Bernie Madoff, the mastermind behind the world's largest ever Ponzi scheme, arrived at a federal prison in North Carolina to begin serving his 150 year prison sentence.

It will be hard to find anyone sympathetic to the 71 year old investor who will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. We still do not know if Madoff will serve out all of his time at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, but for now that is where he can call home.

Last night, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced plans to build its first East Coast data center. The facility will be located in North Carolina, which recently enacted tax breaks to lure the popular tech company, but no specific site has yet been selected. Apple is expected to pour more than $1 billion into the project over the next nine years.

Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren declined to say how the data center will be used. In a statement, the tech firm said only, "We're looking forward to building a new data center in North Carolina, and we appreciate the efforts of Gov. Perdue and state lawmakers who helped make it possible." Construction is expected to begin soon.

In other Apple news today, the company is attracting bullish attention from Societe Generale. The brokerage firm started coverage of AAPL with a Buy rating and a $160 price target.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), like any company, never wastes a chance to reduce its tax footprint in every state it operates in. In North Carolina, though, the world's largest retailer recently had a beef with taxing authorities concerning rent deduction on its tax forms for locations in that state. Problem is, Wal-Mart had to pay about $33.5 million in taxes for rent it paid to its own Wal-Mart real estate units, then pay the taxes, and now, wants a refund.

A court said that it could not have a refund, and a legal beef ensued. Can Wal-Mart really take a deduction for rent on its own stores that have ownership by...Wal-Mart itself (though real estate holding units)? Another day, another tax loophole in corporate America.

The outcome here could set a precedent for other companies that pay rent to real-estate investment trust units that transfer tax-free income to their owners. In this case, the "owner" is Wal-Mart itself. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart may have saved $230 million in state taxes over the last four years in many U.S. states where is operates store locations.

CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:CKR) had little choice but to say goodbye to the original Hardee's franchise in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

The location, which was opened in 1961, was shut more than a decade ago. Birds flew out of the interior roof when it was demolished, according to the Rocky Mount Telegram. It's going to be remade into a park. The whole area around the restaurant is part of an urban renewal project, according to Peter Varney, an assistant city manager.

"It's an area that's coming back to life," Varney told me in an interview.

There was some talk about converting the restaurant into a museum of some sort, but that never got anywhere. Interestingly, Hardee's is cutting its ties with the past less than one month after Wendy's International Inc. (NYSE:WEN) shut its original location too.

Change in this case is a good thing.

Businesses both large and small can't afford to be sentimental. Demolishing the first Hardee's franchise is both in the best interest of CKE and the city of Rocky Mount.