Current Events in March 2015

Boa Vida Imports of New Bedford, Mass., is recalling approximately 385 pounds of pork and beef products.

The products were imported from Portugal, which is not eligible to export meat products to the U.S., and were also not presented at the U.S. point of entry for inspection.

Without the benefit of full inspection, including determining the equivalence of a foreign food regulatory system, a possibility of adverse health consequences exists.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following pork meat and beef tripe stew with beans items, produced on various dates between July and October 2014, are being recalled:

• 1-lb. cans of “NOBRE Receitas Caseiras CHISPALHADA” with a use or sell by date of 10/21/2016 on the can.
• 1-lb. cans of “NOBRE Receitas Caseiras DOBRADA COM FEIJAO BRANCA” with a use or sell by date of 09/23/2016 on the can.
• 1-lb. cans of “NOBRE Receitas Caseiras FEIJOADA A TRANSMOTANA” with a use or sell by date of 07/10/2016 on the can.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “PT RTR 79 CE” inside the Portugal mark of inspection, and were shipped to retail locations in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Antonio Coutinho at (744) 206-1625.

Over the last 5 years or so researchers have made tantalizing progress against the scourge of Alzheimer's disease, but the developments have yet to get to the final phase of testing.

Then suddenly last week a drug from pharmaceutical giant Biogen Idec grabbed the attention of the scientific world. It also got the attention of a perhaps harder-to-impress group – Wall Street traders. Biogen stock surge nearly 10% in a single day.

It was all because the company announced that a Phase 1b study of one of its drugs, aducanumab, demonstrated that it was safe for people to take. The reason people would take the drug is it is believed to be a powerful weapon against Alzheimer's disease.

Reduces plaque

Previous studies have show that treatment with aducanumab reduced the amount of amyloid plaque in the brain. Amyloid plaque is believed to be largely responsible for the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's.

The company points to a series of exploratory analyses, showing a dose-dependent, statistically significant effect of slowing clinical decline was observed on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scales.

“This is the first time an investigational drug for Alzheimer’s disease has demonstrated a statistically significant reduction on amyloid plaque as well as a statistically significant slowing of clinical impairment in patients with prodromal or mild disease,” said Dr. Alfred Sandrock, group senior vice president and chief medical officer at Biogen. “Based on these results, we are advancing the aducanumab clinical program to Phase 3 with plans to initiate enrollment later this year.”

Phase 3 trial

That last sentence is key. During a Phase 3 trial, the drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely. It is the last step before applying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to be marketed in the U.S.

According to the Wall Street Journal, industry analysts were excited because brain imaging scans have shown reductions in plaque, corresponding to clinical improvements. The paper quotes Christopher Raymond, analyst for Robert Baird, as saying “these data are more impressive than anything we have seen in Alzheimer's disease.”

Biogen says its Phase 3 trial, testing the efficacy of the drug, will include more than 1,000 patients.

Hopeful news for Boomers?

It's significant any time there is a promising development in treatment for a chronic disease that is ultimately fatal. Because of a population trend, this development might prove to be particularly significant.

One of the major Alzheimer's risk factors is age. With the huge Baby Boom generation now entering its senior years, the risk of a surge in Alzheimer's cases is growing.

A report (PDF) last month by the Alzheimer's Association projected the cost of treating the disease in the U.S. could swell to $1 trillion a year by 2050.

In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 25 million individuals worldwide were living with Alzheimer's. Researchers believe changes to the brain typically begin years prior to the symptoms that lead to a clinical diagnosis.  

The question of whether you are better off buying or renting doesn't have a simple answer. A lot of factors come into play because a lot depends on where you live and what your future plans are.

Complicating matters is the fact that the real estate market is usually in a state of flux, with home prices going up one month and rental costs another.

Deciding whether you are better off buying or renting starts with your local market; how do home prices compare to rents?

Home prices have recovered significantly since they bottomed in 2011 but are still under their 2007 peak in many areas. When you factor in historically low interest rates – and we're talking 4% or less – then houses look a lot more affordable.

Rents on the rise

Rents, on the other hand, have been moving higher over the last 5 years or so, a product of supply and demand.

“The demand for rental properties has never been higher, and because of the high demand, the expense has never been higher either, said Dana Dillard Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Nationstar Mortgage.

Real estate site Zillow recently reported that rents have escalated in some markets where they had remained flat for years.

For example, rents in Kansas City were up 8.5% year-over-year in January. The average rent in St. Louis was up 4.4% after being flat, or even falling, in previous years.

If you rent your home you can expect the rent to go up every year. For the nation as a whole, Zillow reports rents rose 3.3% from 2014 to 2015.

But if the water heater goes out, you don't have to pay to repair or replace it – the landlord does. If you decide to move out of the area, you don't have to sell a home first.

Effect on cash flow

Purchasing a home still presents challenges for many people. Dillard says lending requirements definitely tightened up after the housing crisis, and it has not loosened very much since then.

“The best advice I have on keeping your options open is to ensure you understand how your credit score works and know what actions can have a negative impact on it,” Dillard said. “The higher your credit score, the more options you'll have when it comes to making housing decisions."

Read more about the importance of your credit score.

Assuming you can qualify for a mortgage and can save up for the down payment – which can be as little as 3% for both conventional and government-backed loans – chances are your monthly payment will be less that what you would pay in rent for the same home. Sometimes, hundreds of dollars a month less. And it will likely stay the same each year, going up a few dollars now and then when insurance costs and taxes rise.

Explore different loan options from Nationstar

Measured strictly on a monthly cash-flow basis, owning will in many cases be much easier on your budget. However, you will be responsible for maintenance on the home and replacing that water heater when it breaks.

There are also costs associated with both buying and selling a home, so the longer you own it the less a factor those costs become because they can be spread over a number of years. Still, all of these costs of owning a home are real and should be considered.

Calculators

Can you afford to buy a home? Nationstar's website provides a calculator to help you find out.

A “Buy vs. Rent” calculator can help you compare the relative costs of both options by entering relevant personal data. For example, Realtor.com's calculator measures the relative cost of a home and rent in the area where you live.

It gives you a breakdown of the costs of owning, including the initial costs, what you pay in mortgage payments and projected maintenance costs, the cost of eventually selling the property and what it calls “lost opportunity” costs – what you might have made if you had invested the initial costs in a profitable venture.

It compiles a similar breakdown for renting and then gives you a graph showing when, if ever, buying is more advantageous than renting.

If you want a less complicated calculator, Trulia offers one that works off much less data. It takes the price of a house you are considering, the amount of rent you would otherwise pay, the number of years you plan to live in the house, your tax bracket and interest rate and creates a chart showing by what percentage owning or renting is cheaper.

Intangibles

Then there are intangible factors that make renting or owning a better fit. If you think you might be moving in a year or 2, buying a home is probably not the right move.

On the other hand, if you plan to remain in an area for at least five years and need more space for a growing family or a pet or 2, it might be smart to buy.

If you have a pet – let's say a large dog – your choice of rental properties will be smaller since not all rentals allow pets. And those that do usually charge a rather large pet fee for large dogs.

The decision to buy a home isn't always based entirely on dollars and cents. Some people want to personalize their living space, making modifications that simply aren't possible with a rental.

Consumers got in trouble during the housing boom when they bought more house than they could afford, or saw their adjustable interest rates surge. Dillard says consumers must make sure they can afford all the costs associated with homeownership, not just the down payment and closing costs, which by themselves are often a challenge.

“If putting together the upfront cash proves to be financially taxing, it may not be the right time for you to make a big commitment like a mortgage,” Dillard said.

Patients diagnosed with diabetes are usually treated with insulin, a natural substance in the body that regulates how sugar is broken down and processed.

For decades insulin has been a life saver and allowed diabetics to live a healthier, more active life.

But for diabetics who lack prescription drug benefits, insulin prescriptions are costly, running anywhere from $120 to $400 a month. While many expensive drugs have less-expensive generic alternatives, insulin does not – at least not in the U.S.

Normally, pharmaceutical companies obtain a patent for a drug, allowing them exclusive right to sell it under a name brand. Eventually the patent expires, and other drug companies may then produce it and sell it for less in its generic form.

But that hasn't happened with insulin, even though it was introduced more than 90 years ago.

Evergreening

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins researchers Jeremy Greene and Kevin Riggs say insulin is an example of what's called “evergreening.” The drug company holding the patent keeps making small improvements to the drug and each time it does it renews the patent.

These regular tweaks result in more effective medication for people with diabetes but has had the effect of blocking entry of a generic insulin drug to the market.

True, generic drug makers could produce the older versions of the drugs, but the authors say they don't because they have less incentive. As a result, they say many patients who should be taking insulin don't because they can't afford it.

While there are generic drugs for just about everything else, Greene and Riggs say a generic insulin would be highly beneficial.

Limits of competition

“We see generic drugs as a rare success story, providing better quality at a cheaper price,” said Greene, who is an associate professor of the history of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a practicing internist. “And we see the progression from patented drug to generic drug as almost automatic. But the history of insulin highlights the limits of generic competition as a framework for protecting the public health.”

There have been many notable improvements to insulin over the years. In the 1930s and 1940s, insulin treatments became longer-acting, so that most patients only had to take a single dose each day.

In the 1970s and 1980s, manufacturers improved the purity of cow and pig extracted insulin. Since then, several companies have developed synthetic forms.

The authors say the patents on the first synthetic insulin expired last year, but these newer forms are harder to copy so these unpatented versions will go through a lengthy Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process and will cost more to make.

Riggs and Greene say there may ultimately be some generic versions of these insulin drugs but they probably won't be a lot cheaper than the name brands.

After getting off to a slow start in January, sales of previously-owned homes moved higher last month.

Figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) show existing-home sales -- completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were up 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million. That's a gain of 4.7% from a year ago and above year-over-year totals for the fifth straight month.

Thanks to constrained inventory levels, the median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $202,600 -- up 7.5% from February 2014, the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains and the largest since an advance of 8.8% last February. The median is the point at which half the homes are priced higher and half are lower.

Market stagnation

Although February sales showed modest improvement, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says there’s been some stagnation in the market in recent months. “Insufficient supply appears to be hampering prospective buyers in several areas of the country and is hiking prices to near unsuitable levels,” he said. “Stronger price growth is a boon for homeowners looking to build additional equity, but it continues to be an obstacle for current buyers looking to close before rates rise.”

Yun adds that severe winter weather likely had an impact on sales.

Regional sales

• Existing-home sales in the Northeast dropped 6.5% in February to an annual rate of 580,000, but are still 3.6% above a year ago. The median price was $241,800 -- 3.3% above a year ago.
• In the Midwest, existing-home sales were unchanged from the previous month at an annual level of 1.08 million, but still 4.9% above February 2014. The median price jumped 8.8% from a year earlier to $152,900.
• Sales in the South rose 1.9% to an annual rate of 2.11 million in February, showing a year-over-year gain of 5.0%. The median price was $177,900 -- up 8.5% from a year ago.
• Sales of previously-owned homes in the West climbed 5.7% to an annual rate of 1.11 million in February, and are now 2.8% above February 2014. The median price rose 4.2% from a year earlier -- to $290,100.

Like it or not, genetically modified apples and potatoes may soon be on their way to your produce section.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week formally approved a non-browning apple produced by Okanagan Specialty Fruits of Canada and the Innate potato, a creation of the J.R. Simplot Co., an Idaho french fry maker.

It's the last hurdle facing both products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved the new GMO Arctic Apple just last month and the company was recently purchased by Intrexon, which is in the GMO salmon business.

Safe and nutritious

The FDA said both products "are as safe and nutritious as their conventional counterparts.” They will not have to be labeled because the FDA does not currently require GMO labeling, although Vermont does and some other states and cities may follow suit, even though most scientists agree that genetic modification does not present a major health risk.

Other produce, chiefly corn and soybeans, are already genetically modified to resist pests. The Artic Apples and Simplot potatoes, on the other hand, have characteristics that are aimed primarily at consumers. The apple resists browning and the potatoes are said to be tastier and to produce less waste. 

Aurora Products is recalling certain lots of natural walnuts and trail mixes containing walnuts.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recalled products were distributed through retail stores nationwide and in Canada and Bermuda.

Consumers who have the products listed below should not eat them and destroy them or return them to the place of purchase.

All Potentially Affected Aurora Branded Items are Listed Below:

Martins Food Markets, Stop&Shop, Giant Carlisle Food Store, Giant of Maryland, Brand Products

Whole Foods Market Brand Products

Nutiva, which bills itself as an “organic superfoods company,” is recalling 3 of its O’Coconut items.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella

The following products are being recalled:

The latter two items (BAR202 & BAR302) were distributed via Nutiva.com or as samples only.

Customers with questions or who would like product replacements or refunds may call (800) 993-4367 or email help@nutiva.com.

Texas Star Nut and Food Co., of Boerne, Texas, is recalling Nature’s Eats Natural Macadamia Nuts.

The product may be contaminated with Salmonella

No illnesses have been reported in relation to this product at this time.

The recalled product, lot code #31435001 and packed in cello bags, was distributed only to HEB stores, in Texas, between 12/30/2014 and 3/20/2015. The Best Before -- 12/23/2015 -- is located on the bottom of the nutritional label on the back of the bag.

Consumers who purchased the recalled product should not eat or discontinue consuming it and return it to HEB for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-844-571-5555 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CST.

Van Lang Foods of Countryside, Ill., is recalling approximately 232 pounds of pork potstickers and chicken dim sum

The products contain egg, a known allergen which was not declared on the product label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following products are being recalled:

• 12-oz. trays of “Sid Wainer and Son Domaine de Provence Pork Potstickers”
• 12-oz. trays of “Sid Wainer and Son Domaine de Provence Chicken Dim Sum”

Although the recalled products were packaged in boxes that bear the establishment number “P-18403” or “EST 18403” inside the USDA Mark of Inspection, the consumer labels do not have the mark of inspection.

The chicken dim sum was produced on November 11, 2014, and the pork potstickers on November 12, 2014. Both were shipped to a distributor for retail sales in New Bedford, Mass.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Nick Podoba at (708) 588-0800.

A gym membership can be expensive, and having to travel to another location to get in a workout can also be inconvenient, especially for busy people.

That's why many consumers opt to purchase one or two pieces of exercise equipment for their home, so that they can get in their exercise whenever they have a few spare minutes, or while they are watching TV. Depending on the type and quality of the equipment you purchase, you should be able to get as much value from home exercise equipment as you would a gym membership.

Choosing a piece of home exercise equipment to buy is similar to selecting the equipment you want to use at a gym. Different equipment provides different benefits.

Types of equipment

At the gym, the treadmill might be among the most popular machines. It rates high for burning calories and promoting cardiovascular health.

Elliptical machines and stationary bikes don't have quite the calorie burn rate of treadmills but they are both a lot easier on joints. For people who are overweight, starting on one of these machines might be a better option than a treadmill.

Resistance training machines promote muscle development in specific areas of the body. They are used to increase body strength and are an important complement to cardio equipment.

Just as the machines at the gym, your home exercise equipment should also provide plenty of data about your workout. Quality cardio machines, such as treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes, should come with controls allowing consumers to easily change the exercise information and control display.

Data collection

A good treadmill, for example, should include time and distance monitoring. That display tells you how far you would have traveled if you were on an open surface and how long you have been exercising.

By entering some data about yourself – primarily your weight – a calorie monitor should estimate how many calories you have burned during your workout. By adjusting the speed and incline of the treadmill you can increase or decrease the calorie burn rate.

Choosing the brand of equipment to purchase requires a bit more research. Fortunately, ConsumerAffairs readers have posted hundreds of reviews, detailing their experience with the products and the companies that sell them. 

Here are a few of the better-known brands:

Yowza Fitness

Yowza Fitness specializes in treadmills and elliptical equipment. The company offers a lifetime limited warranty and interest-free financing on select models.

Yowza's transformer treadmills are folding treadmills, designed to save space when they aren't in use. Its Sebring model is a popular product, selling for $1299. It can stand up to the most powerful foot-pounding and is fully loaded with features, including an iPod/MP3 port.

Holly, a reader from Jacksonville, N.C., says she did a lot of research and liked what she saw. She particularly likes the Sebring's weight management tool and the scale that goes with it.

“After looking at everything that we compared it to, it was a great brand,” she wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “The customer service representative was very good, knowledgeable, and explained the product thoroughly.”

ProForm Fitness

Proform Fitness also makes a wide variety of treadmills and ellipticals, as well as stationary bikes and rowing machines. Its Pro 16.0 NE elliptical is its top of the line, retailing for $1499.

An elliptical is sometimes called a “cross trainer” and simulates climbing stairs, walking or running without putting excessive pressure on foot and knee joints. For that reason, these machines are popular with people recovering from injuries.

ProForm's Pro 16.0 NE is popular because it comes mostly assembled, reducing the set-up time. The electronics package includes a built-in full color touch screen display that not only shows your exercise data but also connects to the Internet.

Bowflex

Bowflex makes several types of home exercise equipment but is perhaps best known for its home gym products, promoting strength training. The Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE Home Gym, which lists for $1599, provides a number of different exercises in one piece of equipment.

The company says its Power Rod units provide resistance, or weight, that feels as good as or better than free weights, but without the drawbacks, such as inertia or risk of joint injury. The Extreme 2 SE comes with 210 pounds standard, but is upgradable to 310 pounds.

The no-change cable pulley system allows you to go from squats to lats to leg workouts without having to change. You not only save time but keep your heart rate up as you progress through your workout.

Lifespan Fitness

Lifespan Fitness produces a full line of fitness equipment for the home, workplace and health clubs. The equipment may be more expensive but it is often the same machines you find at a commercial gym.

Besides treadmills, stationary bikes and elliptical machines, Lifespan sells several models of recumbent bikes, on which the rider's legs stretch horizontally to reach the peddles, instead of straight down. The Lifespan R31 recumbent bike, recently marked down from $1799 to $1199, offers horizontally adjustable seats with full back support and holds riders up to 400 pounds.

It comes with 17 preset bike workouts that include weight management, healthy living and home training programs. The system helps you track your health progress, allowing you to upload your data via a USB to the LifeSpan Club — a free membership that comes with your purchase.

Lifespan also sells treadmill desks – stand-up workstations that allow workers to not only stay on their feet while on the job but to keep moving, burning calories throughout the day. These workstations have become more popular in response to recent research showing that sitting for prolonged periods is harmful to cardiovascular health.

SOLE Fitness

SOLE Fitness markets a full range of fitness equipment for home use, including SR500 Fitness Rower, marked down from $1,499 to $999. Rowers are simple, yet effective cardio machines that work your body harder than many other electric-powered fitness machines on the market. With a rower, the user provides all the power.

It’s good for burning fat, building muscle endurance, increasing cardiovascular fitness and it requires users to give equal effort to both the upper and lower body. One of the best things about it is users of all age and fitness level can use it. It works the abs, core, legs and lower back, providing a full body workout.

SOLE says the SR500 features “smooth air and magnetic resistance” to make you actually feel like you are pulling yourself across the water. According to the company, it was designed by rowers, with a clean smooth motion and the ability to adjust all of the settings to make the machine work for you and your body type. It accommodate users up to 6'7" tall.

SOUL offers 7 treadmill models and 6 ellipticals at prices ranging from $799 to $3499.

Take a test ride

If at all possible, try to find a store or showroom where you can try out the model you're considering. ConsumerAffairs ordered a NordicTrack recumbent bike for this story. We found assembling it quite a challenge as many pieces simply did not fit very well. 

Worse yet, after assembly was completed we found that our two testers -- one 6 feet tall, the other 5'7" -- didn't fit very well either. They had a choice of banging their knees on the handlebars or moving the seat back so far that it was hard to reach the pedals. 

An email to the company drew this response:

Thank you for contacting us. ... We do not have an optional seat that your seat can be replaced with, you will need to adjust the seat to the comfortability of each user.

What to look for

To give you a solid workout and the means to track your progress, any electronic fitness equipment should have several pre-programmed routines that deliver different results, based on your health and fitness goals. For example, on most treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals, consumers can choose from exercise routines promoting a healthy heart, burning calories and other goals.

The equipment should also allow you to input your personal data. The computer needs to know your height, weight and sex so it can tailor the workout exercise to your specific needs.

If your primary goal is to lose weight, you probably require a different level of resistance than people who are exercising to maintain a healthy weight, improve heart health or gain muscle mass.

The machines should also provide heart-controlled workouts. These routines provide the minimum cardiac exercise needed to keep the heart functioning the way it should.

Vital signs monitors

Fitness equipment should also give users a way to monitor their vital signs during a workout. Perhaps the most important one is a heart rate monitor.

Most types of equipment have special handles that, when gripped, automatically track the user's pulse and display the heart rate on a monitor. That way, the user can adjust the machine's speed and resistance to maintain the preferred level of exertion.

Machines that track heart rate usually provide calorie burn data, provided the user has input the required personal data. Some equipment also provides breathing rate monitors, which can measure how quickly the user is breathing.

Resistance

A quality piece of exercise equipment should offer a variety of resistance levels that alter the intensity of the workout. The greater the resistance the more calories the user burns and the more stress placed on muscles, promoting their strengthening.

A primary form of resistance is incline. Stair steppers, exercise bikes and treadmills all have an incline mode, which simulates walking up a hill. Machines should have pre-programmed resistance workouts as well as the ability to manually increase and decrease resistance during the workout. These controls should be easy to operate during a workout.

Video displays not only provide an easy way to monitor your workout but can provide an entertaining diversion while you exercise. Some models connect directly to cable TV. Others connect to the Internet and some connect to both.

Some exercise equipment utilizes the video screen for video games, as a way to fight the boredom of a long workout. Sometimes stationary bikes and rowing machines include virtual displays of terrain and water to make the user feel like they are peddling up a mountain or zooming across a lake.

Final thoughts

Ready to go shopping? Good. Sure, you can exercise with only a couple miles of sidewalk and a good pair of sneakers, but a good piece of exercise equipment can be a sound investment in your health.

But before making that investment, experts at the Harvard Medical School offer this advice: exercise equipment comes in all sizes, shapes, and price ranges. Do your research, consulting reviews from both consumers who actually use the equipment and experts.

After selecting a piece of equipment, learn to use it properly. Otherwise, you could injure yourself and set back your efforts to improve your health.

Finally, make sure the equipment is a good fit for your body and your goals. The best equipment only produces results when it is used regularly.

The Wall Street Journal has acquired and released internal Federal Trade Commission documents that raise some interesting questions about the FTC's official handling of an antitrust investigation into Google's practices.

Specifically, FTC staff members investigating Google's practices a few years ago recommended at the time that the agency sue the company on anti-competitive grounds over its allegedly biased search-engine results, yet the FTC publicly voted to do the exact opposite.

In 2012, the FTC started investigating Google and concluded that the company's search engine results “boosted its own shopping, travel and local business services” while intentionally giving lower search rankings to rival products, according to the FTC staff report acquired by the Journal.

But that's not what the American public initially heard. In January 2013, the FTC publicly announced that, after 19 months of investigation into Google, the “facts just weren't there” to support charges of biased search results. At a press conference, the then-current chairman Jon Leibowitz said that the FTC's bipartisan commission voted 5-0 that Google's search results were not biased to favor its own products over its competitors'.

Not everyone convinced

Not that everyone back then was convinced by the FTC's reassurances. The California-based nonprofit Consumer Watchdog group, for example, responded to the FTC's January 2013 announcement by saying that “Google clearly skews search results to favor its own products and services while portraying the results as unbiased. That undermines competition and hurts consumers.... The FTC rolled over for Google.”

The following December, Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint with the FTC alleging deception in Google Shopping results. “The way that the Internet giant is featuring results from Google Shopping without making it clear that the highlighted results are nothing more than advertisements for merchants who bid for placement is an unfair and deceptive act …. Moreover, consumers are actually being harmed because the featured results from Google Shopping more often than not return higher prices than can be found elsewhere, when consumers would reasonably expect Google’s suggestions to be the best,” CW's Privacy Project Director said at the time.

This week's revelations suggest that the FTC itself agreed with such criticisms all along, despite publicly claiming otherwise.

The FTC has not commented about the report, but Google's general counsel, Kent Walker, said in a statement that, “After an exhaustive 19-month review, covering nine million pages of documents and many hours of testimony, the FTC staff and all five FTC Commissioners agreed that there was no need to take action on how we rank and display search results. Speculation about potential consumer and competitor harm turned out to be entirely wrong.”

Furthermore, said Walker on behalf of Google, “since the investigation closed two years ago, the ways people access information online have increased dramatically, giving consumers more choice than ever before. And our competitors are in fact thriving. For example, Yelp calls itself the ‘de facto local search engine’ and has seen revenue growth of over 350% in the last four years, TripAdvisor claims to be the web’s 'largest travel brand' and has nearly doubled its revenues in the last 4 years.”

With less than a month to go before this year's federal income tax filing deadline, that still leaves plenty of time for identity thieves and other forms of scammer to try and enrich themselves at your expense.

Of course, various forms of IRS scam have existed for almost as long as the IRS itself, but this year, the particular problem of IRS-related identity theft rose to national prominence after Minnesota briefly stopped accepting state tax returns e-filed through TurboTax, because too many scammers were using it to file fraudulent tax returns in the names of legitimate state taxpayers.

Minnesota soon lifted the ban and allowed TurboTax e-filing again – but in the meantime, the revenue commissioners from multiple other U.S. states announced that they would be delaying the payment of state tax refunds in order to double-check for fraud.

Last August, the Government Accountability Office conducted an investigation which concluded that the IRS may have lost $5.8 billion paying out fraudulent tax returns for the 2013 tax filing season. (That loss is limited to the federal level; there's no knowing how many fraudulent returns were paid by income-tax-collecting states.)

The GAO report also noted that for those honest taxpayers whose identities were used to file fraudulent returns, the taxpayers had to wait an average of 300 days to see resolution on their cases.

Earlier this month, U.S. senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) proposed a bill (summary available in downloadable .pdf form here) called the Identity Theft and Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2015, which, among other things, would:

• call for the IRS to resolve and close identity theft cases within 90 days;
• require the IRS to assign ID victims a “single point of contact” rather than have to explain their entire situation to a brand-new IRS employee who knows nothing of their case, every time they contact the agency;
• give taxpayers the ability to “opt-out” of electronic filing (thus making it impossible for scammers to e-file fraudulent returns in their names);
• inform identity theft victims if the thief who stole their identity has been caught; and
• a few additional protections.

The bill's six co-sponsors, all Democrats, are Bill Nelson of Florida, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer of New York.

If you turned 70½ during 2014, the clock is ticking.

No, not that way but in terms of receiving your required minimum distribution (RMD) from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and workplace retirement plan. You have until Wednesday, April 1.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the April 1 deadline applies to owners of traditional IRAs but not Roth IRAs. Normally, it also applies to participants in various workplace retirement plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans.

Additionally, the April 1 deadline applies only to the required distribution for the first year. For all subsequent years, the RMD must be made by Dec. 31. So, if you turned 70½ last year and receive the first required payment on April 1, for example, you must still take the second RMD by Dec. 31, 2015.

Calculating the RMD

Affected taxpayers who turned 70½ during 2014 must figure the RMD for the first year using the life expectancy as of their birthday in 2014 and their account balance on Dec. 31, 2013. The trustee reports the year-end account value to the IRA owner on Form 5498 in Box 5. Worksheets and life expectancy tables for making this computation can be found in the Appendices to  Publication 590-B.

Most taxpayers use Table III (Uniform Lifetime) to figure their RMD. For a taxpayer who reached age 70½ in 2014 and turned 71 before the end of the year, for example, the first required distribution would be based on a distribution period of 26.5 years. A separate table, Table II, applies to a taxpayer married to a spouse who is more than 10 years younger and is the taxpayer’s only beneficiary.

Exceptions

Though the April 1 deadline is mandatory for all owners of traditional IRAs and most participants in workplace retirement plans, some people with workplace plans can wait longer to receive their RMD.

Usually, employees who are still working can, if their plan allows, wait until April 1 of the year after they retire to start receiving these distributions. See Tax on Excess Accumulation in Publication 575.

Employees of public schools and certain tax-exempt organizations with 403(b) plan accruals before 1987 should check with their employer, plan administrator or provider to see how to treat these accruals.

The IRS encourages taxpayers to begin planning now for any distributions required during 2015. An IRA trustee must either report the amount of the RMD to the IRA owner or offer to calculate it for the owner. Often, the trustee shows the RMD amount in Box 12b on Form 5498.

For a 2015 RMD, this amount would be on the 2014 Form 5498 that is normally issued in January 2015.

More information on RMDs, including answers to frequently asked questions, may be found on IRS.gov.

Everybody knows that electric cars help reduce air pollution but studies show that there may be two hidden benefits that electric cars have over conventional vehicles.

The first is that they can help reduce the “heat island effect.” This refers to built-up areas, usually in urban settings, that are hotter than nearby rural areas.

For example, the annual mean air temperature of a city with one million people or more can be 2-5 degrees warmer than outlying areas. This is due to the heat given off by gas-powered vehicles and other machinery. This difference can jump as high as 22 degrees during the evening in warmer months.

Electric cars only emit about 20% of the heat that gas-powered vehicles do. Introducing more of them into cities could create a noticeable difference in temperatures.

The second benefit is that they can save you money by lowering the amount of power you use. By reducing the heat island effect through reduced emissions, you will no longer have to spend as much money on air conditioning costs -- which is another benefit to the environment.

Heat waves kill

Decreasing temperatures in urban areas is a necessity. Increased temperatures lead to higher demands for energy, increased air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illnesses and deaths, and poorer water quality.

Jianguo Liu, head of the Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at MSU and director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, points out that “heat waves kill, and in terms of climate change, even one degree can make a difference.”

But if the environmental impact isn’t enough to change your mind, there are also many monetary benefits to owning an electric car.

At the federal level, you can earn a consumer tax credit of $2500 for every plug-in electric car that you own. This can be increased by $417 for each kilowatt per hour (kWh) of battery capacity your car can produce in excess of five kWhs. The total credit allowed per vehicle is capped at $7500, and all vehicles currently on the market qualify for the full credit.

There are even more incentives offered at the state level across the country, at least in some states. These include rebates and tax credits for the purchase of vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as access to carpool lanes and free public parking in some municipalities.

Feel the need to gripe publicly about your bank or credit card company?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is putting the finishing touches on a policy that will let you do just that.

“Consumer narratives shed light on the full consumer perspective behind a complaint,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Narratives humanize the problems consumers face in the marketplace.”

The new policy, he added. “will serve to empower consumers by helping them make informed decisions and helping track trends in the consumer financial market.”

Consumer complaint narrative policy

The CFPB’s final Consumer Complaint Narrative Policy lays out the specific procedures and safeguards being put in place to publish narratives in the database. When consumers submit a complaint to the bureau, they fill in information such as who they are, who the complaint is against, and when it occurred.

They are also given a text box to describe what happened and can attach documents to the complaint. The CFPB forwards the complaint to the company for response, gives the consumer a tracking number, and keeps the consumer updated on its status.

Under the new policy, when consumers submit a complaint to the CFPB, they will have the option to check a box and opt-in to sharing their narrative. In order for companies to learn about this new system, the any consented-to narrative will not be published for at least 90 days after the policy’s publication in the Federal Register.

Safeguards established

The policy establishes a number of important safeguards for a clear, fair, and transparent process, including:

• Consumers must opt-in to share their story: The CFPB will not publish the complaint narrative unless the consumer provides informed consent. This means that when consumers submit a complaint through consumerfinance.gov, they have to check a consent box to give the bureau permission to publish their narrative. Currently, only narratives submitted online are available for the opt-in to publish.
• Personal information will be removed from narratives: The bureau will take reasonable steps to remove personal information from the complaint to minimize the risk of re-identification. This means the CFPB will use a thorough process to ensure complaints are scrubbed of information such as names, telephone numbers, account numbers, Social Security numbers, and other direct identifiers.
• Companies can choose a response to publish: Companies will be given the option to select from a set list of structured response options as a public-facing response to address the consumer complaints. Companies will be under no obligation to offer a public response, and they have 180 days after the consumer complaint is routed to them to select the optional, public response. Companies will have the option to address all consumer complaints submitted after this policy announcement, not just those where a consumer consented to publication.
• Consumers can opt-out at any time: If a consumer decides at any time that he or she would like to withdraw consent to publish their narrative in the Consumer Complaint Database, he or she has the ability to do so.
• Complaints must meet certain criteria to qualify for narrative publication: In order for the bureau to share a consumer’s complaint narrative publicly, the complaint must meet certain requirements. These include that the complaint is submitted through the CFPB website, that the complaint is not a duplicate submission, and that the consumer has a confirmed relationship with the financial institution. Complaints will not be published if they do not meet all of the publication criteria.
• The new policy builds on the safeguards the CFPB’s database already has in place. Complaints are listed in the database only after the company responds to the complaint or after it has had the complaint for 15 days, whichever comes first.
• The CFPB will disclose the consumer narrative when the company provides its public-facing response, or after the company has had the complaint for 60 calendar days, whichever comes first.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. are still lower than they have been in years but nonetheless are higher than they were a month ago. And in a handful of Midwestern states, sharply higher.

According to the AAA Fuel Gauge survey, the average price of self-serve regular in Indiana jumped 10 cents a gallon in 24 hours, from $2.16 a gallon to $2.26. In Michigan, the average price also jumped a dime a gallon, from $2.25 to $2.35 a gallon.

In Illinois, the increase is much less dramatic, rising from $2.35 a gallon to $2.38. But the average price of gasoline surged in Ohio, jumping from $2.19 a gallon to $2.29.

Patrick DeHaan, senior analyst at gas price monitoring site Gas Buddy, links the Great Lakes region price surge to refinery issues and the seasonal switch over to summer grade fuel and says the higher prices should be temporary.

Conspiracy theories

“Conspiracy theories abound with these seasonal refinery problems that always have a tendency to develop almost on schedule,” DeHaan told ConsumerAffairs.

In the rest of the U.S., prices at the pump have been slowly coming down again after rising early in the year, as refineries reduced capacity for winter maintenance. In fact, AAA reports fuel prices rose 40 straight days before starting their descent.

The national average price of self-serve regular, according to AAA, is around $2.42 a gallon. AAA spokesman Michael Green says the seasonal hike in gasoline prices is being offset in part by the huge build in oil reserves and a falling price for crude.

“Crude oil prices declined by more than 10% last week due to abundant supplies, a stronger U.S. dollar, and the possibility of even more oil entering the market soon,” Green writes in a AAA commentary. “Every $10 per barrel decline in the cost of crude oil can send gas prices down by nearly 25 cents per gallon.”

West Coast price rise

West Coast gasoline prices have also started to come down a bit after that region suffered its own refinery issues, which sent prices at the pump sharply higher. In a highly unusual ranking, California has the highest average fuel cost in the nation – $3.37 a gallon – even higher than Hawaii, normally the highest in the U.S., because of taxes and transportation costs.

At the other end of the spectrum, motorists in the southeast are enjoying the lowest prices. South Carolina has the lowest average price – $2.13 a gallon.

Lower prices this summer

In some good news for consumers, DeHaan says those lower fuel prices will likely be the norm across the U.S., once refineries complete their maintenance and the switch over to the summer blend of gasoline.

“Summer time is looking good, like it will be best summer to hit the road in the last 5 years,” DeHaan said.  

It was just a few short months ago we reported on a trend that seemed to suggest Millennials were not rushing to buy a home. It was seen as one reason the housing market had flattened out.

A Fannie Mae survey found the percentage of the younger generation preparing to buy a home fell from 35% to 26% in just 2 years. A panel of property experts assembled by Zillow concluded that, because Millennials were content to be renters, the rate of home ownership would probably decline in the years ahead.

But Millennials seem to have changed their minds. When the National Association of Realtors (NAR) conducted its 2015 survey of generational trends, it found that Millennials represent the largest share of recent home buyers.

According to the report, those 34 and younger made up 32% of all buyers. Generation X, ages 35-49, wasn't far behind behind with a 27% share. Millennial buyers represented more than double the number of Baby Boomers buying a home.

Normal pattern

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the survey shows young adults are starting to follow the path of previous generations, albeit on a different timetable.

“Over 80% of Millennial and Gen X buyers consider their home purchase a good financial investment, and the desire to own a home of their own was the top reason given by Millennials for their purchase,” he said. “Fixed monthly payments and the long-term financial stability homeownership can provide are attractive to young adults despite them witnessing the housing downturn and subsequent slow recovery in the early years of their adulthood.”

In fact, in many housing markets rents are rapidly escalating, making a property more expensive to rent – at least on a monthly cash flow basis – than it is to own, especially since the FHA mortgage rate is hovering around 3.5%.

Yun says younger home buyers stayed out of the housing market in the aftermath of the credit crisis for obvious reasons. Many couldn't qualify for mortgages at the suddenly-imposed tougher lending standards. Others were wary of getting into the market at a time when home prices were still declining.

Could have been bigger

If not for the headwinds caused by the financial crisis, Yun believes the Millennial and Gex X share of the housing market would be much larger.

“Many millennials have endured underemployment and subpar wage growth, and rising rents and repaying student debt have made it very difficult to save for a down payment, he said. “For some, even forming households of their own has been a challenge.”

The financial crisis and the crash of the housing market was a sobering reality for many home owners who had previously considered their house a financial investment. Many who purchased near the top of the market and put little or no money down found themselves underwater – owing more on their mortgage than the house was worth.

Reset

Several years of stability in the market seems to have reset that perspective. Seventy-nine percent of all buyers in the survey considered their home purchase a good financial investment, with Millennials and Gen X believing that more strongly than older buyers.

But today's young buyers have one distinctly different expectation than buyers a decade ago, when “flipping” a house was the norm and homeowners could often sell and move after only a couple of years.

Since home prices don't rise nearly as fast today, Millennials in the NAR survey say they plan to stay in their home for an average of 10 years.