Online financial news
Businessman Scores Big in Stags Leap District
Clos Du Val Napa, California
Through the past four decades, Clos Du Val has consistently upheld its original mission to make distinctive, terroir-driven wines of elegance and balance.
The winery was founded in 1972, two years after American businessman John Goelet sent French-born Winemaker Bernard Portet on a mission to find a new, distinctive terroir to produce world-class wines. Bernard was struck by the Napa Valley, and more specifically, the volcanic soils and moderate climates of the then-undiscovered Stags Leap District. John was in full agreement and purchased 150 acres of land there and named it Clos Du Val, meaning “small estate of a small valley.”
Since then, Clos Du Val has woven a rich reputation for creating wines for the wine lover, made to pair with food, to age with strength and grace, in quiet deference to the earth and to Mother Nature.
Construction jobs cut at fastest pace for five months
Since the depths of the recession there have only been two months in which the construction sector has been a net employer
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
11:16AM BST 04 Jul 2011
The job cuts came despite robust growth across the sector, which accounts for 6.3pc of the UK economic output. Activity dipped from 54 to 53.6, with a reading above 50 indicating expansion, but remained in line with the long-run average.
The dip was primarily due to a slowdown in new business growth and continued weakness in housebuilding, according to the survey compilers Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
“The June data round off a further solid quarter of growth, albeit down on the first quarter,” Sarah Bingham, Markit economist and author of the report, said.
Obama’s Housing Chief: Now’s The Time To Buy
Housing prices have hit rock bottom and the economic climate is prime to purchase a home, said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Donovan said declining foreclosure rates make him hopeful, adding that it is “very unlikely we see a significant further decline.”
“Housing is more affordable than it’s been in a generation,” Donovan told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. “I think it is a good time, long time to become a home owner because it’s so affordable today compared to where it’s been for generations.”
With 1.3 million homes in foreclosure, Donovan said he recognizes the frustrations of the American people but added that housing prices have largely stabilized following the “most serious crisis we’ve had in housing since the Depression.”
“Foreclosures are coming down. They’re down about 40% since last year,” said Donovan, who joined President Barack Obama’s Cabinet in 2009. Read more…
How One Family Business Stays Independent
Some family-owned companies fall apart when mixing personal relationships with business. Not so, say the owners of Brookhaven, N.Y.-based Fireworks by Grucci Inc. Family pride and loyalty are what the Gruccis say has led them to grow a small business into a multimillion dollar operation — while keeping it independently owned for six generations.
“For me, the dream my father and mother had — one of independence without outside investors — is the dream I wish to keep alive today,” says executive vice president and chief financial officer Felix Grucci Jr. The 59-year-old former New York Congressman co-owns the business with his sister as president, Donna Grucci-Butler, and his nephew, Felix “Phil” Grucci. Another 11 family members are part-time workers in the business.
Often referred to as “America’s First Family of Fireworks,” the Gruccis trace their business roots back to 1850, and have produced countless fireworks performances all over the world, most notably during the last seven U.S. p
Best Places to Retire in the USA – Where to Retire Cheap
Is your retirement date coming up in the next couple of years? Is your target-date investment account about to mature? If so, and if you haven’t begun planning your retirement party already, it may be time for you to start looking for that perfect place to call home in your golden years. Where do you want to spend your time? What do you want to do on a daily basis? What kind of money do you have saved and/or are prepared to spend for a new place to live the rest of your life in? While all sorts of questions and configurations can figure into finding your perfect place to retire, thankfully there are many websites that do a lot of the research for you so that you don’t have to spend hours poring over maps and demographics of various towns across America. Two of the preeminent financial sites out there, CNNMoney and Smart Money have recently come out with their latest lists of best places to retire in the U.S., and I figured I would highlight some of their choices and reasons for picking them for those of you approaching retirement age. Let
Stocks: Best Week In Two Years
The fireworks came early on Wall Street. Stocks started the second half of the year firing on all cylinders Friday, posting the strongest week in two years, as fresh data boosted investor optimism about the state of the economy.
After starting the day barely changed, the Dow Jones industrial average rallied 168 points, or 1.4 percent. Alcoa, JPMorgan Chase and Caterpillar and were the biggest gainers on the blue chip index.
The S&P 500 added 19 points, or 1.4 percent, and the Nasdaq composite gained 43 points, or 1.5 percent.
The gains put the Dow and S&P 500 up more than 5 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq soared more than 6 percent. It was the best weekly performance since July 2009 for all three indexes.
In fact, the gains over the last five sessions have helped stocks nearly erase all of June’s losses.
Stocks initially got a lift Friday after a stronger-than-expected report on the nation’s manufacturing sector. Read more…