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