loans

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- CNET's full coverage of today's Google I/O 2013 event.

- Get out of the sun!

- Follow Jill on Twitter.

- Check out Jill's new site.… Read more

Sharp, the ailing electronics maker that's in desperate need of cash, has decided to take out a major loan from three banks, according to a new report.

Sometime this week, Sharp will sign deals with three financial institutions for loans that equate to 30 billion yen ($313 million), Bloomberg is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company's plans. Sharp hasn't publicly confirmed that it's getting loans, but a representative said that the company is hoping that many more banks will come to its aid.

Sharp has watched its business hemorrhage cash over … Read more

Listeners of The 404 Show have plenty of financial questions, so we look to our resident expert Jill Schlesinger from "CBS MoneyWatch" to make sense of it all. From ETFs to IRAs and everything in between, Jill and Jeff navigate the choppy waters of personal finance. They'll also talk about Apple in great detail, and whether the company's sinking stock price is a sign of things to come.

Jill hits up The 404 Show every three weeks, so if you've got a question you want answered on the show, be sure to send a tweet or e-mail us! … Read more

Loan Plan for iPhone is a budgeting app that lets you crunch the numbers on a proposed loan to see if it is good or not. Loan Plan for iPhone installs easily and costs $3.99 through the App Store.

Loan Plan for iPhone lets you enter basic loan information (term, principal, interest rate) and displays your loan payments and amortization schedule. It also shows you the credit capacity you have, based on your income and expenses, letting you know if you can really afford the loan. You can save the results in a file so you can compare loan … Read more

Loan Amortization Schedule for Excel is, no surprise, an XLS file that has loan amortization formulas embedded in it. Distributed as a ZIP file with the XLS sheet and a couple of text files (release notes and license agreement), there's no installation process to follow. Just open the XLS file with Excel (or compatible program) and you're good to go.

The layout of the first sheet is simple: space at the top for loan mount, interest rate, term, and a few other details like payment frequency and compounding period. You just enter your information to see the monthly … Read more

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios gaming company is crumbling around him.

As news spread over the past week that the company was hurting for cash, spending $49 million of a $75 million state loan, the Boston Globe reports that the young video game publishing house laid off all of its nearly 400 employees as of today.

"I'm stunned, and I'm heartbroken," Leominster fantasy author and consultant to 38 Studios R.A. Salvatore, told the Boston Globe. "This is one of the best teams I've ever seen assembled. They were doing … Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy today finalized financing for four utility-scale solar projects, capping a week of intense activity amid heightened political scrutiny on the loan guarantee program.

The solar projects are: Project Amp, for the installation of 752 megawatts' worth of solar power on about 750 commercial rooftops; a partial loan guarantee for the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight project in California; the 230-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 Project in California; and the 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch project.

Among the four projects, the Department of Energy will guarantee financing worth more than $4.7 billion. Earlier this week, … Read more

The U.S. Energy Department finalized loan guarantees for two major solar projects today, as the deadline loomed for the government's renewable-energy incentive program.

The government wrapped up deals that would back $737 million in financing for a solar thermal plant sponsored by privately held SolarReserve and $337 million in financing for a Sempra Energy photovoltaic solar project.

With funding for the government's loan program set to expire at the end of the week, investors have been watching to see what deals will be completed before time runs out.

The loan program has faced intense scrutiny after the high-profile collapse of Solyndra, a solar-panel maker that was the first company to receive funding under the program.

Republican lawmakers investigating the Solyndra loan guarantee have raised concerns that the Obama administration may rush to complete loans to meet the program's deadline.

SolarReserve Chief Executive Kevin Smith, however, said the government had conducted an extensive review of its application. … Read more

Bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra said it needed more than the initially expected four weeks to find a buyer to take over its idled operations, which were funded with a controversial $535 million federal loan guarantee.

Solyndra filed for bankruptcy this month with a plan to try to find a buyer by early October who could restart its recently shuttered factory and rehire some of its 1,000 staff.

Republican lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of ignoring signs of financial trouble at the company in its haste to grant the loan guarantee and participate in a groundbreaking of Solyndra's federally backed factory in California. … Read more