First Monday: April's economic signs awaited
— -- From TV to books to advice, here's your business briefing for April:
April 7-9: 41st International Advertising Association World Congress, "What's coming next?" Washington, D.C.
April 8: Morgan Stanley holds its annual meeting, providing an early sign of whether Wall Street firms' shareholders will hold directors accountable for subprime mortgage-related losses. Some shareholder advisory firms are recommending "No" votes on some director nominees.
April 10: Major retailers report same-store sales for March.
April 11-17: Actor Tim Robbins addresses the National Association of Broadcasters 2008 Conference and Exhibit, Las Vegas.
April 15: Labor Department releases the producer price index, a measure of the prices of wholesale goods.
April 16: Labor Department releases the consumer price index, a closely watched barometer of inflation.
April 30: Federal Reserve meets.
WATCH, LISTEN & READ
By Michelle Archer, Special for USA TODAY
ON TV:
Retirement Revolution
Airs on PBS, Monday, 10-11 p.m. ET (check local listings) or watch online at www.wttw.com/retirementrevolution
Paula Zahn and a bevy of financial experts urge Baby Boomers to take control of their retirement savings.
The good news? Boomers will enjoy healthier and longer lives than generations past. But making sure they don't outlive their money is almost solely up to them.
Or as one of the show's experts, Lisa Mensah of the Aspen Institute, puts it: "The big hope is you head into your retirement years with three legs of the stool — you have your Social Security, you have what you were able to build from your employer, and you have your private savings and the equity in your home. The sad part is that most people are headed in on pretty rickety legs."
Deadliest Catch, Season 4
Discovery Channel, April 15, 9 p.m. (ET/PT)
If a $40,000 paycheck for a couple weeks of deckhand labor sounds enticing, consider the dismal — and deadly — working conditions on a crab boat plying the tempestuous Bering Sea: bone-chilling temperatures, unforgiving winds that whip up giant waves, and backbreaking shifts that can grind on for more than 18 hours.
An equally dangerous — but probably less lucrative — job belongs to the camera operators who so vividly capture the grueling-but-captivating process of hauling in $85 million worth of Alaskan crab.
On deck this season to reel in viewers: injuries, greenhorn hazing and a 3,000-pound prank pulled up by the F/V Cornelia Marie. Discovery Channel airs a recap special Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the same day the book Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours— which is full of salty captains' tales — lands on shelves.
Car of the Future
Airs on PBS, NOVA, April 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings) or watch online at pbs.org/nova/car beginning April 23
Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the boisterous hosts of NPR's Car Talk, crack wise on a road trip devoted to the technology behind tomorrow's cars. Highlights of the journey include a ride on a hydrogen-powered bus in Iceland and a confrontation with an auto-industry bigwig over the ridiculousness of a 500-horsepower gas guzzler.
With painful prices at the pump, one wonders how soon the super-efficient or alternatively fueled cars of tomorrow will become the norm. Amory Lovins, whose Rocky Mountain Institute is developing the Hypercar, an ultralight yet durable full-size hybrid-electric vehicle, says that development time is constrained by people and capital, not by value.
"So although higher oil prices do get people's attention and may help Hypercars to sell better, they can't get the cars to market much quicker," Lovins says.
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