Giant ratings for World Series Game 7

After game 7's ratings, Fox should be celebrating like the San Francisco Giants.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Wednesday night's deciding game -- which saw the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 -- brought in an average of 23.5 million viewers.

That total almost doubled last week's historically low-rated game 1, which only brought in 12.1 million viewers. It also made Wednesday's match-up the highest rated World Series game since 2011.

Related: World Series strikes out with lowest Game 1 ratings in history

Game 7's usually bring big ratings, but Wednesday's numbers may have had an extra lift thanks to a close game and a legendary pitching performance by the Giant's Madison Bumgarner.

Viewership grew as the broadcast went into the night, with 27.8 million tuning in towards the end of the game.

Over the seven games of the series, the Fall Classic averaged 13.8 million viewers -- down from 15.2 million this time last year, but up from 12.7 million two years ago. Fox enjoyed victories in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic six of the seven nights it aired.

The ratings victories were surely appreciated by Fox after a rough start to network's fall slate of programming.

Related: 'Charlie Brown' Halloween is still a ratings treat for ABC

First Published: October 30, 2014: 6:21 PM ET

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GM spokesman becomes 'Chevy Guy' thanks to 'technology and stuff'

"Chevy Guy" Rikk Wilde became a viral sensation bumbling his way through a World Series presentation Wednesday night.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Wilde, or as the Internet has dubbed him "Chevy Guy" was given the duty of presenting Bumgarner with the keys to a new Chevy Colorado at the end of Wednesday night's World Series game 7.

Chevrolet is an official sponsor of Major League Baseball and traditionally the World Series MVP is presented with a car by a spokesman from the company.

It's usually a cut and dry presentation, but Wilde, a Chevy regional manager, was visually nervous which caused him to bumble the lines that he was obviously reading from prepared notecards.

"It combines class winning, um, leading... 'ya know, technology and stuff," Wilde said about the Chevy Colorado during Fox's post game show.

The phrase "technology and stuff" has since taken on a life on its own instantly becoming a hash-tag. Not to mention, Wilde getting bestowed with the moniker "Chevy Guy."

You would think it an embarrassing situation for Chevy's parent company, GM (GM), but the company is having fun with it.

Chevy even sent out tweets early Thursday morning with the viral catch phrase attached.

"A lifelong Kansas City Royal fan, Rikk was still a little emotional over the outcome of a tremendous seven game series," GM said in a statement. "We believe baseball fans in Kansas City and elsewhere can relate with Rikk's authentic emotions."

Regardless of the awkward presentation, Chevy has gained some pretty good social publicity from Wilde, which for the car company is pretty good stuff indeed.

First Published: October 30, 2014: 6:53 PM ET

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Baby Boomers say they aren't moving out of their homes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In a survey of 4,000 Baby Boomer households conducted by the non-profit Demand Institute, 63% of Boomers plan to stay in their current home once they retire.

Much of that has to do with the recession. The financial crisis put an end to years of rapid wealth accumulation, causing the typical Boomer household's net worth to fall to $143,000 in 2013 from just over $200,000 in 2007, according to Federal Reserve data.

Related: Why everyone is moving to Texas

Not only that, but this generation is also carrying a lot more mortgage debt. The survey found that the median outstanding mortgage balance for 50- to 69-year-olds was $118,000 in 2013, up from $48,743 in 1992.

"Boomers' nest eggs have shrunk dramatically in recent years," said Jeremy Burbank, vice president at The Demand Institute, the non-profit think tank run by the Conference Board and Nielsen. "Financially, this generation is not necessarily ready for retirement, and half of their assets are tied up in their homes."

Related: How to avoid homebuyer remorse

Not everyone is planning on staying put, however; 37% of the Boomers surveyed said they were planning to make a move.

Nearly half of the movers said they wanted to get a bigger place -- and that they intended to spend more money on it. But with a median net worth of just $40,000, this group was among some of the least wealthy surveyed. In fact, the report found that many of those who were looking to "upsize" were also looking to switch from renting to owning.

Those who said they plan to move into a smaller home were much more affluent, with a median net worth of $322,000, the Demand Institute found.

Related: Asset allocation; fix your mix

Whatever the size of the home, Boomers seemed generally unconcerned about whether or not it would be "aging-friendly" -- even though a whopping three-quarters of them reported having significant health issues, such as cardiovascular conditions, arthritis, obesity and high blood pressure.

And only one-in-five of the movers said they intend to live in senior housing.

Instead, many of those surveyed said they plan to use their money to remodel things like kitchens and bathrooms in order to increase the value of their existing homes.

More than 17% of the 76 million Boomers are already retired and about 10,000 will reach the traditional retirement age of 65 every day for the next 15 years. And even though many Boomers plan to stay in their current homes, the Demand Institute estimates that this generation will purchase about $1.9 trillion in homes over the next five years.

"Their choices will have a real impact on the housing sector in the next several years," said Burbank.

First Published: October 30, 2014: 7:29 PM ET

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Stuck in cycle of debt, domestic violence victims battle banks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Weeks before the couple separated in January, Kukec says her husband overdrew her Chase bank account by several hundred dollars.

Kukec was staying home with the kids at the time and, without any money of her own, she couldn't pay off the debt, which had grown to $442.68 after fees. By February, Chase reported her to ChexSystems, a company that flags high-risk banking customers.

Kukec had spent years carefully trying to rebuild her credit after filing for bankruptcy protection in 2007.

But now she was saddled with the ChexSystems report and hits to her credit report from an unpaid traffic ticket and toll charges she says her husband received while driving her car. Her husband's attorney declined to comment.

Related: Domestic violence survivors: 'How we escaped'

All of these black marks have left her without a bank account and have made it even harder for her to find a new job, she said.

Kukec and her three kids now rely on food stamps and Medicaid, as well as help from friends and family. She's months behind on rent and utility bills and says her family is dangerously close to being evicted from their home.

"It's one thing to get out, but then what do you do?" she said. "You have to be able to start over."

Domestic violence victim Amy Kukec is calling on Chase Bank to overhaul their procedures for handling accounts of abuse victims.

Kukec's story is all too common.

In an effort to maintain control, abusers often ruin their victim's credit by racking up credit card debt or overdrawing their bank accounts, said Kim Pentico, a senior economic justice specialist at the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Making matters worse is that banks and credit card companies typically have few procedures in place to help victims repair their credit histories.

"It used to be that women leave with the clothes on their back," said Pentico. "Now they leave with the clothes on their back and crushing debt."

It's up to the individual banks to determine how to use ChexSystems' information. Many block flagged users from opening a new account. Other banks offer them only "second chance" accounts, which can come with extra fees and restrictions.

Until she got laid off in 2011, Kukec had spent nearly two decades working in operations at banks and financial firms. Now she is worried the report is hurting her job hunt.

Related: Bank customers -- you're being tracked

ChexSystems says its data is not intended to be used to screen potential hires. But some banks note on their applications that they may view ChexSystems' reports as part of the hiring process.

After a domestic violence shelter settled her debt for her, Kukec spent months trying to convince Chase to remove the negative report to no avail. She has since started a petition on Change.org calling for the bank to overhaul its procedures when dealing with the accounts of victims of domestic violence.

When contacted by CNNMoney, Chase said it sympathizes with Kukec's situation, but that it would violate federal law to remove the report, unless there were fraud claims or police reports to indicate a theft.

That means Kukec can expect the report to remain in ChexSystems' database for a total of five years.

Related: Grieving parents hit with $200,000 in student loans

So far, her Change.org campaign has received more than 3,400 online signatures, some of which are from other victims who said they too have battled financial abuse.

One woman said her emotionally abusive husband closed their joint bank account as soon as she left him — leaving her cut off from any money to pay her bills. When she asked the bank to help her regain access to the transferred funds, officials said there was nothing they could do.

Another victim said her abusive husband took out $25,000 from their joint line of credit when she left him almost seven years ago -- and he never paid it back. (Since the line of credit was held jointly, they were both legally responsible to pay the debt back).

The unpaid debt caused her credit score to fall by more than 200 points. As a result, she could only qualify for a car loan with a 22% interest rate, and she says she has been harassed by debt collectors.

Peggy Radke, a shelter official who has been aiding Kukec in her job hunt, said new regulations are needed to make it easier for victims to settle their debts and move on.

"Every time they turn around they hit a brick wall," she said. "What's amazing is how many of them are actually able to leave."

First Published: October 29, 2014: 6:01 PM ET

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Rents are soaring -- and so are evictions

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Some can't afford their soaring rent, others are getting evicted over minor violations by landlords eager to get higher paying tenants in place.

Rents have risen 7% in the past year, while incomes have inched just 1.8% higher -- making it that much harder for people to afford their housing payments. In fact, the average renter now spends 30% of their income on rent, up from a longtime average of about 25%, according to Zillow.

One big emergency or unexpected expense and it can mean a missed payment -- and an eviction notice.

The Neighborhood Law Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School estimates that several million families a year face evictions nationwide. In Milwaukee County alone, eviction notices were up by about 10% in 2013. Statewide, they've risen 10 years straight to about 28,000 a year.

Related: 10 hottest housing markets for 2014

In Georgia, there was one eviction notice filed for every five rental households, more than 200,000 total filings last year. Many cases involved renters who were unable to keep up with rent increases.

Most evictions from Baltimore's public housing are for just causes like failing to pay rent, hoarding and noise complaints, said Shawn Boehringer, chief counsel at Maryland Legal Aid. But other evictions are occurring as some subsidized, low-income buildings are being converted into middle-income or luxury housing.

For the displaced, it can be a long road back. Once renters are out, most landlords don't want them. They often wind up in substandard housing with leaky roofs, broken windows, rodent infestations and no heat, said Boehringer. "It's a tremendous hardship for them."

Even for the solidly middle class, evictions can force families out of familiar neighborhoods and make it harder to rent new homes.

In San Francisco, an influx of thousands of highly-paid tech workers has sent rents soaring and longstanding tenants are being pushed out as landlords seek to make a small fortune by selling their buildings or converting the units into condos.

The city's Rent Board reported 2,064 wrongful eviction appeals during the 12 months ended last June, up 45% since 2011. The total number of evictions have surpassed 5,000.

Tom Gullicksen, the director of the San Francisco Tenants Union, said the same thing happened during the dot-com boom. As a result, the city lost a large number of middle and working class residents.

"But this time is the worst," he said. "It has made the city less diverse, less artistic and, definitely, less cool."

Affordable apartments have been converted into million-dollar condos. Mom-and-pop stores have become expensive boutiques. Teachers, policemen and nurses have moved to places like Oakland and distant suburbs like Concord and Hayward, which are also getting very expensive but are still more affordable than the city.

Related: Most innovative cities

Many of the eviction cases have been for minor violations, often for behavior that was formerly tolerated, like keeping a canary when there is a "no pet" policy or storing a bicycle in the hall, said Deepa Varma, a litigator with the Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC).

Making matters worse in San Francisco is the Ellis Act, state legislation that allows landlords to escape strict rent control and tenant rights laws by taking rentals off the market for a minimum of five years.

Some owners have invoked the act to clear their buildings out and then sell the vacant apartments as condos.

Related: London overtakes Hong Kong as city with the highest rents

Since February 2013, Evan Wolkenstein, a 40-year old teacher, and four of his neighbors have been fighting Ellis Act evictions on their apartments in the Mission District, where he has lived for almost 10 years.

"Rents have skyrocketed to the point that an Ellis Act eviction is tantamount to an eviction from the city," said Wolkenstein. "People who are not wealthy cannot afford to stay. This effects, naturally, the most economically vulnerable people more profoundly."

First Published: October 29, 2014: 7:12 PM ET

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Regulator calls out student loan industry

Graduates cheer during the Bowie State University graduation ceremony in May 2013.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The report, which doesn't name any individual companies that collect on the $1.2 trillion in student debt, was compiled between March and June of this year.

Related: Do any of these practices sound familiar? Tell us about it.

The agency found these companies would charge borrowers late fees on all their loans when payments for one fell short -- even if the rest were paid in full.

The CFPB spotted lots of other little tricks: minimum payments were overstated and late fees got charged to some borrowers even if they made payments within a grace period. Or servicers might fail to provide necessary information borrowers needed to deduct student loan payments from their taxes.

Related: These nine people are drowning in student debt

In more serious cases, some borrowers who fell behind on payments were told they couldn't dismiss their student loans in bankruptcy even though there's a slim possibility in cases of "undue hardship".

Some debt collectors called borrowers at inappropriately early or late times. The CFPB identified 5,000 such calls during its 45-day examination period. One borrower reported got 48 of them.

Related: Abolish my debt too, Occupy Wall Street!

The agency, born of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, said in a statement that firms with questionable practices are contacted for corrective measures. In particularly severe cases, it opens investigations.

First Published: October 29, 2014: 7:46 PM ET

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Time Magazine schooled for 'bad teacher' cover

Educators are incensed over this magazine cover.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Time's November 3rd cover which portrays a gavel about to smash an apple along with the text "it's nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher" has angered teacher unions.

The American Federation of Teachers has posted a petition on its website asking for an apology.

The petition has gained 80,000 signatures since last week, according to an AFT spokesperson.

The AFT's complaint is not with Time's story which focuses on teacher's tenure, but rather just its cover.

"The articles inside the magazine present more balanced view of the issues," said the online petition. "But for millions of Americans, all they'll see is the cover and a misleading attack on teachers."

Related: One way Time Inc. judges writers: advertiser appeal

Time Magazine has responded to the teacher's complaints by opening a forum to those critical of the cover on their own website.

Everyone from AFT president Randi Weingarten to the Badass Teachers Association were able to give their perspectives on the controversial cover.

"America's teachers aren't rotten apples, as Time's cover suggests," wrote Weingarten in the forum. "America's teachers are national treasures, doing the most important job in our country."

While the cover is new, outrage from teachers over a Time Magazine cover isn't.

Back in 2008, teachers were angry with the magazine for its "How To Fix America's Schools" cover.

Time did not return phone calls for comment regarding this story.

Related: Are labor unions on the rise?

First Published: October 28, 2014: 4:10 PM ET

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Apple VP: When we make mistakes, we fix them quickly

Apple VP says company quickly fixed iOS bug.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

When the company released iOS 8.1 last week, there was a bug in the iPhone and iPad operating system that disabled cellular service for as many as 50,000 users. Apple moved fast to release a patch, and on Tuesday Apple VP Greg Joswiak apologized for the mistake.

"We don't make many of them, when we do make them we recover very quickly," said Joswiak on during an on-stage interview at the Code/Mobile conference.

"By the way, our software updates, as you know, get extraordinarily quickly adopted," he added, in a subtle dig at the fragmented Android OS.

Related: 21,000 push Apple to replace 'defective' MacBook Pros

He attributed the error to an issue with the way the software was sent over servers and not the iOS itself.

This isn't the first or last slip-up to hit the company, but how it was handled shows how Apple (AAPL, Tech30) has changed over the years. In the '90s, the company was still struggling and had its share of major missteps.

"Some of it was trying to make cheap products that were trying to chase market share instead of trying to chase experience," said Joswiak. "You make that mistake once in your life, you're not going to make it twice."

In recent years, Apple's approach to perfecting its users' experiences has meant letting other companies make the early mistakes with new technology. Instead of coming out with the newest technology, Apple will pour more time, money and resources into being the best.

"We have this belief that we don't have the necessarily be the first to do something, we have to be the first to do it well," said Joswiak

Related: CVS and Rite-Aid dragging you into a fight with Apple Pay

The Apple Watch is not the first smartwatch, but it is still one of the most heavily anticipated. Apple was pretty late to the mobile payments game, and one of the last hardware manufacturers to adopt the NFC wireless communication technology. But one million credit cards were activated on Apple Pay in the tool's first three days. The company is working with three major credit card networks and six of the largest banks.

The rumor mill loves to speculate about Apple's next big ideas. Perhaps it's as easy as looking at what other companies are already doing, poorly.

First Published: October 28, 2014: 6:47 PM ET

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Facebook spending spree irks investors

A big logo created from pictures of Facebook users worldwide is pictured at a company data center in Sweden.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That message came loud and clear Tuesday afternoon, as Facebook (FB, Tech30) shares sank nearly 10% in after-hours trading following a conference call in which executives revealed plans to ramp up spending next year.

Chief financial officer David Wehner told analysts that Facebook's expenses in 2015 will rise between 55% and 75% versus the current year.

"We believe that we have very substantial growth opportunities in front of us, and we plan to invest aggressively to capitalize on those opportunities," he said.

Wehner added that Facebook's revenue growth for the fourth quarter of 2014 will slow to between 40% and 47% versus a year prior, down from 59% for the third quarter. He attributed this slowdown to new investments as well as stock-based compensation related to acquisitions the company has already made.

Related: Surprise! Twitter is not Facebook

Chief among those acquisitions is messaging service WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in February for a staggering $19 billion. The company followed that up with the $2 billion purchase of virtual reality firm Oculus VR, and has made a number of smaller acquisitions as well.

Amazon shares took a similar plunge last week as the company recorded another quarter of losses owing to its continued investments in new initiatives.

Wehner said Facebook's increased costs next year will come from a number of areas, including new hires, improvements to its existing service and investments in Oculus and WhatsApp.

The news came as the social network reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday that showcased its continued success in mobile advertising, which made up roughly two-thirds of its $3.2 billion in sales.

Facebook (FB, Tech30) had an average of 703 million users per day on mobile as of last month, up 39% from last year.

Overall, 1.35 billion people -- nearly half the world's Internet users -- logged in at least once a month. That figure was up from 1.32 billion last quarter.

Facebook's shares are already up nearly 50% this year and are trading around their all-time high, buoyed by the company's success in mobile advertising.

Web users are leaving their desktops behind and flocking to mobile devices. January marked the first time ever that Americans accessed the Internet using smartphone and tablet apps more than they did on PCs, according to comScore.

Related: Virtual reality movies are coming

Facebook's challenge going forward will be to generate new revenue streams from acquisitions like Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus, while continuing to generate user growth.

"This may sound a little ridiculous to say, but for us, products don't really get that interesting to turn into businesses until they have about a billion people using them," CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts Tuesday.

Facebook and Google (GOOGL, Tech30) have been investing aggressively in new technology to position themselves for a future in which their current business models become outdated. Google has made headlines this year with a number of purchases, including smart appliance maker Nest Labs and drone maker Titan Aerospace.

First Published: October 28, 2014: 4:53 PM ET

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Buy your own ghost town. Starting bid: $800,000

For sale: Up for auction next week is an abandoned Connecticut mill town

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

On Tuesday, October 28 -- just in time for Halloween -- you'll have your chance.

That's when Johnsonville Village in Connecticut will be auctioned off by Auction.com. Starting bid: $800,000.

The auction price includes eight buildings -- among them a general store, a stable, a chapel, an old mill and a tavern -- on 62 leafy acres of land. The property is about a half-hour drive southwest of Hartford.

Town father Emory Johnson called this 1842 mansion home.

The town is named after Emory Johnson, the former owner of a spinning mill at the heart of the town where fine cotton twine was once made. Eventually, however, the mill succumbed to modernization and closed.

In the 1960s, the mostly abandoned town was purchased by aerospace tycoon, Raymond Schmitt, who wanted to turn it into a tourist attraction.

The old stable is topped by a fancy square cupola.

Schmitt restored some of the buildings and shipped in others -- including the stable and chapel -- to recreate the look and feel of a 19th century Connecticut mill town.

The property now includes the Johnson's original Italianate mansion, a covered bridge, a tavern and other houses.

Under Schmitt's stewardship, couples said their wedding vows in the picturesque chapel and Billy Joel shot his "River of Dreams" music video. More recently, a movie, "Freedom," with Cuba Gooding Jr., was filmed with the town as a backdrop.

Billy Joel used the chapel in his 1993 video "River of Dreams."

After getting into a dispute with town officials of nearby East Haddam over congestion and zoning issues, Schmitt never finished the restoration. He then abandoned the project around 1994 and died a few years later.

The town has stood empty since. Although some say Schmitt's ghost still haunts the grounds.

Fine twine for fishing nets was spun in the town mill.

"The rumor is he loved the place so much that he never left," said Rick Sharga, executive vice president for Auction.com.

His heirs have sold off hundreds of artifacts that Schmitt had collected, including carriages, furniture, trolley cars, and a paddle wheel steamboat.

The town buildings and land were sold to a hotel developer in 2008, which planned to create a resort and senior living facility. But that never panned out due to a lack of infrastructure like public sewers and water service.

A tavern hosted wedding receptions when former owner, Ray Schmitt, ran Johnsonville.

Since then, the vacant buildings have been watched over by a caretaker.

They are mostly structurally sound, said Jim Kelly, the real estate agent with RM Bradley Company in charge of showing the property. There's wear and tear, however, with peeling paint, roof damage and sagging joists. "New England winters will kill you," said Kelly.

Some buildings, like the general store, need work.

He said he doesn't buy into the supernatural, hocus-pocus although a couple of recent incidents -- one that left a reporter with a twisted knee when she fell off some stairs and another when the long-time caretaker stepped on a nail -- gave him pause: Were these just everyday accidents that happen when people trudge around in decaying buildings? Or is Schmitt's ghost trying to sabotage the sale?

Water from the pond powered the old mills.

If it's the latter, it's not working. At a minimum opening bid of $800,000, few bidders will be scared off by the price of this prime Connecticut real estate.

And Kelly counts more than a dozen "serious" buyers, who fall into three main categories: Those who want it for a private estate; those who want to put in more housing; and others who want to establish it as an entertainment facility to shoot movies and such.

The winning bid will likely come in a lot higher than the starting bid. After all, the town was on the market last year for $3 million. There is a reserve price but it's unpublished.

The auction will end at 1 p.m. Eastern on October 30th.

First Published: October 27, 2014: 6:37 PM ET

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