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Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics, who often discusses the economy, recently said something disturbing and fascinating about the possibility of a double-dip recession.  According to Zandi, it could be the only recession that we will ourselves into.   Zandi was talking about gloomy expectations that make people so nervous that in terms of economics, they freeze.  His […]

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed by 0.5 percent in July, according to a Labor Department report.  That came after a decrease of 0.2 percent the previous month.  Rising inflation cuts consumers’ buying power.  Average pay, when adjusted for inflation, fell in July and has declined by 1.3 percent in the last year.  Over the […]

The abrupt departure of Steve Jobs from Apple marks the end of an era, although his leaving is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the company’s product line, according to analysts.  Jobs, 56, submitted his resignation to the Cupertino, CA-based Apple board of directors and asked that they name chief operating officer Tim Cook […]

An August 18 lightning strike in a northern Minnesota forest after an unusually hot summer started a month-long fire that brought a pall of smoke to Chicago nearly a month after the blaze started.  Driven by northwest winds, the fire in the 1.1 million acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness that straddles the Canadian border grew […]

Shareholders in American companies can blame Standard & Poor’s  for taking $1 trillion of their money after the rating firm downgraded Treasury securities for the first time in American history to AA+ from AAA.  Now, some of the most experienced investors say the stock market losses make no sense.  While the benchmark index for U.S. […]

Home prices revived somewhat during the 2nd quarter, but the housing market is still struggling.  Prices climbed an impressive 3.6 percent, compared during the three months ending March 31.  Despite the upbeat news, home prices are still down 5.9 percent compared with the 2nd quarter of 2010.  The rise in home prices came after three […]

The Treasury Department is laughing all the way to the bank. Insurance Giant AIG repaid $2.15 billion that it had borrowed through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  In 2008, the government helped the giant get back on its feet with a $180 billion loan.  AIG has been gradually repaying the money.  The most recent […]

As Hurricane Irene literally tore up the nation’s East Coast, leaving 42 people dead in 12 states in its wake, the question naturally arises about global warming’s role in the disaster.  In a year when spring tornadoes wreaked havoc on towns like Tuscaloosa, AL and Joplin, MO, and with the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) […]

Foreclosure filings fell a dramatic 35 percent in July to the lowest level in nearly four years as lenders and state and federal agencies ramped up their efforts to keep delinquent borrowers in their homes, according to RealtyTrac Inc.  A total of 212,764 properties received default, auction or repossession notices, the lowest number in 44 […]

A new phenomenon has emerged that is depressing the sales of existing homes. Contract cancellations are surging, dashing hopes that the distressed housing market is showing signs of improvement.  According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales fell 0.8 percent in June compared with May to an annual rate of just 4.77 million units, […]