Free Republic

Data have a growing number of analysts saying the worst may be over for the sectorFalling mortgage rates and a rally in home builder stocks are leading some analysts to suggest that the worst of the nation's housing slump may be over. Although data released Thursday showed U.S. home prices making their smallest quarterly gain in eight years, some forward-looking indicators point to a stabilizing residential market. Home builder stocks rallied sharply Thursday after an analyst's upgrade. The sector was one of the strongest in November, with the Standard & Poor's home builder index gaining 10% last month, extending a...

52nd coolest October on record (1895-2006). All regions near to or below normal temperature (first time since February 2003 with no regions above average temperature). Only 2 states above normal temperatures in October: New Hampshire and Texas. 12th wettest October for U.S. Fourth wettest October on record for the Northeast Region. Maine ranked 2nd wettest October. Regionally, wet in Southwest, South, Central, Southeast and Northeast

Mon Sep 18, 8:00 AM ET Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 18, 2006 -- How the US Congress spends its money on its staff is now available for the first time on a new web site. LegiStorm.com, which launches today, provides users with a free and easy way to determine exactly how much members of Congress pay their aides. “I think this will add a healthy amount of transparency to how Congress spends taxpayer dollars,” said Jock Friedly, a former Capitol Hill investigative reporter who founded LegiStorm. “Most salaries are paid to highly educated aides who perform long hours of...

An Irvine-based housing consultant said in a forecast released Tuesday that new home prices will go up in Orange County next year, but only by about 4.4 percent. "We foresee Year 2007 as being a stable year in terms of market conditions," a report by Real Estate Economics stated.

Economist: Personal incomes may be rising faster than housing costs By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:24 PM ET Aug 31, 2006 CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage rates nudged lower this week, the sixth straight decline that has pulled loan rates back to their early-April levels. according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey released Thursday. The downward drift continues to reflect the cooling of the housing market and consumer confidence, "thus giving financial markets reason to believe that economic growth will moderate and inflation will remain in check," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "By some indicators, personal incomes are growing...

There is no drug-testing policy on the PGA Tour, and when Tiger Woods called for one this week at the Bridgestone Invitational, no one should have been surprised, according to Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg of IMG. "There's a lot out there right now, with BALCO, the cycling and the sprinters, so what he's saying is, 'Start with golf, start with me. I'm clean and I think the sport's clean,' " Steinberg said Friday. " 'If people are speculating about golf, let's get it over now.' "

CHICAGO -- Residential real estate has hit a speed bump. Nationally, home price appreciation is slowing down from the rapid pace experienced by many markets over the past few years. Is this any time to be thinking about investing in a home? Of course it is -- if you're buying it for a place to live, not as a speculative investment, and can afford to take the leap. "Owning a home is still financially not a bad deal, as long as you have the income to support the cost of homeownership," said Jim Gaines, research economist for the Real Estate...

In the iconic TV show "The Simpsons," Homer Simpson is constantly jealous of his neighbor Ned Flanders' prosperity -- so jealous that when the left-handed Flanders opens a store for left-handed people (the Leftorium), Simpson never tells any of his left-handed friends about it. "My kingdom for a left-handed tin opener," yells Mr. Burns, the richest man in the fictional town of Springfield, but Simpson keeps quiet as the Leftorium shuts down for lack of customers. The show's creators may not have known it then, but they were on to something -- Homer Simpson probably has a good reason to...

Although it may appear to some that the sky is falling, Chicken Little can relax for now. As Southern California's real estate boom fades and a more normal market returns, buyers and sellers can take some comfort in what lies ahead. Industry analysts say the tumbling prices, glut of houses and 8% to 10% interest rates that marked the recession of the early 1990s are nowhere in sight now. The area's strong, diverse economy will help prevent a market freefall similar to the one the region experienced then.

Poodle aerobics.

Long Beach Police were attempting to serve a warrant on a kidnap suspect. Suspect fled in a mini-van and ended up on the Long Beach Freeway. Police stoped the car and have it sandwiched between two armored vehicles. Suspect is still in the car. Long Beach Freeway closed in both directions.

(AP) NAPA A series of levee breaks in southern Sonoma County is flooding acres of farmland along the Sonoma Creek. The Nationals Weather service says that a levee gave way on the Schell Creek near Schellville failedcausing minor flash flooding of immediately surrounding areas. According to reports, about 100 acres of farmland are flooded. The are a couple of farm buildings partially underwater, but there do not appear to be any houses or residential buildings affected. However, people near the town of Schellville along Highways 12 and 121 should be alert for rapidly rising waters and follow evacuation orders of...

LiveScience.com Thu Jan 5, 12:00 PM ET Despite what many may have heard, drinking soda does not increase the risk of developing esophageal cancer. In fact it might protect against it, a new study finds.Cases of cancer affecting the esophagus, the muscular tube linking the mouth and stomach, in the United States have more than tripled since the 1970s. And in the past 50 years, Americans have increased their annual consumption of carbonated soft drinks nearly five-fold, from 10.8 gallons in 1946 to a whopping 42.2 gallons in 2000. The two trends are strongly correlated and in 2004, Indian researchers...

Actor Brad Renfro was caught up in a Los Angeles Police Department undercover sting aimed at cleaning up drug activity along skid row. Fourteen people were arrested in downtown Los Angeles Thursday after buying balloons filled with fake heroin from undercover cops, including the star of "The Client," "Apt Pupil," "Bully," "Tom and Huck," "Sleepers" and "Ghost World," the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) - Barbie and Ken, together again? Mattel says Ken may be getting a makeover. The plastic-fantastic couple was splitsville two years ago, after a 43-year romance. But RussellArons, vice president of marketing at Mattel, says Barbie fans will see some big changes this spring. She says a makeover may be just what Ken needs to get back in the game. Mattel tried to update Barbie's image by having her split with Ken and head to a California beach. Her new main squeeze was Blaine, an Australian boogie boarder. But things didn't work out -- at least not...

The Nebraska Bookstore kicked off its “Tickets For Veterans” program on Thursday, giving an opportunity for Husker football ticket holders to donate their tickets to Nebraska veterans for the NU-Kansas State game Nov. 12 in Lincoln. The program celebrates the 75th anniversary of Veteran’s Day. “Many of us have family, friends and co-workers who are veterans or know a veteran,” Barry Major, chief operating officer of Nebraska Book Company, said in a prepared statement. “Needless to say, we owe these men and women a great deal. With 160,000 veterans in the state, several with ties to our company, we feel...

Per Rush's show.

Breaking

I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence...[I resolve] In the future to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself." -Meriwether Lewis on his 31st birtday August 18, 1805 Camp Fortunate (Near present day Dillon, MT.) Captain Meriwether Lewis, along with Captain William Clark and the Corps of Discovery had left St. Louis 15 months earlier. Under his leadership, the Corps had traveled...

A team of wrestlers that ignored a request to stay confined after four of them came down with the norovirus likely helped rapidly spread the illness to other campers staying at Northern Arizona University last week, a county health official said.In all, 115 people have now been stricken, including eight NAU staffers and two county health workers. Coconino County Health Department Director Barbara Worgess said the library, Skydome, dining halls and three dorms are among the facilities that need to be sterilized after the wrestlers, the first infected campers, roamed the campus.Norovirus causes vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea and dehydration...