By the numbers: U.S. factory orders increased in December, even though companies trimmed their orders for goods that signal investment plans. Factory orders rose 1.8% on the month compared to November, when orders had fallen 0.3%, the Commerce Department reports this morning. But demand for core capital goods, a category considered a proxy for business investment plans, dipped 0.3% in December following strong gains of 3.3% in November and 3% in October. More details from the report can be found here.
This land is your land: With the gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years—a distance to the moon and almost back to Earth—conflicts with landowners across the United States are poised to multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property. Bloomberg reports landowners increasingly are pit against private businesses in state legislatures and courts as the nation confronts the new transmission lines, pipelines and compressor stations needed to reduce oil imports and produce clean energy at home. Read the full story here.
Sky high: Airline fees changed drastically in 2012, a new study of the baggage, service and in-flight fees charged by major carriers shows. The Houston Chronicle reports that carriers not only increased fees but also changed the guidelines for how they are applied, according to the study by San Francisco-based TravelNerd. The study examined more than a dozen fees charged for everything from carry-on bags to pets to unaccompanied minors and found 52 fee changes. Most were “direct fee increases,” and 28 of them were in some way related to baggage. Complete details are available in the full story here.
