| TOP 10 LOCAL BUSINESS STORIES: Look out below Housing bubble bursts ...
Thousands of jobs lost in the home-building and finance industries helped push local and state unemployment rates past the national average for the first time since 2002. Job creation also skidded, dropping several percentage points from 2006 levels. Those faltering indicators generated a $285 million revenue hole through November in the two-year state budget. While gaming executives pointed to the treasury shortfall as evidence of the need for a broad corporate-income or gross-receipts tax, special-interest groups targeted the resort sector for fresh funds. The Nevada State Education Association mounted a petition to raise teachers' salaries through a higher gaming tax, while local lawyer Kermitt Waters launched a drive to triple the levies against the industry. Gaming remains a popular bull's-eye for additional revenue because it is still the state's best-performing economic driver.
Economic stimulus a big break for home buyers
Although Fannie and Freddie are independent, publicly traded companies, there is universal belief that the U.S. government would ride to their rescue if need be. "If they end up buying up bad loans or getting themselves in trouble so that their own survival is in question, the federal government will bail them out, I don't doubt it," Baker said. Supporters of the cap hike say that the housing market is in such crisis that a quick infusion of capital is the best way to prevent foreclosures from spreading even more. Now that the Bush administration and House leaders from both parties have agreed on the stimulus package, it will go to the full House and then to the Senate. Underscoring how urgently Congress views the economic situation, legislators plan to fast-track the bill so it reaches Bush by mid-February.
Human Rights Torch Supporters Protest Crimes by Chinese Regime
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. Thousands of spectators lined the streets around Petco Park in downtown San Diego to honor the memory of the venerated civil rights leader and watch the annual parade. The theme for this year's parade was "Let Freedom Ring," and over a hundred bands, floats, and marching groups participated, keeping alive King's dream of equality among the races and universal human rights. .
June 2006
The average college graduate leaves school with almost $20,000 in student loans and $2,000 in credit card debt, notes the Chicago Tribune in a Sunday financial piece. And parents, who do not qualify for financial aid and have little tuition reserve, are often left with $50,000 or more in debt for each graduate. Ante up the cost of three or four kids and the sum gives new meaning to the term: mid life crisis. There is no relief in sight for the next generation. With the outlay of a college education expected to increase at five percent a year, the average annual cost of a private college in 15 years is pegged at $51,664. Factor five percent a year to the already nose bleed cost of sending a child to Harvard, MIT, Boston College or Boston University, and you’re bracing for an annual expense of $90,000 by 2017.
Old breed of Spanish cattle could help struggling ranchers on rough ...
Researcher Ed Fredrickson works with criollo cattle on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico near Las Cruces. Fredrickson is hoping that criollo cattle, first brought to the New World by Spanish explorers more than 400 years ago, will provide ranchers with another avenue for turning a profit. .
High-End Housing Blues
With industry analysts not predicting relief within the next year, that could be the issue.Sagely agrees. "I think we're going to see some surplus in these higher-end homes the further we go along."Mortgage Slow DownRealtors aren't getting any help from mortgage companies when it comes to getting customers into certain homes. Bill Oberste, principle broker with Kralicek Realty, said one of his agents has had several customers who were denied home loans recently and would have normally received one in years past.Foreclosures have taken a toll on mortgage companies. Countrywide Financial, the nation's leading mortgage lender, reported a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss Oct. 26. While much of the losses are due to foreclosures on subprime and unconventional loans, that strain has also affected high-end loans.Just as subprime mortgages can't be purchased and guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the same goes for jumbo mortgages, or any home loan totaling more than $417,000.
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