My love-hate relationship with airlines (I love to hate 'em)

(Fortune)

As a frequent business flier, I understand what my fellow travelers are hoping for: a chance to catch up on reading, watch a movie, or take a nap. So on a recent flight with my toddler, I came prepared with a backpack of tools to keep my son quiet: books, sippy cups, animal crackers, toy cars, and -- the pièce de résistance -- a portable DVD player.

The DVD player was the magic charm. For over an hour my son sat silently watching Disney's Cars. Then the flight attendant passed by and heard the faint sounds of the movie's dialogue, and -- unprompted by any fellow passengers -- demanded that we either use headphones or shut off the player. (Clearly she's never tried to get a 20-month-old to wear headphones.) I protested. She insisted, citing company rules. I shut off the DVD player. My fellow passengers paid the price, suffering through the meltdown that ensued when Lightning McQueen's big race went black. This rule -- which may make sense in certain situations -- did not make sense in this one. Trust me, every passenger in earshot would have voted to hear Cars over the sounds of a crying toddler ... or the sounds of a desperate mother singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" 83 times in a row to quiet him.

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Apple: Game over or room to grow?

(Fortune)

Watching Apple stumble is a little like witnessing a just-over-the-hill prizefighter wobbling on his feet or a once-eloquent orator stammering for the right word. But there's no question: Apple has lost a step since the death of Steve Jobs. That this observation is as inevitable as the effects of gravity doesn't make it any less shocking or lamentable.

How has Apple fallen? Let us count the ways. It has been three years since the release of the iPad, the company's last breakthrough product. The latest version of its mobile software reminds design critics more of the edgier features of Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows Phone than anything associated with Apple's penchant for leapfrogging-the-competition boldness. Apple's management is defensive, its people are less committed, and its competitors are resurgent. Apple's ferocious profit growth has stalled, and investors have lost faith in its ability to restart that engine. Apple's stock price is deflated, sure, but that's merely a symptom, not the disease.

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The new news business

(Fortune)

On the national level the owners of the big legacy news businesses have fought fiercely against the disrupters, often with the effect of a frustrated ocean swimmer flailing against a fierce rip current. But with each digital click upward in Moore's law (processing power) and Metcalfe's law (network power) the tide of technological disruption has only risen, washing many of the legacy swimmers further out to sea, or at least diminishing their financial prowess. Perhaps it is another law, Amara's, that best describes the results. That law states, "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."

To document the transformation of the news business, we created an oral history project, from which this article is excerpted. We gathered the personal recollections of a broad but select group of principals who faced the choices, made the decisions, placed the bets, and now have the benefit of hindsight as to how it could, or couldn't, have played out differently. The full project, curated at Harvard by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy in conjunction with Nieman Journalism Lab, will be published at the website digitalriptide.org on Sept. 9.

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The CEO who caught the Chinese spies red-handed

(Fortune)

As much of the world now knows, Mandia did go public with "APT1: Exposing One of China's Cyber Espionage Units." What hasn't been told until now is the story of Kevin Mandia: How he became one of America's top private cybersleuths, how he laid the groundwork for the report's release, and how he and his firm, Mandiant, are dealing with the subsequent political fallout. He spoke exclusively with Fortune amid an intensifying drumbeat of news around online spying, data mining, and espionage.

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Why I paint

Sir Michael Moritz at work on a hill above the Bolinas Lagoon near San Francisco

(Fortune)

At my high school, art class was considered the preserve of the dunderheads. I definitely could not draw, and my experience of painting was limited to shelves, walls, and trim (with the Jackson Pollock effect reserved for floorboards). It wasn't until about a dozen years ago, after happening upon an article Winston Churchill had written in the 1920s, "Painting as a Pastime," that I made my first trip to the art store. Churchill describes how, without any prior training or any demonstrable proclivity, he took up painting at age 41. This hobby became an all-consuming passion that (with the exception of World War II, during which he painted only one picture) accompanied him into his dotage. Churchill's article, later transformed into a book, must have stirred some of my latent, midlife longings.

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The end of the suburbs

A pre-housing-bust development near Las Vegas has a street layout that impedes foot and bicycle traffic.

(Fortune)

Diane Roseman and her husband, Steven Spitz, had lived all over the world by the time they decided to settle in Westborough, Mass., in 2002. Roseman grew up in the suburbs of Morris County, N.J. She and Spitz had their first child while living in Southern California and then moved to Jerusalem. By the time they returned to the U.S. -- Spitz, a computer engineer, had been transferred to the Boston area -- they had three children under 5 years old, and Roseman coveted the space and ease of life the suburbs would provide. "I wanted the minivan and the big house," she says. "I wanted to try the whole American dream."

They looked at Newton, a wealthy, older suburb, but prices were high, so they started looking farther out. "You get into this mindset that if I'm spending $500,000, I should get a big house. It shouldn't be a little house," she says. In Westborough, a suburb some 30 miles west of Boston, they found a 3,000-square-foot center-hall colonial built in 1985 in a subdivision that was brimming with other young families. The schools were excellent. It was all going to be great. Their fourth child, a girl named Ella, was born three weeks after they moved in.

It didn't take Roseman long to realize the life she'd signed up for was not the one she wanted. She missed being surrounded by people of a wide mix of ages and life stages; most people in her neighborhood were couples in their thirties to fifties raising children. She didn't realize how much work would go into keeping up the house; her husband spent almost every weekend shoveling snow or taking care of the lawn. And she had no idea how much time she would be spending in her car. Roseman says she would spend the hours from 3 to 6 p.m. each day shuttling her children to and from swimming, chess, ballet, Hebrew school, jazz, soccer, music lessons, and more. "I'm in my car from morning till night," she said at the time. "My car knows the way to gymnastics."

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Hey! Stop watching me!

Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones Indexes^SM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones Indexes^SM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.

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Andy Murray could make $20 million a year

Britain's Andy Murray holds the winner's trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final at the Wimbledon championships.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The Scottish tennis professional is likely to double his off-court earnings to around £15 million ($22.5 million) per year from around £8 million, said Nigel Currie, director of sports marketing agency brandRapport.

Murray has risen over the last few years to be ranked number two in the world behind Novak Djokovic, the man he beat in Sunday's final.

After losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final last year, he bounced back to scoop up an Olympic gold at the London 2012 Olympics and win the U.S. Open.

"He's not just a one-time grand slam winner now. This is his second -- this shows he's not a one-hit wonder," said Currie.

The sport of tennis has a broad, global appeal, much like golf, making Murray especially attractive for sponsors who want to market to people around the world, he said.

"This sport is one of the most global sports around. It reaches every country. Therefore the top players in those sports, their names and their faces, are known throughout the planet."

Related: LeBron will never be an endorsement star like Jordan

Of course, Murray will have difficulty reaching the elite star status Federer has enjoyed. Forbes estimates the Swiss tennis professional -- considered by many to be the best tennis player of all time -- earned $71.5 million over the past year even though his performance has been waning.

But the 26-year-old Murray still has room to grow. His management team XIX Entertainment have a strong track record in building former LA Galaxy soccer star David Beckham's earnings power.

"I think what he's got is a brilliant management team," said Currie. "They've got the experience of managing someone like [David] Beckham and that will be invaluable in keeping him on the right track and maximizing his potential as a global superstar."

Murray currently has sponsorship deals with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Adidas (ADDYY), Head (HEDYY) and watch-maker Rado Switzerland, which is part of the Swatch Group (SWGAF).

Murray wasn't alone in getting a big boost from his Wimbledon performance. British grocery chain Tesco (TESO) reported a 20% spike in strawberry sales on the days when Murray played.

British strawberry sales are known to rise during the Wimbledon tournament as spectators munch on the traditional strawberries and cream treat, but Murray clearly inspired some extra snacking.

First Published: July 8, 2013: 8:18 AM ET

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Greece gets deal with bailout lenders

Public sector workers in Greece protested last week at plans for thousands of lay-offs, one of the conditions the EU and IMF have set for releasing bailout funds.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund -- known as the troika -- said that Greece had fallen behind in some areas and the outlook for the depressed economy was uncertain.

But in a joint statement, the groups said they had reached agreement with the Greek government on the measures it needs to take to meet budget targets.

The successful outcome to the troika's review should allow eurozone finance ministers to approve later Monday the release of 8.1 billion euros in cash, part of which Greece needs to redeem bonds due to mature next month. EU officials have said ministers may only agree to release the money in stages once interim targets are hit.

Greece has been kept afloat since 2010 by funds drawn from a 240-billion euro EU-IMF bailout program. In return, the country has enacted deep cuts to government spending, raised taxes and introduced structural reforms in a bid to slash borrowing. Unemployment has rocketed to more than 27%.

With the economy now in its sixth year of recession, the government has found it increasingly difficult to keep its side of the bargain. A minor party in the coalition quit the government last month over its abrupt closure of state broadcaster ERT, raising fears that Greece could return to the political instability witnessed last year.

Related: Eurozone pulls back from the brink

Mounting opposition to austerity also briefly threatened to bring down the Portuguese government last week, reminding investors that the eurozone still has a long way to go to restore the financial health of its economies even if it begins to emerge from its longest recession later this year.

Analysts said the troika appeared reluctant to apply too much pressure to Greece before signing off on the latest cash injection. The fear is the ripple effect of a fresh political crisis in Greece, which could push peripheral eurozone bond yields higher again and threaten plans by Ireland to exit its own bailout program later this year.

The troika said Greece had committed to cut spending in health care and get a civil service reform program back on track by meeting targets for layoffs and transfers to retraining and redeployment plans. Greece had agreed to shed 15,000 public-sector jobs by the end of 2014.

There were also reports that the troika had accepted that privatization receipts would also be lower than expected. The government failed to sell state gas firm DEPA last month, making this year's target of 2.6 billion euros from the sale of state assets unachievable.

First Published: July 8, 2013: 8:52 AM ET

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Dow posts triple-digit gain

Click chart for more markets data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Second quarter earnings season kicks off after the close of trading with results from aluminum producer Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) -- a Dow Jones Industrial Average component, whose earnings investors watch as a first-look indicator of how companies fared in the past quarter.

The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq moved up between 0.5% and 0.8%. The Dow gained more than 100 points.

Still, analysts aren't as sanguine about the prospects for growth and higher profits in corporate America.

Click here for more on stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities

"Sales have got to start coming through," said fund manager Fiona Harris from J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "We believe the relatively sluggish U.S. sales growth could start to weigh heavily if we don't see improvement soon."

Fed taper puts earnings in focus: Earnings are starting to matter more now to the stock market, as many investors and analysts expect the Fed to taper its bond buying program by year-end.

The Fed's bond buying has been the major catalyst for a stock market rally this year. All three indexes are up between 14% and 16% in 2013.

Earnings bonanza: Results are due later in the week from companies including Yum! Brands (YUM, Fortune 500), JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500).

Related: Fear & Greed Index shows investors still fearful

In economic news, the Federal Reserve is set to release its monthly report on consumer credit at 3 p.m. ET.

According to Kit Juckes of Societe Generale in London, among the issues standing out for global investors in the week ahead are a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's on Wednesday, a possible "Scotch tape solution" to Portugal's economic crisis and concerns about the slowdown in China's economy.

U.S. stocks finished higher Friday following a strong monthly jobs report. Investors seemed to set aside concerns about the Federal Reserve and focused on the improved outlook for economic growth.

European markets made strong advances in afternoon trading., gaining between 1.3% and 2.3%.

Related: Citadel computers run the stock market

But Asian markets ended in the red. The Hang Seng index and the Nikkei in Japan both dropped by more than 1%. The Shanghai Composite index fell even further, down by 2.4%, on continuing concerns about slowing growth in China.

Shares of Asiana Airlines dropped in South Korean markets after a Boeing 777 crashed in San Francisco over the weekend. But the stock price for Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) was little changed.

First Published: July 8, 2013: 9:42 AM ET

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