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Housing starts hit a four year high - so what's the bigger picture here?:
Bottom Line: By now you’ve likely heard about the positive housing starts information for last month. A 15% increase in September not only provides further proof that the housing recovery throughout 2012 has resulted in a dramatic reduction in inventory – but that enough market demand exists for this increase in inventory. There is a much bigger picture at hand here though…
Anyone who lived and worked in
The average new home built creates three new jobs. If you think about the myriad of industries impacted by the construction of a home (construction, infrastructure, appliance, finance, insurance, etc.) It will quickly make sense. If the September increase in new home construction were to be maintained, it would result in new home construction of 872,000 over the next 12 months. That would result in just over 2.6 million new jobs being created just on the basis of a rebound in housing.
More than 40% of use paying banking fees each month - what to do:
Bottom Line: I’ve been updating you every so often on the state of ever rising bank fees because of the rapid integration of new fees within the banking industry. Many of the changes in fee structure are a result of the Dodd – Frank regulation which is still being written. As many banks are being cut of from traditional sources of income, they are looking to make up the difference on the retail banking side through fees. That doesn’t mean you should play along though.
41% of bank customers now pay monthly fees and 9% are paying more than $10 a month in fees. That’s like literally taking a pile of every year and lighting it on fire. Simply put, don’t do this. If your current bank is insistent on charging you fees, tell them that either the fees go or you will. There are still banks that don’t charge fees for basic accounts like checking. One that I’ve invested in and worked with traditionally is Trustco Bank. There are many more entertaining ways to waste money – then on banking fees.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2012/10/17/checking-account-fees-tompor/1636641/
New research on the impact of texting while driving & what insurance companies will do:
Bottom Line: As reasonable people, I think we realize texting while driving isn’t smart. But just how dangerous is it? We now know the number & it’s likely much higher then you ever imagined.
You’re not twice, ten times or even twenty times more likely to cause an accident. People who text while driving are 23 more times likely to cause an accident. 23 times… or to put it another way… 2300% more likely. If that staggering stat (and
With the aforementioned information in hand, insurance companies are looking into how to factor people who text while driving into their insurance costs. Unlike a speeding ticket that many insurance companies overlook if you otherwise have a good driving record, this is likely to be much more costly. Upon renewal a texting while driving citation could lead to double-digit increase in premiums.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/10/17/u-text-and-drive-expect-higher-car-insurance/
If you were planning on buying a Droid device over the next week – wait:
Bottom Line: While I’m a fan of the new Droid Razr phones (especially the HD Maxx), you should wait to see what Google has up its sleeve for October 29th. Yesterday Google announced a product event in
It may be Amazon rather than Apple that makes e-learning the norm:
Bottom Line: I’m a big fan of the E-learning concept that was first perpetuated by Steve Jobs. E-Reading in the traditional school setting accomplishes many positives in my view. Kids don’t have to lug around heavy text books. Teachers don’t have to deal with kids who forget their books. Most importantly though…
E-Readers and E-books connect with kids in the way they want to be communicated with in today’s technological age. Apple has been working to gain a footprint in the school system with slow success. Amazon may just speed that up…
The cost of a traditional Kindle E-Reader is a small fraction of the cost of an iPad. Additionally Amazon is willing to loss-lead on the e-readers to sell and make money on the books. Amazon is now aggressively targeting the educational environment with their E-learning concept and seem to be finding quicker adaptation than Apple.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2012/10/17/amazon-kindle-whispercast-schools-workplaces/1639623/
