November 4, 2014

Countdown thread to ousting Governor Voldemort in Florida !

http://enight.elections.myflorida.com/StateOffices/

I will bump this thread periodically with results. All other Florida DU'ers, feel free to update also !

GOTV ! Send Governor Voldemort HOME (which should be prison).

eta:

November 3, 2014

First-time home buying hits lowest level in nearly three decades

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-few-first-time-homebuyers-20141103-story.html

First-time home buyers aren’t buying homes like they used to.

The share of houses bought by first-time owners is at its lowest level in nearly three decades and down sharply from 2013, according to a new survey out Monday from the National Assn. of Realtors.

Just 33% of home purchases this year have been by first-time buyers, the trade group said, down from 38% last year and well below the long-term average of 40%, the trade group said.

Would-be buyers are struggling with higher prices, tight lending procedures and a still-unsteady job market, said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. Their absence, however, is slowing the overall recovery. NAR is predicting home sales will fall this year for the first time since 2010.

November 3, 2014

Dow, S&P 500 hit records in quiet session

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday following a sharp rally on Friday, but both the S&P 500 and the Dow inched up to intraday records, while strength in semiconductors boosted the Nasdaq.

Equities have been strong of late, with the Dow last week posting its biggest weekly gain since January 2013 and the S&P coming off its biggest two-week jump since December 2011. The gains have largely come on the back of strong quarterly results, which have eased concerns over how corporations are faring in an uncertain global growth environment.

"The bull market may be old and wrinkly, but it is still alive and there's nowhere else for investors to really go besides U.S. equities," said Paul Schatz, president and chief investment officer at Heritage Capital in Woodbridge, Connecticut.

While the market's momentum is to the upside, near-term trading may be quieter as earnings season draws to a close. With results in from 73 percent of companies, 75.4 percent reported earnings above analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the long-term average of 63 percent.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/us-markets-stocks-idUSKBN0IN0W720141103

November 3, 2014

President Obama is good for business and good for the country

That's a fact. If the Republicans had been reasonable and cooperative, the economy and the country would be doing
even better.

Facts. Today the Dow Jones Industrial Average (from what I know) hit an all-time high during trading. It's down now, and probably will be down at 4 PM closing time.

GOTV 2014 !

eta: Day high 17,410.65, here at: http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/

November 3, 2014

On this date, record low for downtown Los Angeles is 41 F (1886)

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KCQT/2014/11/3/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Los+Angeles&req_state=CA&req_statename=California

I'm sure you were breathlessly awaiting that fact.

November 3, 2014

Winter weather advisories in WY, CO, UT, NM, GA, SC and AZ; High Wind advisory in MT; Fire Weather..

advisory in AL and FL; Flood watch in FL, WA and PR

November 3, 2014

DJIA at 17,408.36, all time high ?

http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/

I'm just wondering when the bear market/crash starts.

November 2, 2014

question about possible phishing email....

That, supposedly, is the topic of the email, and that I may have money coming.

Anyone else get this ? Of course, I am not clicking any links in that email. I'll go to Google now to research.

eta: Here's some info.

November 2, 2014

Economic survival advice: what would you tell young people these days ?

Economic survival = being able to pay one's bills consistently

Young people = people under age 25 (arbitrary, yes I know)

I've given my own son the best advice I can think of, and of course he will do as he pleases. What do you tell young people ?

Thanks in advance !

Steve

November 2, 2014

Fun with climatology: look closely at Koppen-Geiger climate classification map

Accompanying text: http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf

For example, southeast Florida has some monsoonal features, and I think there is a very tiny spot of "polar" in Colorado ? You can download the map from my photobucket link or from that pdf file.

/climate and weather geek off, enjoy !

on edit: The only way you can really see the "micro-climates" is if you download the map and use an image viewer like IrfanView. That's how I found the tiny spot of polar, which is probably very high in the mountains.