Tag: market predictions
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Do New Employment Numbers Mean the Return of Stagflation?
Stagflation – that ugly combination of stagnation and inflation – was a buzzword coined in the dark economic times of the seventies and rarely heard since. But according to a new report from The Street, even though today’s employment numbers appear to hint at a modest upswing in the economic recovery, a closer look suggests…
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Is Investing Power Shifting Westward?
The sun may be setting on Asian investing power. Although the past few years have seen a surge in growth for rapidly developing countries such as China as well as the mature economies of Japan and Hong Kong, new data reported recently by Business Insider suggest that the pendulum of economic clout may be swinging…
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Cash for Real Estate May Not Be a Bargain
Even as housing prices are continuing to rise around the country, some houses are going up for sale for unimaginably low prices – $1,000, $500 and even a dollar. But even those stunt prices don’t alter the fact that paying cash for a quick buy on a cheap property may end up yielding less than…
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Palladium: The Other Silver Metal
Palladium is the hottest metal you’ve never heard of. Currently outperforming other precious metals in the markets, this cousin of platinum is showing its strengths even as gold, long the standard of financial stability, drops to levels not seen in three decades. The fate of palladium and gold are entwined with the ups and downs…
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Power Companies Challenge Solar Incentives
Who owns the sun? Eco-friendly energy saving upgrades can save money and make properties more saleable – but according to some utility companies around the country, the fledgling solar panel industry also threatens their very existence. And they’re pushing to penalize property owners who opt for renewable energy upgrades and the credits and incentives that…
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The US Housing Market Welcomes Chinese Investors
A changing economic picture brings new perspectives. A few years ago, Japanese investors with big bucks began snapping up US real estate at ferocious rates and raising fears that Asian investors would end up owning the country. Now, though, as Chinese investors take the lead in foreign investment in US real estate, a shaky housing…
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Do Short Sales Boost Real Estate’s Recovery?
housing market continues to improve – a trend that signals better health for the economy as a whole. Although that means fewer distressed properties are hitting the market, short sales still pop up in the listings — a process with a bad name that can mean a good property. The number of short sales soared…
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What’s Ahead For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Venerable home loan servicers Fannie Mae end Freddie Mac have been around so long, it’s hared to remember what their real names are. In spite of a troubled past linked to the subprme mortgage meltdown of a few years ago, these two institutions seem like a permanent part of the US housing landscape. But as…
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House Republicans Propose a New PATH for Housing
The years after the massive hosing collapse of 2008 saw bill after bill purporting to protect the American home buyer from credit crises, bank abuse and lending policies. Now, as if the Dodd Frank Act and similar, smaller bills weren’t enough, Washington policy makers are once again tackling the sticky issue of reforming government home…
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The Litecoin: New Digital Currency Challenges the Bitcoin
Bitcoins have only been around for a few years, but they’re already starting to lose their edge and go mainstream. As Bitcoin stock trades first up, then down, along with concerns about porn site links hacked into Bitcoin code, the digital currency pioneer has acquired a rival. Enter the LItecoin, a new digital money with…