Can It Core a Apple?

Forbes looks at the kitchen gadgets of the future.

Bond Guru Fears 20% Housing Price Drop

Interesting reading from U.S. News & World Report, as Bill Gross of Pimco calls for government subsidies on mortgages.

January Residential Construction Employment Down 1%

Residential construction employment dipped 1.1% from December to January, 2008, according to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some 892,100 workers were employed building residential construction last month, down 9.2% from January 2007.
Average hourly wages for construction workers were up 0.2% month-to-month to $21.46; that mark was 4.3% higher than January, 2007's average hourly salary for construction workers.

A Sign of the (Unfortunate) Times

Jingle (mail) all the way.

Fed Cuts Rates to 3%

The Federal Reserve follows up last week's cut with another 50 point cut to 3%.

G-Men Probe Sub-Prime Mess

The Wall Street Journal reports that 14 companies are under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for possible fraud in the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Tile Demand in US to Grow 4% a Year Through 2011

Overall demand for decorative tile is forecast to increase 4.3% per year between now and 2011 to 4 billion square feet. Demand is dominated by flooring, which accounted for nearly four-fifths of total tile demand in 2006.
Porcelain will account for the strongest gains of any tile material through 2011, posting annual increases of 9.5%; ceramic tile will grow by 3.6% a year. Porcelain tile is more durable than ceramic tile, and it can be fired to resemble natural stone.
Those figures are courtesy of the 257-page study Decorative Tile, available for $4,500 from The Freedonia Group, Inc., 767 Beta Drive, Cleveland, OH 44143-2326. For further details, contact Corinne Gangloff at 440-684-9600.

How to Have a Good 2008

Four tips for retailers from The Retail Contrarian.

S&P Home Price Index Sees Record Drop

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices rang up an 8.4% dip in its 10-City Composite Index in November, the largest decline in the measure's 17-year history.

November was the 11th consecutive month of negative annual returns.
"We reached another grim milestone in the housing market in November," says Robert J. Shiller, Chief Economist at MacroMarkets LLC. "Not only did the 10-City Composite post another record low in its annual growth rate, but 13 of the 20 metro areas, each with data back to 1991, did the same. If you look at the monthly figures, every MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) has now posted three consecutive monthly declines. Eight of these MSAs, in addition to the two composites, have had more than 12 consecutive months of falling prices. "
Miami dropped 15.1% year-over-year. San Diego dipped 13.4%, Las Vegas fell 13.2% and Detroit fell 13.0%.

Foreclosures Up 75% During 2007

RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows more than 2.2 million foreclosure filings during 2007, up 75% from 2006. The report shows that more than 1% of all U.S. households were in some stage of foreclosure during the year, up from 0.58% in 2006.
A total of 215,749 foreclosure filings were reported in December, up 97% from December, 2006 The fourth-quarter total hit 642,150 filings—up 1% from the previous quarter and up 86% from the fourth quarter of 2006.

December New Home Sales Plummet 41%

Sales of new homes in December fell 40.7% from the same month in 2006 to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 604,000 units, according to the most recent figures from the Census Bureau. At that rate, the lowest in more than a dozen years, December ended with 9.6 months' worth of new homes already built and waiting to be sold.

Some 774,000 new homes were sold in 2007, down 26.4% from 2006 totals. That's the biggest year-to-year drop since records began being kept in the early 1960s. The median sales price of a new home fell 1.8% last year from 2006 to $219,200, the first year-over-year drop since the Census Bureau began tracking the figure.

Toilet Museum on the Move

The Boston Globe reports on the sad story of the American Sanitary Plumbing Museum.