Author: The INO.com Team

U.S. home prices rose last year by most in 6.5 years

Posted on by The INO.com Team

U.S. home prices jumped by the most in 6 1/2 years in December, spurred by a low supply of available homes and rising demand.

Home prices rose 8.3 percent in December compared with a year earlier, according to data Tuesday from CoreLogic, a real estate data provider. That is the biggest annual gain since May 2006. Prices rose last year in 46 of 50 states.

Home prices also rose 0.4 percent in December from the previous month. That's a healthy increase given that sales usually slow over the winter months.

Steady increases in prices are helping fuel the housing recovery. They're encouraging some people to sell homes and enticing some would-be buyers to purchase homes before prices rise further.

Higher prices can also make homeowners feel wealthier. That can encourage more consumer spending. Continue reading "U.S. home prices rose last year by most in 6.5 years" →

Gold Chart of The Week

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Each Week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

Weekly Gold Report (February 4th through February 8th)

It should come as little surprise that we begin this week correcting a portion of last week’s strong move up. After a fun filled stretch of reports in the United States, including an FOMC announcement, Consumer Confidence figures, and Employment numbers, we head into a light news calendar for the next five days here in the states. There are scheduled Interest Rate decisions this week in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and from the ECB, which should bring some movement to global currencies and in turn, commodity prices.

The standout in last weeks reports in the United States was the fact that the FED announced they will maintain their usual stance on the market and will continue easing at the same pace until things improve. Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week" →

Today's Video Newsletter: Did the right team win the Super Bowl?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, co-founder of MarketClub with your mid-day market update for Monday, the 4th of February.

Did the right team win the Super Bowl? Well, if you are bullish on the general market, the answer has to be no. If you are unsure on equities the answer is yes, the right team did win the Super Bowl. According to legend, when an AFC team wins the big one, the odds favor the stock market ending the year with a mediocre gain of around 3%. The last time the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl the market closed down 11% that year. When a NFC team wins the Super Bowl, the stock market closes out the year with a average gain of over 10%. Maybe, just maybe, that is why the market is lower today? Continue reading "Today's Video Newsletter: Did the right team win the Super Bowl?" →

Stocks fall after Dow's rally to 14,000

Posted on by The INO.com Team

U.S. stocks backed off their breathless rally Monday, falling sharply in the first trading session after major indexes soared to post-financial crisis highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 116 points in the first half-hour of trading. It was down 88 points at 13,921 as of 9:55 a.m. Eastern time.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped eight points to 1,505. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10 to 3,168.

The declines followed a surge Friday that pushed the Dow over 14,000 for the first time since 2007, before the financial meltdown that routed world markets. Continue reading "Stocks fall after Dow's rally to 14,000" →

Are You A Good Candidate for a Reverse Mortgage?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Two of the top subjects that my Money Forever readers have asked us to cover are annuities, specifically how to pick the right one and covered in the November issue with a companion “how-to” special report (click here for how to get your copy), and reverse mortgages. My guess they’re seeing all those TV ads featuring Henry Winkler and Robert Wagner and wondering if it’s right for them.

Quite simply a reverse mortgage is where you give the bank a mortgage on your home based on your current equity. In return, the mortgage company agrees to pay you a certain amount every month for some period of time: until you die, move out, or celebrate your 100th birthday (the age when they’re generally capped). For a reverse mortgage to be a good investment, you have to outlive your expected mortality and stay in your home. Continue reading "Are You A Good Candidate for a Reverse Mortgage?" →