The Money Blogs

Colossal Castle Or Humble Home?

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:00:00 EST

I had written before about the Home Price Comparison Index compiled by Coldwell Banker Real Estate that allows one to approximate how much your home might cost in different areas around the U.S. For instance, here in Seattle, $800K-900K might buy you a 100-year old house in a nice in-city neighborhood with 1800 sqft and 3-4 bedrooms and 2-3 baths and a 1-car garage on a 3000 sqft lot.Just 50 miles South in Tacoma, with t[...]

Prices Are Going Up?

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:00:00 EST

I guess it is all in whose stats you read.This from Coaching Clues Newsletter: The Sky Is Not Falling! They point out that despite the media darling Case-Shiller index, the better indicator of the indices is provided by OFHEO (the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight), Realogy and NAR. These three organizations seem to validate one another’s results.They all have come to the same conclusion: "Overall U.S. prices were UP 0.6 perce[...]

Fixed-income Etfs Ready To Resume

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:25:00 EST

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.Stocks capped the week on a negative note, as the major indices opened lower, then traded in a tight, sideways range throughout all of last Friday’s session. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%, the S&P 500 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.9%. Relative weakness in the Dow helped our position in the UltraShort Dow 30 ProShares (DXD) move further into the money. Outperforming were the small-cap Russell 2000 and S&P Midcap 400 indices, both of which[...]

Another Reason

Sat, 10 May 2008 12:45:00 EST

I recently wrote on the housing crisis. But what I failed to mention was the Realtor Bubble. Like in the State of California where I can literally walk to two blocks and chances are that one of those homes I pass will house a licensee.The current stats in California is 1 in 53 adults in California has a real estate license. Mike Ferry used to joke they hand ’em out at the DMV with your drivers license.The stats are only a bit better across the country. When there is les[...]

Trader Vic?s Home For Sale

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:42:00 EST

Being a Tiki fan, Aloha-aficionado and keeper of the flame at Seattle Tiki, I was excited to see Trader Vic Bergeron’s first home on the market. The listing notes that 965 Mendocino Avenue has been a landmark and focal point of North Berkeley since it was built in 1925. Trader Vic Bergeron and his wife Esther were the first owners, and the authentic Chinese roasting brick oven still stands in the backyard. Nothing else Tiki is left, however [...]

Trade Deficit Comes In Below Expectations

Fri, 09 May 2008 09:21:00 EST

The market is lower this morning, after a big loss by AIG and more highs in oil seem to be weighing on sentiment. The weird thing is that many of the financials are higher, despite the debacle that is AIG. And most of the energy stocks are lower, even as oil makes new highs. Go figure.AIG posted an $8 billion loss, much larger than expected. The stock has fallen -10% in the last 2 days. And Fannie Mae (FNM) priced a stock offering below yesterday’s closing price, a sign of slight weakness. I though this news would have dragged the financial s[...]

How Can We Improve Our Money-saving Menu Of Fees & Rebates?

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:07:00 EST

It’s been more than a year since we updated our Menu of Fees & Rebates, so we’d like to invite home buyers to meet in person to discuss possible improvements. Our current options are shown above (

Stealth Breakout In Market Vectors Russia (rsx)

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:56:00 EST

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.After two days of high volatility, stocks chopped around in a sideways range yesterday before finishing modestly higher. The Nasdaq Composite bounced 0.5%, as both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%. The small-cap Russell 2000 advanced 0.5% and the S&P Midcap 400 rose 0.8%. The major indices closed just above the middle of the day’s directionless trading ranges.Lower volume gains followed Wednesday’s session of higher [...]

Are You Just Uncomfortable Enough

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:01:00 EST

I know that marketing doesn’t come naturally to most business owners. Not many people say to themselves - "I am such a good marketer I think I’ll start a business selling something." No, unfortunately the conversation probably goes like this - "I sure love to work with spreadsheets and do people’s taxes, holy crap, I’ve got to learn how to market."When the realization that you are in the marketing business hits, too many people want to grab onto the latest and greatest marketing idea and ramp up the selling machine overnight.

Virus Found Inside A Firefox Language Pack

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:30:00 EST

Usually, when we download software from a trusted developer like Mozilla, we are convinced that it contains no viruses or trojans to harm our computers. Surprisingly, that’s not true for Vietnamese language pack for Firefox downloaded after February 18, 2008.The language pack itself does not carry the virus; instead it has been modified by a virus to remotely load malicious scripts. It’s primarily meant to display advertising, but it could be used for other malicious attacks as well. The virus is a script, so it can potentially harm all operating system. Most antivirus applications [...]

Marin March Prices Off -23.33% From Peak

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:58:00 EST

While poking around the SFGate.com database, I ran across this: