Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to today’s preliminary estimate. This follows a decrease of 0.5% in the third quarter of 2008. For the full year 2008, real GDP rose 1.1%, compared to 2.0% in 2007.
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Eligible borrowers are only those whose loan is conforming–that is, a first mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the two secondary mortgage market companies that are now under the direction of the federal government. Those loans are limited in size–$417,000 for most of the country, although they go up to $729,750 in high-cost areas.
Eligible borrowers are also limited to those with a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent to 105 percent on their first mortgage.
Here are the percentages of mortgage holders in some hard-hit areas who meet the eligibility criteria to refinance under the plan, according to Zillow.com:
Miami-Fort Lauderdale: 17 percent
New York and North Jersey: 16 percent
San Diego: 12 percent
Los Angeles: 9 percent
San Francisco: 8 percent
San Jose-Santa Clara: 7 percent
Boyd Gaming Corp. posted a fourth-quarter loss of $220.8 million today due to impairment charges related to some prior acquisitions and a consumer spending pullback. Boyd’s fourth-quarter revenue declined 12 percent to $422.6 million from $478.6 million.
Like many casino operators, Boyd has been squeezed as consumers tighten their discretionary spending due to mounting economic and job concerns.
For the period ended Dec. 31, the casino operator reported a loss of $2.51 per share, reversing net income of $31.2 million, or 35 cents per share, reported a year earlier a year earlier.
New home sales in January 2009 fell 10.2% from the prior month and declined 48.2% from the prior year, to 309,000, the Commerce Department reported today. This is 10.2 percent below the revised December rate of 344,000 and is 48.2 percent below the January 2008 estimate of 597,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2009 was $201,100; the average sales price was $234,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 342,000. This represents a supply of 13.3 months at the current sales rate.
What is Public Relations?
February 26, 2009 in PR Commentaries and Essays, Public Relations | Permalink
Public relations affects almost all who have contact with other human beings. All of us, in one way or another, practice public relations daily. For an organization, every phone call, every letter, every face-to-face encounter is a public relations event. How is it handled, effected, concluded is Strategic Communications, which Stern And Company practices as a superset which comprises corporate communications, crisis communications, financial or investor relations, change or employee communications and marketing communications, as well as public affairs and community relations.
For purposes of clarity, we will refer to Public Relations in this essay.
To be sure, public relations is not a profession like law, accounting, and medicine, in which practitioners are trained, licensed, and supervised. Nothing prevents someone with little or no formal training from hanging out a shingle as a public relations specialist.
Over the past two decades, public relations has steadily built its reputation, increased its prominence, and earned respect across a wide span of society. As today’s institutions strive to understand more clearly the forces of change, adapt their activities to new pressures and aspirations, and listen and communicate more effectively, public relations becomes more important. Institutions rely on their practitioners to help win public support and trust, without which they will be rendered powerless. Read the rest of this entry »
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