Houston's 'Mattress Mack' makes big oil bet
A furniture retailer in America's oil capital thinks he's found a way to boost sales amid oil's dramatic price slump.
Jim McIngvale, owner of Houston's Gallery Furniture, is pledging that customers who spend at least $7,000 (U.S.) will get their money back if oil hits $85 a barrel by the end of the year. With most forecasts suggesting that's highly unlikely, "Mattress Mack," as he's known locally, may be able to sell a few extra Lay-Z-Boys and china cabinets to those who have a more optimistic outlook for crude.
This isn't Mr. McIngvale's first time at the crazy-sales-offer rodeo either, according to Reuters. He has already shelled out $4-million to customers who were guaranteed refunds if the Houston Astros won 63 or more games last year. The team obliged by bagging 70.
Mr. Trump goes to court (again)
Donald Trump is again suing Florida's Palm Beach County over what he says is its "deliberate and malicious" decision to route air traffic over his swanky club Mar-a-Lago.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, The Donald claimed that columns and floors are cracking and antique tiles and roofing are being damaged after the county routed planes over the club rather than fanning them out from the airport.
He lost a 2010 action over noise issues from the airport, and this time he's demanding it stump up $100-million (U.S.).
"I am saving one of the great houses of this country and one of its greatest landmarks," he told Associated Press Monday, "and it's being badly damaged by the airplanes."
Not a good time to ask for a bonus
"The real problem is the ego of executives. I don't ever remember a turkey inviting himself to a Thanksgiving dinner. Redundancy in cases like this exists in the executive ranks. That's where it needs to be addressed."
- Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler CEO, speaking at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday about the the industry's failure to collaborate on the high costs of vehicle development (Fortune).
More McWoes in Latin America
The world's biggest franchisee of McDonald's restaurants has been sideswiped by tumbling Latin American currencies, and to add to its woes, its benchmark debt has tumbled since early December when Moody's cut the company's ratings for the first time.
The Buenos Aires-based Arcos Dorados Holdings, which translates as "golden arches," has suffered a 3-per-cent drop in its bonds, which are now yielding more than 7 per cent, Bloomberg reports.
Moody's lowered Arcos Dorados's rating one level to Ba3, or three steps below investment grade, citing "the recent adjustment in the Venezuelan official exchange rate and ongoing depreciations of other currencies in the region."
Those currencies have declined for six straight months, falling about 13 per cent against the U.S. dollar since the end of June.
Still, there's once silver lining for the golden arches in Argentina: Even after the downgrade, it remains the country's highest-rated company after Petrobras Argentina SA, a unit of Brazil's state oil producer.
Now that's a pretty penny
Pennies are so yesterday in Canada, but, south of the border, one just fetched almost 300 million of them.
A Beverly Hills rare coin dealer purchased a 1791 American penny for nearly $2.9-million (U.S.), the most ever paid for a one-cent piece at auction, Reuters reports.
The so-called "Birch Cent" was among the first pennies struck for the United States, and just 10 are believed to exist. Buyer Kevin Lipton said the coin he purchased is in the best condition of those 10.
"I felt elated, just wonderful," Mr. Lipton, 65, of Lipton Rare Coins said Monday of his winning bid made last week at a Florida auction.
Mr. Lipton said he was so excited to get the coin that the next day he spent another $1.9-million for the "Wright quarter," America's first 25-cent piece. "For 26 cents," he noted, "I spent $4.8-million."
Maybe he'll sue them, too
"Trump doesn't deserve my key. I think it's appropriate for Miss Universe and the Miss Universe organization to have the key. It doesn't make sense for Trump to have one."
- Luigi Boria, Mayor of Doral, Fla., after withdrawing a Monday request made hours earlier that city council award keys to the city to Donald Trump and Miss Universe president Paula M. Shugart. (Miami Herald).
A gift fit for a king, but not his luggage
If you're a royal, it's probably wise to pack lightly when you go on foreign tours. Members of the Royal Family returned home from visits last year with wagonloads of official gifts, as documents released by Buckingham Palace this week reveal.
And on last year's trip to Canada, the Prince of Wales was presented with more than a hundred of them, with many intended for grandson and future king, Prince George. Among the haul were two slingshots (one for little Georgie, one for the new baby, perhaps?), and a toy camel.
After numerous visits by Windsors over the years, it's increasingly difficult to find that special gift: The palace floors must be groaning under the weight of soapstone sculptures and its pantries awash in maple syrup.
Probably the most notable gifts Charles and Camilla brought back from last summer's sojourn include a fruitcake, a PhD thesis, bannock bread (because they don't have bread in Britain), "a Bible, a certificate, a framed painting and a block of cheese" from Prime Minster Stephen Harper, and cinnamon rolls (clearly, baked goods are in short supply over there).