Current Events in August 2016

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. is changing the remedy for approximately 337,000 model year 2006 - 2011 Toyota RAV4 and 2010 Lexus HS 250h vehicles recalled in 2013.

Dealers will replace -- at no cost to customers -- both rear suspension arm assemblies with new ones. They will also apply an epoxy to prevent future arm adjustment during vehicle service.

In the earlier action, if the nuts for adjusting rear wheel alignment were improperly tightened when an alignment was performed, rust could form on suspension arm threads. If this occurs, and if the condition is not identified and remedied during servicing or repair under the existing remedy procedure, the threads can wear over time, causing the arm to separate, which could result in a loss of vehicle control.

What to do

Toyota will notify all known owners of the involved vehicles by first class mail.

Owners with questions may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987.

Last month, Southwest Airlines experienced a technological glitch that led to havoc in terminals across the country. The airliner ended up canceling 2,300 flights, with many unhappy air travelers being stranded away from home.

Delta Airlines, meanwhile, continues to suffer the slings and arrows of outraged travelers over its tech meltdown earlier this week. 

Now, the Dallas Morning News reports that Southwest’s tech outage could cost it millions of dollars. All told, estimates place the losses between $54 million and $82 million.

Millions in losses

The estimate was calculated using information from Southwest about its unit revenues and the amount of money it spent in reparations to travelers at the time of the outage. On Wednesday, the company told investors that the tech outage would lead to a 0.5% drop in unit revenues for the third quarter. Additionally, it said that the cost per seat mile would be going up between one and two percent.

While the percentages were not translated to a specific dollar amount, experts have estimated that the lost revenue from refunded tickets, missed bookings, and canceled flights would come out to around $25.7 million.

However, the losses extend far beyond that amount. The outage required the company to spend more money on staff overtime, transportation, and accommodations for stranded travelers as well. Experts put those costs between $28 million and $57 million, which means the company could stand to lose as much as $82 million when all is said and done.

Sympathizers shouldn’t feel too bad for Southwest, though. Despite last month’s loss of revenue, the company still stands to make many times more than that over the course of the year. Last year, Southwest raked in $20 billion in annual revenue.

Delta technical outage draws heat

Southwest isn't alone. Delta Airlines experienced an outage at its Atlanta headquarters this past week that led to over a thousand canceled and delayed flights. The effects of the outage spilled over into subsequent days, with hundreds of flights being canceled after the error was corrected.

Consumer advocacy groups Travelers United and FlyersRights have voiced their displeasure in an open letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastien, saying that the blame for travelers’ suffering should be placed squarely on the airline.

“Your airline should realize that these cancellations and delays are the fault of Delta Air Lines alone. Passengers should not be punished for Delta’s incompetence,” the letter states. “Families have missed weddings, organized tours and cruises. Businessman have missed meetings. And, many others have been faced with financial repercussions because of Delta’s technology failure.”

The groups call on Delta to make reparations to travelers, including full refunds or free and flexible rescheduled flights.

“Passengers wishing to travel on the airline shouldn’t be restricted by arbitrary time constraints and should be allowed to rebook on their timetable – not Delta’s. Delta should not hide behind pages of legalese. Full compensation or free, flexible rebooking for missed flights and ruined travel plans is what’s fair and right,” the groups said.

A number of studies in recent years have shown that looking at a phone or tablet screen before bed causes sleeping problems. Many experts have even gone so far as to suggest banning electronic devices from the bedroom to ensure a better night’s sleep.

However, a new study shows that consumers may be able to look at screens before bed without consequence. The catch? All you have to do is get out and enjoy the sunshine during the day.

“Our main finding was that following daytime bright light exposure, evening use of a self-luminous tablet for two hours did not affect sleep in young healthy students,” said Frida Rångtell, first author of the study and at PhD student in the Department of Neuroscience at Uppsala University.

Mitigating blue light exposure

Researchers used 14 male and female participants to see how devices that emitted blue light affected sleep if used during evening hours. Each person was exposed to 6.5 hours of bright light during the daytime and then asked to read a novel on either a tablet or in book format at night. After a week of maintaining this schedule, participants switched roles and sleeping results were recorded.

After analyzing results at the end of the trial period, the researchers found that reading from a tablet had no negative effect on sleep quality.

“Our results suggest that light exposure during the day, e.g. by means of outdoor activities or light interventions in offices, may help combat sleep disturbances associated with evening blue light stimulation,” said senior author Christian Benedict.

Sleep disturbances still possible

The researchers caution, however, that sleep can still be disrupted by device use depending on what it is used for. For example, checking work email or tending to social media could have negative effects beyond exposure to blue light.

“It must however be kept in mind that utilizing electronic devices for the sake of checking your work e-mails or social network accounts before snoozing may lead to sleep disturbances as a result of emotional arousal,” said Benedict.

The full study has been published in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Many studies have proven that a little time in nature is good for the soul. But could nature actually help those of a certain gender live longer?

According to a recent study, this may be true. Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that American women who live in homes surrounded by vegetation live longer than women who aren’t as immersed in greenery.  

To conduct the study, researchers used data from 108,630 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study across the United States. Satellite images helped researchers collect information on the amount of vegetation surrounding women's homes.

They found that gardens, trees, and greenery in general may do much more than combat the effects of climate change. 

Reduced stress

Women whose homes were surrounded by the most greenery had a 12% lower overall mortality rate compared to those who lived in the least green areas. What’s more, women who lived in green areas had a 34% lower rate of respiratory-related deaths.

Another testament to the health benefits of nature? Within the study's eight-year period, women who lived around vegetation had a 13% lower rate of cancer deaths.

In addition to the fact that greenery may cut down on the negative effects of air pollution, noise, and extreme heat, researchers believe that the effect of greenery on mortality may have something to do with stress levels.

The increased opportunities for physical activity and social interaction may cause stress levels to drop, therefore leading to a happy mind. Nearly 30% of mother nature’s health benefits can be chalked up to improved mental health, the study’s authors said.

What is 'earthing'?

Simply being surrounded by greenery may be beneficial, but touching the earth might be even better. A new trend called 'earthing' is centered around the idea of making contact with the earth -- and it, too, may offer health benefits. 

Advocates for the trend argue that touching the earth in some way -- while walking barefoot on the grass, lying against a tree, or sitting on the beach, for instance -- can improve immune response and generally keep you feeling good. One study even confirmed these findings. 

Can't get outside for a little hands-on time with nature? There are products that may help. Companies such as Earthing.com sell earthing pads that may offer consumers the same energy charge they might feel while physically touching the earth. 

Whether it's a house listed at $299,999 or a product sold on TV for “three easy payments of $19.95,” marketers have long resorted to “just below” pricing – setting the price just below a round number.

They've done it because they think it's effective. Just ask yourself how many times you bragged to a friend that you filled your gas tank for $1.99 a gallon, when in fact it was $1.99.9 a gallon – $2, for all practical purposes.

Turns out there is research to show this “just below” pricing actually works pretty well. Eli Beracha of Florida International University, who conducted the study with Michael J. Seiler, of The College of William & Mary, said that using this method means sellers can ask more for something without driving away buyers.

Their study looked at 1,000 buyers in Virginia who were considering 370,000 listings. The research team focused on the impact of pricing homes in round numbers as opposed to a price that was just below that number.

“On average, buyers are more attracted to a house priced at $199,000 than to a house priced at $200,000 and it appears that ‘just below’ pricing works out favorably for sellers in terms of their bottom line,” Beracha said.

Buyers end up paying more

In fact, the researchers maintain that dropping the price as little as $1 consistently yields a higher selling price. They say it can result in a buyer paying as much as $6,000 more on a $200,000 property.

“We tested the age-old debate concerning the best technique to price a home when listing it for sale,” Seiler said. “We find that using a price just below a round number works best, particularly in connection to the left-most digit in the price. So, $199,999 works better than $200,000.”

There is still some debate in the real estate industry about the effectiveness of this pricing, but sellers might want to take the research into consideration when putting their homes on the market.

Of course, buyers – not just of homes but of all products – should probably keep it in mind as well. When something is priced at $49.99, it's really $50. A home priced at $199,000 is really $200,000.

And any sale at a “just under” price will always be “just over” after you pay sales taxes, shipping, and other assorted fees that are always associated with any sale these days.

It’s a rare sight these days to see a teenager without a phone or laptop nearby. Popular online activities like video games or tending to social media can take up a lot of free time, but how do they affect teens’ academic performance?

A study conducted at RMIT University in Australia has provided some polarizing answers. Researchers say that students who play video games tend to perform better in math and science. However, those who use social media tend to perform worse in those same areas, as well as in reading.

Practicing similar skills

The researchers came to their conclusions after analyzing data on over 12,000 Australian teens. This included information on math, reading, and science performance, as well as each participant’s online activities. Results indicated that teens who played video games were more likely to have better math and science scores, possibly because both fields require similar skills to those used when playing games.

“Students who play online games almost every day score 15 points above the average in maths and 17 points above the average in science,” said principal investigator Alberto Posso. “When you play online games you’re solving puzzles to move to the next level and that involves using some of the general knowledge and skills in maths, reading and science that you’ve been taught during the day.”

However, the researchers found that teens who often used social media were worse off in the classroom. They posit that teens who use it often may be using it to escape from studying, which is counteractive to the learning process.

“Students who are regularly on social media are, of course, losing time that could be spent on study – but it may also indicate that they are struggling with maths, reading and science and are going online to socialize instead,” said Posso.

Social media as a tool

While the results are telling, Posso and his colleagues admit that a multitude of other factors influence academic performance for teens. For example, those who need to repeat a grade level or who regularly skip classes are bound to suffer academically, regardless of their preferred online activities.

However, Posso does say that teens who have trouble connecting to academic material could be helped by teachers who use social media as a tool.

“Teachers might want to look at blending the use of Facebook into their classes as a way of helping those students engage,” he said.

The full study has been published in the International Journal of Communication.

The nation continues to crawl out of the hole created by the previous decade's housing meltdown.

Property information provider CoreLogic reports the foreclosure inventory plunged 25.9% in June from the same time last year, while completed foreclosures were down 4.9%. The number of completed foreclosures as of this past June (38,000) represents a decline of 67.5% from the peak (117,835) in September 2010.

Since the bottom fell out in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.3 million completed foreclosures nationally, with approximately 8.4 million homes lost to foreclosure since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004.

Roughly 375,000, or 1.0%, of all homes with a mortgage were in some stage of the foreclosure process in June, putting the foreclosure inventory rate at the lowest point for any month since August 2007.

Serious delinquencies

In addition, the number of mortgages in serious delinquency -- 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO -- posted a year-over-year decline of 21.3% in June, for a rate of 2.8%, the lowest in nearly nine years.

“Mortgage loan performance depends on the economic health of local markets, with varied differences even within a state,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Dr. Frank Nothaft. “Within Texas, the serious delinquency rate in the Dallas metropolitan area has fallen by 0.5% from a year earlier, as home prices and employment have continued to rise. The rate in the Midland area, on the other hand, has jumped 0.5%, reflecting the weakness in oil production and job loss over the past year.”

Report highlights

• On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures rose 5.1% to 38,000 in June 2016 from a year earlier. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.
• On a month-over-month basis, the foreclosure inventory was down 3.6%.
• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in June were Florida (60,000), Michigan (47,000), Texas (27,000), Ohio (23,000), and California (22,000). These five states account for almost 40% of all completed foreclosures nationally.
• Four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures: The District of Columbia (179), North Dakota (321), West Virginia (487), Alaska (639), and Montana (675).
• Four states and the District of Columbia had the highest foreclosure inventory rate: New Jersey (3.4%), New York (3.1%), the District of Columbia (2%), Hawaii (2%), and Maine (1.9%).
• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate were Colorado (0.3%), Michigan (0.3%), Minnesota (0.3%), Nebraska (0.3%), and Utah (0.3%).

Mortgage applications have turned higher after posting three straight weekly declines.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports applications jumped 7.1% during the week ending August 5.

The Refinance Index shot up 10%, with the Government Refinance index surging 27% and the Conventional Refinance Index rising 6%. That pushed the refinance share of mortgage activity to 62.4% of total applications from 60.7% the week before.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity held steady at 4.7% of total applications, the FHA share rose to 10.0% from 9.4%, the VA share of total applications increased to 13.0% from 12.1%, while the USDA share of total applications inched down to 0.6% from 0.7% a week earlier.

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) dipped two basis points -- from 3.67% to 3.65% -- with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) slipped to 3.64% from 3.65%, with points increasing to 0.31 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA was down two basis points to 3.52%, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs was unchanged at 2.93%, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs fell nine basis points to 2.81%, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.

Brown Jordan Services of St. Augustine, Fla., is recalling about 271,000 swivel dining and lounge chairs sold in the U.S. and Canada.

The base of the chair can break during normal use, posing a fall hazard.

The firm has received 410 reports of the swivel chairs breaking, including 16 reports of injuries -- primarily bruises and abrasions resulting from falls.

This recall involves Hampton Bay Fall River swivel dining and lounge chairs. The chairs are made of steel with a round swivel base and arm rests, red or green cushion, or are prepared for a custom slipcover with white liner fabric covering the cushions.

Chairs were sold in either sets of two or as part of patio sets, which included accompanying patio tables.

The chairs, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Home Depot nationwide and online at homedepot.com from October 2012, through January 2015, for about $200 for a set of two chairs to $550 for a 7-piece patio set.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the chairs and contact Brown Jordan Services for a free repair kit.

Consumers may contact Brown Jordan Services toll-free at 855-899-2127 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday or online at www.bjsoutdoor.com can click on “Customer Care” and then “Recall Information” for more information.

The power outage that took down Delta Airlines' entire computer system Monday, forcing the cancellation of about 1,000 flights, has been repaired.

But the airline said the residual effect has spilled over to Tuesday and will force cancellation of another 250 flights.

"We were able to bring our systems back on line and resume flights within a few hours yesterday but we are still operating in recovery mode,” said Dave Holtz, Senior Vice President – Operations and Customer Center. “We are sorry for what many of our customers have experienced over the past 24 hours, including those who remain at airports and continue waiting for their flights. We are doing everything we can to return our operation to normal reliability, but we do expect additional delays and cancellations.”

Important to check schedules

Delta said customers traveling Tuesday should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. If they need to, passengers can rebook their flights online.

Additionally, Delta's travel waiver has been extended to Tuesday's travelers. The airline is also handing out $200 travel vouchers to all customers who experienced cancelled flights or a delay of greater than three hours due to the outage. The vouchers are available for travel on all Delta and Delta Connection-operated flights.

You'll find details here.

Check out our earlier coverage of Delta's computer system failure and flight cancellations here.

Time spent with your nose in a book isn’t wasted. In fact, bookworms may be adding years to their lives.

Researchers from Yale University recently divided a sample of 3,500 people into three groups: non-readers, those who read for three and half hours each week, and those who spent even more time reading each week.

At the end of 12 years, the team followed up with participants (who were all over the age of 50). In addition to discovering that book readers were typically college educated women with high incomes, researchers found that readers lived up to two years longer than non-readers.

30 minutes a day

Individuals in the second group (moderate readers who logged around three hours reading each week) lowered their risk of dying by 17 percent. And the likelihood decreased the more avid the reader.

Voracious readers who spent more than three and a half hours per week buried in a book were 23% less likely to die compared to those who didn’t read.

But as it turns out, not just any reading material will do. Newspapers and magazines were somewhat beneficial in lengthening a person’s lifespan, but books tacked on the most time (an average of 23 extra months).

“People who report as little as a half-hour a day of book reading had a significant survival advantage over those who did not read,” senior author, Becca R. Levy, a professor of epidemiology at Yale, told the New York Times. “And the survival advantage remained after adjusting for wealth, education, cognitive ability, and many other variables.”

The study was published recently in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

The fee for renting a car is a lot like the price of an airline ticket. It can change depending on the time of year and the destination.

And it turns out that the cost of renting a car in Philadelphia this summer is the highest in the U.S., according to a breakdown by CheapCarRental.Net. The company based its findings on a survey of 50 major U.S. destinations for the current month.

In Philadelphia, the average cost to rent a car is $83 a day. Seattle and Boston were close behind, at $81 and $80 respectively.

Meanwhile, of the 50 markets in the survey, you pay the least for a rental car in Orlando – $26 a day. In fact, Florida destinations seem to have the best deals on car rentals. The survey found Miami, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale all rent cars for around $30 a day.

10 most expensive places to rent a car

1. Philadelphia $83
2. Seattle $81
3. Boston $80
4. Chicago $73
5. Detroit $71
6. Portland $69
7. Cincinnati $67
8. Indianapolis $61
9. Denver $61
10. Cleveland $60

10 cheapest places to rent a car

1. Charlotte $43
2. Phoenix $42
3. Honolulu $42
4. Las Vegas $41
5. Los Angeles $41
6. San Diego $40
7. Ft. Lauderdale $32
8. Tampa $30
9. Miami $28
10. Orlando $26

Reasons for disparity

Why would there be disparity in rental car costs when you are often renting from the same company? Sometimes it is higher taxes. Some municipalities may impose special sales taxes on rental cars that can boost the price. And if both the state and local municipality have these taxes, they can quickly add up.

Cars rented at airports also tend to cost more. If most of a city's car rental agencies are located at the airport, that can push the city-wide average higher.

Wired Magazine recently analyzed rental car receipts and found things like a “convention center charge” and a “facility charge.”

Finally, supply and demand can have a lot to do with it. Florida destinations are popular and rental car companies probably have plenty of cars on hand at all times to meet demand. Meanwhile, if car rental agencies in Philadelphia expect an increase in demand during any given month, they are less likely to offer special incentives and more likely to charge the full rate.

Deere & Company of Moline, Ill., is recalling about 5,500 lawn and garden tractors in the U.S. and Canada.

The reverse implement option (RIO) system can fail, posing a laceration hazard to bystanders. RIO is a safety system that shuts off power to the mower blades when the machine is placed into reverse.

No incidents or injuries are reported.

This recall involves John Deere models X710, X730, X734, X738, and X739 lawn and garden tractors with serial numbers beginning with 1M0X. A complete list of serial numbers included in this recall is available on the firm’s website.

The lawn and garden tractors have “John Deere” printed on the side and are green and yellow with yellow rims. The model number is on both sides of the engine hood. The serial number is located on the right side, below the foot rest.

The tractors, manufactured in the U.S., were sold at John Deere independent dealers nationwide from December 2015, through July 2016, for between $8,800 and $11,700.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using these recalled tractors and contact a John Deere dealer for a free repair. John Deere is contacting all registered owners of the recalled lawn and garden tractors directly.

Consumers may contact Deere & Company at 800-537-8233 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday, Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (ET) or online at www.deere.com and click on “Recall Information” on the drop-down menu under “Services & Support” for more information.

Walmart has announced it is acquiring online retailer Jet.com for $3.3 billion in cash and stock. The company says the acquisition will build on its ecommerce presence and add new capabilities.

Walmart is the nation's largest retailer, but increasingly that title has appeared threatened by Amazon.com, which has made huge inroads in the last five years. When Amazon had its second annual Prime Day sale last month, Walmart ramped up its promotional efforts to counter it.

Doug McMillon, Walmart's president and CEO, says the deal will improve his company's competitive position.

“We believe the acquisition of Jet accelerates our progress across these priorities,” he said. “Walmart.com will grow faster, the seamless shopping experience we’re pursuing will happen quicker, and we’ll enable the Jet brand to be even more successful in a shorter period of time.”

Weapon against Amazon

The acquisition of Jet not only removes an ecommerce competitor from the marketplace; Walmart will likely use it to bolster its defenses against the Amazon onslaught.

Jet.com was co-founded by Marc Lore, who sold his previous company – Diapers.com – to Amazon in 2010. Jet.com officially launched last year, promising consumers lower prices in exchange for longer delivery times. In short, Jet.com was aimed at Walmart.com as much as it was at Amazon.

“We started Jet with the vision of creating a new shopping experience,” Lore said. “Today, I couldn’t be more excited that we will be joining with Walmart to help fuel the realization of that vision.”

New ideas and expertise

For its part, Walmart said it is counting on the acquisition to bring new ideas and expertise to the nation's largest retailer. It says it has been impressed with Jet.com's ability to quickly scale up, reaching $1 billion in run-rate Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and offering 12 million items in its first year.

Although it is being acquired, Jet.com will maintain its own brand. The company says it expects Jet.com will create new synergy in the ecommerce space, allowing Walmart to leverage new technology solutions to develop new product offerings to save both time and money.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but Walmart did not offer guidance as to when that might occur.