Cash

Cash payments for genoa salami, capicola ham, and provolone led to a guilty plea for tax evasion for Nicholas Papanier, 57, who has been working to turn the Primo Hoagies chain into a successful franchise business. Papanier, who owns Primo Hoagies Franchising as well as Nellie's Provisions in Gloucester City, often received cash payments from Primo franchisees when they bought deli products from him, according to documents filed in federal court in Camden on Friday. Papanier diverted $556,664 in cash to his bank accounts during 2006, 2007 and 2008, in the amounts of, in order, $56,395, $349,264, and $151,005.

Q: Where can I see historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios? - D.L., Columbus, Ind.   A: It's good to seek out such numbers, because when you compare them with a company's recent P/E, you get a sense of how overvalued or undervalued it might be. The website ycharts.com has several years' worth of P/E numbers. At morningstar.com, enter the ticker symbol to get to a company's page, then click on the "Valuation" tab. You'll get the current P/E, the average P/E for the company's industry, the S&P 500's current P/E and the company's five-year average P/E. There's even a "forward" P/E based on expected earnings over the coming year.

Let's start this column with advice from reader Sharon Garcia of St. Davids: "I just read the question posed by the person with the brown stain buildup everywhere in the dishwasher. "I had this problem for many years, and discovered that the only thing that would make the brown go away was Tang drink mix in the soap dispenser. It will have to probably run a few times if it has a lot of buildup. "I always ran it on hot without dishes when the buildup got bad. I also would open it during the rinse cycle and add some more.

Health-care giant Johnson & Johnson and medical-device maker Synthes Inc. - both of which have large operations in the Philadelphia area - agreed to a $21.3 billion merger deal announced Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson Inc. hopes to fill a hole in its 250-company portfolio by adding a stronger device component and dominating that market. Synthes is a leader in the manufacture of devices that help treat bones with compounds, screws, nails, plates, and power tools. The deal is J&J's largest acquisition ever.

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls are scheduled to increase Sunday. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Wednesday that most cash-paying customers would see a 10 percent increase, while E-ZPass users would pay 2 percent more. Motorists on the Southern Beltway in the Pittsburgh area will see a steeper increase in cash tolls. The commission has been expanding the differential between cash and electronic tolls since 2011. E-ZPass travelers saved up to 17 percent last year, and the pending changes will widen that to 25 percent in 2013.

NEW YORK - The New York Mets traded closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers last night for two players to be named. The deal was announced right after the All-Star Game ended. The Mets also sent cash to Milwaukee. The Brewers are tied with St. Louis for the NL Central lead, helped by closer John Axford's 23 saves. In another deal, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired outfielder Juan Rivera from Toronto for a player to be named or cash.  

The March 30 Mega Millions jackpot shattered all sorts of U.S. lottery records - but not all of them. Because the money will get split three ways - among winners in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas - the individual shares aren't record-breaking. Here's an up-to-date list of some all-time American - and probably world - records. Biggest annuity jackpots 1. $656 million, Mega Millions, won March 30, 2012, split by three tickets, in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas.

It looks as if Joshua Harris has some money to spend. The 46-year-old billionaire and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School is a senior managing director at Apollo Global Management, a New York-based investment firm that was hit hard by the Wall Street meltdown but has bounced back strong. So why not pick up an NBA team while life is good? Harris, a leveraged buyout specialist with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, reportedly is leading a small investment team that could be days away from reaching an agreement to purchase the 76ers from Comcast-Spectacor.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling a shareholder lawsuit against the company a "silly sideshow," even as he said he was open to looking at the shareholders' proposals for sharing more cash with investors. Investor David Einhorn sued Apple Inc. last week, saying a proposal slated for a vote at the company's annual meeting in two weeks would make it more difficult to enact his plan to reward shareholders by distributing a new class of shares. Cook said Apple's proposal would put more power in the hands of shareholders, making it difficult to understand why a shareholder would fight it. Calling the fight a waste of time, Cook said Apple would not waste money by mailing shareholders to try to persuade them to vote for the proposal.

DETROIT - General Motors is boosting its cash with $11 billion in new credit lines, a move that could mean the automaker is preparing to buy back its shares from the government. The company said Monday that it acquired the credit from 35 financial institutions in 14 countries. It now has more than $42 billion in available cash and credit. GM wouldn't say specifically what it plans to do with the money, only that it's a source of "backup liquidity" that may be used for "strategic initiatives.