Sunday, April 22, 2007

U.S. Government Site Has Stats Aplenty

Have you ever wondered how much beer Americans drink? How many sheep call Texas home? Did you ever wish you knew the average income of folks in Springfield, Missouri?
For all the times you wish you had access to statistics that are relevant to your business - or for when you just want to beef up your collection of useless trivia - this site is for you.
Claiming to be the "gateway to statistics for over 100 federal agencies," www.fedstats.gov gives you access to a full range of official statistical information available to the public from the federal government. Use this site to track economic and population trends, education, health care costs, aviation safety, foreign trade, energy use, farm production, and more.
The site includes a list of links organized alphabetically on more than 400 topics, ranging from acute conditions to weekly earnings.
Search by program and subject areas, or by the name of a specific agency. Or use MapStats to profile your state, county, federal judicial district, or congressional district. Just select the name from the menu or use the map provided for your state.

How Stressed Are You?

Is your life hectic, fast-paced and fraught with deadlines and crises?
When you live a hurry-up, not-enough-time existence, you trigger your body's natural response of adrenalin release. You know that feeling? The heart quickens, the senses become more alert and the tension in your muscles is increased. It is the caveman "fight or flight" response. What you probably aren't aware of is that you can become addicted to adrenalin.
The danger is that you become dependent on the adrenalin to fuel you and get you through your days. Like a rubber band that resumes its shape after being stretched, your body is designed to use the adrenalin rush for emergencies - allowing you to get by with less sleep and be super-alert and then return to a natural calm state. If, however, that rubber band is continually stretched, there is a point where it begins to crack and then breaks. Your body is no different. The adrenal glands, as a part of your immune system, are designed to work on keeping you well and healthy. If you continually divert them and use them for fueling your energy, you will notice you get sick more. John Wanamaker said," People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness."
The adrenalin response can be intensely pleasurable and we can begin to "crave" it or structure our living so that we leave things to the last minute, counting on that "doing our best work under pressure" response. If you live this way long enough, it starts to feel very uncomfortable when it isn't coursing through your veins. Eventually, however, you will pay the price.
Here are some questions to ask:
· Do you overpromise and then rush to get it done at the last minute?
· Do you drink coffee or other caffeine-filled drinks to keep going?
· Do you react strongly to the unexpected?
· Do you drive five mph or more over the speed limit, tailgate, and become impatient with other drivers?
· Do you tend to run late?
· Do you feel an inner rush or lack of calmness most of the time?
· Do you talk a lot, even when people have stopped listening?
· Do you find you attract more problems or upsets than you deserve?
· Are you constantly thinking about work, even when you are home or on vacation?
· Do you have your pager and/or phone on all the time?
· Do you usually pull things off right at the last moment?
· Do you have a compulsion to always "be doing" something?
· Do you feel guilty when resting or relaxing?
· Are you irritable and easily aggravated?
· Is there a vague sense of depression when you aren't working?
If you answered yes to five or more of these, you are probably using adrenalin as your energy source.
If you are ready to slow down, enjoy the moment and not push so hard, the first step is awareness. You can then decide what behaviors are you going to change. Identify your triggers that initiate the adrenalin rush and start eliminating them. Here are some triggers and solutions:
TRIGGER SOLUTION
Overpromising Results Deliberately underpromise,regardless of the other person's reaction
Arriving just in time or late Leave 15 minutes earlier for every appointment
Involved in lots of projects Pare it down by 50% or no more than 3
Continual use of caffeine Cut it out (expect withdrawal symptoms)
Having lots of incompletions Start completing everything 100%
Letting people walk over you Expand the boundaries you set with others
Driving too fast Drive at the speedlimit or 5 miles under
Should's & Have to's Get rid of shoulds - live your OWN agenda
Putting up with & tolerating things Get it done and tolerate NOTHING - re-educate others
"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen." - Leonardo Da Vinci
Be willing to feel bored. It may take three to six months before you stop craving the high. You will eventually find a new energy source kicks in - your natural passion for what's important and what is truly valuable to you.
Life is too short to hurry. Living an adrenalin lifestyle robs you of the enjoyment and appreciation of the present moment. It is always nicer for others to be around someone who is not stressed and hurried. You'll find you attract more "nice" people to you. It could be the best thing you do for your business and yourself this year.

Mortgage Rate Trend Index

The mortgage industry experts polled by Bankrate.com last week (March 29-April 4) said don’t rush to lock because mortgage rates probably aren’t going anywhere over the next 30 to 45 days. Half of the panelists (50 percent) think rates will stay about the same; 29 percent think mortgage rates likely will fall, while 21 percent think they will rise.

WASHINGTON – April 9, 2007 – Mortgage rates around the country crept up last week, although rates on 30-year mortgages still hovered close to their low for the year.
In its weekly survey, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported last Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.17 percent for the week ending April 5.
That was up slightly from 6.16 percent the previous week. Even with the uptick, it was near the low for this year of 6.14 percent, set during the first two weeks of March.
Analysts said mortgage rates have been fairly stable in recent weeks as financial markets – which directly influence these rates – try to figure out the direction of the country’s economic growth as well as inflation.
“Mortgage rates have remained within a narrow band of 0.1 percentage points over every week in March,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This relative stability is due to mixed economic data releases as to how strong the economy is and whether future inflation will recede,” he explained.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 5.87 percent last week, up a notch from the previous week’s 5.86 percent.
Five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.92 percent, compared with 5.88 percent the previous week. One-year adjustable mortgages edged up to 5.44 percent; the previous week, they averaged 5.43 percent.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point. Fifteen-year mortgages had an average fee of 0.5 point. Five-year and one-year adjustable mortgages each carried an average fee of 0.6 point.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.43 percent, while 15-year mortgages were at 6.10 percent. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.11 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.57 percent.

Fannie Mae to Unveil Plan

WASHINGTON – April 17, 2007 – Fannie Mae, one of the nation’s biggest investors in home mortgages, plans to unveil a campaign today that would allow lenders to refinance certain borrowers’ homes, and federal regulators expect to release a statement urging mortgage lenders to help financially troubled borrowers hold onto their homes.
According to testimony submitted to the House Financial Services Committee, Fannie Mae’s chief executive, Daniel H. Mudd, is expected to say that his company is altering its loan products so that lenders can qualify more high-risk borrowers for refinancing. Fannie Mae is targeting adjustable-rate mortgages, which typically offer low teaser rates that increase later. Under a campaign dubbed HomeStay, Fannie Mae would allow lenders it works with to refinance homes without first having to clear up borrowers’ unpaid bills on their credit reports.
Fannie Mae would expand products now available to 500 selected lenders to about 2,000 nationwide, Mudd is expected to tell the committee today. Mudd’s statement also says Fannie Mae will stretch the loan term for this refinancing product to a maximum of 40 years from a current limit of 30 years, which will shave monthly mortgage payments by about 5 percent.
“Altogether, we estimate that about 1.5 million homeowners who face resetting [adjustable rate mortgages] and potential payment shock this year and next could be eligible for our loan options,” Mudd’s statement said.
The testimony comes as Capitol Hill lawmakers are considering the causes and the needed responses to the unfolding mortgage crisis now that the number of missed payments and foreclosures has jumped. The problem has been largely driven by troubles in the subprime mortgage market, which caters to people with blemished credit records, little money for down payments or other credit risks.
Meanwhile, federal regulators plan to release a one-page statement today asking lenders to help keep troubled borrowers in their homes.
The statement was crafted after nearly three dozen lenders, investment bankers and consumer advocates met behind closed doors yesterday in Washington with regulators.
“The agencies encourage financial institutions to consider prudent workout arrangements that increase the potential for financially stressed residential borrowers to keep their homes,” though such arrangements may not be feasible for everyone, says the statement from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Options include converting variable-rate loans to fixed-rate loans.
The statement was characterized by one person familiar with it, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as “friendly encouragement” meant to send a message to the industry, rather than a mandate.
Lenders and companies that manage mortgages say they are trying to do their part in remedying the problem. But some say their hands are tied because many mortgages have been packaged into huge bonds and sold to investors, so that the terms of the loans cannot be altered easily when a borrower can no longer make payments.
Rules that govern these bonds sometimes forbid lenders from reaching out to borrowers until they are 30 days late on their payments. These rules are meant to protect investors.
In today’s statement, regulators will assure lenders that “the agencies will not penalize financial institutions that pursue reasonable workout arrangements.”

Tax Reform Package Gets Mixed Reaction

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – April 16, 2007 – A tax-protest leader told a Senate committee Friday the chamber’s bipartisan property tax reform package is too weak, while business interests and local government officials offered mixed reactions.
Republican and Democratic Senate leaders released their plan Thursday. It includes a rollback of city and county taxes to 2005-06 levels, then a two-year freeze and cap on future increases.
The plan is expected to save taxpayers $11 billion over the next five years. A competing proposal offered by House Republicans would slash taxes by more than $25 billion over the same span. Most Democrats and local government officials oppose the House GOP plan.
“The Senate plan leaves a lot to be desired, I’m sorry to say,” said Dr. David McKalip, a St. Petersburg neurosurgeon and spokesman for the Florida Taxpayers Alliance. “The rollbacks are not enough.”
McKalip told the Finance and Tax Committee the alliance is pushing for rollbacks to 2001 as included in the House GOP plan.
Citizens across the state have been organizing such groups to protest inequities and sharp increases in property taxes prompted by soaring real estate values in recent years. Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders have responded by making tax relief a top legislative issue.
McKalip also criticized provisions in both chambers that would allow what he called “irresponsible local governments” to lift the tax caps through votes of more than a simple majority. Only voters should be allowed to remove the tax caps, he said.
Committee Chairman Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, later said the one-year rollback was chosen to prevent a sudden and steep drop in local government budgets. The Senate is using a “glide slope” approach to phase-in the tax cuts from $1.14 billion the first year to $3.23 billion in the fifth year, he said.
“This spike (in taxes) did not happen overnight and you’re not going to solve it overnight,” Haridopolos said.
Florida League of Cities lobbyist John W. Smith called that aspect “well thought-out.” Smith, though, said while the Legislature is freezing local taxes, it also should freeze new spending requirements that it puts on local governments.
Florida Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Victoria Weber said her members like most of what they see in the Senate plan. She also questioned the rollback but said she wasn’t sure how far back it should go.
“We understand it’s a balancing act,” Weber said. “We don’t want to cripple local governments.”
She lauded provisions that offer extra relief for affordable rental housing, first-time home buyers and small businesses.
Weber, though, joined lobbyists for homebuilders and the real estate industry who asked lawmakers to add provisions that would also limit the ability of cities and counties to make up for property tax losses by increasing impact fees, which raise the prices of new homes, and other taxes.
Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, raised a thorny question about the proposal to increase the standard $25,000 exemption on primary homes, known as homesteads, to $50,000 for first-time home buyers. The extra $25,000 would drop over time as a new homeowner gains benefits from the existing Save Our Homes Amendment, which limits tax increases on homesteads to no more than 3 percent a year.
King wondered how tax officials could verify if someone was a first-time home buyer, particularly if they move from another state. Haridopolos said they would have to rely on the honor system but later acknowledged a better solution may be needed.
Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, also admitted the Senate has offered a “hideously complicated” solution to an unexpected consequence of the Save Our Homes Amendment voters approved in 1992.
Many owners feel trapped in their existing homes because they would lose Save Our Homes benefits if they move. The Senate plan includes a “portability” provision that would let them apply at least part of their benefits to a new home. After the first year, the tax would increase by 10 percent annually until it equals what the homeowner would have paid without portability. The 3 percent cap would then kick back in.

Faith in US Home Values Persist

LOS ANGELES – April 12, 2007 – Eighty-four percent of U.S. residents say home values will hold steady or increase, despite trends to the contrary, a nationwide poll found.
Nearly a third of those surveyed this month predicted home values in their localities would rise in the next six months, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll said Wednesday. Sixteen percent anticipated a decrease. The rest said values would hold steady.
Before the poll was conducted the National Association of Realtors reported home prices fell 2.7 percent in 2006’s last three months.
The association forecast Wednesday existing-home prices would probably slip an average 0.7 percent this year.
“Housing is always a good investment,” San Diego carpenter Scott Richard Wallace said in an interview after the poll. “I don’t see it ever losing.”
Sixty percent of the poll respondents also said a recession was somewhat or very likely within the next year.
The nationally representative poll of 1,373 adults, conducted by telephone April 5 through Monday, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.