Dividends
Edited by Toddi Gutner
The Stat
55 percent of drivers wrongly believe that the correct inflation pressure for a tire is printed on the sidewall. In fact, it's dangerous to inflate to that level, which is the maximum pressure the tire can hold. You can find the proper number for your car in the owner's manual.
Data: Rubber Manufacturers Assn.
EXHIBITIONS
Boogie Alert
If you're in town, hustle over to the Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights exhibit at Seattle's Experience Music Project (emplive.com). The Frank Gehry-designed museum, bankrolled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, celebrates all things rock 'n' roll. See Andy Warhol photos from Studio 54, a Plexiglas guitar that belonged to Chic's Nile Rodgers, and one of John Travolta's three-piece suits from Saturday Night Fever.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Dell Gets Greener
Who says angry investors can't fight back? A year after its proxy-season campaign to pressure computer makers to come clean about lackluster recycling efforts, a group of activist shareholders led by Calvert Group and the As You Sow Foundation have won wide-ranging promises from top seller Dell Computer to get greener.
Dell, which has been blasted for not taking a lead role in keeping toxic-laden PCs from ending up in landfills, will set specific recycling targets, disclose its progress to the public, and make sure its recycled goods are handled properly. Dell also pledged to study how to use its direct distribution model to lower the cost of recycling tech waste.
Activists still complain that Dell farms out recycling to a company that uses underpaid prison labor and doesn't abide by workplace safety standards. But they credit Dell with taking recycling seriously, and are now telling Apple Computer, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard to do the same. To get in on the effort, you can have Dell pick up your old PC for 15 bucks (dell4me.com/recycling).
By Andrew Park
MUTUAL FUNDS
Ask BW Investor: What's the Freight?
Q: When I call up a chart of a mutual fund's net asset value at an Internet site, does it show the impact of sales charges? -Rodolfo Carrera, Austin, Tex.
A: At most free sites, the answer is no. Morningstar.com's "premium service" for $109 a year offers a range of tools, including a "Cost Analyzer" that determines the impact of loads on one fund vs. another. The Securities & Exchange Commission's free tool (www.sec.gov; click "Interactive Tools") also calculates the full costs of owning a mutual fund.
RETIREMENT
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Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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