Is Your Pack-a-Day Habit a Vice, or an Opportunity?
A new website called costofyourvices.com wants to help you tally up the price of your bad habits. We'll take it a step further and help you make some money from those vices.
cigarettes
Higher Cigarette Prices Help Ignite Altria's Quarterly Profit
Marlboro-maker Altria Group's first-quarter profit rises on higher prices for its cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.
President Obama's Weirdest New Taxes
To achieve $1.8 trillion in new revenue, President Obama has plenty of big taxes in his budget proposal. Here are some quirky maneuvers he suggests.
Ban Would Keep Cigarettes Out of Sight at NYC Retailers
A new anti-smoking proposal would make New York the first city in the nation to keep tobacco products out of sight in retail stores.
Whoa, Smoking! FDA Has Put the Brakes on New Tobacco Products
Tobacco companies have introduced almost no new cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products in the U.S. in more than 18 months because the FDA has prevented them from doing so -- an unprecedented pause for an industry that historically has introduced dozens of new products annually.
Court Strikes Down Graphic Warnings for Cigarettes
A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a law that requires tobacco companies to use graphic health warnings, such as of a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat. The ruling sets up the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on the dispute.
Junk Food: The Pariah That's Replacing Tobacco
Forget cigarettes: The big public health boogyman now is obesity. The idea that our growing waistlines pose a hefty threat to our financial well-being is gaining momentum, and all signs point to this trend having a big impact on public opinion and public policy.
Cigarette Warning Labels Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
New research shows that forcing smokers to look at scary warning labels doesn't make them less likely to buy cigarettes. In fact, it may make them more likely to. Are anti-tobacco advocates wasting their money and effort on a pointless campaign?
Ruling on Cigarette Warnings Stirs Free Speech Debate
A court ruling Monday stubbed out an FDA attempt to plaster extremely graphic warning labels on cigarette packs. The decision has reignited a debate over which right trumps which: The right of the government to warn Americans about the health risks of smoking, or the First Amendment rights of tobacco companies.
Should Smokers Pay More for Health Insurance?
Last week, Dallas County in Texas joined the growing ranks of employers that charge employees who smoke a higher monthly health insurance premium than employees who don't. It's an idea that's gaining momentum across the country -- but will it work to reduce smoking, or just to penalize the nicotine-addicted?
Do Smokers Know How Much They Spend on Cigarettes?
Cigarettes have only gotten more and more expensive over the past decade as nearly every state has pushed taxes upward. But the habit hits our wallets in a series of small purchases: Are smokers really aware of quite how much they spend a year? We hit the streets of Manhattan to ask.
Will Spray Nicotine Be the Next Quit-Smoking Fad?
Tobacco giant Philip Morris International has just bought the rights to a new technology for delivering nicotine in a aerosol spray. The upside: Nicotine addicts get their fix without all the toxins associated with smoking. The downside: It'll be at least three years before it hits the market.
The Ten States that Profit Most from Sin
As state budgets strain under huge debt loads, they are counting increasingly on "sin taxes," one of the few reliable sources of revenue in these uncertain economic times.
10 Highest Dividend Stocks of the S&P
The S&P 500 is one of the most followed stock market index in the world. Mutual fund managers benchmark their returns against it, yet somehow the vast majority underperform the index every year. Many dividend investors choose to ignore the index, and instead focus on its components.