December 22nd, 2011
+%3Cp%3E+Homebuilder+sentiment+perked+up+in+December+for+the+third+month+in+a+row%2C+to+its+highest+level+in+a+year+and+a+half%2C+the+National+Association+of+Home+Builders+said+on+Monday.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+NAHB%2FWells+Fargo+Housing+Market+index+rose+to+21+from+a+downwardly+revised+19+in+November%2C+the+group+said.+Economists+polled+by+Reuters+had+predicted+a+reading+of+20.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+index+was+at+its+highest+level+since+May+2010.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%22While+builder+confidence+remains+low%2C+the+consistent+gains+registered+over+the+past+several+months+are+an+indication+that+pockets+of+recovery+are+slowly+starting+to+emerge+in+scattered+housing+markets%2C%22+NAHB+Chairman+Bob+Nielsen+said+in+a+statement.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EAfter+stagnating+in+a+tight+range+for+about+a+year%2C+the+index+has+been+improving+since+October%2C+giving+weight+to+analysts%27+views+that+the+housing+market+is+finally+finding+a+bottom.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EEven+with+December%27s+gain%2C+home+builder+sentiment+is+still+historically+low+and+well+below+the+50+mark%2C+indicating+more+builders+view+market+conditions+as+poor+than+favorable.+The+index+has+not+been+above+50+since+April+2006.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%22We%27re+not+looking+for+numbers+next+year+to+come+anywhere+close+to+the+kind+of+numbers+that+we+saw+pre-recession%2C+but+we+do+think+the+housing+market+is+setting+up+for+a+plus+year+in+2012+in+terms+of+new+home+construction%2C+as+well+as+sales%2C%22+said+Steve+Blitz%2C+senior+economist+at+ITG+Investment+Research+in+New+York.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+current+sales+component+rose+to+22+from+20%2C+while+the+gauge+of+sales+expectations+for+the+next+six+months+rose+to+26+from+25.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThere+was+little+impact+in+financial+markets+from+the+data+as+investors+focused+on+developments+in+the+euro+zone+and+uncertainty+following+the+death+of+North+Korean+leader+Kim+Jong-il.%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fassets%2Fprint%3Faid%3DUSTRE7BI0ZA20111219%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ERead+more%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+
Filed under: management, marketing by Finance Boss
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December 18th, 2011
The St. Louis home market seems to be going in two directions at once
Filed under: homeowners, term by Finance Boss
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November 22nd, 2011
Stocks are taking a sharp fall in early trading Monday amid reports that a congressional committee will fail to agree on a plan to cut the U.S. government’s budget deficit. The Dow Jones industrial average is down more than 200 points.
A 12-member bipartisan panel is supposed to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in budget […]
Filed under: Loans, management by Finance Boss
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November 14th, 2011
World stocks rose Monday after Japan’s economy grew for the first time in four quarters and Europe moved closer to resolving a debt crisis that threatens to hurl the region into recession.
Benchmark oil hovered near $99 per barrel while the dollar gained against the euro but fell against the yen.
European stocks were higher in early […]
Filed under: homeowners, term by Finance Boss
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November 3rd, 2011
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold emergency talks Wednesday with European leaders in a last-ditch bid to salvage his Group of 20 meeting of world leaders this week after the shock decision by Greece’s prime minister to put his country’s financial rescue to a popular vote.
Sarkozy’s summit in the sun on the Cote d’Azur now […]
Filed under: News, business by Finance Boss
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October 30th, 2011
The 40 largest employers in the St. Louis region represent just a tiny fraction of all local employers. But they wield tremendous hiring clout, employing more than 260,000 people, or a fifth of all jobs here.
If only they were hiring more. Just 12 of the 40 are actively recruiting to expand their workforce, according to […]
Filed under: debt, marketing by Finance Boss
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October 27th, 2011
The new president of embattled Olympus Corp. on Thursday denied the company’s $687 million payment for financial advice was excessive, while foreign business groups urged Japan to bolster its lagging corporate governance rules to avoid more high-level scandals.
Shuichi Takayama, who was named president Wednesday following the abrupt resignation of Chairman and President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, sought […]
Filed under: Loans, mortgage by Finance Boss
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October 24th, 2011
China said Monday that two officials have been jailed for leaking economic data to securities brokerages and four people who work in the financial industry are being investigated.
The National Administration for Protection of State Secrets said the officials shared classified data numerous times though it gave no specific details about the information or the impact […]
Filed under: debt, finance by Finance Boss
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October 21st, 2011
ATHENS, GREECE
Filed under: economics, uk by Finance Boss
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October 19th, 2011
British Sky Broadcasting PLC, in which Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has a large minority stake, saw its first quarter profits rise further as increasing sales of telephone and broadband packages offset a slowdown in new television subscriptions
The company said Wednesday that profit on continuing operations in the three months to end-September rose by 24 percent […]
Filed under: business, debt by Finance Boss
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