Financial Dispatch: Housing in recovery
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/17/moneyandmainstreet.jpg]
Gene Bloch
Managing Editor
CNN New York
The economy and the financial crisis, which accelerated the recession, will be examined in depth tonight in a Money and Main Street special. Anderson Cooper and Ali Velshi host the program, which will include practical advice from a panel of financial experts on how Americans who suffered through the pain in the last year can put themselves back into a position to profit from the recovery. That’s tonight at 11p ET.
A mixed picture in the economic tea leaves this morning. Housing starts rose 1.5% in August to a nine-month high, driven by a surge in new apartment projects. New construction is running nearly 25% above the record low hit last April. But as housing recovers, the job market remains very weak. 545-thousand more people filed for first time unemployment claims last month, a drop of 12-thousand from the previous week, but economists were hoping for a bigger decline.
Are big bonuses and golden parachutes coming back to Wall Street?
A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it's sure looking a lot like business as usual. The head of the FDIC says the industry needs to exercise more self-restraint.
And gas prices keep on falling. AAA reports the average price of a gallon or regular unleaded is at $2.555 ($2.56 for grfx), a drop of six-tenths of a cent from the previous day. Gas is now down 38% from the record set 14 months ago.
On CNNMoney today:
* New health care plan and your wallet. The leading reform proposal contains a number of measures that have the potential to affect Americans' bottom line.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/16/news/economy/baucus_health_reform/index.htm
* Worker morale gets beat down. The majority of those still employed now put in longer hours for less pay, quelling motivation in the workplace.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/17/news/economy/employee_morale/index.htm
* What you need to know about Social Security. This benefit should be the cornerstone of your retirement planning. The answers to these five questions will help you to get the most out of it.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/17/retirement/Social_security.moneymag/index.htm
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Filed under: Economy • Finance • Gene Bloch |
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Go figure.The gov't handed out billions to the banking industry,but,hasn't done anything for us bottom dwellers about to loose our homes.The Banks seemed to have taken the money and run with it ,because the only thing I have seen them do is raise our credit card rates with higher late fees.I feel so loved,not!
I keep hearing about recover., My family lives around the DC beltway and they seem to think things are looking up but I live in Las Vegas, got a mortgage I can afford but am thinking about turning the keys in because my $300k home is now only worth $100k and still declining because all my neighbors were foreclosed on. Is anything going to be done about markets like Las Vegas that continue to decline in value?
Well maybe the government needs a housing stimulus, give every home purchaser 50,000 to buy a house and they will be selling like hot cakes. Just like cash for clunkers, allow 5 trillion dollars and things will be great...........until the taxpayers have to pay it all back!! Too bad our government leaders don't have a clue and are dragging out this recession, instead of the recovery that should have taken place by now.........if only Obamas policies weren't stalling the recovery.
I wonder if Money and Main Street Special will happen on CNN International today or on another day and time.
Since now I thank the attention.
Why do people want this Housing Recovery? Why would anybody be in such a hurry to get the Housing Market back to the Pre-Housing Burst Figures? Why would anybody cheer Obama’s efforts for infusing artificial funds “Robbing Peter to pay Paul” into the market? I know!!! Shallow Americans have a American Dream.. And putting Bernie Madoff in jail was just to show.. Well.. Ask the US Government..!
This question is for Mr. Anderson Cooper. I wanted to know if he has ever covered on the subject of how the judicial system treats alleged molesters. I recently seen how he went into depth about the drug problems in the US borders with Mexico and I was impressed on how detail the information was. Is there an equivalent story on the the injustice in the treatment of alleged molesters.
I apologize if this is not the correct means of communication for Mr. Anderson Cooper, but I could not find an email address for him in the CNN site.