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Posted
Sep 25 2009, 08:04 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article is written by Minyanville's Ryan Goldberg
Home sales fell last month, and so be it. Every home that doesn’t get sold is another bailout I don’t have to finance. (See "Home sales drying up.")
Congress included an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers as part of the stimulus package passed last winter. As many as 40% of all homebuyers this year will qualify for it, and it’s expected to cost the government $15 billion -- more than twice the original forecast -- thanks to its popularity.
Bing: More about the homebuyer tax credit
The tax credit is scheduled to expire on Nov. 30. Not surprisingly, the real estate industry, including the 1.1 million-member National Association of Realtors, wants Congress to extend the credit at least through next summer, and to expand it to $15,000 and allow all buyers to qualify. The cost: $50 billion to $100 billion.
This is a redistributed tax from renters to buyers. As a proud renter, I’ve had enough.
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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 02:11 PM
by
James Dlugosch
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
There is a lot of money being made in the recovery of the housing market. Are you participating? If not, you should be.
Last week, I recommended a very small publicly traded company that makes doors and windows in Florida to readers of my paid investing advisory, Penny Stock Winners. With the stock trading for some 60 cents on the dollar, this was a high-risk, high-reward speculation.
Bing: More on the housing recovery
But this rocket ship took off shortly after I made my recommendation, peaking at a gain of more than 300% in only a few days of trading. I had my subscribers sell and lock in at a gain of 250%.
What is amazing to me is that this story is taking place across the entire sector. Here's what I mean, and three of my favorites in this arena.
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Posted
Jul 29 2009, 09:29 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The bruised and battered housing market is finally showing signs of life.
In the last few days, we've learned that new and existing home sales rose 11% and 3.6% respectively in June compared to May. June housing starts are up 3.5% to 582,000 -- the highest reading since last November. And home prices, as reported by the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, actually increased in the three months to May. This breaks a string of 34 straight months of decline.
So is it time to pop the champagne, call up your real estate agent, and return to the heady house-flipping days of 2005? Not quite.
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Posted
Jun 16 2009, 10:20 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 U.S. homebuilders, sensing the worst is over in the housing market, are coming out of hiding and getting back to work. And maybe, just maybe, the housing recession has come to an end.
But this sector will not repair itself easily. Even if things turn up, a real recovery could be years away. Investors were pleased Tuesday by news of a 17.2% jump in May in the construction of new homes
and apartments. That's better than what economists were expecting. Applications for building permits rose 4% that month, adding to the optimism lifting stocks Tuesday. So now, there is a sense that April was truly the rock bottom for the housing market. The numbers hit record-breaking lows that month, so it's not surprising that May saw an improvement. But is this uptick permanent?
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Posted
May 05 2009, 08:31 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Is there a housing recovery starting?
It depends on whom you talk to. If you talk to the real estate agents and related folks who are seeing competition heat up on sales of foreclosed homes or sales of homes where prices were simply cut, the answer is maybe yes. The volumes are quite strong.
Too strong, possibly, because in markets devastated by subprime mortgages gone bad -- like Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona -- foreclosures rule.
Homebuilders, on the other hand, are struggling and then some because they still face collapsed prices. The median price of a home in Phoenix has fallen 50% over the last year.
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Posted
Oct 12 2007, 04:12 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
BEA Systems responded to Oracle's buyout offer with a letter from BEA vice president William Klein. Let's take a look with a round of "translate the executive speak." Cue the music, Sid!
Klein: "BEA is worth substantially more to Oracle, to others and, importantly, to our shareholders than the price indicated."
Translation: What do you think this is, Dollar Days at Filene's Basement?
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Posted
Oct 12 2007, 08:34 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Oracle has been killing software maker BEA Systems this year. And BEA has taken a beating in the market, disappointing analysts with earnings and losing key deals. Then you have activist investor Carl Icahn lurking in the background, upping his stake in BEA to 13.2% and calling for the company to be sold. Even TNT doesn't have drama like this!
Oracle has wanted BEA for years, and now it's made an offer on the company for a sweet price: $17 a share, or $6.7 billion. That's a 25% premium over BEA's closing price yesterday. BEA shares have been as low as $10.50 in the past year and are trading at about $18.60 on today's news. That's up nearly 40% from yesterday.
BEA has been awfully quiet today, and with good reason. Once Oracle chief Larry Ellison sets his sights on you, you're screwed. Remember the 18-month ordeal that was Oracle's hostile takeover bid for PeopleSoft? Ellison eventually got the company.
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