The Best Housing Markets for Buyers and Sellers ... - Yahoo! Finance

The real estate market has been slowly improving since it reached record lows in 2008 and 2009. Existing-home sales rose 2.1% in October and the national median price for an existing home is 11.1% higher than it was one year ago. According to the Federal Reserve's beige book, the housing industry has experienced substantial improvement and has been a bright spot for the economy this year.

Still, not all housing markets have rebounded as quickly as others. In some parts of the United States, homebuyers are finding that they are at an advantage -- demand for houses are low and supply is high. Houses in these markets are often on sale for months and are usually bought for well below their asking price. In other areas, home sellers have a leg up because of unusual demand. Their homes tend to sell for much higher than the asking price.

Real estate Web site Zillow has created an index to determine which U.S. markets favor buyers and which favor sellers. Zillow compiled the index by looking at how long homes were on the market and by using sale-to list price ratios.

The results showed a clear divergence in buyers' and sellers' markets throughout the United States.

Stan Humphries, chief economist of Zillow, tells The Daily Ticker that he was surprised to find that California dominated the list of sellers' markets.

"Of the top 30 markets in terms of ones that are most favorable to sellers, the hottest markets right now, 24 of them were in California," he says.

The West and Southwest are the best markets for home sellers, partially because of the tech boom but also because of the extreme price adjustments that hit the area in 2009. "Those have been very hard hit markets," says Humphries, "and some of these homes have seen value declines of over 50% from their peaks, so affordability has been reset enormously which has actually drawn demand back into the marketplace."

This affordability is coupled with a limited supply of housing because of negative equity in the area. Negative equity prevents some sellers from putting their homes up for sale even when there are buyers in the market.

The top 10 seller's markets are:

1. San Jose, Calif.

2. San Francisco, Calif.

3. Sacramento, Calif.

4. Las Vegas, Nev.

5. Phoenix, Ariz.

6. Riverside, Calif.

7. Los Angeles, Calif.

8. San Diego, Calif.

9. Seattle, Wash.

10. Washington, D.C.

Buyers' markets tend to be found in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Humphries says cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh are advantageous markets for home buyers.

Homes in these areas typically take over four months to sell and are discounted by 4%-6% from their listing prices.

"You definitely did not see affordability reset in some of these Midwest and mid-Atlantic markets," explains Humphries. "I think the other factor is that they don't tend to pull in the additional cohort of buyers that's made of international buyers or second home and retiree buyers."

The top 10 buyer's markets are:

1. Chicago, Ill.

2. Cleveland, Ohio.

3. Philadelphia, PA.

4. Cincinnati, Ohio.

5. New York, NY.

6. Pittsburgh, PA.

7. Baltimore, MD.

8. St. Louis, Mo.

9. Columbus, Ohio.

10. Charlotte, N.C.

Existing home sales for November will be released on Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. ET and are expected to show a modest increase.

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Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/best-housing-markets-buyers-sellers-142239475.html

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Video: Closing Bell Exchange: Stocks Lower at Close

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50203504/

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Medical researchers discover new potential chemotherapy

Dec. 13, 2012 ? Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that knocking out a particular "partner" gene is the Achilles' heel of some cancers.

Cancer causing genes often have a partner in crime, meaning when either of the two genes is active in cancer cells, the tumour grows. The challenge for researchers has been pinpointing the genes' "lethal partners." Loss of one of the partners alone isn't deadly to the cell, but if both are gotten rid of, the cancer cells are destroyed.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Michael Weinfeld and his collaborators, Edan Foley and graduate student Todd Mereniuk, took cells and artificially removed a particular gene known as PKNP. Then the team knocked out 7,000 other genes, one at a time, all in an effort to find PKNP's "lethal partners" that trigger cell death.

And the team found it -- a deadly partner gene, a rare type of cancer suppressor typically missing in lymphomas.

The team confirmed their findings by examining tumours that lacked this specific cancer suppressor. They then inactivated PKNP, which caused the cancer cells to die. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.

Developing cancer drugs that inactivate PKNP will result in only the cancer cells that lack this gene being eradicated, not healthy, normal cells, says Weinfield, who works in the Department of Oncology at the U of A.

"Lots of work in the cancer research field is to try and come up with ways to attack cancer cells and leave normal cells intact," he says. "You need to take advantage of whatever you can to defeat cancer, which can be extremely difficult."

Weinfeld and his colleagues are now working with Dennis Hall in the Department of Chemistry at the U of A and the Centre for Drug Research and Development in British Columbia to improve this potential drug they've discovered. They are also partnering with John Lewis, the Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, to work with his cancer-targeting nanotechnology theories.

The team's research was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. T. R. Mereniuk, R. A. Maranchuk, A. Schindler, J. Penner-Chea, G. K. Freschauf, S. Hegazy, R. Lai, E. Foley, M. Weinfeld. Genetic Screening for Synthetic Lethal Partners of Polynucleotide Kinase/Phosphatase: Potential for Targeting SHP-1-Depleted Cancers. Cancer Research, 2012; 72 (22): 5934 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0939

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/AMU_5-wrz9c/121213132540.htm

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Gunman killed in Connecticut school shooting: ABC News

"We all heard these booming noises, and we started crying"The Associated Press reports that 27 people, including 18 children, were killed on Friday morning in a school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Much remains unknown about the mass shooting, which is already being described as one of the worst in American history. But a picture of terror and tragedy is slowly emerging from news reports on the ground. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gunman-killed-connecticut-school-shooting-abc-news-161607338.html

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Payroll Tax Cut: Some Republicans Willing To Back Obama's Proposal

* These include some who opposed extension last year
* This year's fiscal cliff forces a second look
By Rachelle Younglai and Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - In a turnabout from a year ago, some Republican lawmakers say they are open to backing President Barack Obama's proposal to extend the payroll tax cut for a third year, possibly bringing the sides closer to a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Last year Speaker John Boehner, the leading Republican in the House of Representatives, suffered through a revolt by ultra-conservative Republicans opposing the cut. They argued cutting the payroll tax would add to the deficit and hurt the retirement program it helps finance.
That was last year. This is this year.
"It depends on how it is put out, said New York Representative Tom Reed, one of the Republicans who opposed a Boehner-brokered deal to extend the cut last year. "I think lower taxes is always better policy, so we are interested in looking at lessening the tax burden on all Americans."
Introduced by Obama two years ago as an economic stimulus, the tax holiday reduced an employee's share of the payroll tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, giving workers an extra few dollars to spend and possibly help get the U.S. economy back on its feet.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that expiration of the payroll tax cut will raise taxes an average $700 per household.
"I feel like we are in a bind," Representative John Fleming, a member of the conservative Tea Party Caucus, said on Tuesday. The Louisiana Republican said he was torn between what the tax break was "doing to our trust fund and the need to keep money in the pockets of Americans."
The payroll tax cut was meant to be temporary and is now set to expire on Dec. 31 together with other lower income tax rates. They are key elements of the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that risk triggering another recession.
Last year's tug-of-war with Obama turned into a public relations headache for Republicans, who were in the unusual position of opposing a tax cut that benefits the middle class. They said they were worried about the impact on the deficit and social security funding, but relented to a year-end extension, albeit grudgingly.
Obama proposed extending it further when he put forward his proposal for avoiding the fiscal cliff last month.
Many Republicans - along with some senior Democrats - oppose the extension, in part because it funds the Social Security retirement program.

SOCIAL SECURITY
The Social Security fund is on track to start going bankrupt in 2033 and Democrats and Republicans agree that the program has to be altered to ensure that retirees are not left without pension checks.
Boehner has not publicly ruled out an extension of the payroll tax holiday. Should he accept the White House request as part of a deal, he will need support from rank and file Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, leader of a large group of House conservatives, said if lawmakers were asked to simply vote on the extension, he would vote for "keeping it because I view it as a tax cut."
At the same time, Jordan said the tax should eventually revert back to 6.2 percent in the context of a broad reform of Social Security.
Representative Steven LaTourette, a moderate Republican from Ohio, said he would be open to a payroll tax extension if it was part of a package that would include a minimum of $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.
In the Senate, Republicans Rob Portman of Ohio and Jon Kyl of Arizona also did not rule it out and said support of an extension would depend on the final deal. "Everything depends on what's in the package and how it all works together," Kyl said.
Ron Johnson, Republican senator from Wisconsin, said: "I support extension of all current tax rates, that's what we should be doing."

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/payroll-tax-cut_n_2288913.html

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Optimize Your Website Marketing Strategies With These Tips - First

You can expand your audience and greatly increase your profits by Internet marketing. Affiliate marketing can be the way to achieve these goals efficiently. It gives you access to millions of computer users. Your online ads can reach a large customer base, while costing you little. Continue reading for tips on how to optimize your experience with online marketing.

Reduce the amount of Flash that is used on your site. Although this may look great, and provides a flashy scene to your site, this is not something that helps your site get noticed by the search engines. If you are using flash, do not go overboard or ad keywords.

You can boost your own authenticity and standing by offering space on your website for major institutions to advertise in. When you associate yourself with a big name you will build a good name for yourself by association. By doing this, you will increase the number of visitors to your site and make it a primary web destination for them.

TIP! How your site looks and operates is as important as what you are selling. Take time to ensure that your website is error-free to ensure that your visitors are not stuck with a poor experience.

Be certain to follow up with all clients. Try to solicit consumer reviews or surveys within two weeks of purchase.

Change your content around so your customers feel like they are controlling things. That is especially important because the Internet is full of unwanted opinions and spam. Make it clear that their participating is optional in order to boost your credibility.

Order checkout pages should include special deals. You could showcase items that are half off if customers spend over a certain dollar amount, for example. This is an excellent choice for getting rid of excess inventory and boosting sales. It also makes the customer think they are getting a great deal.

TIP! When it comes to products that customers need to periodically replenish, a good way to keep them returning is to offer them a small discount for repeat purchases. This is not only convenient for them but translates to guaranteed sales for you.

Try and see your website through the eyes of your customers. Would they find it simple? Is it fun to read? Can your orders be placed quickly and clearly? It is a waste of time and effort to strive to bring new visitors to your site if your website is uninteresting or the layout is confusing. Potential customers can be turned off by these types of sites, and this can result in lost sales.

Don?t delete stuff that hasn?t yet worked. Some great ideas are simply before their time or need to be rethought and tweaked. The Internet is always changing, and people find new uses for things all the time. So try out new strategies for marketing and think about blending old ones with new ones to see what works for you.

Find something that can serve as your niche and will give your site a unique quality. Niches attract the traffic of people looking for specific products. Getting people to visit your site in the first place is half the battle. Not only will the visitors boost your page ranking, they?ll also check out the rest of your site, too.

TIP! You are fully capable of having a successful internet marketing business right now. You do not need fancy software or any other get rich quick medium; all you need is yourself.

Learn how to use HTML tags. Tags are used to highlight your key content. Search engines see this emphasized content and give it more weight when judging the quality and relevance of your page. Be sure to highlight your critical keywords.

Try exploring mobile marketing. Reaching out to your customers while they are away from their computers can really help boost your sales. Mobile marketing is quickly becoming a necessary component of any successful marketing campaign.

TIP! Solid domain names worth having cost a little extra money. You most likely will not get the domain name that matches your company name.

Be careful not to go to far in advertising spending. You shouldn?t spend your dollars on services that won?t properly benefit your business. Apply SEO techniques yourself for free and consider using AdSense or banner ads for your paid marketing strategies.

You should make sure you know the answer to their inquiries. People visit your site seeking knowledge, and if you can?t provide it to them, they will go elsewhere. Providing them with the information that they are seeking will encourage them to give your their business.

These suggestions will help you and your online business grow and be very profitable. Online marketing, as you can see, has become an indispensable way for modern companies to increase their customer bases and sales volume. Use these tips to improve your Website marketing plan, and enjoy the influx of customers.

TIP! A squeeze page is a great way to build a contact list. This is basically a gateway that solicits website visitors for their email addresses before they continue.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/optimize-your-website-marketing-strategies-with-these-tips

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PTC slams 'Walking Dead' over gore, TV-14 rating

Zombie killing (and getting killed by zombies) is pretty violent business, as any viewer of "The Walking Dead" knows all too well. But for Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council (PTC), that's cause for concern.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50180466/

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