According to Standard & Poor's (S&P) Case-Shiller home price index, home prices are falling faster in the nation's largest cities.

The index dropped 0.6% in September compared to August (some are reporting 0.7%), with 18 of the cities recording monthly price declines. The largest drop was reported in Cleveland, Ohio, which saw prices drop 3% compared to a month earlier. The only two cities where prices increased were Washington DC (thanks mainly to government spending) and Las Vegas (which has been battered in recent reports).

Continue reading Case-Shiller Index Data Shows Home Prices Are Falling

Case-Shiller Index Data Shows Home Prices Are Falling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading JockStocks: Where Will LeBron James Play Next Year?

JockStocks: Where Will LeBron James Play Next Year? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 May 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

U.S. banking regulators took over six more banks on Friday, bringing the 2009 bank failure tally to 130. So, even with the post-financial crisis situation stabilizing a year later, the continued stream of bank failures serves as a stark reminder that we aren't out of the woods yet. Smaller banks are expected to continue to fail at an higher rate through next year, due in large part to the pressures of deteriorating loans.

Of course, unemployment will continue to be a problem, as it impairs the abilities of borrowers to repay their debts. The squeeze appears to be lightening, as job cuts slowed considerably in November, but the unemployment rate is nonetheless expected to peak next year.

Continue reading Six more banks closed, total hits 130 this year

Six more banks closed, total hits 130 this year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Fed's Beige Book is a report card on the status of the US economy.

This month's report says that our economy is still weak, but improving modestly. There is little upward pressure on wages and finished goods. Eight of the 12 regions reported some improvement. Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond and Atlanta showed little change.

Continue reading Fed's Beige Book reports a modest improvement in the economy

Fed's Beige Book reports a modest improvement in the economy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

KeyCorp. may buy National City originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that the market value of some homes is less than the street price of their copper pipes. The result is that thieves are ripping out the pipes and selling them. Copper prices have risen 400% in the last three years while home prices fell 11% in the year ending January 2008 and could drop as much as 50% from the peak. This creates the ultimate domestic value play.

Here's the opening anecdote from Reuters: "Shards of broken glass outside the basement window of 31 Vine Street hint at the destruction inside the three-story home. Thieves smashed the window to break in and then gutted the property for its copper pipes -- a crime that has spread across the United States as the economy slows and foreclosed homes stand empty and vulnerable."

Demand for copper in China and India has boosted prices dramatically. Scrap copper sells for about $3.50 a pound, against 70 cents just three years ago. Scrap traders estimate that more than 80% of recycled copper is exported to China and India. So if a foreclosed home has, say, $5,000 worth of copper and is on the market for $100, investors could make a profit buying up the house, stripping out the copper, and selling it as scrap.

Continue reading Are your home's copper pipes worth more than the entire property?

Are your home's copper pipes worth more than the entire property? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A CNNMoney piece looks at the rise of payday lending in Ohio, aided (or perhaps exacerbated is a better word) by the subprime debacle that has given many home owners with toxic mortgages difficulty making their payments.

While people probably aren't using payday loans directly to pay their mortgages, that's the net result: Soaring monthly payments are eating up a big chunk of their paychecks, and they're resorting to payday lending to pay for other expenses.

The problem with that is that, on an annualized basis, interest rates on payday loans can end up being well over 400%. However the lenders counter, not wrongly, that the loans are not meant to be used for a year so quoting an APR is meaningless -- They charge a service fee for a short-term cash advance.

Continue reading Taking out a payday loan to pay the mortage -- that's stupid!

Taking out a payday loan to pay the mortage -- that's stupid! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Think before you answer.

What would a $200,000 salary get you in New York, and what in Cleveland? Well, let's strip it down:

• What would be your purchasing power after accounting for the cost of living? New York's cost of living, for example, is double the national average.
• What about effective tax rates? The tax rate in New York is 25.4% for the $200K salary vs. a tax rate of 20.4% in Cleveland for the $100K salary.
• Different inflation rates? May annual inflation rate in New York metropolitan area was 4.8%, in Cleveland, the rate was 3%.

All these should be considered before deciding. So, have you changed your answer?

Let's start by saying that if you have that choice (of making a six figure salary), then congratulations are in order. You are part of the 5% of Americans who do (according to 2004 census reports). But the real question is - where do you live?

CNNMoney.com used data from 6FigureJobs.com and TheLadders.com to figure out the equivalent of $100,000 after adjusting for the cost of living in the top cities that have the largest numbers of six figures jobs listings. In New York, a $100,000 equivalent salary would require a salary of over $205,000, in Boston more than $137,000, about $101,000 in Cleveland and less than $89,000 in Houston.

So while many six figure jobs are indeed offered in higher cost of living areas, there are still many cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland and Denver as well as a few others that also have relatively high numbers of six figures jobs to offer. And as if that isn't enough to convince you, sometimes, just to attract talent, companies in those "lesser" cities would offer the same high salaries as in, say, New York.

Would you rather make $200K in NY, or $100K in Cleveland? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple after the bell 6/27/06: new stores, and iPod worker conditions still a spreading story originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.