Trade

Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to consumers who purchased its  rocker-bottom shoes under the mistaken belief that the shoes would help give them Kim Kardashian's booty or Joe Montana's stamina. So how do you get your piece of the payout if you purchased the shoes months, if not years ago, and don't have a receipt? No problem. This refund relies largely on the honor system. Anyone who purchased the company's line of Shape-Up shoes -- or its Resistance Runners, Tone-ups or Toners -- is entitled to a partial refund whether they have proof of purchase or not, officials said Thursday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - He was the younger brother, a throw-in from the Pau Gasol trade, his name often appearing at the end of sentences describing what the Memphis Grizzlies received in exchange for their best player. The Grizzlies got a pair of Lakers in Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton . . . and two first-round draft picks . . . and, oh, by the way, Marc Gasol. Now Marc Gasol's bearded face is one of the first things you see at FedEx Forum, the image gracing banners, T-shirts and posters around the Grizzlies' home court.

Obsession of the moment: Hasami porcelain plates and bowls released in a new matte black finish by the Japanese design importer TGS, or Tortoise General Store, in Venice. The Hasami porcelain is beautiful in its spare simplicity and smart function. The pieces nest nicely for storage. Optional oak lids pair well with the stone bowls and can be used separately as serving trays. TGS co-owner Keiko Shinomoto says  the collection has a nice back story too: It's part of a project in the southern Japanese town of Hasami, where a pottery tradition that dates to 1599 is ailing because of -- can you guess?

A San Fernando Valley jeweler at the center of an insider-trading scandal pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and agreed to turn over $1.27 million in ill-gotten stock gains made from tips from a top auditor at accounting giant KPMG. Bryan Shaw, 52, of Lake Sherwood admitted Monday to conspiring with KPMG auditor Scott London to trade in the stocks of the accounting firm's clients. The pair, who became friends after meeting on a golf course, plotted to profit from the market in what federal prosecutors described as a "severe breach of trust.

The showdown at center will be more for fans than the franchises when Andrew Bynum plays against Dwight Howard on Friday. The Lakers and Orlando haven't had trade talks in "a while," according to a person familiar with the teams' thinking, putting a damper on proponents of a Bynum-for-Howard deal. Howard, 26, can opt out of his contract at the end of the season and become a free agent. Orlando is hoping for the best, thinking a strong season by the Magic might persuade Howard to stay another year, if not longer.

I'm an 84-year-old man on Social Security with original Medicare and Mutual of Omaha gap insurance. My insurance premium was raised from $262 to $363 a month, a 39% jump. After all my monthly expenses, I have just $240 left. What can I do in the event of another increase in my premiums? If you've had your current Medicare supplement plan for years, it's not surprising that you've seen your costs steadily rise, says Steve Zaleznick, senior Medicare advisor at PlanPrescriber, a Maynard, Mass.-based online provider of Medicare education and plan comparison tools.

Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

If you are a teacher in debt, there's good news and bad news. There are literally dozens of programs that could potentially help wipe out your student loans. But most of them have narrow requirements that may lock you out. Just ask Troy Dale, a high school counselor from Ellis, Kan. He and his wife have $23,000 in student loans that they've been paying down for nearly a decade. At their current rate, they'll still be paying off their student debts when their oldest child enrolls in college.

Michele and Russell Poland's credit was shot, but they managed to buy their suburban dream home anyway. After a business bankruptcy and a home foreclosure, they turned to a rare option in this era of tightfisted banking - a subprime loan. The Polands paid nearly $10,000 in upfront fees for the privilege of securing a mortgage at 10.9% interest. And they had to raid their retirement account for a 35% down payment. Most borrowers would balk at such stiff terms. But with prices rising, the Polands wanted to snag a four-bedroom home in Temecula near top-rated schools for their 5-year-old son. By later this year, they figure, they'll be able to refinance into a standard loan.

In these troubled economic times, it's not hard to understand why people might want to protect their life savings by purchasing a hard asset like gold or silver. At least, that's the pitch of Monex, the big Newport Beach investment firm, which bills itself as "America's trusted name in precious metals investments" and assures clients that it's "committed to customer service. " So let's take a look at the experiences of some customers who say their trust in Monex was misplaced.

There is no hesitation from Carson Palmer, no hedging when asked to characterize his career as an NFL quarterback. "Unfulfilled," he said by phone from Arizona Cardinals mini-camp last week. "I've had a ton of experience. I've played in every type of situation. But to not have one run in the playoffs where you just make one of those magical runs? That's what I want. I just want a chance to make one of those runs and see what happens. " In their not-too-distant past the Cardinals had one of those, a quarterback in the twilight of his career carrying the team deep into the postseason.

Airports will be crowded this summer and empty airline seats rare as Americans take to the skies in numbers that are expected to edge closer to the pre-recession peak. Nearly 209 million people will fly on U.S.-based airlines this summer, up 1% from a year earlier, according to an estimate released Thursday by Airlines for America, the trade group for the nation's airlines. That would mark the fourth year in a row that passenger totals have increased, climbing close to the pre-recession total of 210 million in 2008.

As if the pitching-thin Angels need another reminder of what might have been, there it is, on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, New York Mets ace Matt Harvey, the one who got away. The Angels picked Harvey in the third round in 2007 knowing it would take first-round money to sign him out of high school, but when owner Arte Moreno authorized an offer of only $1 million - half of what Harvey wanted - the right-hander went to the University of North Carolina. Harvey signed for $2.6 million with the Mets in 2010 and, armed with a 97-mph fastball and devastating curve, has emerged as a Cy Young Award candidate this season, going 5-0 with a 1.55 earned-run average in his first nine starts.

The Miami Marlins and the Dodgers are inextricably linked through history and trades: • On April 5, 1993, in their first game, the then-Florida Marlins defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. Former Dodgers knuckleballer Charlie Hough earned the victory; Orel Hershiser took the loss. • On May 15, 1998, the teams made perhaps the most controversial trade in Dodgers history. The Marlins, a year removed from their first World Series title, were dumping salaries. The Dodgers, with the Fox Group taking over from the O'Malley family, were embroiled in a contract dispute with All-Star catcher Mike Piazza.

During the car-crazy 1950s in Southern California, Dean Jeffries was one of the first hot rodders to chop, channel and soup-up automobiles. His distinctive paint jobs and sculpted body work attracted many admirers to his auto shop, including the likes of James Dean, Steve McQueen and A.J. Foyt. A legendary car painter and customizer who made the "Monkeemobile" and the original Green Hornet's "Black Beauty," Jeffries died in his sleep Saturday at his home in Hollywood. He was 80 and had been in declining health.

SAO PAULO, Brazil--Roberto Azevedo of Brazil has been elected the first Latin American director-general of the World Trade Organization , the global body charged with moving forward stalled trade agreement talks. The choice of Azevedo over close rival Herminio Blanco, from Mexico, was seen as a victory for Brazil's goal of increasing its influence through multilateral institutions, as well as for Brazil's focus on a more “gradual approach to removing commercial barriers” and a significant role for the state, said Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo . At the national level, Mexico is more supportive of the types of free trade agreements favored by the United States and the European Union, who were said to have backed Blanco.

Jennifer Lopez: actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, and now, mobile phone mogul. The entertainer announced Wednesday that she had teamed up with Verizon Wireless to launch a new mobile brand, including retail stores, aimed at the fast-growing Latino population. Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez has already begun to sell smartphones, tablets and Verizon wireless plans on its own website. More than a dozen stores in cities with large Latino populations including Los Angeles and Miami are expected to be announced in the next few weeks, with the first to open June 15 in New York.

Carrie Underwood may not see her hockey-playing husband as often as she'd like, but she's still gushing about their "sweet and sexy" wedded bliss. "You see each other when you can and you talk to each other as much as you can," the singer told People, whose cover she graces this week. "You just have to commit and make it work. " She and Mike Fisher married in July 2010 but are still juggling their busy schedules despite him moving from Canada to Tennessee to be closer to his wife.

Los Angeles has doubled its presence in China. In hopes of welcoming more big-spending foreign visitors, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Monday that the city has opened a tourism office in Shanghai, the second for Los Angeles in China. To promote trade and travel to L.A., the mayor also announced plans to visit Beijing this month. He will travel with executives from the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports, and the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board on May 26-29.