The first bite: Apple says first-day preorders of the iPhone 4S topped 1 million, breaking the record set by last year’s model. Apple and various phone companies started taking orders for the phone last Friday. It hits stores this Friday. First-day orders for the iPhone 4 were 600,000 last year. It was then sold in the U.S. only by AT&T Inc. The iPhone 4S is also being sold by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel. The base model of the iPhone 4S costs $200 with a two-year contract. It has a faster processor and an improved camera compared to last year’s model. Apple shares rose $9, or 2.4%, to $378.80 in premarket trading today on the news.
Nothing to bank on: The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage may have dropped to record lows, but Bank of America doesn’t appear to be expecting a rush of new lenders at all its home loan offices. The Los Angeles Times reports the bank is closing 40 former Countrywide mortgage offices and firing hundreds of loan officers. The offices being closed handled only home loans and not other Bank of America services, in contrast to a recent push at the bank to integrate its financial offerings in full-service branches. “They were located mainly in parts of the country with no Bank of America branches,” including Alaska, Alabama, Wisconsin and Wyoming, bank spokesman Terry Francisco is quoted as saying. Read the full story here.
Lean and mean: Wall Street Journal sports reporter Scott Cacciola traveled to Baton Rouge recently and took notice of the slimmer, faster defense the Tigers are fielding this year. In an article titled “The defense that went to fat camp,” Cacciola writes: “This team’s starting linemen and linebackers are rather small by the overfed standards of the SEC—they’re about 20 pounds lighter, on average, than their equivalents at Alabama. But what really makes this defense unusual is the force that drove its development. It was built on fear—the fear of Oregon.” Read the full story here. Cacciola also talks about the Tigers’ quarterback situation in a podcast here. Subscription may be required.
