Financial life in a big town

When you’re done with your tax return, your first instinct may be to stash it in a drawer and put it out of your mind until next year. That would be a mistake.

A smarter move would be to think of your return as a financial snapshot. Here are some questions to consider:

— Should you adjust your withholding? If you’re getting a fat refund, it’s smart to reduce withholding so you receive that money during the year. If you’re writing a big check each April, you might see that as an interest-free loan. But if you pay the bill with a credit card or other loan, chances are you’re better off paying as you go.

— Are you saving for retirement? If your job offers a 401(k) plan with an employer match, you benefit twice, because you’ll save on taxes and get those matching funds. If you don’t have a plan at work, that makes an Individual Retirement Account or Roth IRA even more important.

— Did you itemize deductions? IRS statistics show that only about 35 percent of returns include itemized deductions. That means millions are missing out on tax savings, and for many it’s because of sloppy record keeping.

— Is it time to buy a house — or pay off your mortgage? With housing prices and interest rates still low, you may find it’s the right time to purchase a home. In contrast, Eisenberg said some could benefit from paying down their mortgage. If the interest deduction is no longer substantial, it’s worth considering.

— Did you file your first joint re turn, or have kids? If you’re recently married or you’re a new parent, it’s a good time to reassess your insurance needs and make sure you’ve updated your financial paperwork and records.

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After gaining near-universal admiration for its moral stand against China just under a month ago, Google quickly got knocked off that pedestal.

Last week, the search giant was hit with two major lawsuits over Google Books and Google Buzz, three public advocacy groups jointly filed a privacy complaint against Google with the Federal Trade Commission, and, most critically, the FTC readied an antitrust challenge to Google’s deal for mobile advertising company AdMob.

"When you get to be the size of Google, you can expect legal battles to be constant," said Andrew Frank, Google analyst at Gartner. "This is going to be a continuing source of friction for them."

Whether or not Google’s legal woes ultimately hurt the company’s long-term profitability or stock price remains to be seen.

"The AdMob episode highlights the fact that Google may be entering a difficult phase with respect to its attempts to expand into adjacent businesses," said Tim Boyd, senior Internet analyst at MKM partners, in a note to investors. "Mobile advertising is of particular importance to Google’s longer-term growth strategy. The loss of AdMob would serve as a significant setback."

Boyd held his rating on Google at "neutral" because "increased antitrust risk could remain a significant sentiment overhang."

Any risk that Google may face more antitrust issues could cause a big wrinkle in the company’s growth prospects, according to Richard Fetyko, analyst at Merriman Curhan Ford.

Google already dominates the search market, and Fetyko says there are only a couple real growth opportunities: Mobile is one, and display ads are another. Google is still a relatively small player in both those markets, but strong growth in either space could raise regulators’ eyebrows, he said.

Still, others think that this latest slurry of legal trouble is not much to worry about, especially because Apple may have inadvertently helped Google’s cause. Last Thursday, a day after the news came out about the FTC’s antitrust concerns, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) introduced its new mobile advertising business, called "iAd," which will compete directly with AdMob faxless pay day loans.

That changed most analysts’ sentiment about the FTC’s chances against Google.

"Though AdMob is the mobile ad leader, it is only generating $100 million of revenue a year in a market that takes in $30 billion in the United States alone," said Trip Chowdry, analyst at Global Equities Research. "The fact that Apple came up with its own ad platform shows the space is evolving. It will be difficult for the FTC to block the deal."

As for the two lawsuits and the privacy concerns, most analysts just shrugged their shoulders.

"I think there’s merit to comparisons with Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)," said Frank. "There’s a sense that the incumbent is always the biggest target. But none of this has the nature of a fatal setback."

"It’s irrelevant; this is just the cost of doing business," said Chowdry. "I expect solid numbers from Google in the future. Investors should only think about Google’s innovations."

Google is set to report its first-quarter financial results on Thursday after the bell, and profit and sales are both expected to soar. The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is for earnings per share of $6.58 on revenue of $4.9 billion, up 21% from year-ago levels.

Shares of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) rose $1.33 to $588.10 Wednesday. Google’s stock has failed to keep pace with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite this year. While the Nasdaq has risen 9.5%, Google has fallen 5.6%.

Investors initially sold off the company’s stock during its standoff with China in January, as many viewed the announcement as turning Google’s back on 700 million Internet users. When it became clear that Google was not leaving behind China’s mobile market, Google’s shares gained back some lost momentum. 

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Retail sales posted the biggest single monthly gain on record in March, the seventh straight month of increases and a signal of rebounding consumer spending.

Sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which looks at monthly same-store sales for 28 chains, said Thursday that March sales increased 9.1% over last year, the biggest monthly gain since it began keeping records in 2000. Thomson had expected only a 6.3% increase.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailers’ performance.

"This is obviously a very strong showing," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody’s Economy.com, "but it’s very much driven by special factors."

The chain stores received a boost in March from unusually warm weather, Easter shopping and improved consumer confidence, Thomson said in its report.

Hoyt also noted bad weather in February could have contributed to pent-up demand, and March enjoyed relatively easy comparisons over the year.

"The Easter calendar shift is a huge factor, and March’s gain will be at the expense of April’s figures," Hoyt said. "Many retailers and analysts say you should combine the two months for a true indicator of what’s going on, so we’ll have to see what happens next month."

Still, March’s report was welcome news for the retail industry, for which the recession has been marked by numerous store closings and the bankruptcy of entire chains such as Circuit City.

The data are also important to the overall recovery, as consumer spending fuels two-thirds of the economy. In a separate report last week, a research group’s report showed consumer confidence rose in March after a sharp drop the previous month.

Higher-end women’s apparel store The Limited (LTD, Fortune 500) handily beat expectations, reporting a 15% increase over the year. Thomson Reuters had predicted only a 6.8% jump.

Many teen clothing retailers also posted strong numbers. Aeropostale (ARO) had the strongest sales so far at a 19% increase, while Zumiez (ZUMZ) gained 13.2%.

But other teen apparel stores posted the biggest misses. That included the upscale Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), which reported only a 5% increase, missing Thomson’s expectation of a 6.6% rise. Alternative clothing store Hot Topic (HOTT) reported the weakest sales, down 7.5%, but that was better than the predicted 11.2% drop.

In the luxury sector, department store chain Nordstrom posted a 16.8% same-store sales increase, versus expectations for a 10.6% gain.

BJ’s Wholesale (BJ, Fortune 500) reported the strongest increase among discounters, at 10.6%. Costco (COST, Fortune 500) saw a 10% jump, beating estimates of a 9.3% gain. 

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Fewer cities reported severe unemployment in February, according to a government report released Wednesday.

There were 29 metropolitan areas that reported unemployment rates at or above 15% in February, down from 35 in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

California and Michigan continue to report the hardest hits, as they have for months. Of the cities with jobless rates of 15% or more, 13 were in California and four were in Michigan.

Among metro areas with populations of 1 million or more, Detroit reported the highest jobless rate at 15.3%, while Riverside, Calif., was second at 14.7%.

Meanwhile, New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C., had the lowest jobless rates among the big cities, all reporting rates below 7%.

El Centro, Calif., which is highly affected by seasonal agriculture jobs, continued to post the highest unemployment rate at 27.2%, followed by two other mid-sized agricultural areas in California: Merced at 22.1% and Yuba City at 21.6%.

The Labor Department’s Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary breaks out unemployment rates by city and lags the nationwide jobs report by about a month.

The Labor Department’s latest national report, released on Friday, showed the U.S. economy gained 162,000 jobs in March, more than any other month in the last three years. The unemployment rate remained stubbornly high, holding steady at 9.7%. 

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Lines reportedly thinned out quickly at Best Buy and Apple Inc. stores Saturday but when the dust had settled on the iPad's first day of sales an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 had been sold.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's issued that assessment of sales in stores and pre-orders, doubling his pre-launch estimate.

The first iPhone took 74 days to hit 1 million sales, while the subsequent iPhone 3G and Phone 3GS both hit the million mark in three days.

Fortune reported that as of 7:30 Saturday night, only one of the 20 stores contacted by Munster's team said they had run out of iPads.

Twitter messages on Sunday morning however reported sellouts at many Best Buys and some Apple stores, including in Palo Alto and San Jose.

The 9.7-inch touch-screen iPads sold over the weekend are priced starting at $499 and for now include only the ability to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.

Versions that are also capable of running on AT&T's 3G wireless network are scheduled to go on sale at the end of the month.

CEO Steve Jobs, his wife and daughter visited the Palo Alto Apple store themselves, while co-founder Steve Wozniak made another of his celebrated "regular guy" visits to a company store at Valley Fair mall in San Jose.

Tech blogger Robert Scoble posted a video on YouTube of what it was like to be the first iPad customer at the Apple store in Palo Alto.

The Better Business Bureau cautioned that scams have cropped up around the country in connection with the iPad launch, some of which offer victims a free iPad in exchange for a consumer's credit card number or other personal information.

The BBB said consumers should buy their iPad directly from Apple or an authorized retailer.

Click here to read more Business Journal stories about the iPad launch.

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Factory orders rose in February, bolstered by strong demand for industrial machinery and commercial aircraft. It was the 10th increase in 11 months as manufacturing continues to provide crucial support for the nation’s economic recovery.

Manufacturing companies, which were hit hard by the recession, are benefiting from overseas orders and increased business spending on capital equipment. Quinlan estimates factory orders fell by about 25 percent during the recession but have recovered about one-third of that amount since last spring.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new orders rose 0.6 percent last month, just ahead of analysts’ estimates for a 0.5 percent increase, according to Thomson Reuters.

Still, that was the lowest uptick since August 2009. January’s orders also were revised higher to show an increase of 2.5 percent.

Separately, a private company’s report on payrolls Wednesday disappointed analysts. Payroll provider ADP said employers cut 23,000 jobs in March, well below economists’ forecasts for a 40,000 gain.

In the factory orders report, economists were encouraged by a 2 percent rise in orders for capital goods such as computers and machinery following a sharp drop in January. In addition, inventories rose by 0.5 percent last month, the fourth increase in the past five months.

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