Bonus

Swift CD with a bonus Taylor Swift is the latest act to offer bonus album content to an exclusive retailer. The country superstar is aligning herself with Target Corp. for the release of her latest album, "Speak Now. " The store will offer fans three additional songs, remixed tunes and video content when the album is released Oct. 25. "Speak Now" is the follow-up to her Grammy-winning, multiplatinum CD "Fearless. " —Associated Press U.S. album sales set all-time low Album sales in the United States plunged to a record low last week for the third time this year, Billboard reported Wednesday.

The Roman Catholic Church is tightening its belt. Vatican employees will not get bonuses that are traditionally handed out upon the election of a new pope, a spokesman told reporters Thursday. The last time a pope was replaced, Vatican employees were reportedly granted 1,500 euros each (close to $2,000 at the current rate of exchange), including payments upon the death of one pope and at the selection of a new one. This time, “it didn't seem possible or appropriate to burden the Vatican's budget with a considerable, unforeseen extra expense,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press.

With Pau Gasol's recent struggles, it's natural to wonder whether the Lakers will trade him.  The safer bet has them waiting to see how Gasol and the team perform once Steve Nash's leg is healthy. If the Lakers do look to make a move before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, they would need to consider the trade bonus Gasol would be entitled to under his contract. The straight math suggests that Gasol, who is under contract through 2013-14 for $38.3 million, would get a bonus of 15% of that amount, or $5.7 million, but the complicated rules of the league's collective bargaining agreement say otherwise.

That first marathon is an arduous task, requiring months of conditioning, with great unknowns about how one's body can withstand the 26-plus-mile toll of running on asphalt amid a crowd of 24,000 runners. But it also can go as smoothly as Sunday morning at the Asics L.A. Marathon for Belarus' Aleksandra Duliba, who at 27 won the women's race in her marathon debut to pocket $75,000, which included the event's $50,000 gender-challenge bonus. In the men's race, Erick Mose, 26, a Mexican-born runner with Kenyan citizenship, topped a Kenyan sweep of the podium by winning in 2 hours 9 minutes 44 seconds, ahead of his best friend Julius Keter and compatriot Nicholas Chelimo.

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John J. Mack is giving up a bonus for the second straight year as Wall Street struggles through one of the most severe crises in its history. Mack told employees that he and the firm's two presidents, James Gorman and Walid Chammah, informed the board's compensation committee of their decision to forgo 2008 bonuses, and the committee accepted. Mack said the company was changing year-end compensation for other employees too.

Bosses playing Santa, take heed: there are gifts that nearly every employee wants but also a few that make a lump of coal seem like manna from the heavens. Like, for example, a holiday party with an open bar. Only 5% of workers list such a boozy fete among their top choices for employer-gifted seasonal perks, according to a new report from career site Glassdoor. Maybe they just don't want to make a fool of themselves in front of colleagues and then have to take a sick day afterward to recover -- a very real situation faced by two-thirds of Americans, according to recent research . Other unpopular gifts, according to employees: gym memberships, company stock, even the option to work from home for a full year, Glassdoor found in its survey of 2,050 workers.

Simon Njoroge intends to a employ a different strategy in the 28th Asics L.A. Marathon on Sunday. The Kenyan runner won the men's race last year but could not catch the women's winner, who collected a $100,000 gender challenge bonus for crossing the finish line first. This year, the women will start 18 minutes 35 seconds ahead of the men - the difference in time between event records in the men's and women's divisions. The bonus is $50,000. PHOTOS: 2013 Los Angeles Marathon "This time," Njoroge said Friday, "I am focused to get that bonus.

I was glad to see your remark ("Glenfed CEO Gets $1-Million Bonus," Nov. 11) about the bonus to Steve Trafton on top of his 680-K salary and the side comment that the federal regulator "did not object." Of course, you could not very well say where the money came from, namely the individual stockholder-investor, who was given a 1-for-20 reverse split and a short-time-limit rights offering at $9 for a new stock that immediately dropped to $6 plus. Many of us contributed thousands of dollars to that bonus.

Re "On the Up Beat" (July 8): Writer Duane Noriyuki and photographer Robert Durrell deserve a bonus--and certainly journalistic accolades--for such a delightful, warm, touching presentation. Congratulations to them and The Times. If only we had more cops on the streets like Cliff Lloyd and Roger Gaylord. DICK FRIEND Lakewood

Bassett Unified School District's 227 teachers will receive a one-time bonus from the district's first-year allocation of $686,000 in state lottery funds. The Board of Education promised teachers half of the lottery money during salary negotiations last year. The bonus will be 4.9% of teachers' wages, equaling about $1,500 for those earning $31,000 a year. Supt.

Simon Njoroge intends to a employ a different strategy in the 28th Asics L.A. Marathon on Sunday. The Kenyan runner won the men's race last year but could not catch the women's winner, who collected a $100,000 gender challenge bonus for crossing the finish line first. This year, the women will start 18 minutes 35 seconds ahead of the men - the difference in time between event records in the men's and women's divisions. The bonus is $50,000. PHOTOS: 2013 Los Angeles Marathon "This time," Njoroge said Friday, "I am focused to get that bonus.

NEW YORK -- Wall Street has been slashing jobs, kicking out traders and bankers as the finance industry shrinks. But those with high-paying jobs are still taking in fat bonuses. The average cash bonus on Wall Street last year rose an estimated 9% to nearly $121,900, according to a report released Tuesday by New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Overall, the New York securities industry is expected to dole out $20 billion in 2012 cash bonuses, up 8% from the previous year.

Vanessa Bryant has sold a Newport Coast house for $3.22 million. The Mediterranean-style house was signed over to her as part of her divorce settlement with Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, and went on the market in September at $3.75 million. The mountain-view house was built in 1999 and sits on about a quarter of an acre in a gated community where the Bryants have two other houses. Features include an office/library, five fireplaces, balconies, five bedrooms, a bonus room and 5.5 bathrooms.

Andrew Fabella, are you out there? Please report to post-op at Keck Hospital of USC early Monday morning. I'm coming back to have the other knee done. That's right, folks, I'm kicking off the new year by getting a partial right knee replacement because my medial cartilage is cottage cheese and I'm bone on bone, just like I was on the left knee. I need to be in top shape this year because I've got mayoral candidates to chase and a 9-year-old daughter who's already too much for me to handle on the tennis courts.

Zack Greinke's six-year deal with the Dodgers could be worth as much as $158 million, according to a person familiar with the details of the contract. But it's unlikely Greinke will collect the full amount, as it would require him to win six Cy Young Awards and be traded. Greinke's contract is guaranteed for $147 million. He will be paid a signing bonus of $12 million in several installments from this month to February 2014. His annual salary breakdown is as follows: 2013: $17 million 2014: $24 million 2015: $23 million 2016: $24 million 2017: $23 million 2018: $24 million Greinke's base salary in 2018 will increase to $26 million if he pitches 1,000 innings in his first five years of the contract.

Bosses playing Santa, take heed: there are gifts that nearly every employee wants but also a few that make a lump of coal seem like manna from the heavens. Like, for example, a holiday party with an open bar. Only 5% of workers list such a boozy fete among their top choices for employer-gifted seasonal perks, according to a new report from career site Glassdoor. Maybe they just don't want to make a fool of themselves in front of colleagues and then have to take a sick day afterward to recover -- a very real situation faced by two-thirds of Americans, according to recent research . Other unpopular gifts, according to employees: gym memberships, company stock, even the option to work from home for a full year, Glassdoor found in its survey of 2,050 workers.

The Times (editorial, Oct. 31) wrongly blames seniority for the discord surrounding bonus pay for LAUSD test scores, when the blame should clearly be placed on the program itself. The program is an affront to the dedication of California teachers. None of the award recipients studied, trained and spent countless hours away from their families because they had hopes of a big cash award. They did the work because it defines what they are all about--teaching. Do teachers at high-scoring schools deserve higher pay?

North Korea said Friday it will pay a bonus of one month's wages to all workers, technicians and office employees in June before the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students opens in Pyongyang in July. The bonus will be paid "in appreciation of the feats performed by the working class and other laboring people in the past 200-day campaigns," the report by the official Korean Central News Agency said. Officials say 30,000 people from more than 170 countries are expected for the July 1-8 festival, a major political, cultural and sports event involving mostly Communist and Third World nations.

Hostess Brands Inc., in the midst of winding down its business, won approval Thursday from a federal bankruptcy judge to give as much as $1.75 million in bonuses to its executives. The money is intended as an incentive for 19 top-level managers to remain with the Twinkies and Ding Dongs maker to oversee its liquidation. The payouts will be granted only if managers "achieve a set of specific tasks and goals within a specified time frame that are designed to speed and lower the cost of the wind-down," Hostess spokesman Lance Ignon said.