| When Markets Fall, Bargains Are There for the Taking
It's buying season on Wall Street. After two very brief, unconvincing 10% corrections last year (in August and then in November), the market indexes crashed through those barriers last week, grazing bear market territory. But as I have been saying for some time, this isn't the time for hand-wringing over the declining value of your portfolio. It is time to identify some bargains and do some buying. Which is what I did last Wednesday. An advantage of writing this column is that I feel obliged to act on the advice I dole out. It is one thing to have an idea. It is another to act on it, and to put your money on the line. Lucky Day? There was no real timing involved in my decision to buy on Wednesday, other than the fact that the Nasdaq had crossed my latest buying threshold.
Punta Gorda tops drop in existing home sales prices for December
The National Association of Realtors Senior Economist Lawrence Yun notes in NAR's latest market outlook that consumers appear to be waiting for "additional signs of market stabilization. There are more people with financial capacity now than in 2005, but many are trying to market-time their purchase" - which makes the exact timing of the housing recovery more uncertain, he says. Still, Yun says that 2007 should be the fifth highest year on record for existing-home sales. Florida's median sales price for existing single-family homes last month was $208,900; a year ago, it was $239,900 for a 13 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In December 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $145,300, for an increase of 43.8 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.
North of Boston merchants warmed up for last night's opener
Chicken wings, beer and T-shirts all have one thing in common.
Baseball.
It's October, and the Red Sox are in the playoffs. That means Red Sox Nation is ready to party. Fans will likely shell out plenty of cash for apparel, food and drinks - and local businesses were there to reap the benefits when the Sox opened the American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last night.
"For sure, we're stocking extra beer," said Bill Buco, owner of McAloon's Package Store on Chickering Road in North Andover. "Any pro team in the area, whether it be the Red Sox or the Patriots or the Celtics - if that should ever happen - or the Bruins ... it definitely helps our business."
Butcher Boy Market on Osgood Street in North Andover is increasing its inventory to provide customers with grub for house parties, said Tom Yameen, one of the owners.
BSE, NSE to challenge world's top stock exchanges
The age-old saying from the Bible has assumed great symbolic significance in today's global economic scenario. The erstwhile meek (sleeping economies) have woken up and are catching up with powerful competitors (developed countries) and are already showing the potential to overtake them. Nothing illustrates this better than the rise of the equity cult in emerging markets like India, China and Brazil. While these markets have been growing for a year now, '07 may turn out to be an inflexion point in their catch-up race. Take India, for instance. In '07, BSE broke into the league of the world's top 10 most valuable stock exchanges by market capitalisation. The world's leading bourses can no longer take their numero uno position for granted.
But why are we talking about global ranking of stock exchanges in a year-end edition of Investor's Guide? Because as the Indian market gets bigger, its visibility in the global investor's community improves, thus opening new sources of capital.
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