| Hidden deals distort market
Hidden deals distort market Disguised incentives skew property values as the paperwork no longer accurately reflects what buyers paid. James R. Hagerty and Michael Corkery / Wall Street Journal PARKER, Colo. -- As the housing market slump deepens, disguised discounts are making it harder to tell exactly how much people are paying for homes. Buyers, sellers and other market participants typically monitor fluctuating home values through sale records that legally have to be listed with county clerks. But incentives offered to buyers -- ranging from free cars or furniture to cash rebates -- are making those prices less reliable as a sign of what buyers actually paid, netting out the giveaways. And that may be misleading lenders and people shopping for homes, some real-estate lawyers and appraisers warn.
Alberta green plan puts PM 'on the spot'
Canada stands to have the best economy in the world hands down due to in large part Alberta for the next hundred years if we can get it right. Believe me, no green tech is going to be as positive to our federal budget as Oil coming from Alberta and soon Sask. So you want it to be clean? Find a way to make it clean and sell it to us. Also look for it to come on the west coast and in the arctic. Its coming because liberal or conservative they both like having balanced budgets.
Posted 25/01/08 at 2:48 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
Welcome to Adlon Hotel in Stockholm
Part of the cut and thrust of publishing involves seizingevery opportunity to boast that you have more readers than your competitors. For example, Swedish media mag Dagens Media is singing its own praises: for the first time last week, ithad more visitors to its web site than arch-rival Resum. According to the KIA Index, Dagens Media had 44,297 visitors to its web site, compared to Resum's 38,665. By comparison, The Local had 69,464 unique visitors last week. We're not ranked by KIA, but that would have put us in a perfectly respectable 90th position on the index, just above Affrsvrlden(67,693), Ny Teknik(67,050) andStureplan(54,048). Just thought we'd mention it. King of Sweden's web sites is still Aftonbladet. The tabloid's site recorded 3,826,298 unique visitors in week 46 (November 13th-19th).
Six steps to hold off the recession
Cut your spending. Make this a priority. Weigh up whether you really need that new flat-screen TV, and maybe going on a plush overseas holiday can wait one more year. Making sacrifices this year and living on a tighter budget will leave you much better off in the long run. Reduce your debts. Pay a lump sum on your credit card, and reduce any loan repayments. Make sure that you are paying the lowest rate possible on any borrowing you have. .
SBA and Nationwide Launch Small Business Disaster Preparedness Guide
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company have teamed up to launch a disaster planning guide for small business owners. SBA Deputy Administrator Jovita Carranza and Nationwide's Associate Vice President for Safety Bill Windsor made the announcement today during an event at the National Press Club. The 10-page guide provides information business owners need to develop an effective plan to protect customers and employees in the event of a disaster. The guide provides key disaster preparedness strategies to help small businesses identify potential hazards, create plans to remain in operation if the office is unusable, and understand the limitations of their insurance coverage. "The most successful recovery efforts are always preceded by good planning," said Carranza.
Mayoral candidates discuss their defining moments
At left, Davenport mayoral candidate Bill Gluba returns to Ambrose Hall at St. Ambrose University. He was the first in his family to attend college when he arrived on campus in 1960. At right, Davenport mayoral candidate Phil Yerington says he learned responsibility as a father to his children, Kyle and Brandi. The children, now grown, both live and work in Davenport. (QUAD CITY TIMES PHOTOS) Buy this Photo! .
Analysis: Hain quitting will make others nervous
Despite the desire of Gordon Brown to keep Peter Hain and his often-expressed support for his colleague, once the Metropolitan Police let it be known that they were going to investigate, his resignation was inevitable. He contacted the Prime Minister at 11.30 to tell him what was happening, and he offered his resignation without hesitation. If he had not, he would have been told to go. What the Prime Minister desperately wants to avoid is for this resignation to cause a domino effect throughout the Labour Party. To that end, today's events do leave some senior Labour figures feeling rather uncomfortable. Harriet Harman (Leader of the House of Commons and Labour Deputy Leader), as we know, had to return a £5,000 donation and she also apologised when she failed to register a £40,000 home loan she used to fund her campaign.
The Rajpal Abeynayake Column: The man who would be next Secretary ...
Havel was a novelist, before he went onto become the Czechoslovak President. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter went on from being President to being a C grade novelist. So, its hardly novel for folks who want to run countries and run the world to flash novelist credentials. This is a world in which fact is stranger than fiction anyway..... But, clipped accents and potboilers, oops, dogged celebrations to doggerel (...'you are my sunlight/come be my wife....) apart, Shashi Tharoor has perhaps the advantage of having gone where no aspirant from this part of the world for a top UN post has gone before. That is to the belly of the beauty. (......not the belly of the beast, I do not want to be remotely literal, in a celebration of diplomacy and literature, which this piece is fast becoming......) Tharroor got his doctorate from the Fletcher school of Law and Diplomacy at the age of 22.
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