| AP Executive Morning Briefing
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The number of U.S. homes that slipped into some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was 79 percent higher than in the previous year, a real estate tracking company said Tuesday. Many homeowners started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year. About 1.3 million homes received foreclosure-related warnings last year, up from 717,522 in 2006, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said. Foreclosure filings rose 75 percent from the previous year to 2.2 million. ___ Fed Weighs Another Rate Reduction WASHINGTON (AP) _ Individuals and businesses are likely to see their borrowing costs drop further as the Federal Reserve weighs another interest-rate reduction to bolster a sagging economy. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are scheduled to open a two-day meeting Tuesday afternoon to plot their next move on interest rates.
I speculated about the sociological reasons coaches are being ...
We can't imagine becoming a movie star because we're not good-looking enough, or becoming a pop star because we know we can't sing. The sports coach, on the other hand, has no special physical abilities or God-given gifts. Coaches can't run a 4.4 or hit a high note. I could be like him, I could run that team is in a lot of fans' minds. We don't imagine ourselves actually becoming Supreme Court justices and heart surgeons because we know professions like these involve many years of intense study and training. Coaching, on the other hand, seems like something almost anyone could learn. In the end, we revere coaches as persons of incredible prowess when really they are not all that different from the typical man or woman. And they would prefer this not be generally understood, thank you. In other news, in the NFC wild-card playoffs on Saturday, why didn't Dallas pull the goalie? Down 21-20 with seven seconds remaining, Seattle punting from its 28, the 'Boys' sole realistic hope was a blocked punt.
FTI holds forth in turbulent '07
In the midst of any stock market crisis, there's opportunity.
That's what investors saw for FTI Consulting Inc. during the subprime mortgage meltdown. The Baltimore-based company advises businesses on crisis management and restructuring, and its stock soared 121 percent last year as it is expected to bring in more business from companies needing to change their business plans in the wake of the debacle.
The rise of FTI's stock demonstrates how the subprime crisis dominated stock markets in 2007 for beneficiaries as well as casualties. The effects reverberated through the stock market, as an array of companies swooned from defaults on loans made to consumers with poor credit histories, from the end of the housing boom, and a credit market that cut off easy credit.
Realty tax tips: Buyer didn't show for closing? First, find out why
We are under contract to sell our single-family house and settlement was to have occurred a week ago. Our buyers did not show up at the title attorney's office on the date spelled out in the sales contract, despite having been given notice of the time and place. Our real estate agent has not been able to get an explanation. What remedies do we have against the buyers? Your sales contract should spell out what rights and remedies you have if your buyer is in default. But first, you have to make absolutely sure that there is a default. .
doesn't stand up to scrutiny
Paul Mirengoff makes the best case for McCain's charge that Romney "wanted to set a date for withdrawal" from Iraq. It's still weak!*** (See also AP and Lowry and Ponnuru.) McCain seems to believe his wartime heroism entitles him to an unlimited moral bank account that he can withdraw from whenever it's in his self-interest to do something dishonest. Of course, sometime down the road when it helps advance his candidacy he may righteously apologize for having lied to advance his candidacy--and bask in the press' fawning over this "extraordinary act of contrition," the same way he did in 2000. ... **--Quote is from Lindsey Graham. [What about him?--ed He's McCain with all the self-righteousness but none of the heroism.] ***--Clarification: I'm not saying Mirengoff defended McCain, but rather that he went out of his way to give McCain the benefit of every doubt and still concluded it was a smear.
What's the hottest farm commodity? Land
Rick Rohrich, a 26-year-old father of three, just bought his first farmstead at a time when crop and pasture land are fetching record prices. He didn't think he had a choice. Rural land prices are setting records across the country, and farmers, with a boost from high commodity prices, are in a buying mood. "The prices keep jacking up and I don't see it slowing down," Rohrich said. He closed on the 320-acre property this month, paying about $1,000 an acre for pasture land, a farmhouse and some outbuildings. The cost of the property was about double what it was worth less than five years ago, he said. "Land prices are getting to where it will push us young guys out," he said. Ray Brownfield, president of the Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in Oswego, Ill., said rural real estate values continue to rise.
|
