Business Blog

Regions Financial Corp. is setting the stage for repaying $3.5 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, money it owes the U.S. Treasury. The Birmingham-based bank, which holds the leading market share for banks in Mississippi, Tuesday announced a $900 million common stock offering to raise money to buy back the $3.5 million Series [...]

If enacted, Mississippi’s proposed anti-immigration law could encounter the same legal obstacles from federal judges who last week blocked two provisions of Alabama’s law. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order temporarily halting a section that says courts can’t enforce contracts involving illegal immigrants and another that makes it a felony for [...]

Where Mississippi Republicans are getting their facts is unclear, but it’s clear that the majority of them have their facts wrong. Here’s the dirty lowdown: President Obama is not a Muslim. Nonetheless, more than half of Mississippi’s Republicans voters believe he is a Muslim, even though he attended Christian churches for decades and has said [...]

Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are all vying for Mississippi votes ahead of tomorrow’s critical primary. The three candidates made sure the Magnolia State was thoroughly courted last week with campaign stops across the state from Tupelo to Gulfport. National polling has Romney out front at 35% following a Thursday endorsement by Gov. [...]

Wildlife investigators are now offering a reward of $5,000 to help find out who shot a bald eagle in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. The bald eagle was found next to the Sipsey River on Upper Columbus Road. X-rays showed it had been shot in the wing and skull. The eagle is recovering at the Southeastern Raptor [...]

By Ted Carter Gov. Phil Bryant will gather in the Capitol Wednesday with Tea Party allies to detail progress on giving Mississippi an “Alabama-style” law to keep undocumented immigrants from working in the state. The 1:30 p.m. joint press conference with the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement and the Mississippi Tea Party could [...]

I would, somewhat vainly perhaps, consider myself a social media savant. I was blogging on Xanga when WordPress was still in beta testing. I was on Facebook before it was cool. Way before. Twitter has finally grown on me and I’m up to about 200 Tweets since last fall. Skype has been a great way [...]

The American Bankers Association reacted harshly Monday to President Obama’s proposal to levy a 10-year tax on the banking industry that would raise $61 billion to help U.S. homeowners refinance. Obama had previously proposed a “financial crisis responsibility fee” on financial firms with assets exceeding $50 billion. That idea has been changed into a proposal [...]

WASHINGTON — U.S. states have reached a $25 billion deal with the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst. Federal and state officials announced the deal Thursday. It is the biggest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco deal. Under the agreement, five major banks [...]

“The Help,” a Mississippi-made film about race and relationships in 1960′s Jackson, has done it again. The movie, based on the novel by Jackson native Kathryn Stockett, won the coveted Best Ensemble Cast award at last night’s 18th annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards show in Los Angeles. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer who played African-American [...]