For the first time in decades, interest rates for jumbo home loans are lower than rates for a typical mortgage. And because of that, the luxury market is the fastest growing sector of home loans. In Phoenix, sales of homes that cost more than $500,000 are up 64 percent.
Washington (AFP) - The United States was spared the ignominy of a disastrous debt default Wednesday when Congress passed a bill extending the nation's borrowing authority and ending a two-week government shutdown.
After weeks of tumultuous debate, the measure passed first with less than two hours to run until October 17, the date from which the Treasury had warned it might not be able to pay its bills.
The last-gasp plan will stave off the most pressing crisis by extending the US Treasury's borrowing authority until February 7.
Lawmakers also reached agreement on re-opening shuttered federal agencies, bringing hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees back to work and funding government through January 15.
Even before the acrimonious battle reached its finish with the House vote, President Barack Obama said he would sign the bill "immediately" as he sought to heal the wounds caused by the showdown.
But he also warned that Washington must stop governing by crisis.
US leaders needed to "earn back" the trust of the American people in the aftermath of the crisis, Obama said.
"We'll begin reopening our government immediately, and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people."
The administration's budget director Sylvia Burwell said "employees should expect to return to work in the morning."
With a bitterly divided Congress locked in stalemate for a month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid worked behind closed doors with his Republican rival Senator Mitch McConnell to craft the compromise that had eluded Washington.
"The bipartisan senate rose to the occasion and broke this deadlock," number two Senate Democrat Dick Durbin said.
The mood from many House Republicans was a begrudging acceptance of a deal many of them felt failed to address their desire to rein in outsized federal spending and roll back the president's health care law known as "Obamacare."
House Budget chairman Paul Ryan, who voted against the bill, called it a "missed opportunity."
"Today's legislation won't help us reduce our fast-growing debt," he said. "In my judgment, this isn't a breakthrough. We're just kicking the can down the road."
While the deal was welcomed on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader S&P 500 index up almost 1.4 percent, the signs of a close-to-humiliating, last-minute bid to avert possible global economic turmoil were plain to see.
The International Monetary Fund's managing director Christine Lagarde, who over the past week had pleaded with US lawmakers to come to their senses, praised them for taking the "necessary step" of lifting the debt ceiling.
"Looking forward, it will be essential to reduce uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy by raising the debt limit in a more durable manner," she said.
After the agreement was unveiled, House speaker John Boehner bowed to the inevitable and admitted there were "no reasons" to vote against the bill, while maintaining that Republicans didn't like its terms.
"We fought the good fight, we did everything we could. They just kept saying no, no, no," Boehner said of lawmakers in Obama's Democratic Party.
"Our drive to stop the train wreck that is the president's health care law will continue," Boehner added, apparently seeking to placate Tea Party-backed Republicans.
The legislation would allow government to borrow beyond its current $16.7 trillion debt ceiling to meet its obligations.
It also provides full retroactive pay to those ordered off the job during the shutdown.
The US economy has faced uncharted waters during the more than two-week crisis, with the Treasury saying that from Thursday it would no longer be able to borrow more money and avert a devastating debt default.
Ratings firm Standard & Poor's said the government shutdown had already taken $24 billion out of the economy and will cut growth in the fourth quarter significantly.
House conservatives have thus far thwarted votes on the debt ceiling and on passing a budget, demanding concessions from Obama.
Democrats have refused to allow Republicans to hold those issues to "ransom" with attempts to slash spending or dismantle Obamacare.
But Wednesday's deal includes a mechanism that forces lawmakers into entering long-term budget negotiations, with recommendations due by December 13.
As a sign of good faith regarding what is bound to be a brutal budget battle, Democratic Senate Budget Committee chair Patty Murray said she would sit down for breakfast Thursday with Ryan to discuss the path forward.
US officials and lawmakers are likely to seek to soothe rattled world markets and re-iterate that the full faith and credit of the United States remains intact.
The Fitch ratings agency on Tuesday underlined the seriousness of the situation by putting the US government's AAA credit rating on a downgrade warning.
Major world powers have been left looking on in dismay, unable to do anything to protect their own economic interests, with many deeply invested in US Treasuries -- hitherto seen as a safe haven.
China and Japan, which between them hold $2.4 trillion in US Treasuries, have expressed alarm and annoyance at the bitter political partisanship that has caused the weeks-long crisis.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — American Express says its net income rose 9 percent in the third quarter, as cardholders spent more in the U.S. and elsewhere. The results trumped Wall Street estimates.
The New York-based company said Wednesday that spending on its global network jumped 7 percent in the June-September period. It also benefited from growth in income from interest charges, as well as card loans.
American Express cardholders tend to be more affluent than other credit card users, which is one reason the company has done well as the nation's economy has gradually improved despite a sluggish global economy.
Unlike Visa and MasterCard, which only process transactions, American Express issues its own cards. When cardholders charge more on their AmEx cards, the company earns even more in interest income and a variety of fees.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, American Express reported net income of $1.36 billion, or $1.25 per share. That compares with net income of $1.25 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the same period last year.
Revenue increased about 6 percent to $8.3 billion, from about $7.86 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting, on average, earnings of $1.22 per share on revenue of $8.23 billion.
Shares in American Express ended regular trading up $1.07 at $76.32. The stock added 23 cents to $76.55 in extended trading.
EE, the UK's largest 4G LTE provider, has today announced a range of new tiered data plans, along with the country's first pay as you go 4G LTE offering. The new plans are designed to offer the benefits of super-fast mobile data, yet become more affordable than ever before, and could be worth a look with a new iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c.
EE will start offering a range of 'entry-level' tariffs starting from £18.99 per month and offering download speeds of up to 30Mbps. Along side this, a "4GEE Extra" offering is being brought to the table, beginning at £26.99 a month, which claims to offer customers "access to the worlds fastest 4G speeds," the biggest UK data allowances for 4G, inclusive roaming calls and texts in 30 countries worldwide and fast track customer service.
Some bold claims aside – especially since Three is yet to come on board with its promised unlimited LTE – it's great news for UK smartphone owners that EE is beginning to drive the prices down for 4G LTE. The network is a year older than competitors, but competition is what we need to drive the prices to more affordable reaches. For full information on the new plans, head on over to the source link below.
Source: EE
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/WkLGuCt4Hhk/story01.htmKirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers as they left a Sunni mosque in Iraq Tuesday, killing 12 people, as they marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Three children, a policeman and an army officer were among the dead from the blast in the northern city of Kirkuk, which also wounded 26 people, police and a doctor said.
Bodies, their clothes covered in blood, were placed in the back of a police pickup truck to be taken away, an AFP journalist reported.
Angry and grieving people railed against those who carried out the attack, shouting: "God take revenge on those who are evil!"
Worshipper Khalaf al-Obaidi said he narrowly avoided the blast because he had gone to greet one of his brothers inside the mosque instead of leaving.
"Then the bomb exploded," Obaidi said.
"You look and you see your friend or your brother or your relatives (on the ground). Even an infidel would not do this," he said. "God willing, there will be security and safety for this country and its poor people."
Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) to sacrifice his son at God's command, is the biggest Muslim holiday of the year.
In Iraq, as around the Islamic world, people mark the holiday by slaughtering an animal, normally a sheep, and giving the meat to the poor.
As with various other religious occasions in Iraq, observance differs between Sunnis and Shiites.
Eid al-Adha begins for Sunnis on Tuesday this year, while most Shiites consider Wednesday to be the first of the holiday.
"We ask God to keep the ghost of sectarian strife... and civil war, on which those who sold their soul to the devil are insisting, away from our country," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in pre-recorded remarks broadcast on Tuesday.
"Our region today is in a storm of violence moved by sectarianism and terrorists, and our country is in the heart of this storm," he said.
On Monday, UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov had called for unity in Iraq on the occasion of the holiday.
“On this Eid and at this crucial time, I would like to plead for unity and understanding among all the Iraqis and their political, religious, and civil leaders," Mladenov said in a statement.
"It is only through working together that the people of Iraq can stand up to the violence that is tearing society apart."
Other attacks in Kirkuk, Nineveh and Baghdad provinces on Tuesday killed three people and wounded three more, officials said.
Almost nothing is safe from attack by militants in Iraq, and violence has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.
Secure targets such as prisons have been struck in recent months, along with cafes, markets, mosques, football fields, weddings and funerals.
Attacks on both Sunni and Shiite gatherings have raised fears of a relapse into the intense sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007.
Analysts say the Shiite-led government's failure to address the grievances of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- which complains of being excluded from government jobs and senior posts and of abuses by security forces -- has driven the surge in unrest.
Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.
And while the authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, underlying issues remain unaddressed.
The government has enacted new security measures, stepped up executions and carried out wide-ranging operations against militants for more than two months, but has so far failed to curb the violence.
The latest unrest takes the number of people killed so far this month to more than 310, and to over 5,000 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
Promoting their spinoff reality show, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley headed to "Extra" in Universal City, California on Tuesday (October 15).
The pint-sized realty star wore a pretty white and black blouse with black pants while her bestie dwarfed her in a black top, tan jacket, and jeans.
Though the new season of "Snooki and JWoww" doesn't air for another week, fans can get their dose of Nicole on "Dancing with the Stars."
Last night, Snooki celebrated the most memorable year of her life by dancing in honor of her baby boy, Lorenzo.
