The ups and downs of the housing market
The U.S. housing market is moving in two different directions. Prices of homes over $1 million have risen 0.7 percent since February, while homes valued under $1 million have fallen by an average of 1.5 percent. “Luxury is the best-performing segment of the housing market right now,” says real estate economist Stan Humphries.
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Getting ready for Halloween
It may be only the beginning of October, but Halloween decorations have been in stores for weeks already. Last year, Americans spent nearly $6 billion on the holiday, including an average of $23 each on costumes and $20 on candy.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
The fate of the iPod
The iPod may no longer be worth Apple’s time. The music player accounted for just 8 percent of the company’s revenues at the end of last year. That’s down from nearly 56 percent of revenues at the beginning of 2006.
FastCompany.com
Silver and gold take a fall
Silver and gold looked like safe havens no more last week. Amid a grim market week that saw the Dow drop more than 6 percent, silver fell 26 percent, with Friday ringing in as the worst dollar-loss day since 1980. Over the week gold lost 10 percent of its value, its steepest drop since 1983.
The Wall Street Journal
Market for derivatives remains strong
Derivatives such as credit default swaps may have helped cause the financial crisis, but U.S. banks aren’t shying away from them. Banks hold nearly $250 trillion in derivatives, up 11 percent from a year ago, with the four biggest banks—JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs—holding 95 percent of the total.
The New York Times
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Quiz of The Week: 16 – 22 AugustQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
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Can Soho House get its edge back?Talking Point The private members' club has lost its exclusive appeal – but a £2 billion buy-out could offer a fresh start
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The week's best photosIn Pictures A human pyramid, a church on wheels, and more
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The bottom linefeature Working families continue to struggle; The least-trusted industries; The bestselling vehicle; Mobil device use triples; Global unemployment among the young
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The bottom line
feature The cost of e-filing; Dipping into nest eggs early; What Americans are drinking; Planning for death; How tax refunds are spent
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The bottom line
feature Building bigger houses; And tuition at OSU is?; Christmas at McDonald's; Self-gifting at Christmas; Lloyd’s prepares for Hurricane Sandy claims; Google's billions
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The bottom line
feature Good results for the third quarter; Compensation at financial firms hits a high; Three cities with recovering economies; Good year for car sales; Broadway's best performance ever; Tax bite is less in 2010 than in 1980
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The bottom line
feature Airlines cut domestic flights; Income up in small cities and rural areas; Bond and Lincoln lift box office earnings; Don't be fooled by Black Friday; The high toll of identity theft
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The bottom line
feature The gender pay gap; U.S. economic growth; Parents who argue about money; Online subscriptions rise
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The bottom line
feature Can the U.S. keep up?; Airlines spend billions on runway taxiing; Americans exaggerate their working hours; The Dow Jones's 67.9 percent gain; Success and summer babies
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The bottom line
feature Consumer confidence jumps; Wall Street cuts jobs, raises pay; Goldman Sachs's muppet hunt; Desktop web searches decline; Pizza Hut scraps debate freebie