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| A setback for major insurers as Crist vetoes bill
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| In a move that could accelerate State Farm's decision to leave the Florida property insurance market, Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have let State Farm and other major insurers offer policies largely free from rate regulation. State Farm officials said the governor's decision means they will proceed with their plan to withdraw from the property insurance market over the next two years.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0201 EDST
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| Tampa home sales dip in May
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| Tampa Bay area home sales dropped in May compared with a year ago, the first decrease since last summer. Sales prices also showed a year-over-year decline, although May's median price was slightly better than April's.
There were 2,243 homes sold in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in May, down 1 percent from the same period last year, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The median sales price in the area was $141,100, up from $135,200 in April but down 20 percent from $176,100 in May 2008. The sales drop follows months of year-over-year increases. In March, there was a 16 percent increase over March 2008. That was followed by an 11 percent increase in April.
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| @ Tampa Tribune | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0315 EDST
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| Bradenton developers feeling credit crunch
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| Monthly commercial building permits in Manatee County peaked at 47 in August 2007, according to county records. Last month, there were only 22 commercial building permits filed. The total number of commercial building permits issued for 2008 was 17.4 percent lower than the number of those issued in 2007. John Barnott, director of the Manatee County Building Department, said several projects have had to be put on hold because of lack of funding.
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| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Cash buyers rule Lee County, Ft Myers; market
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| Of the 6,474 homes sold in Lee County between Jan. 1 and May 31, almost 60 percent went to cash buyers. The proportion of cash buyers is even higher on foreclosed properties. About 64 percent of bank-owned properties are going to buyers with cash.
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| @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Million-dollar homes hard to move in Tampa Bay area
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| Sales of million-dollar-plus homes in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties plunged 42 percent from 2006 to 2008, from 554 to 321. This year, million-dollar transactions are even harder to find. As of early June, the two counties had recorded about 70 sales in the million-plus category, the slowest pace in more than a decade. Sometimes the homes have sold, but price chopping knocked them out of the million-dollar club.
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| @ St. Petersburg Times | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0345 EDST
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| Are Oil Prices About To Take A Tumble?
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| After a wacky first half, expect the unexpected during the next six months. One surprise that’s already astonished so many investors is the recent spike in oil prices. With fears of a depression dragging down the global economy earlier this year, no one expected the oil bulls to run. But run they did; the price of oil has doubled in just 4 months.
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| @ CNBC | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0400 EDST
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| Short-Term Energy Outlook
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| Here is everything you want to know about energy. Supply, Consumption, Pricing This is a good read.
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| @ Energy Information Agency | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0655 EDST
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| Pace of economic contraction is slowing.
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| Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months. Household spending has shown further signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but appear to be making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales.
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| @ Federal Reserve Bank | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0415 EDST
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| Orders for manufactured durable goods in May increased $2.8 billion or 1.8 percent to $163.9 billion.
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| This was the third increase in the last four months and followed a 1.8 percent April increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders also increased 1.4 percent.
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| @ U. S. Census Bureau | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0419 EDST
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| Ireland's GDP to Fall 13.5%, More Bank Losses: IMF
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| The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said Ireland's recovery from a sharp economic contraction and financial crisis will be slow and painful and estimated that bank losses could reach 35 billion euros.
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| @ CNBC | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0646 EDST
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| Yen Weakens After Federal Reserve Signals Recession Is Easing
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| The yen fell the most in three weeks against the euro after the Federal Reserve signaled yesterday the recession is easing, damping demand for the Japanese currency as a refuge in favor of higher-yielding assets. The yen also declined against all 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg after a government report showed Japanese investors bought more securities abroad than they sold for a seventh week. The Swiss franc traded near a one-month low against the dollar on speculation the nation’s central bank will keep intervening to stop the currency from rising.
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| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 06/25/09 at 0652 EDST
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