Current Events in February 2016

Graco Children's Products Inc. is recalling 31,838 ComfortSport child restraints, model numbers 1813040 and 1794333; Ready Ride child restraints, model numbers 1924520 and 1924519; and Classic Ride child restraints, model number 1812930. These seats were manufactured between March 1, 2014, and February 28, 2015.

The restraints are missing a statement on the affixed label that informs of location of the instruction manual. Without that notice, these seats fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213 "Child Restraint Systems."

If the label does not inform the seat owner of the instruction manual's location, the owner may not be able to refer to it and may use the seat improperly, increasing the risk of injury to the child in the event of a crash.

Graco will notify the registered owners and will mail them corrected labels to affix to the child restraints.

The recall is expected to begin February 22, 2016. Owners may contact Graco at 1-800-345-4109.

At the end of a cruise, I saw an older couple struggling with four suitcases as they disembarked. I overhead one of them say that he was disappointed that the kind cabin attendants didn’t offer to help them with the luggage.

Most cruise lines request you leave your packed luggage outside your stateroom by eleven o’clock or midnight on the last night of your cruise. If you don’t, like the couple above, you’ll be responsible to take your luggage off the ship yourself.

While cruise websites provide lots of information for first-time cruisers, there are some things they just don’t share. Here’s a sampling:

• Bring some type of tote bag or small piece of luggage to pack your evening clothes and toiletries so you will be able to leave your packed luggage outside your cabin on the last night of the cruise.
• Dress codes are constantly changing, so check your cruise line’s website for information on what to wear, even if you have cruised with the line before.
• Luggage will go under your bed, so make sure suitcases compress easily. Pack efficiently to minimize how much luggage you will require or use two suitcases that fit inside each other.
• Not all table mates are congenial or maybe you met travelers whose company you enjoy and you’d like to have dinner with them. Or, you’re not happy with the location of your table or your waiter. You can make changes to your dining arrangements; speak to the Maitre’d and make your request.
• Should you forget something, your toothbrush, toothpaste, or sunscreen, the ship will have a sundry shop so you can make purchases onboard.  
• Some cruise lines, for example Princess and Cunard, have self-service laundries with washing machines, dryers, clothes irons, and ironing boards while others only offer laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing services. Read guidelines ahead of time. Most cruise lines will not allow clothes irons or travel steamers on board and will confiscate them from your luggage.
• Check your cruise line’s website to learn what other items are not allowed onboard. Curling irons and hair straighteners are often permissible but heating pads are not.  
• Take along a highlighter. It will be useful when perusing the daily activity calendar and once highlighted, you’ll be less likely to miss events.
• Register for the cruise line’s frequent traveler program. Even if you are a beginning cruiser, once you cruise a few times you will get extras through the program. If you cruise different lines, some cruise lines are owned by the same parent company and they honor their sister frequent traveler programs; for example, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are owned by Royal Caribbean.
• Excursions or tours while in port are often a big part of the cruise experience. You are not locked into the ship’s excursions which are usually expensive and groups of 30 to 40 can mar the port experience. Instead, look at planning your own tours through online research and recommendations.

HSBC Bank will be paying $470 million to settle charges that it mishandled mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure duties, with much of the money going to consumers who lost their homes or suffered other adverse outcomes because of HSBC's actions.

The agreement was reached by a joint federal-state task force including the U.S. Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with 49 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia’s attorney general.

“This agreement is the result of a coordinated effort between federal and state partners to hold HSBC accountable for abusive mortgage practices,” 

“This agreement provides for $370 million in creditable consumer relief to benefit homeowners across the country and requires HSBC to reform their servicing standards," said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. "The Department of Justice remains committed to rooting out financial fraud and holding bad actors accountable for their actions.”  

“This agreement not only provides relief to borrowers affected by HSBC’s past practices, it puts in place protections for current and future homeowners through tough mortgage servicing standards,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.  “For years we’ve worked together to hold mortgage servicers responsible for their past conduct.  We’re doing that here through this settlement and we’ll continue to address bad conduct in the future.”

Consumer relief

Under the agreement announced today, HSBC has agreed to provide more than $470 million in relief to consumers and payments to federal and state parties, including: 

• HSBC will pay $100 million: $40.5 million to be paid to the settling federal parties; $59.3 million to be paid into an escrow fund administered by the states to make payments to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between 2008 and 2012; and $200,000 to be paid into an escrow fund to reimburse the state attorneys general for investigation costs.
• By July 2016, HSBC will complete $370 million in creditable consumer relief directly to borrowers and homeowners in the form of reducing the principal on mortgages for borrowers who are at risk of default, reducing mortgage interest rates, forgiving forbearance, and other forms of relief.  
• HSBC will be required to implement standards for the servicing of mortgage loans, the handling of foreclosures, and for ensuring the accuracy of information provided in federal bankruptcy court.

What to do

Eligible borrowers will be contacted about how to qualify for payments. The HSBC agreement requires the company to provide certain borrowers with loan modifications or other relief. The modifications include principal reductions and refinancing for underwater mortgages. 

Hundreds of thousands of borrowers whose loans were serviced by HSBC and who lost their home to foreclosure from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2012 and encountered servicing abuse will be eligible for a payment from the national $59.3 million fund for payments to borrowers. The borrower payment amount will depend on how many borrowers file claims.

The settlement requires HSBC to substantially change how it services mortgage loans, handles foreclosures, and ensures the accuracy of information provided in federal bankruptcy court.

The terms will prevent past foreclosure abuses, such as robo-signing, improper documentation, and lost paperwork.

“There has to be one set of rules for everyone, no matter how rich or how powerful, and that includes lenders who engage in abusive business practices,” said New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. “The settlement announced today is a joint partnership that will create tough new servicing standards that will ensure fair treatment for HSBC’s borrowers and provide relief to customers across New York State and across the country.”

Under increasing pressure from states that are grappling with opioid drug abuse, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has laid out an “action plan” as a first step in reassessing the government's approach to these drugs.

If the states were hoping for speedy action, it's unlikely they'll get it.

First, the FDA said it will:

• Re-examine the risk-benefit paradigm for opioids and ensure that the agency considers their wider public health effects;
• Convene an expert advisory committee before approving any new drug application for an opioid that does not have abuse-deterrent properties;
• Assemble and consult with the Pediatric Advisory Committee regarding a framework for pediatric opioid labeling before any new labeling is approved;
• Develop changes to immediate-release opioid labeling, including additional warnings and safety information that incorporate elements similar to the extended-release/long-acting (ER/LA) opioid analgesics labeling that is currently required;
• Update Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements for opioids after considering advisory committee recommendations and review of existing requirements;
• Expand access to, and encourage the development of, abuse-deterrent formulations of opioid products;
• Improve access to naloxone and medication-assisted treatment options for patients with  opioid use disorders; and
• Support better pain management options, including alternative treatments.

May take some time

All of this may take some time to transform into concrete policy changes. But such is the nature of government.

The FDA says it has already asked the National Academy of Medicine to help. It's been asked to develop a framework for opioid review, approval and monitoring, taking into account the current abuse of prescription painkillers.

“We are determined to help defeat this epidemic through a science-based and continuously evolving approach,” FDA Deputy Commissioner Robert Califf said in a release. “This plan contains real measures this agency can take to make a difference in the lives of so many people who are struggling under the weight of this terrible crisis.”

Any new opioid drugs headed for the market will also face closer scrutiny. The FDA is setting up new advisory committees of physicians and other experts who will make sure new drugs contain abuse-deterrent properties.

The FDA will also review guidelines for pediatric opioid labeling and use of opioid pain medications for children.

Growing crisis

Opioids include prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine, as well as the illegal drug heroin.

The FDA says it is acting because overdose from opioid drugs, legal and illegal, is now the leading cause of injury death in the U.S., surpassing car accidents.

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is among the state officials who last month urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to adopt new prescription guidelines to help stem the tide of overdose deaths and prescription drug abuse.

“The increase in overdose deaths has made prescribing protocols a law enforcement and public safety issue,” Mills said at the time. “Unfortunately, many prescribers, particularly primary care and family physicians, lack clear and practical guidance in deciding when and how to prescribe opioids.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has traced much of the problem to the fact that doctors are writing so many prescriptions for opioid painkillers. It also cites “greater social acceptability for using medications for different purposes and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies.”

The agency says prescriptions for opioids like hydrocodone and oxycodone products have surged from around 76 million in 1991 to nearly 207 million in 2013. It says the U.S. accounts for almost 100% of the world total for hydrocodone and 81% for oxycodone.

The NFL plays a couple of games each season in London, so why wouldn't British fans want to get in on the daily fantasy sports (DFS) action?

No doubt that's part of the reason behind DraftKings' announcement that it is launching games in the UK, where soccer and cricket matches may prove to be more popular draws than American football.

“DraftKings will bring a totally new experience for sports fans, offering players the opportunity to test their skill at fantasy contests with the immediacy of daily play,” Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO of DraftKings, said in a statement emailed to ConsumerAffairs. “Alongside our new partners Arsenal, Liverpool and Watford, our ambition is to bring players as close to the action as possible, with all the information they need to assemble the best teams.”

DraftKings says it anticipates the move will open up what it called “healthy competition” between players in North America and the UK. The company says the DraftKings FC site will give players access to all the research, strategy and news they need to assemble their line-up.

The company no doubt hopes UK government authorities are less litigious than in the states. Several state governments – most notably New York – have made moves to limit, license or outright ban the games, declaring them to be illegal gambling.

New York state's suit seeking to bar New Yorkers from from the games is awaiting a hearing by a state appeals court. The games continues to operate under a court-granted stay, meaning New Yorkers will be able play pending the court's ruling.

A new study of elder abuse in the U.S. says banks and other financial institutions have a greater role to play in preventing the financial exploitation of their older clients.

The study, published in Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR), finds financial exploitation of older adults and diminished financial capacity resulting from age-related cognitive impairments both pose major economic threats.

"The problem is complex, but it is also a problem that unquestionably exists and is assuming remarkably large personal, monetary, and social dimensions," the authors write. "Elder financial abuse involves millions of individuals and billions of dollars. It damages health, harms wellbeing, and arguably costs lives."

In 2009, U.S. household wealth was estimated to be $53.1 trillion. Older adults held approximately $18.1 trillion of it. The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse estimates elder abuse cost older Americans at least $2.9 billion in 2010.

Wealth at risk

"In a very real sense, a huge portion of U.S. wealth is at risk due to the progressive decline of financial skills of the older adult age group," writes Daniel Marson, in one of the PP&AR articles. "Thus ironically, the age group that has amassed the most wealth over the longest period of accumulation is simultaneously at the greatest risk of financial self-impoverishment and exploitation by others."

Older adults can be exploited by scammers, who contact them by telephone, email, or sometimes by simply knocking on their doors. More often than not, they may be exploited by a family member.

And they aren't always cognitively impaired. A study cited by the National Institute of Justice found that out of 472 victims of financial exploitation, those living independently were 66% more likely to be exploited financially. Those not experiencing dementia or confusion were 29% more likely to be exploited.

Technology solution

The report suggests scientists may be able to develop predictive models and algorithms for the detection of diminished financial capacity in older adults. When a warning signal flashes, a protective institution could step in.

That, the authors contend, should enable the banking industry to improve its interactions with older adults by creating proactive planning programs, recognizing signs of cognitive impairment, dementia, and financial exploitation, and by learning new methods of assessing financial decision-making abilities.

Creating a system of real-time assessments and interventions, the report concludes, would help curb financial exploitation, as well as poor financial decisions by aging adults who are beginning to lose cognitive ability.

Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market finished the year on a strong note.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says its 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) had a fourth-quarter reading of 61 -- up one point from the previous quarter and the seventh consecutive quarter with a reading above 50.

“Builders and developers for the 55+ housing sector continue to report increased optimism in the market,” said Jim Chapman, chairman of NAHB's 55+ Housing Industry Council. “We are seeing steady consumer demand for homes and communities that are designed to address the specific needs of the mature homebuyer.”

There are separate 55+ HMIs for two segments of the 55+ housing market: single-family homes and multifamily condominiums. Each 55+ HMI measures builder sentiment based on a survey that asks if current sales, prospective buyer traffic, and anticipated six-month sales for that market are good, fair, or poor (high, average, or low for traffic). An index number above 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Market performance

One of the three index components of the 55+ single-family HMI posted an increase from the previous quarter: traffic of prospective buyers increased six points to 52. Present sales held steady at 65 while expected sales for the next six months dipped four points to 63.

The 55+ multifamily condo HMI dropped eight points to 42, falling back to a range typical of the past year and a half. All three components declined as well: present sales fell 10 points to 44, expected sales for the next six months fell 10 points to 46 and traffic of prospective buyers edged down three points to 37.

Three of the four indices tracking production and demand of 55+ multifamily rentals posted gains in the fourth quarter. Present production and expected future production both rose one point to 56 and 61, respectively, and future demand increased three points to 71, while current demand for existing units fell four points to 66.

“This quarter’s 55+ HMI is in line with our forecast for the overall housing market, which shows a gradual, steady recovery,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “In addition, the 55+ housing market is benefiting from growing home equity on the balance sheets of 55+ households, an improving economic outlook, historically low mortgage rates and a growing population as baby boomers age."

Mahina Mele Farms is expanding its earlier recall of macadamia nut products.

The company says that one sample from one was found to be positive for Salmonella, it's recalling all lots currently on the market, until the source of the contamination can be identified.

No illnesses have been reported in connection with these products to date.

The following recalled products, produced under the name Izzie Macs! in plastic bags and macadamia nut butter under the name Baby Bruddah's Mac Nut Buttah in plastic tubs, were distributed from Oct 21, 2015 - Jan 20, 2016:

Customers who purchased the above products should not consume them, but return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund or replacement. Mahina Mele Farms, LLC will reimburse the wholesaler for any returned product.

Consumers may call Mahina Mele Farms at 808 328 8987, Monday-Friday, 8-4 (HST).

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling 734 model year 2015 Volkswagen Tiguans manufactured January 15, 2015, to January 21, 2015, and 2015 Audi Q5s manufactured January 13, 2015, to February 3, 2015.

The recalled vehicles are equipped with driver and front seat passenger seat-mounted air bag inflators that may rupture in the event of a crash. Metal fragments could strike the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side air bag modules, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834 or Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.

Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69M1 (for Audi) and 69L9 (for VW).

Eastwood Co., of Pottstown, Pa., is recalling about 500 Rockwood multi-function power packs.

The power packs’ lithium ion batteries can burst during charging, posing a fire hazard.

There have been two reports of the battery packs’ lithium ion batteries bursting during charging and emitting black smoke, damaging carpet and leaving a black mark on a wall. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves Rockwood portable power packs with lithium ion batteries and cables. They are used to charge a variety of electronic devices and car batteries and have a recessed LED flashlight.

The power packs have a black plastic cover with “Rockwood” printed in white on the top. They measure about 6 inches long, 3 inches wide and 1 inch tall. A yellow and white danger label is on the bottom. Item number 30554 is printed on the packaging.

The power packs, manufactured in China, were sold at Eastwood stores in Chicago, Parma, Ohio, and Pottstown, Pa., in Eastwood’s catalog and online at www.eastwood.com and other websites from January 2015, through October 2015, for between $50 and $110.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled power packs and return them to Eastwood for a full refund.

Consumers may contact Eastwood at 800-345-1178 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday or online at http://www.eastwood.com/images/recall_poster_r2_combined.pdf.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is recalling 35,907 FS561 replacement tires, size 255/70R22.5, manufactured January 25, 2015, to January 27, 2016 (DOT weeks 0515-0416) for use on trailers.

The tires may experience possible tread separation or detachment due to scrubbing during use which may result in a sudden loss of air pressure, increasing the risk of a crash.

BATO will notify owners, and dealers will replace the tires, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact BATO customer service at 1-800-847-3272.

There is no end in sight for the Takata airbag crisis. As the number of recalls continues to grow, consumers and Congress grow restless, and safety advocates call for criminal prosecutions and imprisonment of top executives.

In the latest development, Honda said it is expanding its recall of late-model Honda and Acura vehicles equipped with the devices, possibly adding as many as 2.3 million vehicles to the recall list. The company told dealers of the decision last week and is expected to make it public today (Thursday).

With as many as 60 million defective airbag inflators potentially on the recall list, Takata Corp. faces an uncertain future. The staggering cost of the recalls is expected to endanger the company's future even as the plodding pace of the recall endangers the lives of consumers everytime they take the wheel. CEO Shigehisa Takada, grandson of the company's founder, may be forced to resign as the amount of money needed to carry out the recalls continues to rise, recent reports have said.

Jail time

Of course, there are worse things than resigning. Going to prison is one of them -- and that's what safety crusader Clarence Ditlow says should happen. He says the grisly injuries inflicted by the defective Takata airbag inflators are the result of corporate greed and should be punished by a harsh prison sentence.

According to Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, Takata decided in the year 2000 to stop using sodium azide as a propellant in its airbags and replaced it with ammonium nitrate, "an incredibly powerful explosive."

"It’s what Terry McVeigh used to bring down the government office building in Oklahoma City. It’s what a lot of terrorists in the Mideast are using in the improvised explosive devices. And so, yet this propellant that Takata used, it was known to degrade, known to explode, they put it into the airbag inflator to save, once again, a few pennies per inflator," Ditlow said in a radio interview.

Obama urged to act

In the U.S. Senate, Democrats Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) urged President Obama to recall every vehicle with airbags using ammonium nitrate as their propellant, and to use “every tool at his disposal” to accelerate the repair of all vehicles with potentially-lethal Takata airbags.

The renewed calls for action follow the December death of Joel Knight in South Carolina, who was killed when his truck struck a stray cow. Instead of cushioning the impact from the wreck, the airbag ruptured, firing shrapnel into Mr. Knight’s neck and killing him, The New York Times reported.

The senators said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) "has consistently deferred to Takata," allowing some automakers to take voluntary rather than mandatory actions to recall and replace defective airbags and later by limited mandatory recalls to "high-humidity" states on the theory that the problem would not occur in low-humidity climates.

"This, coupled with NHTSA’s willingness to allow Takata to take until the end of 2018 to prove that ammonium nitrate is safe in existing airbags; and until 2019 to show that the latest models of the inflators that use the compound are safe, is an outrageous dereliction of NHTSA’s basic duty to protect consumers,” the senators said in a letter to Obama.

As of the end of December 2015, 23 million airbags in 19 million vehicles had been recalled in the U.S. Two weeks ago, Takata agreed to recall another 5.1 million inflators and Honda is expected to recall another 2.3 million today.

Most of the recalls have not yet been carried out. It's estimated that only about a third of the potentially deadly inflators have actually been replaced.

Eating chicken will be getting a little bit safer under new standards adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The new standards are supposed to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken and turkey products, as well as in raw chicken breasts, legs, and wings. FSIS estimates the new standards will prevent 50,000 illnesses annually.

FSIS has also updated its microbial testing schedule and will soon begin posting more information online about individual companies' food safety performance.

"Over the past seven years, USDA has put in place tighter and more strategic food safety measures than ever before for meat and poultry products. We have made strides in modernizing every aspect of food safety inspection, from company record keeping, to labeling requirements, to the way we perform testing in our labs," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a prepared statement.

Tougher stance

A coalition of consumer groups, the Safe Food Coalition, is commending the new standards while calling on the USDA to take a tougher stance overall on the presence of drug-resistant Salmonella in food.

“These new standards are a welcome step that will better protect the public from dangerous foodborne illness,” the coalition said. “Salmonella and Campylobacter cause millions of illnesses every year, yet progress on reducing the number of infections has been stalled for over a decade. These standards will help to address an antiquated testing protocol and shine a light on companies that need to clean up their act.”

Until now, the FSIS has been testing whole chicken carcasses, but will now add chicken parts to its testing schedule. That follows testing which found the level of contamination in poultry parts may be higher than in whole carcasses because of cross-contamination that occurs in the evisceration process.

Under the new standards, FSIS will conduct a follow-up investigation of an establishment with large numbers of positive samples, but not necessarily demand that the company recall contaminated product.

“Unfortunately, these new standards leave an important loophole in place,” the Safe Food Coalition said. “We continue to urge FSIS to declare certain antibiotic resistant serotypes of Salmonellato be adulterants, as the Center for Science in the Public Interest asked the agency to do in the petition it first filed in May 2011, and refiled in October 2014."

The coalition cautioned that any standard will only be as reliable as the testing to measure compliance.

“FSIS must ensure that its testing is accurate and reliable for all plants, regardless of the chemicals used in when processing the birds,” the group said. 

Can you be both healthy and overweight? The commonly accepted answer these days is no, and increasingly, the Body Mass Index, or BMI, is used as an indicator of whether one is dangerously overweight or obese.

But a new UCLA study finds that using BMI to gauge health incorrectly labels 54 million Americans as unhealthy even though they may not be. The study is being published online today in the International Journal of Obesity.

"Many people see obesity as a death sentence," said A. Janet Tomiyama, an assistant professor of psychology at UCLA College and the study's lead author. "But the data show there are tens of millions of people who are overweight and obese and are perfectly healthy."

BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters. A BMI over 25 is currently considered as an indication that an individual is unhealthily overweight.

Many employers uses BMI to judge the health of prospective employees and a rule pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would permit insurance companies to charge higher premiums to those with higher BMIs. 

Healthy though overweight

Tomiyama and colleagues analyzed the link beteen BMI and several other health markers, including blood pressure, glucose levels, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, using data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

They found that close to half of Americans who are considered "overweight" by virtue of their BMIs (47.4%, or 34.4 million people) are healthy, as are 19.8 million who are considered "obese."

Given their health readings other than BMI, the people in both of those groups would be unlikely to incur higher medical expenses, and it would be unfair to charge them more for health care premiums, Tomiyama said.

She said she was surprised at the magnitude of the numbers in the latest study.

"There are healthy people who could be penalized based on a faulty health measure, while the unhealthy people of normal weight will fly under the radar and won't get charged more for their health insurance," she said. "Employers, policy makers and insurance companies should focus on actual health markers."

Jeffrey Hunger, co-author of the paper and a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, said the research shows that BMI is a deeply flawed measure of health. "This should be the final nail in the coffin for BMI," he said.

Hunger recommends that people focus on eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, rather than obsessing about their weight, and strongly opposes stigmatizing people who are overweight.

In this disruptive world in which we live, you can literally be on top of the world one year and plunging off a cliff the next.

Just ask GoPro.

The action-adventure video camera maker reported earnings Wednesday and in the words of the headline writer at USA Today, “missed by a mile.” Investors were expecting a profit of three cents a share. Instead, the company lost eight cents.

The company's stock had already been on a downhill ski run for weeks, but it fell below $10 a share in after hours trading after a 52-week high of $65. Over the last month, GoPro stock is down 43%.

When we made our list of the hot holiday gifts in December 2012, the GoPro Black Edition was in a prominent spot. It was an HD video camera that could go anywhere -- strapped to your head, your car's dash, or your bicycle handlebars.

Unique camera

The GoPro was incredibly cool because of what you could do with it. It was a way to make videos you could never do with a 1980s video camcorder. Smartphone cameras were no threat to it because no one was going to strap their iPhone to their helmet and jump out of an airplane.

While it is too early to write off the company or the product, it may be facing the same danger other technology has faced. Something else comes along and captures consumers' fancy. In the case of GoPro, it may not be another product so much as maybe most of the outdoor adventure types have already bought one.

That may explain this recent GoPro television commercial, which is a departure from previous marketing that emphasized people shooting rapids or skydiving. Instead, the camera is strapped to the front of a sled, while a dad takes his young child sledding down a hill.

Back to the future

Having started to run short on thrill seekers, perhaps GoPro is seeking that most traditional of video camera markets – the family.

In the earnings statement, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman said growth slowed in the second half of 2015 and the company understands that it needs to develop software solutions to make it easier for customers to offload, access, and edit their movies.

As we reported back in August, a new company is already doing that. The makers of a new video camera, Graava, hope to capture the action-camera niche. The camera is small and can attach itself to objects like GoPro, but it can also edit its own footage.

“Millions of videos are shot every day, but very few people actually have the time, experience, or software necessary to edit the hours of footage they have after a long day skiing or zip lining,” company CEO and co-founder Bruno Gregory said at the time. “Graava is here to take care of that for you. We make creating awesome videos easier than ever, and it’s going to completely change the way people share experiences.”

Since August we haven't heard much about the company or it's product, but the company Facebook page shows it's hard at work, and it may be about ready to hit the market.

Disruption, it seems, is the new normal.

The new year started with a bang as U.S employers announced a January increase in job cuts that's 218% above the 15-year low recorded a month earlier.

Outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports employers reported 75,114 planned job cuts to kick off 2016 -- 42% higher than the same month a year ago.

Last month represents the highest monthly tally since July 2015, when cuts reached 105,696, and the largest January total since the first month of 2009.

Heavy cuts in retail

Even though holiday sales to close out 2015 were relatively strong, retailers led all other industries in January job cuts, announcing plans to eliminate 22,246 payroll positions -- the highest retail total since January 2009, when 53,968 people were sacked.

The cuts were dominated by Walmart, which announced plans to close 269 stores worldwide, which is expected to affect 16,000 workers. Macys is also planning to close stores in 2016, a move that will hit 4,820 employees.

“Retail job cuts came on the heels of a relatively strong holiday sales, which increased by nearly 8.0 percent,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “However, a growing portion of the sales gains are occurring online. At Macy’s, for example, November and December sales at its brick-and-mortar stores fell by about 5.0 percent, while orders through its online entities were up 25 percent from a year earlier, according to reports.”

Energy hard-hit

In addition to increased retail job cuts, January also saw the return of heavy terminations in the energy sector, where firms announced plans to reduce headcounts by 20,246 -- up from 1,682 in December.

The January total for the energy sector was higher since the decline in oil prices began in late 2014. The previous high was January 2015, when 20,193 jobs in the sector were eliminated.

Since oil prices began their decline, Halliburton has announced 22,000 job cuts through multiple job-cut announcements. Schlumberger has also reported multiple reductions since late 2014, with total job cuts exceeding 30,000. Baker Hughes has also announced multiple cuts, totaling 16,000.

“The pace of downsizing in the energy sector ebbed in the second half of 2015, but the latest activity, which included more cuts from Halliburton and Schlumberger, is evidence the industry is far from concluding its cost-cutting initiatives,” said Challenger. “With oil prices expected to stay low for the foreseeable future, the potential for continued layoffs remains elevated.”

American Honda Motor Company is recalling 341,444 model year 2008-2010 Accords.

The air bag control units may corrode and fail, resulting in a failure of the air bags to deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury.

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag control units, free of charge. Parts are expected to be available in Fall 2016. Interim notifications will be mailed to owners beginning on March 15, 2016, and a second notice will be mailed when remedy parts are available.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009. Honda's number for this recall is JW9.

FCA US LLC (Chrysler) is recalling 112,001 model year 2009 Dodge Journey vehicles manufactured December 31, 2007, to August 31, 2008; 2008-2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country vehicles manufactured June 18, 2007, to August 31, 2008; and 2009 Volkswagen Routan vehicles manufactured August 11, 2008, to August 31, 2008.

The air bag control units may corrode and fail, which could result in failure of the air bags to deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury. Additionally, the air bags may inadvertently deploy, increasing the risk of a crash.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag control unit, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is S07.