintain his lifestyle in retirement.

Related: Take control of your spending

I'm not saying that going through this exercise -- which, if only for kicks, you may want to try, too -- will lead your husband to immediately boost his 401(k) contribution by 50%. But it could get you both talking about retirement and whether you're adequately preparing for it.

Ideally, that discussion will lead you and your husband to take some other steps to advance your retirement planning. To get a sense of how you might actually live in retirement, you could check out Ready-2-Retire, a tool that allows you to sort through photos of different retirement activities (traveling, going back to school, etc.) and prioritize them based on how likely you are to engage in them. Once you have a decent idea of what kind of retirement lifestyle you aspire to, you can then go to a tool like our Retirement Planner to see how much you should be saving to achieve that goal.

See whether you're saving enough

If after checking out these tools you find that your husband is actually putting away enough to assure you'll both have a secure retirement, that's great. You can both feel reassured about that.

But if it turns out that your husband really does need to save more, then having him meet a digital version of his future self may be just the motivation he needs.

First Published: January 18, 2013: 4:15 PM ET

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Federal Reserve was blind to crisis in 2007

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The more than 1,300 pages offer the most comprehensive look at the Federal Reserve's deliberations, leading up to the start of the Great Recession in December 2007. It's the central bank's policy to release full transcripts with a five year lag.

Here's how the year played out. (For the full transcripts, click here.)

January 2007: Calm before the storm

At the beginning of the year, many Fed officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, thought one of the biggest risks was that the economy might grow stronger than expected.

At the time, the Fed's key interest rate was at 5.25%, and the central bank was leaning toward raising it further, rather than easing monetary policy.

"My recommendation also is to take no action and to maintain a bias toward further tightening," Bernanke said at the first meeting of the year, noting that inflation risk had picked up and the housing market had shown some improvement after slumping in 2006.

"The housing market has looked a bit more solid, and the worst outcomes have been made less likely," he said.

At that point, they didn't realize that losses from subprime mortgages would ignite the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Fast forward two months, and still, the Fed thought the worst was over for the housing sector.

"The central scenario that housing will stabilize sometime during the middle of the year remains intact," Bernanke said at a meeting in March, adding later, "The effects of the decline in subprime lending may have already been mostly seen, since that has slowed from last fall."

June 2007: Tip of the iceberg

As it turns out, that spring was merely the calm before the storm. In June, two Bear Stearns hedge funds that had large holdings of subprime mortgages suffered huge losses and were forced to dump their assets.

Fed officials discussed the news at their meeting a week later, but they largely agreed that aside from housing, the economy still looked strong.

"Significant spillovers have yet to emerge from the housing situation, and other components of demand appear to be strengthening and thereby offsetting the drag from residential construction," Bernanke said.

San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen, however, sounded the loudest warning.

"In terms of risks to the outlook for growth, I still feel the presence of a 600-pound gorilla in the room, and that is the housing sector," she said. "The risk for further significant deterioration in the housing market, with house prices falling and mortgage delinquencies rising further, causes me appreciable angst."

August 2007: It hits the fan

Fed officials didn't meet again until August 7, and even then, some thought higher inflation was one of the biggest concerns. The theory was that if the housing market weakened, rents would rise and thereby drive up inflation.

Meanwhile, New York Fed President William Dudley reported that for the most part, Bear Stearns' problems did not pose a substantial risk to the economy.

"We've done quite a bit of work trying to identify some of the funding questions surrounding Bear Stearns, Countrywide, and some of the commercial paper programs," he said. "There is some strain, but so far it looks as though nothing is really imminent in those areas."

Again, Yellen said the housing market caused her "appreciable angst."

Bernanke largely disregarded that a financial crisis would take place, but also said he believed the central bank could handle it.

"We are prepared to use the tools that we have to address a short-term financial crisis, should one occur," he said.

"I think the odds are that the market will stabilize," he added later.

The Fed left its policy unchanged at that meeting. That was a Tuesday, and over the next few days, stocks plunged as more financial institutions reported problems related to bad loans.

On Friday, the Fed held an unscheduled conference call and decided to inject $38 billion into the U.S. banking system.

Less than a week later, it held another emergency conference call and decided to cut the discount rate -- the rate it charges qualified lenders, mainly banks, for temporary loans.

September 2007: The rate cuts begin

The central bank meets and starts cutting the federal funds rate, the key interest rate that impacts everything from mortgages to car loans to credit cards. But the Fed still errs on the side of caution, as some officials warn that they could be overestimating the severity of the downturn.

"As the central bank we have a responsibility to help markets function normally and to promote economic stability broadly speaking," Bernanke said. "We are not in the business of bailing out individuals or businesses."

Fed officials meet two more times and hold another unscheduled conference call. By the end of the year, the federal funds rate is down to 4.25%.

At the last meeting of the year, Yellen said these prophetic words:

"I believe that the most likely outcome is for the economy to slow significantly in the near-term, flirting with recession," she said.

Little did they know then, the recession had only just begun.

First Published: January 18, 2013: 4:16 PM ET

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Stocks: Tech earnings to dominate

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Earnings season will pick right back up again on Tuesday, as several tech giants, including Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500), release their quarterly reports.

The barrage of tech earnings will continue throughout the week, with AT&T (T, Fortune 500), Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Netflix (NFLX) and Nokia (NOK) following.

The most hotly anticipated report will come from Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) on Wednesday.

The iPhone and iPad maker already warned that its profit margins would come down significantly during the final three months of the year thanks to higher production costs tied to all of its new products, including the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini. Less-expensive products, like the iPhone 4S and iPad mini, also make up a growing portion of Apple's sales mix.

While expectations are all over the map, some analysts anticipate a year-over-year decline. That would mark Apple's first drop in profits in nine years.

Overall, S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings growth of 3.8% for the last three months of 2012, according to S&P's Capital IQ.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

In economic news, several pieces of data on the housing market are due throughout the week, including existing and new home sales and the MBA mortgage index.

The housing market has continued to pick up steam throughout the recovery, as record-low mortgage rates spur demand for homes. A recovering job market and a tapering off of foreclosures have also given the market a boost.

Last week, all three major indexes logged a third straight week of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 climbing to their highest levels since December 2007. The Dow gained 1.2%, the S&P 500 rose 1% and the Nasdaq added 0.3%.

First Published: January 20, 2013: 10:53 AM ET

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Eric Schmidt's daughter details North Korea visit

Google's Eric Schmidt, along with his daughter Sophie and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, wrapped up a controversial trip to North Korea earlier this month, during which he urged the isolated state to embrace the Internet or face further economic decline.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

She posted her impressions on a Google Sites page, sharing details of what the nine-person delegation, led by and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, saw on their controversial visit. Eric Schmidt confirmed the page's authenticity to news site Quartz. A Google representative did not return a call seeking comment.

The younger Schmidt described a "very, very cold" and "very, very strange" journey overseen by a pair of official minders -- two, she wrote, "so one can mind the other."

"It's impossible to know how much we can extrapolate from what we saw in Pyongyang to what the DPRK is really like. Our trip was a mixture of highly staged encounters, tightly-orchestrated viewings and what seemed like genuine human moments," Schmidt wrote. "We had zero interactions with non-state-approved North Koreans."

The trip got off to surreal start: North Korea's customs form asks arriving travelers to declare any "killing device," GPS technology, or "publishings of all kinds" they might be carrying.

The travelers had access to North Korea's mobile network, which allows international calls but has no data service. They also got a look at North Korea's national intranet, which Schmidt described as "a walled garden of scrubbed content taken from the real Internet."

One of the more striking things Schmidt described was a visit to Kim II Sung University e-Library, where she saw about 90 people sitting at computers. The group appeared to be staged, though: A few people scrolled or clicked, but the rest just stared straight at their screens.

"When our group walked in -- a noisy bunch, with media in tow -- not one of them looked up from their desks," she wrote. "Not a head turn, no eye contact, no reaction to stimuli. They might as well have been figurines."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed interest in beefing up the country's technological and industrial standing in the world, but the regime's plans remain largely undefined.

Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) has been expanding its presence throughout Asia in recent years, but censorship concerns have thwarted its efforts. Eric Schmidt is currently working on a book about the Internet's ability to embolden citizens oppressed by autocratic governments, a subject he's written about at length in the past.

Some of those the delegation spoke with were technically savvy, according to Schmidt's daughter. They asked questions about when the next version of Android would come out ("soon") and if Schmidt could help them get North Korean apps listed in Google's Play Store. Sophie's response: "No, silly North Koreans, you're under international bank sanctions."

Sophie Schmidt's photo-filled diary has a chatty, informal tone, and includes a few digs at her dad's products. Anyone irked by the travelogue's layout should blame Google Sites "for limited functionality," she quipped.

Schmidt seems uncertain what to make of everything she saw. "Nothing I'd read or heard beforehand really prepared me," she wrote. "The longer I think about what we saw and heard, the less sure I am about what any of it actually meant."

Eric Schmidt offered his own, more carefully scripted comments about the trip in a Google+ post that went up early Sunday.

"Overall, the technology in North Korea is very limited right now," he wrote. "As the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth. It will make it harder for them to catch up economically."

-- CNNMoney's Charles Riley contributed to this report.

First Published: January 20, 2013: 1:24 PM ET

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Carriers brace for a nasty quarter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It sounds backwards, but the more smartphones carriers sell, the worse their profit margins get. The new phone you buy for $199 costs your carrier two or three times as much when they buy it from the manufacturer. They pay the heavy upfront subsidy to get you hooked on a long-term contract. The longer you hang on to your phone, the better their bottom line gets.

For the past two years, the earnings cycle went like this: Profit margins start rising in the first quarter, as smartphone purchases taper off after the holidays. The lift continues in the second quarter, then peaks in the third as rumors swirl about the new iPhone (it does your laundry!). Everyone holds out until October to get the gadget.

Wheeeeeeeee! Down we plunge as tens of millions of customers upgrade, generating record record sales for the carriers but devastating their profit margins.

This past quarter might have been the scariest roller-coaster drop of all time. Early reports from Verizon, AT&T and other cell phone companies show that smartphone sales were way better than expected, driven to record highs by the Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone 5.

AT&T (T, Fortune 500)said Thursday that it had sold 10.2 million devices during the quarter, and that its margins will experience pressure "due to the high subsidies on these devices."

Verizon said at this month's Consumer Electronics Show that it added a record 2.1 million net customers under contract. It activated 9.8 million smartphones last quarter, mostly iPhones. As a result, it forecasts that its its wireless service margin for the quarter will drop to a multi-year low.

The iPhone's subsidy typically runs about $400 per device -- the highest of any smartphone on the market. Citing heavy smartphone upgrades, Deutsche Bank lowered its earnings per share estimates on Wednesday by 25% for Verizon and 12% for AT&T.

But there are signs this roller coaster is about to stop -- or, at least, that the peaks and valleys won't be quite so dramatic.

The smartphone boom is approaching its end in the United States. The majority of Americans already have smartphones, and carriers are making upgrades more expensive and onerous. The pace of change is also slowing. The newest phone models offer only incremental improvements over their predecessors.

"The smartphone market, and particularly the iPhone market, will slow this year after very strong shipments of the next iPhone through year-end," said Kevin Smithen, an analyst at Macquarie Securities.

That's why Smithen estimates that Verizon's wireless service profit margin will fall by just two percentage points from the third to fourth quarters in 2013 -- much less than the expected nine-point sequential drop he thinks Verizon had during this past quarter. Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) is scheduled to report its financial results on Tuesday.

For AT&T, Smithen predicts a seven point drop during 2013 holiday quarter, down from the 12-point plummet he forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2012. Sprint (S, Fortune 500), too, is expected to have a much more muted drop.

That's good news for the wireless carriers, but might not be such welcome news for consumers. They're eager for the next big thing to rev the roller coaster back up.

Wheeeeeeeee!

First Published: January 21, 2013: 6:39 AM ET

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PayPal: 'Aggressive changes' coming to frozen funds policy

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500)-owned payments processor, like other financial companies, has policies in place to ensure that fraudsters aren't using its system to transfer ill-gotten gains. But PayPal also traps legitimate businesses and charities in its filters, and proving you're no scam involves a ton of paperwork and time.

PayPal says it's finally ready to deal with the problem. It's promising to roll out a massive overhaul of its system within the next several months -- but details are scant for now.

"These are not minor -- these are aggressive changes," said Anuj Nayar, PayPal's senior director of communications. "This is a fundamental shift in our business operations."

Nayar said he can't go into specifics about what will change, but transparency is a major focus. "We want to be clear about how people can get out of the [frozen funds] situation," he said. "We need to get better about helping people, or explaining why actions are being taken."

PayPal customers have complained for years about the Kafkaesque nightmare of trying to pry frozen funds loose.

The company routinely freezes funds for 21 days if it thinks there's a fraud risk, and its terms give it the right to extend the freeze for up to 180 days. To get access to their money, users are often asked asked to provide the kind of documentation that a product seller would have, like several months' worth of sales records. But if you're running a fundraiser or selling tickets to an upcoming conference, you don't have that paperwork.

Even for those with extensive paper trails, the appeals process can take months to resolve. The Web is filled with enraged blog posts, websites like paypalsucks.com, and a Tumblr called "Conferences Burned by PayPal."

Nayar first discussed PayPal's plan for "big changes" in a TechCrunch article posted last week, after science fiction author Jay Lake found his account frozen. Lake, who is battling advanced colon cancer, is raising money for an experimental genome-sequencing process.

Thanks to his own fame and the aid of friends like Neil Gaiman, Lake's fundraising effort went viral. Just five hours after launching his campaign, he had $20,000 in contributions. At about 4 p.m. Pacific time the next day -- January 11, a Friday -- Lake tried to transfer the funds into a bank account. Instead, he received an alert that his PayPal account was frozen.

"They wanted me to provide receipts, shipping information, business paperwork," Lake told CNNMoney. "That obviously didn't apply to me, but there was no way to bypass the process. I called, and they said appeals take 24 to 72 hours to get going. I asked, 'How I do prove I'm not conducting transactions?'"

After Lake fired off a sarcastic tweet at PayPal, his fans and famous friends lobbied for help. His account was restored by 6 p.m., and PayPal tossed in a corporate donation to Lake's fund.

"If it weren't for my small bit of fame, if I were the guy down the street, this could have taken months," Lake said.

Related story: 5 pay-by-phone apps tested

That's what happened to Brook Drumm, an entrepreneur who sells 3-D printers. After running a successful Kickstarter campaign, he launched an online store to sell his Printrbot machines. More than $100,000 rolled in.

"PayPal freaked out and froze our funds," Drumm said. "They needed references and bank statements and tax records. This went on for months. And even with all that paperwork, they still ended up holding $50,000. We finally got the money, but it was an untold amount of stress and sleepless nights."

Nayar, the PayPal rep, said the company can't comment on specific cases.

"We've made a commitment to be clearer with consumers on how they can get out of these situations," he said.

For example, the issue that Jay Lake faced -- being asked to mail in receipts and other paperwork that doesn't apply to fundraisers?

"We're fixing a lot of that," Nayar said. "At a minimum, the fact that someone needs to mail in something to an online payments company is a problem. 2013 is going to be the year that we fix a lot of those pain points."

It will take time, he cautioned. PayPal has multiple, complex security systems in place, and all of them need a fresh look.

Ironically, Lake understands better than most what PayPal is up against. As a sideline to his writing, Lake consults with financial institutions about their communications systems -- for example, the automated calls you receive when your credit card may be compromised. He's familiar with the fraud protection process, and he thinks PayPal's has plenty of room for improvement.

"There's a guilty until proven innocent bias to it, and that needs to change," he said.

PayPal can't afford to be complacent much longer. The field that it once monopolized is now full of competition: WePay, Square, Stripe and smartphone-based systems like Google Wallet are only a few of the up-and-coming rivals.

"We are committed to getting back to being the center of our customers' financial lives," PayPal's Nayar pledged. "Big changes are coming."

First Published: January 21, 2013: 6:44 AM ET

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Batmobile sells for $4.6 million

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The car had been the sole property of its creator, legendary car customizer George Barris. It was sold at collector car auction company Barrett Jackson's annual auction near the company's Scottsdale, Ariz., headquarters. The final price includes a 10% sales commission.

There had been some question as to whether the car would fetch a large sum. Craig Jackson, chief executive of the auction firm, said he expected the car to sell for millions.

Others pointed out, though, that many imitation Batmobiles had been built over the years, a good number of them virtually indistinguishable from the original. That raised the question of whether collectors would be willing to pay a huge sum for this Batmobile simply because it was the first.

Check out cool cars from Detroit auto show

Rick Champagne, who owns a logistics company in Tempe, Ariz., was very willing. He identified himself as the buyer in an interview with Speed TV immediately after the sale, and his name was confirmed by a representative for Barrett-Jackson.

He told Speed that the car would go in his living room. CNNMoney was not immediately able to reach Champagne for comment.

"The energy in that room was just electric. We haven't experienced anything like that since the Futurliner," Jackson said, referring to the 2006 auction of a General Motors concept bus that sold for $4 million.

Bidders were so tightly packed around the Batmobile that it was hard at times to tell who was bidding, he added.

Some particularly iconic TV and movie cars have gone for very high prices. For example, a highly modified 1964 Aston Martin DB5 used in James Bond films sold for $4.6 million in 2010.

But Hollywood cars don't always command top dollar. For one thing, there are usually multiple versions created for different types of shots and for promotional use, making it hard to to say that one vehicle is definitively "the car."

In this case, the TV Batmobile really is a singular creation. While there have been many imitations, this is the only original.

The Batmobile started life as a Ford (F, Fortune 500) 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car, which was itself based on a Lincoln Mark II. Aside from its pearl white paint job, the Futura actually looked very much like the Batmobile it would become a decade later.

Related story: Shah of Iran's Plymouth XNR sells for $935,000

Famed car customizer George Barris -- also known for creating the Munster Koach and the Beverly Hillbillies' car -- was tasked with creating the Batmobile in 1966. With a tight deadline, he decided that modifying the Futura, rather than starting from scratch, was the way to go.

On television, the Batmobile's technology allowed it to shoot flames, squirt oil and shoot tire slashers, but the car is not actually designed to do any of that.

In an interview with CNNMoney in November, Barris said he had been offered large sums for the car in the past but had never considered selling before. He agreed to sell this time, he said, because he thought it was time to move the car out of his studio and put it someplace where more people could enjoy it.

First Published: January 20, 2013: 10:18 AM ET

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What your health care will really cost

New web tools can help you figure out how much a medical procedure will really cost.

(Money Magazine)

These days those costs are less puzzling. As consumers shoulder more of their health care bills, insurers, government officials, and private firms are starting to provide the tools to allow you to research and compare.

"There is a shift to make consumers more conscientious purchasers of health care," says Matthew Coffina, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.

While the information out there is still far from complete, knowing where to look can help you select a provider, budget for expenses, and possibly negotiate for a lower tab.

FOR IN-NETWORK CARE

Where to look: The website of your insurer or HR department, or Healthcare Blue Book's site.

What you'll find: Large insurers Cigna, UnitedHealth, and Aetna offer web tools to estimate your out of pocket for hundreds of local providers and services, given your specific health plan (some company HR departments offer this as well). The sites calculate associated bills; for example, a knee replacement will require payments to a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and a facility.

Related: How to save on health insurance

If your insurer and employer don't offer pricing data, you can at least find out about what insurers pay for a given service in-network in your area at healthcarebluebook.com, then calculate your potential out of pocket.

How to use it: Know in advance you'll be getting some work done and you're on the hook for some or all of the bill?

The info allows you to budget for that expense and/or stockpile funds in your flex spending account.

The data on the insurers' sites can also help you decide which doc to see. "The spread between in-network providers is more pronounced now," says Jeffrey Rice, CEO of Healthcare Blue Book.

FOR OUT-OF-NETWORK CARE

Where to look: fairhealthconsumer.org

What you'll find: If you are covered for, say, 60% of an out-of-network specialist, your insurer will base its share on what it deems a reasonable and customary charge. That is usually far lower than the doctor's actual fee, says Robin Gelburd, president of FAIR Health.

Related: Check out of the hospital and stay out

The site will calculate your likely out-of-pocket charge for thousands of procedures based on your co-insurance rate and insurers' definition of reasonable and customary (call and ask -- it's often based on the Medicare reimbursement rate).

How to use it: Knowing what you'd pay can help you decide whether you should stray from your network. Feel certain you're better off under the care of an out-of-network physician? Call the office ahead of time to ask if he'll be willing to accept the local customary rate. Says Gelburd: "Or go in and show them the tool if you have to."

First Published: January 21, 2013: 10:14 AM ET

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Fed hawks hint at early end to bond buying

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard thinks bond buying could come to an early end if the economy continues to improve.

SAN DIEGO (CNNMoney)

A day earlier, minutes from the Fed's December meeting hinted that some Fed members believe the central bank should halt its asset purchases as early as this year. Several of those members revealed themselves and clarified their opinions on Friday.

"If the economy performs well in 2013, the Committee will be in a position to think about going on pause," James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve told CNBC. "If it doesn't do very well then the balance sheet policy will probably continue into 2014."

The Fed has kept interest rates near zero for four years in an effort to stimulate the economy. After its December meeting, it announced it plans to keep them at those lows until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5% or inflation exceeds 2.5% a year.

It was the first time the Fed had issued such explicit goalposts for future policy.

Also at that meeting, the Fed expanded its stimulus program known as quantitative easing, which entails buying Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Unlike prior rounds of similar stimulus, that program was left open-ended, with the Fed saying only that it would continue the purchases until the job market improves "substantially."

Related: How to get to 6.5% unemployment

Stocks sunk shortly after the minutes were released Thursday, but then rallied Friday as investors turned their attention to the latest jobs report. That report showed the unemployment rate was 7.8% in December, unchanged from a month earlier.

Bullard said he believes the Fed could pull back on asset purchases this year if the unemployment rate falls to 7.1%.

Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser is even more optimistic. Speaking at the American Economic Association's annual meeting in San Diego, Plosser said he expects the unemployment rate to fall to between 6.8% and 7% by the end of the year.

If his forecast rings true, he said the central bank will have to stop asset purchases this year.

Separately at an event in Baltimore, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker reiterated his opposition to the Fed's asset purchases, noting he doesn't believe they will have a material impact on the economy. He said he expects the U.S. economy to grow moderately in 2013.

Lacker was a voting member on the Fed's policymaking committee in 2012, and the only one to formally dissent to the action the Fed took at the December meeting. But Lacker will no longer have a vote as the central bank rotates its voting roles among its regional presidents at the start of each year.

Bullard will rotate into a voting role at the next meeting, and Plosser remains a non-voting member until 2014.

First Published: January 4, 2013: 6:21 PM ET

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NHL deal means payday for sports stores

Many store owners are expecting customers to shop for hockey merchandise now that teams are expected to resume playing.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"We expect NHL jerseys and gear sales to pick up right away," said Wayne Woodward of BigSportsShops.com, a website that sells official merchandise for NHL teams.

Woodward said that a lot of angry NHL fans stopped buying hockey merchandise in the fall. As a result, his sales fell 60% during the Christmas period from last year.

"We won't make up for the lost Christmas sales revenue, but there should be a nice sales uptick when players hit the ice again," said Woodward.

Related: Tentative NHL deal could end lockout

The NHL and the NHL Players' Association struck a tentative agreement early Sunday that may end the 113-day lockout of unionized players, the league said in a statement posted on its website.

The agreement reached in New York has to be approved by both players and owners, the NHL said.

The NHL scrapped its preseason and all games through the end of 2012 after the contract expired on September 15 and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. If the agreement is approved, the door is open to salvage the second half of the season and the closely-followed Stanley Cup playoffs.

With half of the season left and as many games to attend, businesses are banking that fans will try to make up for lost time.

"Hopefully we'll see an increase in the sales of jerseys and other NHL apparel, maybe hoodies for the (Philadephia) Flyers," said Mike Antonelli, manager of Hockey Giant, a hockey goods store located in the outskirts of Philadelphia in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Antonelli said that while his store primarily sells protective gear, he has seen NHL gear lingering on store shelves longer since the lockout began.

The reaction on social media could spur sports store owners to be more hopeful. Michael Pickett, a New York Rangers fan from Islip, NY, tweeted that he began his hunt for new merchandise when he heard the news.

"I have seriously slacked on my Rangers jersey purchase," he wrote. "The trend is over."

First Published: January 6, 2013: 2:57 PM ET

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Stocks: Earnings season springs

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Following last week's big market rally and a status-quo employment report that showed businesses weren't overly spooked by the fiscal cliff, several major companies will start reporting how they performed in the last three months of 2012.

The U.S.' largest aluminum producer Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) will kick off earnings season on Tuesday, after the closing bell. Apollo Group (APOL), WD-40 (WDFC), Texas Industries (TXI) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) are also reporting throughout the week.

Earnings reports from the fourth quarter are particularly weighty, since companies provide a picture of their full-year performance in their reports.

Investors will also get a sense of whether the fiscal cliff impacted companies' operations, as many business leaders and economists were anticipating.

Economic data is relatively light this week. Reports on trade are scheduled to be announced throughout the week, including trade balance and import and export prices.

Investors will also get a sense of whether consumers loosened their purse strings during the 2012 holiday season. A report on consumer credit for November is slated for Tuesday.

News out of Washington is also expected. The White House could name a new Treasury secretary this week. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has indicated he will step down at the end of this month, just as another contentious debate begins over raising the debt ceiling.

Though the White House has been tight-lipped about a nominee, CNN has reported that current White House chief of staff Jacob "Jack" Lew is among the top candidates for the job.

In 2009, the Senate took nearly a month to confirm Geithner as Treasury secretary. The next one could be just as hotly contested, coming right after a bruising fight over the fiscal cliff.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

Markets started the year with a bang after Washington lawmakers struck a deal to avert automatic spending cuts and tax hikes. Last week was the best week for all three indexes since December 2011, with the Dow Jones industrial Average climbing 3.8% and the Nasdaq soaring 4.8%. The S&P500 fared even better, finishing at its highest closing level since December 2007.

The CNNMoney Fear & Greed Index is in 'extreme greed' territory, up from 'neutral' a week earlier and "fear" a month ago. The index tracks investors' emotions -- fear indicates a selloff, while greed is a sign that people are ready to buy stocks.

First Published: January 6, 2013: 11:40 AM ET

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Banks get reprieve on new rules

Banks have been given more time to meet new capital requirements.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The rule change affects the "liquidity coverage ratio," a minimum standard set by regulators as part of the Basel III accord. Banks will now have more time to comply with the rule, and the standard has been eased.

Tougher capital requirements are considered a key step toward making banks safer and avoiding future taxpayer bailouts.

The decision comes after years of pressure from banks, which view the elevated capital requirements as onerous. Opponents of the higher standard have also argued that the capital requirements will limit access to credit at a time when lending is needed to boost economic growth.

The changes announced Sunday will delay full implementation of of the liquidity coverage ratio until 2019 -- a four-year extension. The ruling also expands the definition of "high quality liquid assets," which should make it much easier for banks to comply with the regulations.

The liquidity coverage ratio, in theory, should reflect the number of assets a bank would need to survive a severe 30-day credit crisis.

Related: Fed proposal would boost bank safety cushions

Despite the decision to relax requirements, Bank of England governor Mervyn King said the agreement is "very significant" and that "for the first time in regulatory history, we have a truly global minimum standard for bank liquidity."

Yet the implementation of Basel III rules has proved problematic. Many banks have not moved quickly to boost capital reserves, drawing rebukes from regulators and governments.

Capital cushions have come under scrutiny again in recent months, as Spanish banks required bailouts and JPMorgan Chase, thought to be one of the best-run banks on Wall Street, disclosed it had lost billions on a series of bad bets.

First Published: January 6, 2013: 11:09 PM ET

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Google's Schmidt starts North Korea trip

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was spotted Monday at Beijing International Airport.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Despite intense media interest over the past week, few details of the trip -- which is taking place despite objections from the U.S. State Department -- were known.

But broadcasters in South Korea reported the delegation flew from Beijing to North Korea on Monday, and photographers spotted Schmidt and Richardson at Beijing International Airport.

Sources told CNN last week that the trip is a "private humanitarian visit." It is thought that Richardson's objective will be to try and negotiate the release of an American prisoner who was captured last month in North Korea.

A brief statement released by Richardson over the weekend confirmed the pair would be joined by adviser Tony Namkung and Jared Cohen, a former State Department official who now works at Google.

The statement also said the group will hold a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, presumably to mark the trip's conclusion.

Asked last week about the trip, a representative of the State Department said the trip was ill-timed.

"Frankly we don't think the timing of this is particularly helpful, but they are private citizens and they are making their own decisions," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "They are well aware of our views."

Richardson has visited North Korea numerous times since 1994. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have also traveled to Pyongyang in the past three years, successfully freeing American prisoners in both instances.

New North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed a desire to increase the country's technological and industrial standing in the world. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) has been expanding its presence throughout Asia in recent years but it has run into problems in China due to censorship concerns. It is unclear if Schmidt will meet Kim during his visit.

In a statement issued last week, a spokeswoman for Google said the company does not comment on "personal travel."

-- CNN's Wolf Blitzer and CNNMoney's Adrian Covert contributed to this report.

First Published: January 7, 2013: 5:11 AM ET

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Nations prepare for cyber war

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In 2012, large-scale cyberattacks targeted at the Iranian government were uncovered, and in return, Iran is believed to have launched massive attacks aimed at U.S. banks and Saudi oil companies. At least 12 of the world's 15 largest military powers are currently building cyberwarfare programs, according to James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

So a cyber Cold War is already in progress. But some security companies believe that battle will become even more heated this year.

"Nation states and armies will be more frequent actors and victims of cyberthreats," a team of researchers at McAfee Labs, an Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) subsidiary, wrote in a recent report.

Michael Sutton, head of security research at cloud security company Zscaler, said he expects governments to spend furiously on building up their cyber arsenals. Some may even outsource attacks to online hackers.

The Obama administration and many in Congress have been more vocal about how an enemy nation or a terrorist cell could target the country's critical infrastructure in a cyberattack. Banks, stock exchanges, nuclear power plants and water purification systems are particularly vulnerable, according to numerous assessments delivered to Congress last year.

Related story: Malware attacks on the rise

But after legislation aimed at preventing such attacks stalled in Congress last year, some experts believe this will be the year when cyberattacks turn deadly.

"Nation-state attackers will target critical infrastructure networks such as power grids at unprecedented scale in 2013," predicted Chiranjeev Bordoloi, CEO of security company Top Patch. "These types of attacks could grow more sophisticated, and the slippery slope could lead to the loss of human life."

Security firm IID also predicted that cyberattacks will lead to the loss of life this year.

But others say that such event is unlikely. Our most potent online foes, Russia and China, haven't shown an interest in infrastructure attacks. Those that would pursue them -- Iran is often mentioned -- haven't yet proven capable of pulling off something on that scale.

Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500), which runs an extensive cybersecurity business, is in the doubters' camp.

"Many security experts are using anecdote and opinion for their predictions, whereas Verizon's researchers are applying empirical evidence," said Wade Baker, head of Verizon's security division. "First and foremost, we don't believe there will be an all-out cyber war, although it's possible."

The U.S. has already put would-be attackers on notice. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said recently that the United States reserves the right to use military force against a nation that launches a cyberattack on the country.

Even if hackers aren't capable of killing with a cyberattack, there is no doubt that they've become more destructive.

The August attack on oil company Saudi Aramco, for instance, crashed 30,000 computers. One month later, a series of attacks brought down the websites of several of the largest U.S. banks. It was the largest "denial of service" attack ever recorded, by a significant margin.

Those kinds of attacks will grow "exponentially" in 2013, McAfee predicts.

"Recently, we have seen several attacks in which the only goal was to cause as much damage as possible; we expect this malicious behavior to grow in 2013," the McAfee researchers wrote. "The worrying fact is that companies appear to be rather vulnerable to such attacks."

But there may be some good news on the cybersecurity front. Hacktivist group Anonymous is starting to fade.

The leaderless collective's attacks have gained less attention lately, and many proposed operations have failed. That's because companies are beefing up their defenses against Anonymous' main weapon, the denial of service attack.

"Anonymous' level of technical sophistication has stagnated and its tactics are better understood by its potential victims," McAfee said in a recent research report. "While hacktivist attacks won't end in 2013, if ever, they are expected to decline in number. Sympathizers of Anonymous are suffering."

First Published: January 7, 2013: 5:35 AM ET

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Bank of America in $10 billion settlement with Fannie Mae

BofA reached a $10.3 billion settlement with Fannie Mae on Monday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

BofA (BAC, Fortune 500) will pay $3.55 billion in cash to Fannie as part of the deal. It will also repurchase 30,000 questionable mortgages that are likely to produce losses, paying Fannie $6.75 billion for the loans. The loans had been bundled into mortgage-backed securities, and then were bought and guaranteed by Fannie Mae.

The purchase of bad home loans by Fannie Mae led to massive losses, a government takeover in 2008 and a $116 billion bailout to keep it functioning as a major source of home loans.

The loans were originated between 2000 and 2008 by Countrywide Financial, a leading mortgage and subprime home loan lender that BoA purchased for $4 billion in 2008. The loans covered by the settlement had an original value of $1.4 trillion.

In addition, BofA announced it agreed to sell the servicing rights on 2 million other mortgages worth a total of about $306 billion, as the bank moves to put distance between itself and many of its problematic home loans.

Related: Bank fines topped $10 billion in '12

This is not the first time that BofA has been forced to spend large sums to settle complaints about the mortgages that Countrywide packaged into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors. In 2010, it repurchased $2.87 billion of bad loans that had been bought from Countrywide by Fannie and its smaller rival Freddie Mac. That deal was sharply criticized by the inspector general overseeing the Fannie and Freddie bailout as letting BofA off too lightly.

The bank also agreed in late 2011 to pay a $335 million fine to settle complaints about discriminatory lending practices at Countrywide.

Shares of BofA rose 2% in premarket trading on news of the deal.

First Published: January 7, 2013: 8:25 AM ET

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Stocks: Earnings in focus

Click the chart for more premarket data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Aluminum producer Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) will be the first major firm to report fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell Tuesday.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat opening after strong gains last week driven largely by the deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Shares of Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) were higher in premarket trading after it announced a $10.3 billion settlement with Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) to resolve current and future repurchase claims on loans that were originated before December 31, 2008.

U.S. stocks finished higher Friday, after the government said the U.S. economy gained 155,000 jobs last month, and the S&P 500 ended the week at its highest closing level since December 2007.

International banks won a concession Sunday from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which relaxed rules for lenders that had been proposed in hopes of preventing another global financial crisis. Bank stocks rallied on the news.

Fear & Greed Index

European markets were narrowly weaker in afternoon trading but found support from gains in the banking sector, while Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.8%, despite media reports indicating the government is preparing a fiscal stimulus package.

First Published: January 7, 2013: 4:56 AM ET

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How to tackle your spouse's overspending

NEW YORK (Money Magazine)

Beware: As Deborah Price, author of The Heart of Money: A Couple's Guide to Creating True Financial Intimacy, puts it, "Money is an area where we're prone to being irrational, illogical, and overly emotional."

To broach the topic of overspending without initiating World War III, adopt this game plan.

THE GROUND RULES

Time it right. Choose a time when you're both relaxed, like a weekend morning, and make sure you each have at least half an hour free.

No accusations or hyperbole. Don't start sentences with "You did"; focus on "We." And while comments like "Are you trying to put us in the poorhouse?" may be emotionally satisfying in the moment, they're ineffective in the long run.

Don't use the B-word. "The word 'budget' has a negative connotation," says Price. Instead, come up with a "spending plan" -- a term more likely to resonate with a spendthrift.

Follow up. These chats work best if done on a regular basis. Schedule a monthly money date to stay on track.

YOUR BEST APPROACH

1. Opening gambit: "I'm feeling a little stressed about money. Now that the holidays are over, I'm worried we may have spent too much. Can we talk about our financial plans?"

The strategy: Start by sharing how you're feeling, not what you think your spouse is doing wrong.

"When you do this, the reaction from your partner is more likely to be, 'Oh, I'm causing my partner to feel a certain way,' " says Price. "So he or she is naturally more inclined to say, 'I'm sorry,' rather than become defensive."

2. Take some of the heat: "I know that tennis club I joined set us back quite a bit."

The strategy: Accepting part of the responsibility can prevent your husband or wife from becoming too defensive to have a productive conversation.

If you can't cop to any overspending, think about how else you've contributed to the situation: Are you, say, too controlling about money? Unplanned purchases might be your partner's way of fighting back.

Notes Boston planner Lisa Peterson, who specializes in counseling couples: "Remember, there are things you do that your spouse is not always happy with either."

3. Meet defensiveness head-on: "I love you, and I didn't mean to make you angry. How can we talk about this without getting into trouble with each other?"

The strategy: Sometimes the subject of money itself is enough to raise hackles. Asking for the right way to discuss the issue helps defuse the tension, says Maggie Baker, a psychologist who focuses on money matters.

4. Keep it in context: "I ran the numbers. If we keep spending this way, it will take us another five years until we can afford the kind of house we want."

The strategy: "Putting the overspending in the context of the greater picture is more effective than being nitpicky," says Peterson. "When you bring the focus back to your joint values and goals, your partner will be more receptive."

5. Let your spouse take the wheel: "We got into a jam this time. How do you think we can avoid it in the future?"

The strategy: When you start talking about how to proceed, "Give control over to the person who is being criticized," says Baker. "Let your spouse think the solution is his or her idea."

First Published: January 7, 2013: 10:37 AM ET

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