With the economy in the doldrums, an ongoing mortgage crisis, and worries over recession, few analysts expected sales of new homes to rise in the last quarter. But surprisingly, there was a 2.7% increase nationally in the sale of new homes in September. Meanwhile, the median price of a new home dropped to its lowest level in more than four years.
Surprising Increase in New Home Sales in September
Richest Americans Control More Wealth than Ever
Anyone living in the United States these days can simply look around and see that the income inequality gap appears to be widening between the wealthiest and poorest Americans. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the richest Americans incomes have now risen to a postwar record, as compared to the income of middle and lower class citizens.
Kentucky Blocks State Residents from Online Gambling Sites
On Thursday a judge in Kentucky ruled that all online gambling web sites must take immediate steps to block users from the state of Kentucky. The legal ruling has grave implications for the online gaming industry, and could be used as a precedent to block users from other states.
California Votes on High Speed Rail System
Advocates for a high speed rail system in California have been struggling for nearly 25 years to get funding from the State to “green light” the project. So far, the high speed rail consortium has always fallen short; but circumstances have changed and there is now a real chance that California will be the first state in the country to construct a high speed rail system similar to those in Europe.
Bottled Water: Safer than Tap?
Conventional wisdom in the United States says that tap water is practically unfit for human consumption, but a new study authored by The Environmental Working Group suggests that many varieties of bottled water are no safer or “purer” than water straight from the tap in your kitchen.
Wal-Mart Comes to Time Square
According to Reuters.com, controversial American mega-retailer Wal-Mart is opening a “temporary” store right in the middle of Times Square in Manhattan. Wal-Mart officials claim that the company has no plans to maintain a permanent outlet in Manhattan. The company appears to be following a trend started by many lower-level retail stores of setting up a “pop up” store in the heart of New York to promote a specific sales event or product.
Obama Pulls Ahead in Polls, Gains Newspaper Support
Over the last few weeks, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has pulled further ahead in the national polls. Besides the popular support though, Obama is also getting a big boost from editorial endorsements from newspapers around the nation.
eBay Continues to Expand — While Laying off 1000 Workers?
What in the world is going on over at eBay? Back in the olden days — the 1990s — eBay was a beacon of hope in the online world. It established a level playing field by which any mom-and-pop retailer around the country (or around the world) could compete with the big boys online and create a profitable business.
American Kids Three Times More Likely to be Medicated than Europeans
According to a recent study published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry And Mental Health, American children are approximately 3 times more likely to be medicated with psychotropic drugs for emotional or mood disorders, than European children.
Research Suggests that Smells Influence Our Dreams
For millennia humans have pondered the meaning of dreams, and why we dream at all. In more recent times, researchers have begun studying the importance of dreaming to our physiology, and how our dream life is affected by external stimuli.
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