| Click here for yesterday's / today's market indices
|
|
| Florida |
| Specialist says foreclosure flood ahead in SW Florida
|
| Convinced there is a larger tsunami of foreclosures poised to hit the Southwest Florida housing market, Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee is opening an office in downtown Sarasota led by the seven-member Troy Funk Team. Funk -- a distressed-property specialist -- said he and his team have sold more than 100 properties in the last seven months and have done just under $20 million during the last year, despite the poor housing market, by focusing on foreclosures and short-sales.
|
| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0201 EDST
|
| Foreclosure filings jump in July in Manatee County, Bradenton
|
| Lenders initiated 576 foreclosure lawsuits in Manatee County Circuit Court in July, up from 497 in June, court records show. That snapped a three-month streak of falling foreclosure filings that had some hopeful that the crisis finally was easing.
|
| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0315 EDST
|
| Jobless rate surges in Miami-Dade; 1 in 10 unemployed
|
| That was the last time Miami-Dade's unemployment rate was as high as it is now. The county's jobless rate hit 10.6 percent in June, according to government figures released Friday. It's the worst jobless rate since September 1983, when it was 10.8 percent. That was actually down from the beginning of that year, when it was 13.7 percent.
|
| @ Miami Herald | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0320 EDST
|
| Lee County, Ft. Myers; malls struggle but survive
|
| Lee County's big, upscale malls - flush with tenants and high lease rates only four years ago - are struggling to adapt in today's tough economic environment as shoppers scale back. But the malls are still sitting at the top of the retail food chain, viewed as the preferred place to be by many stores and restaurants.
|
| @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0330 EDST
|
| Midwest |
| Even sex isn't selling in this recession
|
| Whoever invented the marketing maxim "Sex sells" must not have been thinking literally. After more than a year of recession, sex isn't selling any better than anything else. From Internet pornography to strip-club lap dances to Playboy magazines, business is hurting. The notion that sex would flourish in hard times has met its match in the anything-but-titillating details of gross domestic product and a 9.4 percent unemployment rate.
|
| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0345 EDST
|
| Investigators unable to link food prices to grocery chains
|
| Grocery prices have risen faster than prices paid to farmers for their crops. But economic research hasn't confirmed that the trend is related to consolidated market power in the food industry, the accountability office said.
|
| @ DesMoines Register
| Posted: 08/01/09 at 0400 EDST
|
| Shrinking gas tax pot has state looking elsewhere
|
| With driving on the decline and more fuel-efficient cars hitting the roads, our generations-long dependence on gasoline taxes to pay for roads, bridges and transit is, well, running out of gas.
|
| @ St. Paul Pioneer Press | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0415 EDST
|
| Milwaukee home sales rose 9.8% in July from a year ago
|
| Milwaukee County continues to lead in gains, with sales up for the fourth month in a row. Sales in Milwaukee County rose by 10.4%, compared with July 2008 and by 2.9% from July 2007. First-time buyers are responsible for the boost in sales in Milwaukee County, taking advantage of both the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time purchases and depressed prices in areas of the City of Milwaukee that have experienced a high number of foreclosures.
|
| @ Milwaukee Journal | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0419 EDST
|
| National |
| The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI)™ Remains Unchanged in July
|
| (The ETI)™ remained at the same level as the revised figures for May and June. The index stands at 88.3 and is down 20.1 percent from a year ago.
|
| @ The Conference Board | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0419 EDST
|
| 'Buying American' Puts Strain on U.S. Trade With Canada
|
| The "Buy American" provision, which requires the use of U.S.-made iron and steel for certain infrastructure projects financed by the stimulus bill, has proved to be especially problematic for certain highly integrated industries that use materials and components made in both countries.
|
| @ Washington Post | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0419 EDST
|
|
|
| Avoiding Europe's Carbon Trading Missteps
|
| Early carbon trading efforts in the European Union flopped because regulators created too many credits and gave them away for free. Washington wants to do better.
|
| @ Der Spiegel | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0646 EDST
|
| Russia Output Shrank Record 10.9% Last Quarter as Slump Deepened
|
| Russia’s economy contracted the most on record last quarter as rising unemployment sapped consumer demand, bank lending stalled and the government was slow to respond with support measures.
|
| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0652 EDST
|
| 'Buy American' won't endanger Canadian trade: Obama
|
| U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday downplayed the threat to Canadians posed by Buy American policies while rejecting the notion that Canada should be seen as a health-care "bogeyman."
|
| @ Financial Post - CA | Posted: 08/01/09 at 0655 EDST
|
| -30- |
