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T. Rowe Money Manager Sounds Off on Fiscal Cliff

USA Today Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Economists are warning that the US will plunge into a recession again if Congress doesn't reach a deal to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts — the so-called "fiscal cliff."

But Bill Stromberg, director of global equity and global equity research at Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Group Inc., tells USA Today that investors shouldn't worry too much about this affecting their portfolio in the long run. They should build a diversified portfolio and worry instead about the artificially low interest rates that will go up at some point.

"I personally don't think average investors should be structuring their portfolio around the idea of a short-term deadline in the market," Stromberg tells USA Today. "Their long-term asset allocation and choice of investments should be based on much longer-term horizons."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Seattle Music Guru Picking Out "Aggressive" Songs for Under Armour

NPR Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Spencer Manio picks out the right music that meshes with a company's brand.

And the 39-year-old Seattle resident is picking out "aggressive electronic music" to play at Under Armour stores, Manio tells NPR.

He can't reveal the songs just yet, but NPR writes that "there will likely be mainstream songs by Skrillex and Calvin Harris, who soundtrack many a CrossFit and 'bootcamp' experience."

You could also hear Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Baauer, Lunice and TNGHT next time you're buying Under Armour workout shorts.

"If he pulls it off right, he'll communicate the brand, intrigue the consumer and expose people to extraordinary music," NPR writes. "Essentially he's trying to help Under Armour convince you, whoever you are, even if your body is not a temple, that you could be in the Olympics."

Read more about Under Armour's music guru here.

Business School Dean Admires Baltimore Symphony Director

Forbes Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A business school dean calls the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director "a folk hero" in the most recent issue of Forbes magazine.

Doug Guthrie, dean of the George Washington University School of Business, got to know Marin Alsop because she was the first speaker in the school's Conversations on Creative Leadership series.

"She is a woman in a field dominated by men, but she is so much more," Guthrie writes in Forbes. "A visionary who understands the connection between ambition and achievement. A crusader who knows how music can transform lives. A leader who accepts the risk that comes with great rewards. A trailblazer who is as adept at the trail as the blazing."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Festival of Trees Puts a Spin on the Christmas Spirit

USA Today Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Timonium's Festival of Trees is one of the top 10 great places to "put a spin" on the Christmas spirit, according to USA Today and Jinglebelljunction.com's creator Monica Mays.

"It includes a fairyland forest with more than 600 decorated trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses, all for sale," USA Today writes. "There also is a Harry Potter house, a toy train garden, holiday craft shopping and entertainment."

Tickets cost $13 and sales benefit the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Other contenders on the list include a Santa pub crawl in Reno and Santa Claus, Ind., a town that celebrates Christmas all year long.

You can see the entire list here.

Analysts: Md. Casinos Face East Coast Competition

Las Vegas Review-Journal Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Maryland voters approved a massive expansion of gambling on Election Day. The Free State is getting a sixth casino in Prince George's County and Maryland Live at Arundel Mills and other casinos will get table games.

But Maryland isn't the only East Coast state doing this, writes the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Toronto and New York City are considering casino developments and Philadelphia is getting a downtown hotel and casino.

"There isn't an end in sight," writes the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Two gaming analysts believe there should be. In separate research reports, they said the populous Northeast and Atlantic Coast regions are close to reaching a casino saturation point."

You can read the rest of the story here.

BMA's Contemporary Wing Expansion Gets a Page in Amtrak Pub

Arrive Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Arrive Magazine, the publication that Northeast travelers receive on Amtrak, has crafted a feature highlighting the Baltimore Museum of Art's recent expansion.

"The highlight of the new pieces is a site-specific reimagining of the museum's modern and contemporary collections in sculptural forms placed in the ceiling, walls and floors," Arrive writes.

The magazine also mentions the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, Everyman Theatre and the Hippodrome.

You can read the entire story here.

Baltimore's Same-Sex Wedding Website Featured in USA Today

USA Today Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The day after Maryland voters approved same-sex marriage, Baltimore's tourism bureau launched its website that helps gay couples who are planning a wedding.

"Celebrate your wedding day in Baltimore!" Visit Baltimore's site says.

And USA Today took note of the quick response.

"Visit Baltimore is helping with venues, lodging, group rates and vendor suggestions," the paper writes. "It also has the fine print on how to wed there."

Same-sex couples can wed in Maryland starting Jan. 1.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Jewish Leaders Hold Convention in Baltimore

MSNBC Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Jewish Federations of North America is holding its 2012 convention in Baltimore this week for the first time in 30 years, writes WBAL TV in a story that was picked up by MSNBC.com.

The meeting takes place Nov. 11-13, bringing thousands of Jews who represent 155 Jewish federations and 300 networks that "raise and distribute more than $1 billion each year for social welfare and education," the story says.

The annual convention is a once a year chance for Jewish leaders to get together and talk about the positives and the challenges, Bruce Sholk, a past chairman of the Associated, tells WBAL.

You can read the rest of the story here.

New Baltimore Homeowners Featured in Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal Tuesday, November 13, 2012

More Americans are setting up new households, which the Wall Street Journal says is an indication that worries about the recession may be on the decline.

"Rising household formation, which is tied to employment growth, means more students are finding jobs when they leave college, more adult children are leaving their parents' homes and more couples feel confident enough about the future to tie the knot," the Journal writes.

The paper identifies a Baltimore couple who just purchased a $250,000 condo. "'We're both employed and we both feel secure with our jobs. We also feel like the housing market is on an upward swing. Prices are still depressed, but they're probably going up,'" new homebuyer Imran Akran tells the Journal.

Walters Art Exhibit Gets a Plug in the New York Times

New York Times Friday, November 09, 2012

The Walters Art Museum's latest exhibit, which explores the depiction of Africans in Renaissance art, gets a writeup in the New York Times.

"Visually the exhibition is a gift, with marvelous things by artists familiar and revered — Dürer, Rubens, Veronese — along with images most of us never knew existed," the Times writes. "Together they map a history of art, politics and race that scholars have begun to pay attention to."

"Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe" runs through Jan. 21 and features paintings, drawings, sculptures and printed books depicting black Africans in Europe from the 1400s to the 1600s. Africans living in or visiting Europe at this time included artists, aristocrats, saints, slaves and diplomats.

You can read the entire Times' review here.

CEO Shares His Love of the Orioles

New York Times Tuesday, November 06, 2012

In a New York Times essay, the CEO of one Maryland company shares his love of the Baltimore Orioles, who made it to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years this season.

Jack Dunn, CEO of FTI Consulting Inc., waxes nostalgic about the team that his family once owned when it was a minor league team.

"My great-grandfather recruited Babe Ruth," Dunn tells Patricia Olsen of the New York Times. "Babe’s parents had sent him, an unruly son, to an industrial school that served as an orphanage. After seeing him pitch when he was 19, my great-grandfather became his guardian and signed him to the team."

He also says he bought a stake in the Orioles in 1993.

FTI Consulting is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and has offices in Baltimore and Annapolis. It employs 3,800.

Johns Hopkins Ranks No. 8 Among Priciest Colleges

CNNMoney Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Getting a four-year degree at Johns Hopkins University will set you back $231,280. That makes it one of the top 10 most expensive colleges, according to CNNMoney.com. Room and board for the 2012-2013 school year is $57,820, a 3.7 percent increase over the previous year.

Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., New York University and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., rounded out the top 3.

It's the second time this year that the Baltimore school got on the most expensive college list. Business Insider ranked it No. 7 on its list of 20 most expensive colleges.

Port of Baltimore Gets Cargo Boost Due to Sandy

Wall Street Journal Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Sandy has wreaked havoc on transportation all throughout the East Coast.

Last week, we featured a link to a story on how cruise operations were disrupted at the Locust Point terminal due to the superstorm.

Now, it seems that the storm has provided a temporary boost to the port, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

Cargo ships are bypassing New York and New Jersey due to Sandy. "Maersk Inc., the world's largest container-shipping company, has begun diverting its cargo to Halifax, Canada, Baltimore and Philadelphia," the Journal writes.

The story does note, however, that the Port of Virginia in Norfolk is the biggest beneficiary. You can read the entire story here. (A subscription is required.)

Netflix Sees Video-Streaming Spike in Baltimore Due to Sandy

CNNMoney Friday, November 02, 2012

Greater Baltimore breathed a sigh of relief when they missed the worst of Category 1 Hurricane Sandy.

Schools and many offices closed, leaving residents confined to their homes. So how did folks in Baltimore cope with cabin fever?

Some turned to video streaming provided by Netflix, CNNMoney says. "Viewership doubled on the East Coast, with major spikes in cities including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.," writes CNNMoney.

So what movies are popular among Netflix subscribers in Baltimore? Charm City has diverse movie tastes, with "Tyler Perry's Laugh to Keep From Crying," "2001 a Space Odyssey," and the 2001 French horror flick "The Brotherhood of the Wolf" all ranking among the top 10 movies that are favored more in Baltimore compared with other cities. That's according to the Netflix site.

CNN Covers Maryland's Gay Marriage Debate

CNN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Maryland voters will decide Nov. 6 whether the Free State will allow gay marriage and are now divided on the issue.

CNN.com highlighted the debate in Maryland, as well as in Maine and Washington, which are also putting the issue before voters on Election Day.

"From her Baltimore kitchen, Rebecca Murphy is lobbying legislators, crafting signs and making phone calls as she wages a battle to allow gays and lesbians to marry in her state," CNN.com writes. "As national polls show a shift in attitudes about same-sex marriage, Murphy's state of Maryland is one of three poised to put the issue to an up-or-down popular vote for the first time next month."

Currently, six states allow same-sex marriage and five allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

You can read the entire story here.