cash

Chevrolet is offering a sizable price incentive in the face of price slashing in the electric car market.

The 2013 Volt now comes with a $4,000 cash-back incentive and the 2012 model ups that to $5,000, according to Michelle Malcho, a Chevrolet spokeswoman.

That's the largest Volt cash incentive that Chevy has offered to date, Malcho said.

Alternatively, a Volt can now be leased for $269 a month for 36 months with a $2,399 down payment.

The Volt is a plug-in hybrid (GM refers to it as an extended-range electric vehicle or E-REV) with a range … Read more

Square has launched a new feature that will let anyone send cash to anyone else's debit card.

The new Square Cash service, which is currently invite-only, seems to bring the mobile payments company a little closer to PayPal's core offering. A video for the service suggests that anyone using it can send money simply by using the recipient's e-mail address.

Reached for comment, a Square spokesperson said only that, "We're excited to share Square Cash with our friends. We'll continue to invite others to try it out in the coming weeks."

TechCrunch was … Read more

Apple is readying a bond offering, its first since 1996.

The program, which The Wall Street Journal says could be finalized later today, is designed to help Apple pay for the more than $100 billion it plans to pay shareholders over the next few years.

Apple detailed initial plans for the program in a regulatory filing on Monday, and once again on Tuesday. It's a mix of notes and securities that mature beginning in 2016, and go through 2043, though Apple did not provide prices. Bloomberg suggests the total could go as high as $17 billion.

The bond sale … Read more

Apple soon will share what it plans to do with some of the cash on its books, according to a New York-based investment firm.

In an interview earlier today, Gamco Investors CIO Howard Ward told Bloomberg he expects Apple to make a cash-related announcement by the end of the month. If true, it would be the second such plan detailed by the company in two years.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ward's claims.

Apple's cash pile has grown in step with the breakout success of the iPhone and iPad, its top two … Read more

Apple accused an activist hedge fund manager of attempting to hold investors "hostage" in his effort to get the electronics giant to share more of its massive cash reserves with investors.

The charge came today in Apple's response to a lawsuit filed last week by Greenlight Capital, which asserts that the company needed to distribute preferred stock to current shareholders and that Apple had balked at the idea when it was first discussed. The filing comes a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook called the lawsuit a "silly sideshow."

"Shareholders should not be held … Read more

Apple will soon respond to the lawsuit filed against it last week by David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to file its response to Greenlight by tomorrow. Greenlight will then file its reply on Friday. The first hearing could take place as early as next week.

The Greenlight hedge fund filed a lawsuit against Apple last week, saying that the company should distribute high-yield preferred stock to shareholders. According to Greenlight, this would allow Apple to hold a large amount of its cash while giving shareholders more of the value of Apple's … Read more

After a complaint from a notable Apple investor that the company needs to share more of its cash pile with investors, the iPhone and Mac maker says it's "evaluating" its possibilities.

In a statement today, Apple said it's aware its cash has grown beyond what is needed to run day-to-day business -- hence its dividend and stock buyback plan -- but that it is still talking about other possibilities.

"Apple's management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders," the company said this afternoon, just … Read more

We Canadians love innovating our money. We're printing plastic banknotes and chucking out useless coins.

Last March I said I wouldn't mourn the passing of the Canadian penny.

And yet today, as the Royal Canadian Mint officially stopped distributing the cent to banks, I have mixed feelings. I saw the Google.ca animated doodle honoring the coin and felt a tad nostalgic.

So I fished out a few pennies from my pockets and considered the brazen image of Queen Elizabeth and the maple leaf. … Read more

2012 was hellish in a lot of ways, but it was a good year for saving money.

Indeed, as any regular reader of The Cheapskate or CNET's Marketplace knows, you could count on finding a good deal -- often a great deal -- pretty much every single day.

Of course, some of the best money-saving advice applies all year round, not just on a particular day. With that in mind, I've rounded up some of my favorite thrifty tips from 2012. (It probably goes without saying that most of them will work just as well in 2013.)

1. Always buy refurbished Apple gear.… Read more