Best of the North American International Auto Show

Courtesy of BMW North America, Inc. While in some precincts the recession lingers on like unmelted snow drifts from a late winter storm, luxury was very much on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where many car makers emphasized new models featuring?expensive?materials, high-performance engines, and cutting edge technology. Still, other manufacturers appeared determined to stick to the basics. Ford, for example, showed the prototype for its next generation pickup, while Toyota and Honda displayed vehicles like the Toyota Furia and Honda Urban SUV that offer a glimpse of what the mainstream will be driving in the years ahead. Here’s a look at 11 of the most notable new models in both categories.?Next 2014 Corvette Stingray

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Lithium Batteries Central to Boeing’s 787 Woes

WASHINGTON — Lithium batteries that can leak corrosive fluid and start fires have emerged as the chief safety concern involving Boeing‘s 787 Dreamliner, a problem that apparently is far more serious than government or company officials acknowledged less than a week ago.

The Federal Aviation Administration late Wednesday grounded Boeing’s newest and most technologically advanced jetliner until the risk of battery fires is resolved. The order applies only to the six Dreamliners operated by United Airlines, the lone U.S. carrier with 787s. But other airlines and civil aviation authorities in other countries will be under pressure to follow suit or face possible accusations of taking unnecessary risks with public safety.

Japan‘s two largest air carriers voluntarily grounded their 787s on Wednesday ahead of the FAA’s order following an emergency landing by one of the planes in Japan. On Thursday, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered all European carriers to ground the jetliner. And the Indian government ordered Air India to ground its fleet of six Boeing 787s.

Only hours before the FAA issued its order, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood reiterated to reporters that he considers the plane safe and wouldn’t hesitate to fly one. LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta unequivocally declared the plane safe at a news conference last week even while they ordered a safety review of the aircraft.

(MORE: How Safe is the Boeing 787?)

However, as details emerged of two battery failures only 10 days apart, it became apparent that the FAA wouldn’t be able to wait for completion of its safety review before taking action. An inspection of the All Nippon Airways 787 that made an emergency landing in western Japan found that electrolytes, a flammable battery fluid, had leaked from the plane’s main lithium-ion battery. Investigators found burn marks around the damage. Japan’s Kyodo News agency quoted transport ministry investigator Hideyo Kosugi as saying the liquid leaked through the electrical room floor to the outside of the aircraft.

In the first battery incident on Jan. 7, it took firefighters 40 minutes to put out a blaze centered in an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787. The plane was empty of passengers shortly after landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

The two incidents resulted in the release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage and smoke, the FAA confirmed. The release of battery fluid is especially concerning, safety experts said. The fluid is extremely corrosive, which means it can quickly damage electrical wiring and components. The 787 relies far more than any other airliner in operation on electrical systems to function.

The electrolyte fluid also conducts electricity, so as it spreads it can cause short-circuits and ignite fires. And its corrosiveness raises concern about whether a leak might weaken a key support structure of the plane, even though the 787 is the first airliner to be made primarily from lightweight composite materials that are less susceptible to corrosion than aluminum, safety experts said.

“Anytime you have leakage of battery fluid it’s a very serious situation,” said Kevin Hiatt, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., which promotes global airline safety.

(MORE: Emergency Landing Grounds Boeing 787 Jets in Japan)

The fluid leak identified in the ANA plane was a “very significant finding,” said John Goglia, an expert on aircraft maintenance and a former National Transportation Safety Board member. It’s possible that a leak could interfere with electrical signals, making it impossible for pilots to control the plane, he said.

“There are all kinds of possibilities,” Goglia said. “They need to go in and take a look at it. I guarantee you everybody’s doing that.”

The 787 is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium-ion batteries to help power its energy-hungry electrical systems. The batteries charge faster and can be better molded to space-saving shapes compared with other airplane batteries.

“Unfortunately, what Boeing did to save weight is use the same batteries that are in the electric cars, and they are running into the same problems with the 787 as the problems that have shown up in electric cars,” said Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aeronautical engineering at St. Louis University.

The lithium-ion batteries in several Chevrolet Volts used for crash-testing caught fire in 2011. General Motors engineers eventually figured out that the fires were the result of a battery coolant leak that caused electrical shorts after side-impact crash tests. GM retrofitted the car with more steel to protect the battery. No fires were ever reported on real-world roads.

Jim McNerney, Boeing’s chairman, president and CEO, said the company is working with the FAA to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

“We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity,” he said in a statement. “We will be taking every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787′s safety and to return the airplanes to service.”

(MORE: The Rise of the Alterna-Banks)

Mike Sinnett, chief engineer on the 787, said last week that the plane’s batteries have operated through a combined 1.3 million hours and never had an internal fault. He said they were built with multiple protections to ensure that failures “don’t put the airplane at risk.”

The lithium-ion design was chosen because it’s the only type of battery that can take a large charge in a short amount of time.

Neither GS Yuasa Corp., the Japanese company that supplies the batteries for the 787, nor Thales, which makes the battery charging system, would comment on the recent troubles.

Boeing and its customers will need to move quickly to resolve the problem. The aircraft maker has booked orders for more than 800 of the planes from airlines around the world attracted by its increased fuel efficiency.

The jet’s lightweight design makes it more of a fuel-sipper; fuel is the largest expense for most airlines. It’s so lightweight in part because it uses electricity to do things that other airplanes do with hot air vented through internal ducts. So a 787 with electrical problems is like a minivan that won’t haul kids. It goes to the heart of what the thing was built to do.

The FAA order had airlines, flight crews and passengers scrambling to figure out what to do next. Stanislaw Radzio, the captain of a LOT Polish Airlines 787 that landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago late Wednesday, told The Associated Press he wasn’t sure when the plane would be heading back to Poland.

“We’re grounded like everyone else,” he said. “We are very unhappy with the situation.”

He said he was told of the FAA decision during the flight from Warsaw. A captain and flight instructor at the Polish airline since 1999, Radzio said the 787 is the nicest plane he’s ever flown.

A passenger on the flight, Taras Dukyn, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he was surprised when told of the grounding by reporters, but would be willing to fly the aircraft again if the problems were fixed.

“It’s a really nice plane. Computers in every chair. It was comfortable, although I was a little hot,” he said.

Freed reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Herb McCann in Chicago, Elaine Kurtenbach and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong and Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this report.

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Do Less, Succeed More

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are typically buried in demands and obligations, so learning to say “no” and focus on the right things is critically important.

Vickie Milazzo, an entrepreneur and author of “Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman,” has some advice that could benefit just about anyone, not just women.

Milazzo emphasizes using your time wisely. You don’t achieve big goals overnight; you have to work at them every day, sometimes in small chunks. So commit to doing something every day toward your goal and reach it in stages.

Abandon perfectionism. When you get there, success may not look like what you expected, so adjust your expectations and definition of success along the way. We all have an idea of how success will look and feel when we get there, so your ability to be flexible and adjust your goals could get you to a place of success earlier than you otherwise might.

Find successful people to learn from and emulate. If you’re struggling to achieve a goal, you won’t learn much from someone else who is struggling to achieve that same goal. Look around for others who have achieved what you want and whose work you admire and model yourself after them.

Keep it fresh. Do you remember why you wanted the career you have? Tap back into the frame of mind you had when you were just starting out. Finding that passion again will renew your energy and engagement.

Finally, give yourself a break. If you stepped back and looked at your daily routine objectively, as if it were happening to your best friend, what would your advice be? Slow down? Take a few deep breaths? Spend a few moments enjoying the day?

Adapted from Successful Woman’s New Year’s Advice for Other Women: Stop ‘Enduring’ by Don Tennant at IT Business Edge. And send us your small business success tips!

Paul Shread is editor in chief of the IT Business Edge network.

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Goldman, Morgan Stanley Pay $557M in Mortgage Case

WASHINGTON — Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will pay a combined $557 million to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes.

The agreements announced Wednesday with the Federal Reserve were similar to deals struck earlier this month with 10 other major banks and mortgage lenders. Combined, the 12 firms will pay more than $9 billion.

The settlements could compensate hundreds of thousands of Americans whose homes were seized because of abuses such as “robo-signing,” when banks automatically signed off on foreclosures without properly reviewing documents. The agreement will also help eliminate huge potential liabilities for the banks.

Consumer advocates say regulators settled for too low a price by letting banks avoid full responsibility for foreclosures that victimized families.

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The Rise of the Alterna-Banks: 4 Options Beyond Traditional Banking

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Is it time to part ways your bank? There are more options than ever for people looking for a different kind of banking experience — many of them without the onerous fees and requirements of traditional bank accounts.?

According to the FDIC,?821,000 households ditched their banks between 2009 and 2011. The financial crisis, the foreclosure robosigning scandal, and the huge amounts of money banks were raking in from fees turned consumers against their banks. Even as new regulations have forced banks to change some of their ways, more customers are expected to close their accounts going forward. A survey by Javelin Strategy & Research found that 11% of Americans plan to switch banking institutions in the next year. If?you’re one of them, it may be time to desert traditional banks entirely and consider one of these alterna-bank options:

Full-feature prepaid debit cards
Maybe you’ve been scared off from banks by overdraft fees and other zingers that sap your balance. You don’t mind paying a little bit, but you want to know what fees you’re paying upfront. You don’t really use paper checks, but you’d still like to get the other perks that come with a regular bank account. If these descriptions apply to you, look into prepaid cards.

What’s good: There’s a lot more competition today. The prepaid landscape has expanded greatly over the past couple of years, prompting providers to lower fees and add features.

(MORE: Should You Get a Prepaid Debit Card?)

What’s not: Prepaid cards are still mostly unregulated, consumer advocates point out. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be taking a look at the prepaid debit card marketplace, but so far there’s limited oversight. Most prepaid debit card providers voluntarily comply with rules for regular debit cards, so that customers are protected if a card is lost or stolen. Still, providers aren’t required to comply. The lack of rules also means there is something of a free-for-all when it comes to fees. Many card providers claim transparency, but you still have to examine the fine print to figure out if a card is a good choice for you.

Standouts: Last year, a number of national and regional banks muscled into the prepaid card market, which had previously been the territory of companies like UniRush and Green Dot. The two options that have attracted the most attention lately are Chase’s Liquid card and Bluebird, a checking and debit alternative jointly offered by American Express and Wal-Mart. Liquid charges a relatively low monthly fee of $4.95 that’s waived if you link the card to a Chase checking account; Bluebird doesn’t charge a monthly fee at all. With both cards, you can get direct deposit and withdraw cash for free at in-network ATMs. The cards can be used to pay bills online, and deposits can even be made remotely by taking a picture of a check with your smartphone camera.

Web banking and budgeting accounts
New web-based platforms deliver a combination of banking and budgeting tools. They aren’t banks. But they do partner with institutions that provide many of the services included in typical bank accounts. These platforms are loaded with money management tools as well, which help users keep track of spending.

What’s good: If you’re a fan of personal finance platforms like Mint.com and wish you could keep your money in the same place you manage it, this option gives you one-stop-shopping on your computer or smartphone without the fees that weigh down most regular checking accounts. Heavyweight analytics tools give in-depth insight into your spending habits.

What’s not: If you want an in-person banking experience, this probably isn’t for you, and some standard bank account features (like paper checks) might not be available.

Standout players: Startup Simple is a sort of mashup of Mint.com and a free online checking account. It offers users “detailed information that allows customers to search their accounts with plain English commands,” explains the New York Times.

(MORE: Why More Americans Will Fall Behind on Credit Card Bills This Year)

Another option, Kasasa,?acts as a sort of middleman between consumers and a network of community banks and credit unions around the country. Since your “soul mate” bank might be halfway across the country, Kasasa reimburses customers for ATM fees. Kasasa’s 360 money-management platform gives customers budgeting and spending analysis tools. What’s more, accountholders earn rewards (cash back, free apps and music, and more), which is notable because checking-account rewards programs are virtually extinct these days.

Prepaid debit with high-interest savings
This category of alterna-bank combines the functions of a prepaid debit card account with the high-APR (relatively speaking) savings feature that is a selling point for online banks like ING Direct and Ally.

What’s good: Interest rates in the 5% ballpark — much, much higher than the average bank account rate, which is barely above 0% — are not unusual. Some providers offer budgeting and personal finance tools too.

What’s not: In a word, the fees. The eye-popping interest rate is the eye-catching figure these providers want you to pay attention to, but take a look at the fee schedules to find out if you’ll really be saving any money. Some cards we’ve seen go so far as to charge a fee with every transaction. That’s a quick way to deplete whatever interest you’ve earned, and then some.

(MORE: What’s Hot on the Dating Scene? Good Credit)

Standout: Mango is one of the more transparent cards out there. It offers a 6% interest rate on up to $5,000 for customers with direct deposit, and you can avoid the $5 monthly fee with direct deposits of $500 or more monthly. (There’s also a $20 bonus for signing up for direct deposit.) But other fees — like $2 for ATM withdrawals and $10 to get remaining funds via check when you close the account — can really cut into the 6% you’re earning.

Mobile bank account
Talk about the circle of life. Green Dot, one of the granddaddies of prepaid debit, rolled out a mobile bank account this week, following its acquisition of a bank in 2011 and mobile location-service provider Loopt last year.

Called GoBank, it’s designed to appeal to consumers who grew up with smartphones and social networks. The entire experience takes place via the bank’s apps for iOS and Android or through a user’s mobile web browser.

What’s good:?It doesn’t hit users over the head with fees. The monthly fee is set up on a sort of honor system; there’s a “pay what you want” feature that lets customers choose an amount varying from nothing to $9 a month. There are no overdraft fees and few other fees (like $2.50 to use an out-of-network ATM).?Direct deposit and mobile check deposit using the phone’s camera are free.?Users don’t get checkbooks, but the bank will mail a paper check to anyone on request, or they can send money to people via text message or through Facebook.

(MORE: Are State-Owned Banks the Antidote to the Too-Big-to-Fail Epidemic?)

What’s not: To deposit cash, users need to buy a Green Dot MoneyPak for around $5, so GoBank might not appeal to people who generally get paid in cash.?For people who aren’t used to conducting transactions via their phone — or who don’t have a smartphone — GoBank won’t be a viable option. But GreenDot is betting that younger consumers would rather have their bank at their fingertips than down the block.

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Stand Out in Your Interview

You get one chance to impress in a job interview. Perform well and the job may well be yours. Fail and you’re back to sending out resumes. Here are three tips for getting it right:

Prepare, prepare, prepare.?Find out as much as possible about the company, how it’s organized, its culture, relevant industry trends, and some information about the interviewer.Ace the first 30 seconds.?First impressions matter. Start off by speaking clearly but slowly, walk with confidence, and think through what “props” you will carry so you don’t appear over-cluttered.Tell stories.?In interviews, people respond to narratives far more than they do data. Prepare concise stories that demonstrate your ability to do the job. Make sure they have a good opening line, such as, “I’m going to tell you about a time that I rescued the organization.”Adapted from?“Stand Out in Your Interview” by Amy Gallo.

Visit Harvard Business Review’s Management Tip homepage

Purchase the HBR Management Tips book

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Bank of America’s Earnings Shrink on Mortgage Settlements

NEW YORK — Bank of America says its fourth-quarter earnings shrank as it cleaned up old problems from its mortgage unit.

The bank made $367 million in the last three months of 2012 after paying preferred dividends, down from $1.6 billion in the same period a year ago. The earnings were equivalent to 3 cents per share.

The bank had warned that it expected earnings to be only “modestly positive.” It took big charges related to a settlement with the government-backed mortgage lender Fannie Mae and a separate agreement in which it and other banks settled government accusations of wrongful foreclosure practices.

The earnings were slightly better than the 2 cents per share estimate of financial analysts polled by FactSet.

(MORE: The Rise of the Alterna-Banks: 4 Options Beyond Traditional Banking)

Revenue was dragged down by the Fannie Mae settlement. It fell to $19.6 billion after stripping out an accounting charge, down from $26.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

Analysts called it another quarter of sacrificed earnings as the bank works through its troubled mortgage division. A long string of regulatory fines and lawsuits for the unit have made earnings unpredictable for several years.

Bank of America’s stock fell 15 cents to $11.63 in pre-market trading.

In a call with reporters, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said the bank is much better positioned than it was a year ago. He emphasized a jump in deposits, higher fees from investment banking, and shrinking debt.

As for future litigation in the mortgage unit, Thompson said he couldn’t be sure what might come. “I can’t tell you exactly what else could be out there,” Thompson said, “but what I can tell you is that we put a lot of risk behind us in 2012.”

Mortgages, which were a big revenue source for Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase in the fourth quarter, were also up at Bank of America, which funded 42 percent more mortgages over the year.

Bank of America has been struggling to figure out its identity as a mortgage maker. It catapulted to a top spot in mortgage banking in summer 2008, when it gobbled up Countrywide a few months before the financial crisis imploded. Countrywide was a California-based mortgage lender known for exotic loans, and Bank of America hailed the purchase as a triumph.

(MORE: Jamie Dimon Will Get a Pay Cut After Trading Loss)

But the purchase has brought enormous headaches for Bank of America, including regulatory investigations, shareholder lawsuits and quarterly losses.

That’s influenced Brian Moynihan, who became CEO a year and a half after the Countrywide purchase, to retreat from mortgages and sell off related units. Bank of America now controls about 4 percent of the U.S. mortgage market, compared to 22 percent shortly after it combined with Countrywide, according to the trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. That puts it behind No. 1 Wells Fargo, with 30 percent, as well as JPMorgan and U.S. Bank.

Thompson said the bank expects to expand the mortgage unit, focusing on borrowers who are already bank customers. He declined to comment on the bank’s shrunken market share.

“What we’re focused on is doing more with our consumers, continuing to grow this, and if we do that well, where we are with our peers will take care of itself,” Thompson said.

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