HBA Newswatch
March 25, 2008
MARKET DRIVES UPWARD: BESIDES BEAR'S NEWS, HOUSING HELPED STOCKS
By Tim Paradis
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Wall Street extended its big advance yesterday as investors applauded a new agreement that will give shareholders in the Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. five times the payout that was set in a JPMorgan Chase & Co. buyout deal a week ago. Investors, also pleased by a stronger-than-expected housing report, sent the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points while selling bonds sharply lower.
JPMorgan boosted investors' optimism by lifting its offer for Bear Stearns to $10 per share from $2. The revised plan is aimed at soothing Bear Stearns shareholders upset over JPMorgan's earlier offer, which was made at the behest of the Federal Reserve when Bear Stearns was near collapse.
Bear Stearns shares rose $5.29, or 88.76 percent, to $11.25, while JPMorgan rose 58 cents to close at $46.55.
Beyond the troubles of the financials, Wall Street was examining the housing sector - the root of much of investors' angst. A real estate trade group said sales of existing homes rose rather than declined in February, as had been expected.
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COUNTY HOME SALES REBOUND SLIGHTLY
By SARAH E. MORAN, Staff Writer
Mirroring national trends, existing home sales in Chester County increased 4.4 percent from January to February, to 282 last month from 270 in January.
These statistics come from the Prudential Fox & Roach HomExpert Market Report, based on actual home sales tracked by the Multiple Listing Service.
Nationally, sales of existing homes rose 2.9 percent, January to February, after six straight months of declines, due in part to the largest ever year-over-year decline in median home prices since it started tracking this number nine years ago, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
The median sales price — meaning that one half of all homes sold for higher, and one half sold for lower — fell 8.2 percent in the last year to $195,900, the largest drop since the realty trade group began tracking this statistic in 1999.
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SEMINAR FOCUSES ON BUILDING GREEN
TMG Homes will hold a seminar focused on the green homebuilding process at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry, 1600 Paoli Pike, East Goshen.
“Building Green: Good for You, Good for the Environment” is a free event and open to the public.
The seminar, which will help consumers understand the basics of green homebuilding, includes national green building standards, the features one might expect to see on a green house and the benefits a green house offers.
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