About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2018)
E3 BUSINESS Jeff Gill | Business reporter 770-718-3408 | jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Saturday, December 15, 2018 U.S. pension checks risk huge cuts BY SUSAN TOMPOR Tribune News Service A multibillion dollar pension shortfall is ready to shake up enough lives to pack a string of sta diums hosting the Super Bowl. But most people on the street aren’t talking about the loom ing crisis, unless they’re worried about seeing their own pension check slashed. Those living in fear include workers and retirees con nected to the Central States Pen sion Plan, which covers Teamsters in Detroit and elsewhere. The word pension used to con note a sense of security. In the wake of the Great Recession and major shifts in many industries, though, many pensions are in jeopardy. What’s worse: The crisis is so far- reaching that it could bring down one of the very safety nets put in place to protect unionized work ers covered by troubled multiem ployer pension plans. W. Thomas Reeder, director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., said the federal agency cre ated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to pro tect pension benefits currently is looking at $56.2 billion in liabilities connected to multiemployer pen sion plans but only $2.3 billion in assets. It’s nearly a $54-billion shortfall, as of Sept. 30. “We will be out of business with out a change in the law by 2025,” Reeder told journalists attend ing a National Press Foundation fellowship that focused on pen sions in Washington, D.C. in early December. “This is an untenable situation.” Dozens of pension plans that cover unionized truck drivers, painters, bricklayers, construc tion workers, bakery workers, retail workers, newspaper work ers, mine workers and others are headed for collapse. In Michigan, nearly 44,000 retirees and workers are covered by the Central States Pension Fund. About $4.8 billion in current pensions are at risk in Michigan, according to Central States. Right now, a Nov. 30 deadline for putting a bipartisan package on the table has gone. The Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Mul tiemployer Pension Plans failed to reach a consensus on how to solve the highly-complex, costly crisis. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dear- born, is part of the bipartisan, 16-member joint select committee. Work toward a solution contin ues. As many as 121 multiemployer pension plans, covering about 1.3 million participants, remain severely underfunded and are expected to fail within 20 years, according to a recent Cheiron analysis. Those plans are viewed as being in “critical and declining” status. Think the City of Detroit retirees faced bleak times? When Detroit restructured, cut costs and unloaded billions in debt in its bankruptcy in 2013-14, retirees ended up with cuts of 4.5 percent or higher to their pension checks. If the PBGC back stop collapses, experts warn that retirees in the troubled plans one day might only get 10 cents on the dollar. So what was promised as a $25,000 annual pension might turn into just $2,500 in a year. The three largest underfunded multiemployer pension plans are: the Central States Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, the New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension Fund and the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund, according to the lat est data from Cheiron, an actuarial consulting firm. The Teamsters’ Central States fund alone has $22.9 billion in unfunded liability, according to Cheiron. The New England Team sters follows at $5.1 billion and the Bakery and Confectionery plan has $3.9 billion in unfunded liabilities. The United Mine Workers of America 1974 pension plan dropped to fourth place this year, with $3 billion in unfunded liabilities. The rest have $14 billion in unfunded liabilities. Starbucks will bring its brew to you NICK ANSELLI Tribune News Service By early spring, Starbucks expects to offer delivery service from some 2,000 U.S. company-operated stores. Major chain to expand coffee delivery service to about 2,000 U.S. stores BY BENJAMIN ROMANO Tribune News Service It’s time to find more meaningful work for the coffee-fetching intern. After years of experiments, Starbucks said Thursday it plans a major expansion of U.S. coffee delivery. By early spring, the Seattle coffee giant expects to offer the service from some 2,000 company- operated stores. The deliveries will be made by Uber Eats, which began shuttling coffee from Miami Starbucks locations to customers in September. A limited pilot in Japan began last month. But the real model for Starbucks Delivers is China, where delivery, offered by a subsidiary of Chinese com merce giant Alibaba, has grown from 150 stores at the end of September to more than 2,000 Starbucks locations in 30 cities now. “That’s China speed,” said John Cul ver, Starbucks group president, interna tional and channel development. The company is applying what it has learned about delivery in China as it expands the service in the U.S., said Star bucks CEO Kevin Johnson. In China, Starbucks has developed spill-proof lids, tamper-proof packaging seals, insulated delivery containers, and algorithms to route orders to the best location to fulfill them. It also has trained delivery drivers from Alibaba’s Ele.me delivery service on how to handle its products. Starbucks has tried various delivery models before. In 2015, it offered deliv ery fulfilled by Postmates in Seattle neighborhoods — including downtown, South Lake Union and Capitol Hill — for a charge of $5.99. Also in 2015, it experi mented with a “Green Apron Delivery” service in the Empire State Building, offering to bring coffee to people in the building within 30 minutes. That’s the time commitment Starbucks makes to customers in China, too. The company did not provide details about cost, timing or locations for its U.S. delivery expansion. Chief Operating Officer Rosalind Brewer, who announced the delivery expansion during an investor event in New York on Thursday, said the service is being integrated into the company’s ordering systems to minimize extra steps for baristas to fulfill orders. While Starbucks is accelerating deliv ery in its two most important markets — the U.S. and China — executives acknowledged there is still much to learn, particularly about how delivery fits within Starbucks’ other sales channels. “These are the very early days of our rollout of the program, and we antici pate that as we ramp the program, we’re going to gain a much better understand ing as to the overall impact to the busi ness,” Culver said. Brewer said Starbucks now has four main sales channels: traditional walk-ins to its cafes, mobile order and payment (in which customers still come inside to pick up their purchase), drive-through and delivery. In its last fiscal year, 51 percent of sales at company-operated U.S. loca tions were made through cafe walk-ins, down 10 percentage points from fiscal year 2016. Meanwhile, drive-through has grown from 34 percent of net sales to 37 percent. Mobile order and payment has grown from 5 percent of sales to 12 percent. GM: 2,700jobs saved for workers slated in lay-off Associated Press DETROIT — General Motors’ plans to lay off 14,000 salaried and blue-collar workers might not be as bad as originally projected. The company said Friday that 2,700 out of the 3,300 U.S. factory jobs slated for elimina tion will now be saved. Blue-collar workers will still lose jobs at four U.S. plants slated for closure next year, but most will be able to find employment at other GM factories where jobs are being added. Some would have to relocate. GM still plans to lay off about 8,000 white-col lar workers and 2,600 factory workers in Canada. In November, the company announced plans to end production at the U.S. factories and one in Ontario as part of a major restructur ing designed to cut costs and divert resources to development and manufacturing of trucks, SUVs and electric and autonomous vehicles. Legislators and President Donald Trump have hammered GM over the moves. While some of the 3,300 U.S. factory workers will retire, most of the rest will be offered one of 2,700 jobs the company plans to add at factories where production will increase, GM announced on Friday. Some would have to move to other cities for jobs. “Our focus remains on providing interested employees options to transition including job opportunities at other GM plants,” CEO Mary Barra said about the factory workers in a state ment Friday. That still leaves the majority of the cuts hit ting white-collar workers. A small number will be able to transfer to other openings, and those who can’t will get help in finding work else where, the company said. Since the announcement, GM has faced with ering criticism from Trump, legislators from affected states and the United Auto Workers union, largely over the plant closure plans. Trump has focused on a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that’s slated to stop making compact cars on March 1. He has promised to return factory jobs to the U.S. and Ohio, a key state in his 2020 re-election campaign. GM is cutting six car models as buyers have dramatically shifted their preferences to SUVs and trucks, which will account for about 70 percent of new-vehicle sales this year. Just six years ago, that number was 51 percent, so now GM has too many factories making cars. The automaker’s attempt to close the facto ries still has to be negotiated with the United Auto Workers union, which has promised to fight back. Other factories that could go are assembly plants in Detroit and Oshawa, Ontario, and transmission plants in Warren, Michigan, and near Baltimore. Stock Exchange Highlights V NYSE 11,755.38 -180.78 B Nasdaq W 6,910.66 -159.67 Gainers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Belmond 24. CivitasSolu 14. XPO Logis 51. WheatPrg 18. Biglari B 141. Kadmon n 2. Aphria n 5. SCANA 50. GMS Inc n 15. QuormHI n 3. 68 +7.03 68 +2.06 55 +7.05 94 +2.35 66 +12.14 47 +.18 60 +.37 98 +3.02 78 +.91 82 +.21 +39.8 +16.3 +15.8 +14.2 +9.4 +7.9 +7.1 +6.3 +6.1 +5.8 Losers (S2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg AmRenAs n 13.51 ComstkRs rs 5.24 DxSPOGBI s10.73 BristowGp 2.93 Shopifyn 140.17 DxNGBII rs 7.38 Maiden pfC 7.00 IndCDrillg 3.00 NavMHpfH 3.40 PPDAI n 4.39 -2.19 -13.9 -.84 -13.8 -1.71 -13.7 -.45 -13.3 20.89 -13.0 -1.04 -12.4 -.90 -11.4 -.37 -11.0 -.41 -10.8 -.53 -10.8 Most Active ($1 on more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg GenElec 1284916 BkofAm 922055 JohnJn 581088 ChesEng 479554 AT&T Inc 416156 FordM 353389 Belmond 347736 Pfizer 296660 SwstnEngy 269087 FrptMcM 266494 7.10 -.10 24.48 +.08 133.00 -14.84 2.33 -.25 30.22 +.31 8.52 +.02 24.68 +7.03 43.80 -.77 3.80 -.35 10.57 -.35 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 611 2,208 63 2,882 15 577 3,965,845,371 Gainers ($2 Name Last OR more) Chg %Chg Alliqua rs 2.69 MarinSft rs 3.04 LiveXLve n 5.46 SmaashEnt 2.21 Koss h 2.13 PhaseBio n 4.12 Arcimoto n 2.15 iKangHIth 20.33 Lazydays n 5.81 CohBar n 3.92 +.56 +26.3 +.47 +18.3 +.72 +15.2 +.29 +15.1 +.26 +13.9 +.47 +12.9 +.24 +12.6 +2.01 +11.0 +.55 +10.5 +.37 +10.4 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg IderaPh rs 3.98 DrprOkw n 6.70 YRCWwde 3.17 GoodTimes 2.80 Reliv In rs 3.96 Hlthlnslnn 29.26 OneStopS n 2.11 GoldBull n 4.08 SiennaBi n 3.48 PHI vtg 3.49 -2.62 -39.7 -3.61 -35.0 -1.26 -28.4 -1.00 -26.3 -.97 -19.6 -6.56 -18.3 -.43 -16.9 -.77 -15.9 -.63 -15.3 -.50 -12.4 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AMD Microsoft Apple Inc SiriusXM MicronT Cisco Alliqua rs Intel Facebook Comcast s 846043 469596 406079 293252 288775 273593 271479 263380 217733 180644 19.90 +.04 106.03 -3.42 165.48 -5.47 6.17 -.07 34.20 -.82 45.82 -1.65 2.69 +.56 47.86 -.43 144.06 -.95 36.34 -.42 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 679 2,225 154 3,058 10 495 2,152,801,533 Stocks of Local Interest Name Ex YTD Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg AFLAC S 1.04 2.3 14 44.61 -1.14 0.0 Intel 1.20 2.5 18 47.86 -.43 +3.7 AT&T Inc 2.04 6.8 6 30.22 +.31 -22.3 IBM 6.28 5.2 9 119.90 -.83 -21.8 AbbottLab 1.12 1.6 30 70.76 -1.42 +24.0 JohnJn 3.60 2.7 19 133.00 14.84 -4.8 AMD 19.90 +.04 +93.6 Keycorp .56 3.7 10 15.13 -.36 -25.0 Alliqua rs 2.69 +.56 +48.6 Lowes 1.92 2.1 21 93.36 -.93 +.5 Altria 3.44 6.5 17 52.73 -1.19 -26.2 McDnlds 4.64 2.5 28 183.29 -3.14 +6.5 Annaly 1.20 11.7 11 10.22 +.13 -14.0 Merck 2.20 2.9 29 76.48 -1.98 +35.9 Apple Inc 2.92 1.8 17 165.48 -5.47 -2.2 MicronT 3 34.20 -.82 -16.8 ATMOS 1.94 2.0 18 98.47 -1.03 +14.6 Microsoft 1.84 1.7 44 106.03 -3.42 +24.0 AutoZone 17 871.24 12.24 +22.5 NorflkSo 3.20 2.1 23 150.88 -6.64 +4.1 AveryD 2.26 2.5 26 91.20 +.43 -20.6 OfficeDpt .10 3.6 8 2.75 -.09 -22.3 BB&T Cp 1.62 3.5 13 45.66 -.36 -8.2 Oracle .76 1.6 50 46.60 -.63 -1.4 BP PLC 2.38 6.2 11 38.66 -.63 -8.0 Penney 1.20 -.07 -62.0 BkofAm .60 2.5 12 24.48 +.08 -17.1 PepsiCo 3.71 3.3 33 113.95 -4.40 -5.0 BarnesNob .60 9.2 6.49 -.17 -3.1 Pfizer 1.36 3.1 18 43.80 -.77 +20.9 Belmond 24.68 +7.03+101.5 PhilipMor 4.56 5.5 20 82.50 -1.84 -21.9 Boeing 6.84 2.1 30 318.75 -6.72 +8.1 Primerica 1.00 1.0 12 100.97 -2.78 -.6 BrMySq 1.64 3.1 52 52.12 -1.52 -14.9 ProctGam 2.87 3.0 24 96.64 +.15 +5.2 CSX .88 1.3 10 65.83 -3.01 +19.7 RegionsFn .56 4.2 12 13.47 -.31 -22.0 CampSp 1.40 3.6 14 39.16 -.24 -18.6 SiriusXM .05 .8 34 6.17 -.07 +15.1 Caterpillar 3.44 2.7 12 126.77 +.87 -19.6 SouthnCo 2.40 5.1 22 47.33 -.22 -1.6 ChesEng 4 2.33 -.25 -41.2 SwstnEngy 5 3.80 -.35 -31.9 Chevron 4.48 3.9 24 113.83 -2.11 -9.1 SpectraEP 3.06 8.6 10 35.40 -.43 -10.5 Cisco 1.32 2.9 23 45.82 -1.65 +19.6 SunTrst 2.00 3.8 9 52.18 -.89 -19.2 Citigroup 1.80 3.3 9 55.02 -.75 -26.1 SynrgyPh .08 -.05 -96.4 CocaCola 1.56 3.2 93 49.34 -.13 +7.5 SynovusFn 1.00 3.1 11 32.20 -.94 -32.8 ConAgra .85 2.8 14 29.89 -.49 -20.7 3M Co 5.44 2.8 27 196.10 -6.03 -16.7 Cummins 4.56 3.4 37 133.84 -.63 -24.2 Torchmark .64 .8 6 77.14 -.88 -15.0 Disney 1.76 1.6 15 112.20 -1.19 +4.4 Transocn 7.56 -.52 -29.2 DowDuPnt 1.52 2.9 17 52.78 -1.00 -25.9 Twitter 35.87 -.02 +49.4 Equifax 1.56 1.6 17 97.18 +.06 -17.6 Tyson 1.20 2.2 10 55.30 -.78 -31.8 ExxonMbl 3.28 4.3 14 75.58 -1.40 -9.6 UtdCmBks .64 2.9 13 22.23 -.38 -21.0 Facebook 27 144.06 -.95 -18.4 UPS B 3.64 3.7 17 98.66 -2.12 -17.2 FordM .60 7.0 4 8.52 +.02 -31.8 VerizonCm 2.41 4.2 7 57.08 -.01 +7.8 FrptMcM .20 1.9 7 10.57 -.35 -44.3 Vodafone 1.74 8.6 20.12 +.03 -36.9 GenElec .04 .6 7.10 -.10 -59.4 WalMart 2.08 2.3 53 91.85 -1.11 -7.0 GenuPrt 2.88 2.9 21 98.90 -1.21 +4.1 Weathflntl .43 -.03 -89.6 HP Inc .64 2.9 7 22.01 -.28 +4.8 WeisMk 1.24 2.7 11 45.69 -.56 +10.4 Haverty .72 3.7 20 19.24 -.09 -15.1 WellsFargo 1.72 3.7 11 46.54 -.49 -23.3 Hershey 2.89 2.7 23 107.87 -2.14 -5.0 XPO Logis 20 51.55 +7.05 -43.7 HomeDp 4.12 2.4 19 172.29 -1.58 -9.1 YumBrnds 1.44 1.6 33 91.70 -1.76 +12.4 Name Ex YTD Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 24,100.51 Change: -496.87 (-2.0%) 27,200 26,400 25,600 24,800 26,000 24,940 23,880 10 DAYS J J A S 0 N D 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 26,951.81 23,344.52 Dow Industrials 24,100.51 -496.87 -2.02 -2.50 -2.24 11,623.58 9,604.23 Dow Transportation 9,514.11 -158.63 -1.64 -10.35 -8.46 762.97 647.81 Dow Utilities 757.85 -1.70 -.22 +4.77 +.59 13,637.02 11,696.58 NYSE Composite 11,755.38 -180.78 -1.51 -8.22 -7.44 8,133.30 6,630.67 Nasdaq Composite 6,910.66 -159.67 -2.26 +.11 -.37 1,309.73 1,118.69 S&P 100 1,153.59 -24.66 -2.09 -2.50 -2.79 2,940.91 2,532.69 S&P 500 2,599.95 -50.59 -1.91 -2.76 -2.84 2,053.00 1,746.06 S&P MidCap 1,732.81 -25.81 -1.47 -8.83 -8.16 30,560.54 26,293.62 Wilshire 5000 26,749.34 -490.68 -1.80 -3.76 -3.55 1,742.09 1,422.98 Russell 2000 1,410.81 -21.89 -1.53 -8.12 -7.82 Mutual Funds Name Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Pet Load Min Init Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl x LB 253,238 239.87 -3.6 -0.1/B +10.1/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 203,888 64.77 -3.7 -0.6/B +9.6/A NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm x LB 164,099 90.38 -3.6 -0.1/B +10.2/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxinv LB 129,896 64.74 -3.7 -0.7/B +9.5/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 128,269 15.52 -2.8 -11.3/B +2.0/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxIns LB 123,279 64.79 -3.7 -0.6/B +9.6/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,738 237.92 -3.6 -0.1/B +10.1/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard InsidxInsPlus LB 104,731 237.94 -3.6 -0.1/B +10.2/A NL100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInsPlus FB 95,758 103.82 -2.8 -11.3/B +2.1/A NL100,000,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 91,616 11.33 -2.7 +1.1/C +10.8/B NL 0 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 86,606 10.36 +1.2 -1.1/B +2.2/C NL 3,000 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 86,207 69.91 -1.8 -0.9/A +7.2/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
