http://myfinnotes.com Economic and Finance Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:27:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en BOSTON — If you're inspired to celebrate the bull market's turning a year old, keep the party a subdued affair. Raise a glass to the dozens of mutual funds that doubled or even tripled in value since the stock market hit bottom on March 9, 2009. But choose ... http://myfinnotes.com/bad-timing-tempers-bull-markets-fund-successes/ Greece’s pledge to deepen planned budget-deficit cuts failed to yield an offer of assistance from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, as protesters in Athens seized the finance ministry building and blocked roads in the city center. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a meeting tomorrow with Greek Prime Minister ... http://myfinnotes.com/germany-snubs-greek-aid-plea-as-protest-snarls-athens-traffic/ Billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. residential real estate slump will end by about 2011, predicting that’s how long it will take demand for homes to catch up with the supply. “Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote yesterday ... http://myfinnotes.com/buffett-says-housing-woes-to-ease-next-year-barring-explosions/ Long-term mortgage rates rose for the first time in three weeks, with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage moving above 5 percent. Freddie Mac's weekly rate report says a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.05 percent in the week ended Feb. 25, up from 4.93 percent last week. A one-year, adjustable-rate mortgage ... http://myfinnotes.com/mortgage-rates-reverse-declines/ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway got a rousing introduction to the S&P 500 this month -- though it wasn't quite the most lavish ever.Investors bought and sold more than $24 billion worth of Berkshire (BRKA, Fortune 500) shares last Friday, the day the stock joined the S&P 500 index ... http://myfinnotes.com/berkshires-big-day-24-billion-in-trading/ United Airlines announced Thursday that it will add nonstop service this summer between Chicago and Kahului, Maui. The service will run from June 9 through Aug. 30. The announcement by United, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: UAUA), also identified more than a dozen additional seasonal and ... http://myfinnotes.com/united-will-add-chicago-maui-flight/ Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan indicated the government would call elections before making any major changes to the nation’s tax code, including raising the 5 percent consumption tax. “We need to confirm the will of the people before making any significant changes to the tax system,” Kan ... http://myfinnotes.com/kan-says-japan-government-must-ask-voters-to-approve-tax-change/ President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit. Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider ... http://myfinnotes.com/obama-%e2%80%98agnostic%e2%80%99-on-deficit-cuts-won%e2%80%99t-prejudge-tax-increases/ The Albuquerque Isotopes baseball team and Ovations Food Services will take applications for game-day, seasonal employees on Feb. 13 at Isotopes Park. The event is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Opening night of the Isotopes’ season is April 12. The season ends in September, unless ... http://myfinnotes.com/isotopes-host-annual-job-fair-feb-13/ European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet is struggling to convince investors that the euro region shouldn’t be punished for Greece’s budget problems. As Greece tries to control a record deficit and stem a slide in its bonds, Trichet said the economy of the 16-nation euro area ... http://myfinnotes.com/trichet-struggles-to-convince-on-euro-area-solidity/