Posted less than an hour ago
 Jim Spellman/WireImage(WASHINGTON) -- Sens. Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey on Thursday delivered a scathing status update for “eye-spitting” Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your U.S. citizenship or never step foot in the U.S. again.
“This guy just thinks he can rip us off by engaging in this scheme,” Casey, D-Pa., said at a Capitol Hill news conference. “We’ve got troops overseas that are sacrificing on our behalf every day, all the values that we hold dear. And Mr. Saverin spits in their eye, he spits in the eye of the American people. It’s an insult. He should be held accountable.”
Saverin, 30, relinquished his U.S. citizenship in September 2011 before the company announced its planned initial public offering of stock, which will debut this week. The move was likely a financial one because he owns an estimated 4 percent of Facebook and stands to make $4 billion when the company goes public.
“Saverin has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him and helped him become a billionaire,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “This is a great American success story gone horribly wrong.”
Saverin, who was born in Brazil, raised in Miami and educated at Harvard, would reap the benefit of tax savings by becoming a permanent resident of Singapore, which levies no capital gains taxes. He has lived there for several years.
“This tax-avoidance scheme is outrageous,” Schumer added. “Eduardo Saverin wants to ‘defriend’ the United States of America just to avoid taxes we aren’t going to let him get away with it.”
So to stop Saverin, and others who have relinquished their citizenship for tax avoidance, Sens. Schumer and Bob Casey, D-Pa., unveiled the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act. The act is intended to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they call a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”
The plan would re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. If the Internal Revenue Service determines that people renounce their citizenship to avoid taxes, according to the proposal, they would then be subject to a 30 percent capital gains tax on future investment gains in the United States, regardless of where they live. But most notably, the plan would bar individuals like Saverin from ever re-entering the United States again.
The proposal would affect any American who has $2 million in net worth or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 for the previous five years and then seeks to renounce his or her citizenship. The person will be presumed to have renounced his or her citizenship for tax avoidance purposes unless the individual can demonstrate otherwise to the IRS.
The burden of proof would be on people to show that they didn’t relocate for tax purposes. There would be no penalty if it turned out that they renounced their citizenship for legitimate reasons.
The law now is already supposed to bar re-entry for individuals like Saverin, but there have been problems enforcing it, the senators say, pointing to the 1,700 people last year who gave up their U.S. passports, up from 235 in 2008. The law, passed in 1996, contains no enforcement provisions. No individual has ever been barred from returning to the United States for tax avoidance, so the proposal would add an enforcement component.
“Pay your taxes in full or don’t ever try to visit the U.S. again,” Schumer said.
Saverin has defended his move to Singapore in a statement to ABCNews.com.
“My decision to expatriate was based solely on my interest in working and living in Singapore, where I have been since 2009," he wrote. "I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government. I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen."
"It is unfortunate that my personal choice has led to a public debate, based not on the facts, but entirely on speculation and misinformation," he continued.
But some, like Schumer, don’t buy this argument.
“Anyone who believes Mr. Saverin didn’t do this at least in good part for tax purposes is quite gullible,” he said today.
If Saverin, or anyone else, changes his mind, he could pay his back taxes and return to the United States.
The Senators plan to move on this bill “as soon as possible” in the Senate.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted less than an hour ago
 Honda(WASHINGTON) -- Is the Segway a bit too big for you? Or does it require a too much standing for your liking? Well, Honda’s got a solution in the works — the Honda UNI-CUB.
Called a “personal mobility device,” the UNI-CUB looks like a unicycle sans the cycle or wheel part.
So how does it work? Sit in the saddle and Honda’s Omni Traction Drive System lets you control the speed and direction just by shifting your weight.
Honda touts the UNI-CUB as omnidirectional, meaning the two wheels allow it to move in all directions — side-to-side, backwards, diagonally, etc. Honda will also have a smartphone app that will function as an additional control option.
While the Segway, a similar electric powered scooter released in 2002, was designed for outdoor use and is frequently used by police or security guards, the UNI-CUB has been designed for indoor use. Honda claims the precision of its motion is good for “barrier-free indoor environments.”
This isn’t the first time an automaker has tried to take on the popular Segway. In 2008, Toyota announced its own personal mobile solution, called the Winglet. The Winglet was tested, but never marketed to consumers.
And that might be the way the way the UNI-CUB goes. Honda says it will start demonstrating and testing the UNI-CUB with Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in June. No additional information has been given on if and when it might be released to the public.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 2:08pm
 Chris Machian/Bloomberg News(WASHINGTON) -- Kim Hillyer, director of communications and public affairs for TD Ameritrade, was forthright about the sticky situation her company finds itself in, thanks to founder and former CEO Joe Ricketts' announcement that he's interested in launching a Super PAC to attack President Obama.
“It’s certainly a difficult situation,” said Hillyer, referring to the calls from clients and members of the public prompted by Thursday’s news, first reported by the The New York Times. “We respect the right of people to have their opinions, but as a company we can’t take sides. Really what we’re about is helping our clients, that’s the message we’re telling people today.”
The campaign garnered considerable attention Thursday because of a pitch to Ricketts and his Ending Spending Action Fund that suggested an attack on the president based on the comments of his former religious and spiritual leader, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., an attack the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., refused to do because of the racial animus it might conjure forth. Both the Romney and McCain camps disavowed the proposal.
Ricketts, a billionaire ranked on the Forbes 400 List in 2009, retired from the TD Ameritrade board last fall, but he remains publicly identified with the company as its founder. His family is the largest individual shareholders, owning approximately 15 percent of the company. The company is an online broker based in Omaha, Nebraska.
Says Hillyer, “Obviously he is the founder of the company, but his thoughts, opinions and activities are not those of TD Ameritrade. His political work is independent from any involvement with the company.”
The Super PAC he is funding has stated its intent to spend at least $10 million on its activities. Last month, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ricketts sold 521,988 share of common stock in the company for $20.04 Per Share – worth $10.46 million.
So does it bother TD Ameritrade that he appears to be cashing in TD Ameritrade stock to run this campaign? “We have many shareholders and we can’t legislate what people do with their money,” Hillyer said.
Hillyer wanted to make sure that a reporter had seen the statement from Brian Baker, president of the Ending Spending Action Fund, noting that Ricketts is “neither the author nor the funder of the so-called ‘Ricketts Plan’ to defeat Mr. Obama that The New York Times wrote about this morning. Not only was this plan merely a proposal – one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors – but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted, but only a suggestion for a direction to take. Mr. Ricketts intends to work hard to help elect a President this fall who shares his commitment to economic responsibility, but his efforts are and will continue to be focused entirely on questions of fiscal policy, not attacks that seek to divide us socially or culturally.”
“His political activities are not those of the company,” Hillyer said again.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 1:52pm
 Nick M Do/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- While a growing euro storm may be brewing, the dollar has increased in value -- much to the delight of American tourists.
The trend over the past few months is clear: the dollar is worth more against the euro. And that means more bang for each tourist buck.
"Americans traveling in Europe have had a tough time with the weak dollar over recent decades," says market analyst Alec Young. "But we do get bouts where the dollar firms up."
"We've recently had a very nice run for the dollar and that would benefit the U.S. tourist traveling around the world," he says.
With the euro woes expected to linger, this summer might prove to be a great bargain for Americans heading overseas.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 1:21pm
 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(MARIN COUNTY, Calif.) -- A defiant George Lucas showed his Indiana Jones-caliber feistiness when the filmmaker ended nearly 25 years of neighborhood opposition to a California studio by announcing the land would instead be used to build low-income housing.
Lucas has been trying for decades to build a state-of-the art film studio on his Grady Ranch in Marin County, Calif., but his well-to-do neighbors have blocked his plans at every step of the way. In an official statement released by his production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., he said, "enough is enough."
"The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors," Lucas said in the statement.
"We love working and living in Marin, but the residents of Lucas Valley have fought this project for 25 years, and enough is enough," he wrote.
He said that "movies are waiting to be made" so he needs to take his project elsewhere.
"We have several opportunities to build the production stages in communities that see us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire, and if we are to stay on schedule we must act on those opportunities," Lucas wrote.
But he saved the zinger for the last paragraph of the two-page statement.
"We plan to sell the Grady property expecting that the land will revert back to its original use for residential housing," he wrote. "We hope we will be able to find a developer who will be interested in low income housing since it is scarce in Marin. If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit."
Lucas' move to make the upscale neighborhood affordable-housing friendly raised questions about whether he's attempting to exact revenge on his stubborn neighbors or even whether he's bluffing about a plan that's not real.
Thomas Peters, president and CEO of the Marin Community Foundation, can vouch for the plan's seriousness. The foundation is one of the largest in the country for investing money in philanthropic projects, so Peters immediately put a call into Lucasfilm after reading the statement.
"Was this just an edgy comment or does it have something to it? I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Lucas and his top company folks responded immediately that he was quite sincere about it," Peters said.
Peters has known Lucas, 68, for more than 20 years and Lucas has now made the land exclusively available to the foundation for development.
"[The proposal] was entirely focused on that positive outcome. It was not, as many people have speculated, 'This is how I'll show them,'" Peters said. "[Lucas] doesn't need, and doesn't have, any energy whatsoever for looking over his shoulder.
"He was passing a little frustration, as well he should after ... years of back and forth, but the fact of the matter is that he's done with that proposal. That's a set decision," he said. "The good news, depending on people's perspectives, is we'll get this done and we intend to do it here. He's also a guy that gets things done. We're going to do this."
The land in question is about 1,000 acres of "gorgeous, roaming land filled with oaks, eucalyptus trees and creeks," Peters said. Like Lucas' other two ranches, he builds on 3 percent of the land and preserves the rest.
That leaves the foundation with about 200 acres for the proposed housing project, which he says is more than enough. Early plans are looking at building about 300 apartments and condos on the land, most likely for senior citizens in need. Peters estimates the project will take about two years to complete.
"[Lucas has] been an extraordinarily good steward of the land and neighbor and planner and job creator," Peters said. "Most communities would bend over backwards to welcome him."
Lucas' projects in the county have created hundreds of jobs and brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, Peters said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 12:04pm
 Digital Vision/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- After a drumbeat of complaints from energy companies that the Obama administration is blocking domestic oil and gas production, the Interior department released a report claiming that U.S. oil and gas producers are sitting on millions of acres of idle government land leases.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar says that if producers were sincere about wanting to increase energy production, they would activate millions of acres of public land already leased to them. What should they be doing on that land? Drilling.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Salazar says the administration wants companies "to develop the tens of millions of acres they've already leased but have left sitting idle."
A report released by the Department of the Interior claims that of 36 million government acres leased offshore for oil and gas production, 72 percent sit idle. Onshore, in the lower 48 states, says the report, more than half of federally leased acreage sits idle, "neither producing nor under active exploration or development by companies who hold those leases."
The American Petroleum Institute calls the administration's claim "absurd" and "willfully misleading."
In a statement, API CEO Jack Gerard says that just because a lease doesn't fit the government's definition of active doesn't mean it's idle. Where a lease truly is idle, the reason often is that the producer must hold off drilling while they wait years to get the necessary government permissions.
Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations, says there's another reason some leases aren't being used: There's only a 30 to 40 percent success rate to finding oil. A producer has to narrow down its leases to find the few ones good enough for drilling.
The fallacy behind Salazar's assertion--which Milito characterizes as being, "we don't have to open up any more public land to you, because you're not using the leases you've already got"--is the belief "that you just put a pipe in the ground, and you're ready to go--that there's always oil there."
Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government and public affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, whose members produce, she says, 27 percent of the natural gas and 14 percent of the oil in the U.S., cites a more basic reason a lease may be idle: Its oil and gas may be uneconomic to extract.
As energy prices fluctuate, and as technology improves, she says, idle leases are brought into production. The most dramatic and most recent example is the 200,000-square-mile Baaken oil field underlying North Dakota and Montana. As recently as five years ago, she says, many leases here sat idle. Then technology and economics made production possible, and production boomed.
The DOI report, she says, "Actually is useful, since it shows that we're becoming more efficient at operating on public lands. To have 44 percent of public lands in production is very high, compared to the 30 percent it's been historically. There will always be maybe 30 percent of leases that don't pan out. But of the rest, we estimate half are somewhere in the [drilling] process. If government is truly serious about increasing production, they would remove some of the red tape."
The Alliance says that when you add up the time required for prospecting, drilling, and waiting around for government approvals, 19 years can pass before a lessee actually sees oil. During part of that time, the government counts the lease inactive.
She says she knows the government can move energy projects ahead more aggressively when it wants to, because it has done exactly that with wind and solar projects. It's only politics, she says, that accounts for the different treatment accorded oil and gas.
A spokesman for the Department of the Interior, asked to respond to the industry's contention that DOI's report is both misleading and absurd, says, "The report speaks for itself. The notion that we have somehow locked up federal lands clearly doesn't square with the facts. Our goal is to continue expanding safe and responsible development, and we will continue to take steps to deliver on that priority."
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 11:10am
 Verizon Wireless(NEW YORK) -- While Verizon Wireless used to offer unlimited data plans for its customers, it stopped offering all-you-can-eat data plans last July for new customers. However, those that had been grandfathered in under an unlimited data plan have still been able to pay $30 a month for an unlimited data plan for 3G and 4G phones.
But that looks as if it might come to an end this summer, when Verizon announces new “data share” plans. “LTE is our anchor point for data share, so as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go onto the data share plan, moving away from the unlimited world,” Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference. Fierce Wireless first reported the story.
Verizon hasn’t shared much about its upcoming data share plans, but they will work similarly to the way you can share minutes now. “Customers have told us that they want to share data, similar to how they share minutes today. We are working on plans to provide customers with that option later this year,” Verizon said in a statement on its website.
“When you think about our 3G base — a lot of our 3G base is unlimited — as they start to migrate into 4G, they will have to come off of unlimited and go into the data share plan, and that’s beneficial for us for many reasons, obviously,” Shammo added.
Despite Shammo’s statements, Verizon PR would not confirm that those who currently have unlimited data would be forced onto another plan at the time of upgrade. Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney did say, "We do not change customers plans under contract.” Raney did not elaborate on what might happen to customers when their two-year contract expired and it is time to renew and upgrade to a new phone.
Most carriers have moved away from unlimited data plans. AT&T similarly does not offer an unlimited plan anymore. Sprint, on the other hand, does offer the plan and has hinted that it will continue to keep the unlimited data plan around even when it launches its LTE network later this year.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 8:18am
 DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- In the wake of an ABC News investigation revealing extreme animal cruelty, Pepsi has canceled its sponsorship of the annual Tennessee Walking Horse championship, the Celebration.
The discontinuation of the relationship was "effective immediately," according to Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco. The company said its logo was removed Wednesday from the Celebration website, prior to the broadcast of the ABC News report on Nightline.
The report featured undercover video made by the Humane Society of the United States that showed one of the top trainers in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry, Jackie McConnell, beating and torturing horses in his stables outside Memphis.
An ABC News investigation found that large numbers of the famed horses have been tortured and beaten in order to make them produce the high-stepping gait that wins championships.
"All too often, you have to cheat to win in this sport," said Keith Dane of the Humane Society.
The undercover video led to a federal grand jury indictment of McConnell. The tape shows McConnell and his stable hands beating horses with wooden sticks and using electric cattle prods on them as part of a training protocol to make them lift their feet in the pronounced gait judges like to see.
In another scene, McConnell oversees his hands as they apply caustic chemicals to the ankles of the horses and then wrap them with plastic wrap so the chemicals eat into the skin.
"That creates intense pain and then the ankles are wrapped with large metal chains so the horses flinch, or raise their feet even higher," said Dane of the Humane Society.
McConnell is expected to enter a guilty plea to one count, according to his lawyers.
He declined to comment, or apologize for his acts, when approached by ABC News this week outside his home.
Leaders of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry maintain that such brutality is rare and that trainers do not have to cheat to win championships, which can add millions of dollars to the value of horses.
"They do not have to cheat to win," said Dr. Steve Mullins of the group called SHOW, which oversees inspections of horses before major events. "You don't have to do this kind of junk to win. ... And we are terribly against this stuff."
The industry group maintains that the vast majority of horses are not subjected to the cruel practice of "soring."
But a random inspection by the agents of the Department of Agriculture at last year's annual championship found that 52 of 52 horses tested positive for some sort of foreign substance around front hooves, either to cause pain or to hide it.
Dr. Mullins told ABC News there could be innocent explanations for some of the foreign substances found by the inspectors.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 7:50am
 Spencer Platt/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Jobless claims didn't budge last week, remaining at 370,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The figure for the week ending May 12 is a revision from the previous week's number, which was initially said to be 367,000.
The four-week average, however, did see some movement, dropping by 4,750 to 375,000.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 6:59am
 iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Is the foreclosure crisis in the U.S. nearing its end? New numbers out Thursday by RealtyTrac show that foreclosure activity is down to a near five-year low across the country.
"In April 2012, there were less than 189,000 properties with foreclosure filings during the month. That was a 57-month low. That's the lowest level we've seen since July 2007," says Daren Blomquist with RealtyTrac.
Blomquist credits the decrease partly to banks being more willing to work with struggling homeowners.
"More properties that would have become foreclosures otherwise are actually becoming short sales. The lenders are becoming much more aggressive in agreeing to short sales," he explains.
This has likely helped lead to a drop in the number of filings in the West. Foreclosure activity is down in Arizona, California and Nevada -- states that were hard hit by the foreclosure crisis -- according to RealtyTrac.
But, Blomquist cautions homeowners are not out of the woods yet.
"It's not that foreclosures have completely gone away by any means, but at least they're heading in the right direction and finally have kind of gotten through this very big batch of bad loans that triggered the foreclosure crisis in the first place," he says.
And while the outlook has improved on the West coast, the picture is grimmer towards the East. Filings are up year over year in Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, RealtyTrac reports.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 5:57am
 LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- At the same time the price and public clamor for Facebook's blockbuster IPO is rising, experts' expectations for the company's performance are in decline.
The company on Tuesday raised the asking price of its offering -- expected on Friday -- from a range of $28-$35 to $34-$38.
In a survey of 124 portfolio managers and buy-side analysts conducted by Rivel Research Group, only 8 percent said they expect to see Facebook trading above its offering price six months after the initial public offering. Thirty-one percent said they expect the offering to have no impact whatsoever on the overall market for IPOs.
Yet excitement among ordinary investors for the IPO continues to run high, given that past IPOs have made some investors rich. An analysis by ABC News shows, for example, that a share of Johnson & Johnson bought at the IPO price of $375 would be worth $10 million today. A share of Apple bought at the 1980 IPO price of $22 would be worth about $44,800 now.
The fact that Facebook's stock has been virtually impossible for little guys to buy in advance of Friday's offering may only have heightened the shares' appeal, on the principle that what people want most are things they cannot have.
Jay Ritter, an expert on the history of IPOs and a professor of finance at the University of Florida, says Facebook's offering is indeed historic.
"This is more than just another IPO," he says. "It's the largest ever for an Internet company, and among the largest for any in U.S. company in history." It's unprecedented, he says, for a company just eight years old to receive a market cap of $100 billion.
Ritter says other recent IPOs have raised comparable amounts, including Visa's IPO and GM's in 2010. Both companies had name recognition: "Everybody knows GM. Lots of people have a Visa card." Yet neither offering generated anywhere near the excitement as Facebook's.
Of course, neither company had a chief executive of Mark Zuckerberg's star power or youth appeal. And, says Ritter, neither had Facebook's "blistering" growth rate.
"People confuse rapid growth with a good investment," he says.
Now the $100 billion question is, can Facebook maintain that growth by better monetizing its 900-million-plus users?
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 4:49am
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LAS VEGAS) -- Melodee Megia, a former employee at The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, claims she was told she was fired from her job for saying "bye bye" on the telephone instead of "goodbye" while eight-months pregnant.
She has filed a lawsuit against the hotel for pregnancy discrimination and a class-action suit for workers' wages, saying employees were not paid for the time they had to wait for and change into their uniforms on a daily basis.
Megia worked at the hotel from November 2010 until September 2011, when she said she was fired "based on her pregnancy," according to court papers filed with the Clark County District Court in Nevada last week.
Megia was a "room service sales" employee answering the telephone when hotel guests called for room service, and occasionally assisting in room delivery, her lawyers said.
She is represented by labor attorneys Mark Thierman and Jason Kuller.
Thierman said "she was denigrated verbally and was mistreated because of her pregnancy," while having a "behind-the-scenes" job at the hotel.
Amy Rossetti, public relations director of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, said in a statement, "As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation."
In March 2011, according to the lawsuit, Megia was asked to deliver a "pleasure packet" of condoms to a hotel customer, when Megia's supervisor said, "Isn't it too late for that? You should have thought about it before getting knocked up."
"From that point forward, the director of room service frequently gave [Megia] dirty looks or shook his head disapprovingly," the suit said.
On Sept. 16, 2011, when she was eight months pregnant, the "stated reason for [her] termination was that she said 'bye bye' instead of 'good bye' on the telephone to a room service customer," according to the suit.
"In fact, this was merely a pretext as [Megia] had been subject to harassing conduct and other pretextual discipline leading up to her termination since the time her pregnancy was learned by [the hotel]," the suit added.
In the same filing to sue the hotel for unspecified damages for pregnancy discrimination, Megia also made class-action allegations for unpaid wages on behalf of the hotel's employees.
Workers were not permitted to wear their uniforms outside work and had to pick up and drop off their uniforms before and after their shifts, often leading to additional overtime for which they were not paid, the suit claimed.
The suit said employees also had to change into their uniforms on-site in an area away from where they clocked in and out for the day.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted today at 3:24am
 Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images(MENLO PARK, Calif.) -- It’s going to be a sleepover at Facebook the night before the big IPO.
Employees from the social networking site will be holding what the company calls a "hackathon" Thursday night.
According to Facebook, "Hackathons are a big tradition at Facebook. They serve as the foundation for some great (and not so great) ideas. It gives our employees the opportunity to try out new ideas and collaborate with other people in a fun environment."
Basically, the company’s employees spend the night working on their ideas to see where they go. Everyone at the company is invited.
This is something they have done in the past, but this will be their last such endeavor as a private company.
The next morning, Mark Zuckerberg will ring the opening bell on Wall Street, making many of these employees millionaires and billionaires.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 7:36pm
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MIAMI) -- Ever wonder what happened to that piece of lost luggage that was never seen again? In some instances, the airport where it was left could have auctioned it off for profit.
One of the busiest hubs in the United States is Miami International Airport, where M-I-A isn't just the airport's call letters, but could easily stand for luggage that is "missing in action." The airport is home to an enormous graveyard of discarded duffel bags and carry-ons that have been cast aside. There are also forgotten bikes, laptops, surfboards, cameras, cellphones, even paintings and crutches -- all of which have gone unclaimed or don't carry identification.
"We take the time to make sure that we reconnect the item with the person if that's possible," said Miami International spokesman Marc Henderson. "But, you know, the airport is not a storage shelter. So after 60 days, it's like, OK, it's time to have an auction."
Last year, across the United States, nearly 2 million suitcases were reported to be either lost, damaged or delayed. About 10,000 bags go missing at Miami International alone every year.
To avoid losing your luggage, Henderson said it is as simple as keeping your bag with you at all times.
"I walk the terminal all the time. Traditionally on average one or two times a day, I will see a bag that is not attended," he said. "Somebody has walked away, have gone into a shop, they've gone into an eating establishment. They've left their bag there."
That's a "no-no," Henderson said, because of the heightened security at airports today. He also suggested not packing anything of significant value, or if you must, carry those items with you on the plane.
Miami International hosts a lost luggage auction twice a year to a standing room-only crowd who pays a $3 admission fee to get in on the bidding action. Most of the patrons are just regular folks who are looking to turn a quick profit.
Billy Leroy, who owns an eclectic props and antique store in New York City, was one of the bidders in Miami and is also one of the stars of the Travel Channel's new reality TV show, Baggage Battles, which airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The show follows three teams of savvy auction specialists who travel the world to place bets in high-stakes luggage auctions.
Dozens of these auctions happen at airports all over the country, with thousands of bags and millions of dollars at stake. Bidders can't open the unclaimed bags and have to rely on their instincts to place bets on what could be inside -- which could be anything from expensive jewelry or just laundry.
Only after bidders win the bags do they get to open them and find out if they have hit the jackpot.
"You've got to shoot from the hip and just vibe it," Leroy said of betting on the bags. "I mean, it sounds crazy but that's how I do it, that's how I make my business is by my gut feeling."
Faced with a mountain of luggage, bidders are given about an hour to pick up the bags, handle them and get a feel for what they might be carrying. Leroy also said he employs a "smell test," and said he won't bid on a bag that smells bad.
"Heavy is good, but carry-on is good too," Leroy said. "Expensive carry-on is good, and heavy, expensive carry-on is good, but heavy expensive carry-on could have dirty underwear in it."
But Leroy said that formula can sometimes backfire because an expensive-looking bag could be a fake.
Miami International has made as much as $100,000 in a single auction and it's not just off lost luggage bags. They also auction off singular items in bulk, where bidders can take bets on bags of jewelry or electronics that have been left at TSA checkpoints, or entire cargo loads of discarded items.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 4:04pm
 Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- After initially climbing into positive territory upon news from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, stocks fell Wednesday on worries about Europe's shaky financial situation, particularly in Greece.
The Dow closed down 33 points at 12,598. The Nasdaq lost 20 points to close at 2,874, while the S&P gave up just six points, closing at 1,324.
The markets continue to be held back by fear that Greece's political unrest could lead to the nation's exit from the European Union.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has released the minutes of its latest meeting. Members are ready to do more to stimulate the economy if growth falters, or even if there are more signs that it will. That's in stark contrast to the Central Bank's previous meeting, when the Fed initially said no new help was needed.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
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