Gold Can’t Beat Checking Accounts 30 Years After Peak
I think this is a very timely article regarding gold prices and investment returns over the last several decades: (Click here to read Bloomberg.com article)
BofA Repaying TARP Funds
It will be interesting to see if other banks follow suit. The pay czar’s restrictions on compensation, seems to be the biggest motivator for BofA to find ways to exit its TARP obligations, seeing as it has been unsuccessful at find a new CEO to lead the bank, under the current restrictions. (Click to read Economist.com article)
Social Networking Put to the Test by DARPA
Not a financial story, but a fascinating one: (Click here to read article)
Dubai’s Debt Crisis
The current Dubai crisis regarding Dubai World’s inability to pay its debt obligation in a timely manner: (Click here to read article)
Mortgage Rates Drop
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dropped to an average of 4.78% this week. 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.29%. If you have the equity in your house and can refinance, the window of opportunity is still open. (Click to read article)
Local Survey on Retirement
Interesting survey about retirement expectations in the NW: (Click to read article)
Housing Numbers
Today the National Association of Realtors released numbers on existing US home sales. It was a surprise to the market, feeding a run-up in equities, with the anticipation that the housing recovery may be a durable one: (Click to read Bloomberg article)
Fed’s Bernanke watching dollar drop closely
Tight bank credit and high unemployment are cited in the article as some of the key reasons the Fed will not raise the Fed Funds target in the near future: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1651494020091116
Bill Gross on Bloomberg Radio
Bill Gross is one of the best bond managers, globally. Here he is on Bloomberg Radio: Link to Bloomberg Radio
Study: Seattle remains U.S.’s 17th-best performing city
A look at Washington state’s cities and how they rank in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. Seattle’s rank has not changed from last year, Olympia moved from 9th to 7th, Tacoma dropped to 21st from 8th (due to the Russell move, no-doubt) and Spokane fell from 35th to 41st: http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/11/09/daily39.html