New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Bank of America (BAC Fortune 500) announced it is partnering with two other entities to develop solar energy from rooftop installations.

The project will ultimately produce about 733 megawatts of solar energy, which is enough energy to power 100,000 homes and represents about 50 percent of the energy output of a nuclear powered electric plant.

A federal loan guarantee through the Department of Energy will help to fund the $2.6 billion project. It will be the world’s largest single effort to install solar energy panels on rooftops. The panels will be installed on the rooftops of industrial buildings in several states. DOE will guarantee 80 percent of the $1.4 billion debt financing. The rest of the money will come from private loan and funding sources.

Other partners in the project include real estate owner Prologis (PLD) and utility NRG Energy (NRG, Fortune 500).

In a press release, Tom Doyle, president of NRG Solar, NRG’s solar subsidiary, put the project into perspective.

“NRG believes rooftop solar is a smart choice for industrial, commercial and residential property owners in markets around the country, and this program provides the commercial scale that will bring the benefits of solar power to customers across the country,” Doyle said. “This program will nearly double the amount of grid-connected solar online in the United States today and make another positive contribution to cleaner air and a healthy environment.”

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – A recent study on Americans and their spending found that many are holding back on nonessential spending, such as vacations or dining out, since the beginning of 2011 as a result of the rise in gasoline prices.

“The sensitivity to gasoline prices voiced by Americans cuts both ways. Any sustained pullback in prices would be a boost to the economy, but a renewed increase in gas prices would be a further drag on growth,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that 54 percent of Americans think high gas prices are here to stay.

Across the country regular gasoline averaged $3.91 a gallon Friday, 7 cents less than the 2011 high of $3.98 a week earlier. Nationally gas is up 37 percent from May 2010.

Consumers already are making lifestyle changes. More than 50 percent say they’ve changed their daily habits to compensate for the spike in prices. Nearly 20 percent say they would consider adopting changes if prices remain high.

In addition to spending less, nearly 30 percent have changed their driving habits. They say they’re driving less and consolidating trips. Eleven percent more saying they will do so if prices don’t drop, with 15 percent saying they’ve switched to cars that are more fuel-efficient.

According to the Bankrate.com study on financial security:

• 35 percent of Americans are less comfortable with their savings now compared to 12 months ago, down from 42 percent in April. One in six, or 16 percent, are more comfortable, up from 14 percent in April.

• Americans are split on their overall financial security. Some 27 percent reported better overall financial security compared to 12 months ago, while 28 percent said they are worse off. Those reporting better overall financial security are higher-income earners ($75,000 and up), college graduates and those under age 50. Those reporting worse overall financial security are those with household incomes under $50,000, the unemployed and retirees.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – With personal debt continuing to rise Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to cover expenses. A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. shows that that 19% of Americans close to 1 in 5 have admitted to tapping into retirement funds over the past 12 months to cover emergencies.

The poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International also found that one in three Americans say their overall financial situation is worse than it was a year ago.

Additionally feelings of financial security among Americans, as measured by the Financial Security Index, dropped to a new low of 93.5, down from 97.0 in March and falls from December’s low of 94.6.

The poll also found that seven percent of Americans don’t have any retirement savings.

“Raiding the retirement account prematurely depletes the nest egg, subjects the individual to taxes and penalties, and deals a permanent setback to retirement security because you can never go back and make up for those early withdrawals,” said Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – United States conglomerate General Electric (GE) saw a 79 percent leap in its net earnings during the first three months of 2011, company officials announced Thursday.

GE had first quarter net earnings of $3.4 billion, which beat expectations and also increased the company’s dividend.

Moreover, GE revenues rose by 6 percent to $38.45 billion at a time when many analysts expected a decrease.

The company saw most of its growth come from the strong performance of its GE Capital financial services unit, which offset pressure on profit margins from the company’s industrial businesses, particularly its energy equipment.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Gold prices soared above a record $1,500.70 per troy ounce in trading Wednesday, boosted by a weaker dollar and investors seeking a shelter amid concerns over the anemic global economic recovery.

In fact, traders said much of the drive in gold prices came from Standard & Poor downgrading its outlook on United States debt from “stable” to “negative,” a move that could indicate S&P might downgrade its AAA credit rating for the U.S.

Analysts said gold prices could go as high as $1,510 or $1,520 per ounce, but that they could also go down if investors sell-off because they think gold prices are stretched too much.

However, other analysts think that gold prices might stay stable at this price because industrial uses for the precious metal will keep demand stable.

Concerns also drove silver prices to a 31-year high of $44.34 an ounce.

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New York, NY, United States (NewsBahn) – The founders of three of the largest Internet poker companies doing business in the United States are among 11 people accused Friday of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses.

The charged were unveiled Friday when federal authorities unsealed a indictment in Manhattan.

The government also seeks at least $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties and forfeiture from the poker companies and the defendants. A federal district court has issued an order restraining approximately 76 bank accounts in 14 countries.

Five Internet domain names used by the poker companies also were seized.

Among those charged were Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate of Poker Stars, Raymond Bitar and Nelson Burtnick of Full Tilt Poker and Scott Tom and Brent Buckley of Absolute Poker.

In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bhahara said: “As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud. Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits.”

The statement said owners of the poker sites “arranged for the money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls. Of the billions of dollars in payment transactions that the poker companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the funds went directly to the Poker Companies as revenue through the ‘rake’ charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.”

After U.S. banks refused to accept payments from the gambling sites, which would have in violation of federal law, federal authorities said the companies persuaded a few small local banks in financial trouble to process their payments “in return for multi-million-dollar investments in the banks.”

John Campos, vice chairman of the board of a small private bank, SunFirst Bank of Saint George, UT, was among those charged in the indictment.

Four other men – Ryan Lang, Ira Rubin, Bradley Franzen and Chad Elie – were accused of being “highly compensated ‘payment processors’” who “lied to banks about the nature of the financial transactions they were processing, and covered up those lies, by, among things, creating phony corporations and websites to disguise payments.”

The indictment notes that in a press release dated Oct. 16, 2006, Absolute Poker announced that the company would continue its U.S. operations because “the U.S. Congress has no control over” the company’s payment transactions.

Two of the men were arrested Friday: Campos in Utah and Elie in Las Vegas. A third defendant, Franzen, is expected to appear in New York on Tuesday for arraignment. Bitar, Scheinberg, Burtnick, Tate, Tom, Beckley and Rubin are believe to be outside the U.S. and have not yet been arrested.

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Manhattan, NY, United States (AHN) – Bernard Madoff’s $65-billion Ponzi scheme may have broken records in terms of the amount of scam money involved. Madoff lawyers’ fees, however, may also break records in legal expenses.

A tally of the fees submitted to the U.S. Congress Securities and Exchange Commission Inspector General David Kotz estimated that the lawyers’ fees are expected to top $1.1 billion in the coming years. Last year, the running total was at $288 million.

The legal bill charged for tracing of Madoff’s money, selling his assets and filing lawsuits against investors who profited heavily from the fraud.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation – which manages the liquidation of failed brokerage companies – had named lawyer Irving Picard as the Madoff trustee without competitive bidding. However, the courts approved Picard’s appointment.

Kotz, in a report released Thursday, disclosed that members of Picard’s team are paid up to $742 an hour. Kotz urged regulators to monitor the legal fees more closely to ensure payments are appropriate because the courts and the SEC do not effectively oversee the fees and expenses paid to Picard’s law firm and other contractors.

Kotz warned that the high fees paid to contractors in the Madoff lawsuit could deplete the SIPC funds and government would have to step in and lend SPIC up to $2.5 billion.

SIPC Chief Executive Stephen Harbeck defended Picard’s appointment, even without competitive bidding, because of the latter’s vast experience in similar cases.

He added the SIPC still has $1.3 billion in its coffers, but earns an average of $450 million yearly from the brokerage industry.

Last month, Judge Burton Lifland of the Federal Bankruptcy Court, who is hearing the Madoff lawsuit, sided with Picard in computing for the losses of Madoff’s victims. Picard reckoned that the difference between the cash the victims invested and cash taken out of their accounts over the years was the real loss, regardless of the final balance on fictional account statements made by Madoff.

Based on this formula, net losers – or those who placed more cash than they withdrew – would be first priority for compensation. Investors who enjoyed net gains would only be paid after all the net losers had recovered their investments.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Rising gas prices have already caused one in three U.S. consumers to significantly alter and reduce discretionary spending.

According to the monthly RBC Consumer Outlook Index, with the national average price at approximately $3.20 per gallon, 18 percent of respondents said they would reduce spending if gas prices climb to $3.75 per gallon. Some 41 percent placed their affordability threshold at $4 per gallon or more.

The survey was conducted in late February.

March also saw consumer confidence drop for a third straight month. Political issues in Washington and Middle East unrest combined with uncertainties in the region have seen markets responding with rising prices, particularly for oil and food.

“What really stands out to us is worry about the future,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist for RBC Capital Markets. “The geopolitical issues of recent weeks are seeping into expectations about markets and respondents’ financial position. The number of people who expect the value of their investments to ‘get worse’ rose to the highest level in four months. The erosion in personal finances has translated into people thinking they will have less to spend on discretionary items, and that number rose to the highest level in at least a year.”

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New York City, NY, United States (AHN) – JP Morgan Chase bank has informed all 192 United Nations member states that it will close its UN branch by the end of March, along with all business accounts and credit cards there.

Chase has advised UN nations to seek business accounts and credit cards with other financial institutions while saying that personal accounts would not be affected.

UN member nations are reportedly upset by the news. Although many UN missions have accounts at other banks, Chase was the only bank with retail operations at UN headquarters.

Chase gave no reason for its action in the letter it sent to UN missions. However, observers speculate that it was caused of the high cost of complying with U.S. government regulations designed to prevent money laundering or aiding terrorism.

Last year, new regulations kicked in that require reporting all transactions with overseas clients regardless of the amount versus the old regulations that only required reporting amounts over $10,000.

Although many of the UN member nations have business accounts with other banks, some of the smaller developing nations do not. The situation could affect the UN budget.

U.S. officials have met with UN ambassadors to discuss the situation and assure them that the bank was acting solely because of commercial concerns.

Under the 1947 agreement to host the UN headquarters, U.S. officials have an obligation to facilitate the day-to-day operations of UN missions without hindering them. However, U.S. officials do not have any legal authority to affect the business decisions of a private bank.

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Armonk, NY, United States (AHN) – The U.S. online retail sector produced double-digit growth in December compared to the same period in 2009. Online retail sales were up 12 percent over the previous year, according to Coremetrics Benchmark, which gathered data directly from the web sites of more than 500 leading U.S. retailers.

The findings expand on the previous reports of strong growth between both Black Friday 2010 and Cyber Monday 2010.

Coremetrics also found that consumers’ average orders rose over 11 percent from $171.06 to $190.42.

“Retailers did a tremendous job of enticing consumers to shop online with a variety of special promotions, guaranteed delivery dates, free or deeply discounted shipping, and up-to-date inventory information,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer, IBM Coremetrics.

Department stores and health and beauty retailers continued to show growth in online sales that far outpaced the online retail sector overall. Both reported sales increases of approximately 23 percent.

In a sign of what Coremetrics considered to be the economy making the first vestiges of improvement, jewelry retailers reported a jump of 18.5 percent in sales.

In December, 5.6 percent of all site visits were initiated from a mobile device, a 19 percent increase over the previous month.

Additionally, analysts said 5.5 percent of all online retail sales came from mobile devices, marking a 7 percent increase over November.

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