Wednesday, December 9, 2009
House Flipping Makes a Comeback
Four years after the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble, flipping homes is back in fashion.
Jon Mirmelli, a Phoenix real-estate investor, learned late in the morning of Sept. 28 that a never-occupied custom house on the northern fringes of this Phoenix suburb was going up for auction around noon the same day. The six-bedroom home, built on a three-acre desert plot, has a kitchen with two dishwashers, four ovens, "antibacterial" copper sinks, and a master "spa" bathroom with space for a flat-screen TV visible from the tub.
The minimum bid, as set by a unit of Citigroup Inc., which had a $1.3 million mortgage on the home, was $379,900. After several minutes of bidding among investors and their representatives, some wearing shorts and flip-flops, Mr. Mirmelli won the home for $486,300. A week later, he agreed to sell it for $690,000 to a woman who moved in this month.
During the housing boom, millions of Americans tried to make money by buying and then quickly reselling new houses and condominiums. That kind of flipping stopped several years ago as home sales stalled amid a surge in foreclosures and curtailed lending. (more)
Dollar Rally Imperils S&P 500, Bartels Says: Technical Analysis
The dollar’s biggest rally since January signaled losses for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to Mary Ann Bartels at Bank of America Corp.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six major U.S. trading partners, had the biggest gain in 11 months on Dec. 4 and rose above its average level from the prior 50 days to close last week at 75.911. Bartels, who studies charts to make forecasts, said the gauge may now reach 76.82, a level last reached on Nov. 3. It has lost the most since 1986 in the past nine months.
“The U.S. dollar is bottoming,” Bartels, ranked second among technical analysts in Institutional Investor magazine’s 2009 survey, said in an interview yesterday. “It appears to be the most unloved asset class and sentiment is grossly oversold. A stronger dollar should be negative for stocks.” (more)
The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six major U.S. trading partners, had the biggest gain in 11 months on Dec. 4 and rose above its average level from the prior 50 days to close last week at 75.911. Bartels, who studies charts to make forecasts, said the gauge may now reach 76.82, a level last reached on Nov. 3. It has lost the most since 1986 in the past nine months.
“The U.S. dollar is bottoming,” Bartels, ranked second among technical analysts in Institutional Investor magazine’s 2009 survey, said in an interview yesterday. “It appears to be the most unloved asset class and sentiment is grossly oversold. A stronger dollar should be negative for stocks.” (more)
Germany still paying off £50million in reparations following World War One
Germany is still paying off £50million of the 'reparations' demanded from it after the end of First World War.
The German Finance Agency, its authority on debt management, said tens of millions of euros are still being transferred to private individuals holding debenture bonds as agreed under the Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28, 1919.
The bonds were issued at the time to investors. (more)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)