Dividends
Edited by Toddi Gutner
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The Stat
The average gain (since World War II) for the S&P 500-stock index in the year before a Presidential election year: 17.4 percent.
Data: Standard & Poor's
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Did I Say That?
It's not exactly literature. But the thousands of pages of damaging e-mails and memos penned by stock analysts at the biggest brokerage firms tell a tale of Wall Street greed. Made public on Apr. 28 as part of the landmark analyst fraud settlement, the documents show how brokerage firms issued buy recommendations on questionable stocks to win investment banking business. Go to the Web site of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer at www.oag.state.ny.us. Click on "News," then scroll to the Apr. 28 settlement articles. There's a list of documents at the end. For easier reading, you'll find a summary version of the settlement at the Securities & Exchange Commission's site, www.sec.gov.
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Blow Up the Tent
Pitch an AirZone tent in 10 seconds with a refillable CO2 canister, or in a minute with a bicycle pump. Instead of metal poles, this camping innovation has rubber supports that inflate through a tire valve. Five models start at $299 and arrive in late June from airzonerecreation.com.
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Wi-Fi, Please
These days, when conference planner John Meyer chooses a hotel to host a tech industry event, high-speed Internet access in guest rooms isn't enough to lure him. "The major deciding factor is Wi-Fi," says Meyer, who's based in Reading, England.
From Wyndham Hotels to Marriott, major chains are rushing to give business travelers wireless Internet access -- for a fee. Want to scan your e-mail or surf the Net from that comfy cowhide sofa in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Tex.? That's $10 a day. No need to be a registered guest to log on. Just sign up and pay online.
Wyndham Hotels was one of the first nationwide chains to install Wi-Fi in the common areas in 2000. The service is $9.95 per day. (Members of Wyndham ByRequest, a free guest-recognition program, aren't charged for wireless access in their rooms.) Marriott offers the service starting at $9.95 in 200 locations and will double the number by yearend. Starwood, the owner of Sheraton, Westin, and W Hotels, is rolling out Wi-Fi in 150 hotels, and Hilton is outfitting nearly 50 of its 230 North American properties.
By Drew Limsky
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Copyright 2003, Bloomberg L.P.
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