China Huawei espera aumento de ganancias tras caída en 2011

 La empresa china Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, la segunda empresa de equipos de telecomunicaciones más grande del mundo, espera un aumento de ganancias en el 2012 tras haber reportado una fuerte caída en el período anterior, gracias a nuevos proyectos e incrementos de ventas en mercados de teléfonos móviles de alta gama como Japón.
La utilidad neta alcanzaría los 2.400 millones de dólares, dijo el viernes el actual y rotativo presidente ejecutivo de la firma, Guo Ping, en un mensaje de Año Nuevo para los empleados. La cifra implicaría un aumento del 29 por ciento respecto a los 11.600 millones de yuanes (1.860 millones de dólares) del 2011, según su pronóstico.
Los ingresos excederían los 35.000 millones de dólares, indicó Guo. En el 2011, las ventas crecieron un 11,7 por ciento a 203.900 millones de yuanes, o alrededor de 32.000 millones de dólares.
Huawei y su vecina rival ZTE Corp han estado expandiendo su presencia en los sectores globales de equipamiento telefónico y teléfonos móviles en los últimos años.
Aunque Huawei ha aumentado sus ventas y ha ganado terreno de mercado en Europa, Africa y Asia, el último año se topó con algunos obstáculos en otros mercados como Estados Unidos y Australia, como consecuencia de preocupaciones en torno a la seguridad nacional y el espionaje cibernético.
El desacelerado gasto en telecomunicaciones derivado de una economía global débil y una feroz competencia en el cada vez más atestado sector de telefonía móvil también pesaron sobre las proyecciones de proveedores y fabricantes de equipamiento.
"Deberíamos dedicar nuestra energía limitada a objetivos comerciales específicos y evitar el impulso de expandir el negocio ciegamente", remarcó Guo.
En octubre pasado, ZTE, el cuarto fabricante de teléfonos móviles más importante del mundo y el quinto en el sector de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones, reportó su peor pérdida trimestral desde que empezó a cotizar en bolsa como consecuencia de márgenes más pequeños, retrasos en proyectos y cambios contables en China.
Guo no dio un detalle sobre los ingresos por segmento comercial. Huawei anunciaría sus cifras auditadas en los próximos meses, aunque todavía no hay fecha para eso.
Su rival Ericsson aún no ha reportado sus cifras anuales, con lo cual no está claro si la empresa china logró superar al gigante sueco como el principal fabricante de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones del mundo.

Read More..

Android’s explosive content consumption growth threatens Apple

Smartphone market share surveys from IDC and Kantar have shown for a long time that the Android phone volume surge is leaving the iPhone in the dust in major growth markets from Brazil to India. But one thing that Apple has had on its side has been the propensity of iPhone owners to consume far more content than Android phone owners. One argument has been that it does not matter if iPhone has a 5% share vs. Android’s 40% share if Apple (AAPL) still dominates in  app revenue generation and browsing volume. Content is king. Another argument is that it does not matter who moves the most units, since only hardware margins count. Here Apple reigns supreme.
[More from BGR: First leaked picture of the Samsung Galaxy S IV emerges]
In the long run it’s difficult to say whether selling smartphones at extremely high margins is more important than dominating mobile content. As consumers keep shifting their precious entertainment consumption minutes to smartphones from television, print media and video games, the value of owning the mobile browsing and mobile application markets increases. Samsung (005930) is playing the deep game of flooding the world market with hundreds of millions of Android phones, most of them cheap, some of them very expensive. The goal is to blanket the globe with Samsung devices and bet that the content consumption of Android devices can catch up with Apple in aggregate.
[More from BGR: Google’s rumored ‘X Phone’ could be an ‘attack on Samsung’]
That is why it’s interesting to see how different research houses started to detect clear signs of Android surge in content consumption in 2012. According to AppAnnie, Google Play showed 48% download growth over the summer, while iOS download volume ticked up by just 3%. In South Korea, Google Play moved ahead of iOS in app revenue generation.
And StatCounter numbers on mobile browser usage seem to be pointing to the same direction. A year ago, Android phones had 17% mobile browsing market share in the Philippines vs. iPhone’s 12%. In January 2013 that lead had grown to 27% vs. 14%. This was the first month when Android took the browsing share lead from Opera in the Philippines. As feature phones fade, Android is grabbing their share of mobile page views.
In Brazil, Android’s mobile browser share has vaulted from 19% to 38% in a year. The iPhone still has a respectable 11% share, which is maybe five times higher than iPhone’s slice of smartphone shipments in Brazil. But that outperformance is no longer enough to keep up with the avalanche of Android phones that are now a prime vehicle for mobile content consumption for Brazil’s middle classes.
In Germany, Europe’s leading mobile market, Android has just pulled into a dramatic 51% vs. 31% lead in page views. In Russia, Android has opened a 25% vs. 18% lead in just the past five months. In affluent Japan, iPhone is leading Android by just 48% v. 44%.
Apple is still punching way above its unit volume class when it comes to grabbing consumers who use the smartphone most frequently for content consumption purposes. But the Google (GOOG)-Samsung strategy of swamping the market with cheap smartphones is working. Android’s lead in mobile browsing is growing at an accelerating rate in many major markets. The new wave of sub-$150 smartphones from Samsung, Huawei and ZTE is shooing consumers across the globe under Google’s mobile content umbrella. These consumers will shape the future of mapping, shopping, localized news and other mobile content industries.
One of these days Apple must choose between the goals of dominating mobile content and maintaining sky-high phone operating margins. The blended iPhone ASP of $620 is not compatible with competing against the Android Armada in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and perhaps not even in Germany or Spain.

Read More..

Look Who's Already in Trouble Over the Steubenville Rape Case

If this was the week that the whole country found out about the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in football-crazed Steubenville, Ohio, next week might be the one when the punishments arrive. Steubenville High's famed football coach may resign as soon as Monday, and the recent graduate whose shocking video confession was leaked by hackers who took the case national may be in trouble with his college.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Steubenville High's Football 'Rape Crew'
Instagram photos from the night in question emerged almost immediately after the August incident, and today the site LocalLakes, which is partnering with the hacking collective Anonymous to collect eyewitness details and speak truth to rumor, provided a narrative of what it says happened. But the most emotional — and viral — leak out of the so-called The Steubenville Files came in the form of this unsavory video, in which a former Steubenville student is thought to be referring to the victim when he says local football players "raped her more than the Duke lacrosse team":
RELATED: Inside the Anonymous Hacking File on the Steubenville 'Rape Crew'
RELATED: Local Leaks Tipsters Allege Steubenville Victim Was Drugged
The YouTube video identifies the speaker as former Steubenville student Michael Nodianos, who according to his Twitter account or someone who had access to it, said some pretty gross things the night of the alleged attack:

Local Leaks and Anonymous tracked Nodianos, now 18, to Ohio State University and released his e-mail and personal information on the Internet, adding that he might have had a gun in his possession during the filming. On Friday afternoon OSU's press office gave in to just how crushing the effects of the viral wave of leaked information has become, releasing the following cryptic statement:
Sexual assault is a terrible act of aggression and violence, and our hearts go out to all victims. The situation in Steubenville is particularly disturbing, and our thoughts are with those affected. To our knowledge, the only students who have been criminally charged in this matter are high school students with no affiliation to Ohio State. To the extent there are inquiries about any Ohio State student, the university is not at liberty to comment due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, other than to confirm that the student in question was in attendance at Ohio State only through Dec. 12.
When reached for comment by The Atlantic Wire, an Ohio State spokeswoman refused to clarify the statement, merely repeating the last line above (emphasis ours). But the phrase "only through" is still throwing us for a loop: Why isn't he there any longer? Because OSU is still on vacation until January 7? Because Nodianos decided to leave? Or has he been punished by the school? Nobody's really saying.
Someone who has spoken up about Nodianos and the viral video is Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdala. "Sheriff Abdalla is proud of his town but when it comes to the video released Wednesday, he called it disgusting," reports WTRF-TV. But Sheriff Abdala still doesn't like the way the national press has covered the involvement of Anonymous and LocalLeaks:
This is all over the world now. It's in the Huffington Post and New York Times but some of these papers are reporting this stuff based on what this Anonymous is telling them. How do you support what they're saying? Where's your proof? I thought newspapers where to be able to back it up with good, solid information. How can you do a story when someone is giving you information that's not even factual?
But... but... that video? Can't we agree it's pretty disgusting? The Steubenville Files allege that Sheriff Abdala and Steubenville football's head coach, Reno Saccoccia, are friends. Abdala hasn't denied that allegation because, well, it seems like everyone in Steubenville knows Coach Reno.
Now rumors are surfacing that Saccoccia, who has become a Friday Night Lights-style legend in the small Ohio city during his 35 years at Steubenville High, will be resigning on Monday. The school is on a community-wide gag order at least until the rape trial's preliminary hearings on Februar 13, but there are growing calls for the coach, who didn't bench his players when he was told even the non-accusers were posting photos of the alleged victim as she was allegedly being attacked, to either resign or be fired. And those calls will only grow louder on Saturday, when an Occupy Steubenville rally rolls into town.

Read More..

Video causes web furor over OH athletes' rape case

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An online video fueling social media reaction to the case of two eastern Ohio high school football players charged with rape isn't new evidence for state investigators handling the case, the attorney general said Friday.
The 16-year-old boys are set for trial Feb. 13 in juvenile court in Steubenville on allegations that they raped a teenage girl last August. Special prosecutors and a visiting judge are handling the case because local authorities knew people involved with the football team in the small city.
At a probable cause hearing last fall, teenagers not charged in the case testified that the victim was intoxicated and at times unresponsive on the night of the alleged assault, according to the local newspaper, the Steubenville Herald-Star.
Public interest increased this week with the online circulation of an unverified video, lasting more than 12 minutes, that purportedly shows another young man joking about the alleged rape victim, also 16. The video apparently was released by hackers who allege more people were involved and should be held accountable.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office said state investigators aiding local police were aware of the video before it spread online. They're not commenting on details of the video or what other evidence authorities have.
DeWine criticized the video Friday and said his heart goes out to rape victims.
"I think what is unique and different about this case is that the victim continues to be victimized every time that there is some image that's posted up on the Internet, every time that you have a despicable 12-minute video like we saw yesterday," he said. "You know, I can just imagine how I would feel if this was my daughter."
Attorneys for the defendants, Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond, who played football for Steubenville High School, didn't immediately respond to Associated Press requests for comment Friday. The attorneys have denied the charges in court.
The boys were charged with rape after the teenage girl's parents contacted police about the alleged assault in mid-August. Mays also is charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
Kidnapping charges against both defendants were dropped after a probable cause hearing, according to the court. The visiting judge has ruled the case will remain in juvenile court, not be moved to adult court.
Authorities continue pleading for anyone with information about what happened to come forward, and the investigation has spurred heated commentary online. Some support the defendants and question the character of the teenage girl, while others allege a cover-up or contend more people should be charged.
The latter group includes hacker-activists associating under the Anonymous and KnightSec labels who point to comments they say were posted around the time of the alleged attack on social media by several people who are not charged. A peaceful protest publicized by the hackers drew scores of people to the local courthouse last weekend.
In a related issue, student Cody Saltsman and his family sued a blogger and anonymous posters to her blog site in a case that arose from online comments suggesting the student might have been involved but not charged. The suit was settled with the operator of the crime blog acknowledging that there was no evidence of Saltsman's involvement in the rape, and Saltsman apologizing in a statement for tweets he sent the night of the alleged attack.
The alleged victim, who doesn't attend Steubenville schools, is "doing as well as I guess could be expected," said Bob Fitzsimmons, an attorney for her family. He said the publicity and online commentary has been tough on her family.
It's possible she could be compelled to testify in court next month, but that decision is up to prosecutors, Fitzsimmons said. He declined to comment on any facts of the case, including whether or how the victim knew Mays and Richmond.

Read More..

You Won't Believe How Many Americans Are Falling Asleep at the Wheel

RELATED: An HIV Vaccine; LSD as Treatment for Alcoholism
Who are all these people falling asleep at the wheel? We all know about the dangers of drunk driving. And texting while driving. But new data suggests we might need more PSAs that raise awareness about the issue of drowsy driving. A report from U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers found that among 150,000 drivers surveyed from around the country, 4.2 percent admit to falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the last month. Not year—month. If you break it down by year, as much as 11 percent have snoozed while driving. It's a wonder that only 2.5 percent of fatal car collisions stem from drowsy driving. If you're nodding off, pull over to any gas station and get yourself some Red Bull, people. [Los Angeles Times]
RELATED: Forget Big Gulps: Mayor Bloomberg's Latest War Is on Bad Drivers
Our moon might soon get a meta-moon. That giant rock orbiting our planet could soon have its own less-giant rock orbiting it, astronomers with the Keck Institute for Space Studies are saying. They plan to coax an asteroid into orbiting the moon this April so they can study it better. They aim to do these by sending a robotic spacecraft to drag an approximately 500 ton object into the moon's gravitational pull. "Such an achievement has the potential to inspire a nation," the researchers write.  [Discover]
RELATED: What Can Go Wrong with a Proven, FDA Panel-Approved Anti-HIV Drug?
Decoding malware "genome" could prevent future cyber attacks. Not all malware viruses are identical, but they often share certain encoded similarities. You might even say they have similar baseline "genetic" structures. Invincea labs' Josh Saxe is trying to crack that code in order to undertand how to prevent future malware attacks. "Our vision is to have a database of the world's malware, which people can use to share insights," he says about his and his colleagues research. His program is funded by the DARPA's Cyber Genome Program. [New Scientist]
RELATED: 48% of L.A. Crashes Are Hit-and-Runs
Fighting HIV with HIV. There's a saying about fighting fire with fire, but when it comes to HIV the approach might actually work. A new paper in Science Translational Medicine shows that injecting HIV-positive patients with an inactivated version of the virus can boost immune response, making people better equipped to stave off the active HIV in their bloodstream. "It is likely that the person’s immune system is already damaged, and so they cannot mount a sufficiently efficient functional antiviral response," says Statens Serum Institute physician Anders Fomsgaard. "It may be more optimal to vaccinate during antiretroviral therapy

Read More..

Despite deal, taxes to rise for most Americans

While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.

Read More..

Taxes rising for most people despite fiscal deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.
"If you're rich, you're almost certain to get a big tax increase," Williams said.

Read More..

Global stocks, commodities rise on U.S. fiscal deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks jumped 2 percent or more and commodities rallied on Wednesday after U.S. legislators struck a deal to halt a round of automatic fiscal tightening that threatened to push the world's largest economy into recession.
The deal reached on Tuesday to avert the "fiscal cliff" put off the immediate pain of income tax hikes for almost all U.S. households but did nothing to resolve other political impasses on the budget that loom in coming months, including the debt ceiling.
Oil prices pared some gains but Wall Street rallied at the close, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting its best day in more than a year. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX <.vix>, a gauge of investor anxiety, dropped 18.5 percent to 14.68 at the close. The VIX has fallen 35.4 percent over the past two sessions.
The markets' reaction to the U.S. budget deal was a "sigh of relief that a recession in the world's largest economy has been averted," said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
Copper rose to its highest in more than two months, while silver and platinum group metals also rose sharply. The S&P 500 achieved its biggest one-day gain since December 20, 2011, pushing the index to its highest close since September 14.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> closed up 308.41 points, or 2.35 percent, at 13,412.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 36.23 points, or 2.54 percent, at 1,462.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 92.75 points, or 3.07 percent, at 3,112.26.
Still, the rally may be short-lived. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were only delayed for two months, and a fight over the limit for U.S. government debt also looms.
"There was the fiscal cliff euphoria, but the markets are a little overdone and people realize you still have the debt ceiling battle, social security taxes going up and dealing with spending sequestration and budget cuts," said Mark Waggoner, president at Excel Futures Inc.
The deal boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets and depressed the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Brent crude oil hit an 11-week high of nearly $113 per barrel and gold prices rose nearly 1 percent.
Brent February crude rose $1.36 to settle at $112.47 a barrel, after reaching $112.90. U.S. crude for February delivery rose $1.30 to settle at $93.12 a barrel.
The vote in Congress removed a major uncertainty hanging over markets, but some analysts cautioned that the optimism could fade if U.S. economic data later this week, including the December payroll report, disappoints.
U.S. manufacturing expanded slightly in December, bouncing back from an unexpected contraction the prior month, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.
The MSCI all-country world equity index <.miwd00000pus> rose 2.05 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.fteu3> closed 2.1 percent higher at 1157.40.
In currency markets, the euro retreated after reaching a two-week high earlier in the session to trade down 0.15 percent at 1.3183. The U.S. dollar rose 0.06 percent against a basket of major currencies <.dxy>.
Prices of safe-haven government debt fell. Germany's Bund future posted its biggest daily fall since early September, settling down 1.57 points at 144.07.
Yields on U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes hit a more than three-month high, with the price falling 24/32 to yield 1.8406 percent.
Venezuela's U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign bonds rallied across the yield curve on Wednesday in a sign of increased appetite for risk. The benchmark 2027 Global bond gained 1.536 points in price to bid 99.79, yielding 9.273.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.trjcrb> of 19 commodities rose 0.85 percent, with metals dominating gains.

Read More..

Swiss bank to pay $57.8M in US tax evasion plea

NEW YORK (AP) — Switzerland's oldest bank became the first foreign bank to plead guilty in the United States to tax charges when it admitted Thursday that it helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.
Wegelin & Co., founded in 1741, entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan, agreeing to pay $20 million in restitution to the IRS, a $22 million fine and an additional $15.8 million, representing the gross fees earned by the bank on the undeclared accounts of U.S. taxpayers between 2002 and 2011. U.S. authorities said the money, combined with an April forfeiture of more than $16.2 million by the bank, meant the U.S. had recovered about $74 million.
The bank had been accused of helping at least 100 U.S. clients conceal large sums of money from the federal tax collection agency in overseas accounts.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the bank became a haven for U.S. taxpayers looking to cheat on taxes through secret off-shore accounts.
"The bank willfully and aggressively jumped in to fill a void that was left when other Swiss banks abandoned the practice due to pressure from U.S. law enforcement," Bharara said.
He called it a "watershed moment in our efforts to hold to account both the individuals and the banks — wherever they may be in the world — who are engaging in unlawful conduct that deprives the U.S. Treasury of billions of dollars of tax revenue."
Wegelin, headquartered in St. Gallen, Switzerland, said in a statement that it had cooperated with the probe "within the bounds allowed for by Swiss law" since learning that it was under U.S. investigation.
U.S. authorities said Wegelin had no branches outside Switzerland but accessed the U.S. banking system through a correspondent bank account that it held at UBS AG in Stamford, Conn.
Prosecutors said Wegelin in 2008 and 2009 opened and serviced dozens of new accounts for U.S. taxpayers as it tried to capture clients lost by UBS after word surfaced that that UBS was being investigated for helping U.S. taxpayers evade taxes and hide assets in Swiss bank accounts.
Wegelin employees told U.S. taxpayer-clients that their undeclared accounts would not be disclosed to U.S. authorities because the bank had a long tradition of secrecy, prosecutors said. They added that the employees persuaded U.S. taxpayer-clients to move money from UBS to Wegelin by claiming that, unlike UBS, Wegelin did not have offices outside of Switzerland and would be less vulnerable to U.S. law enforcement.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Wegelin took additional steps to hide the accounts, including by putting them in the names of sham corporations and foundations formed under the laws of jurisdictions that included Hong Kong and Panama and by using code names and numbers to minimize references to the actual names of U.S. taxpayers on Swiss bank documents. They said the bank also was careful not to send account statements to U.S. clients in the United States and corresponded with clients through private email accounts.
In February 2009, UBS entered a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities and agreed to pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution.

Read More..

Grand Prairie Assisted Living to Host Balance ClassGrand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community, to host a Matter of Balance class designed to reduce the risk of falling. The class will be taught by a representative of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging. Bradley, Illinois (PRWEB) January 03, 2013 Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community in Macomb, Illinois, will be hosting a Matter of Balance Class led by Amy Griswold of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging. The class, which is designed to help participants reduce the risk of falling, will meet at Grand Prairie from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays for eight weeks, beginning on Jan. 10. The class is open to the public as well as residents of Grand Prairie. A $10 donation is suggested for those attending the class. To register or for more information, call Sarah McDonald at 309-833-5000. Grand Prairie is located at 1307 Meadowlark Lane in Macomb, Illinois. "Grand Prairie is the only senior living community in McDonough County that is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program," says Andrea Keene, Administrator. "This gives us the opportunity to serve older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence." Keene adds, "we offer a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home." Residents live in private apartments and receive personal assistance and help with medications. Certified nursing assistants are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services. "Our focus is on providing residents with the love.compassion and dignity that they deserve in addition to the care and assistance that they need," says Keene. "Our emphasis is on helping residents to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible." In 2012, Grand Prairie launched a $4.8 million expansion project that will nearly double the number of apartments at the assisted living community. Reservations for the apartments, which are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in the Spring, are being accepted. Since March of 2010, Grand Prairie has been managed by BMA Management, Ltd., the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois. Based in Bradley, Illinois, BMA operates 36 senior living communities, housing more than 3,300 homes and apartments. Among the communities managed by BMA are the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living communities in Aledo and Moline, Illinois, and John Evans Supportive Living in Pekin, Illinois.

Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community, to host a Matter of Balance class designed to reduce the risk of falling. The class will be taught by a representative of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging.

Bradley, Illinois (PRWEB) January 03, 2013
Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community in Macomb, Illinois, will be hosting a Matter of Balance Class led by Amy Griswold of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging.
The class, which is designed to help participants reduce the risk of falling, will meet at Grand Prairie from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays for eight weeks, beginning on Jan. 10.
The class is open to the public as well as residents of Grand Prairie. A $10 donation is suggested for those attending the class.
To register or for more information, call Sarah McDonald at 309-833-5000.
Grand Prairie is located at 1307 Meadowlark Lane in Macomb, Illinois.
"Grand Prairie is the only senior living community in McDonough County that is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program," says Andrea Keene, Administrator. "This gives us the opportunity to serve older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence."
Keene adds, "we offer a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home."
Residents live in private apartments and receive personal assistance and help with medications.
Certified nursing assistants are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services.
"Our focus is on providing residents with the love.compassion and dignity that they deserve in addition to the care and assistance that they need," says Keene. "Our emphasis is on helping residents to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible."
In 2012, Grand Prairie launched a $4.8 million expansion project that will nearly double the number of apartments at the assisted living community.
Reservations for the apartments, which are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in the Spring, are being accepted.
Since March of 2010, Grand Prairie has been managed by BMA Management, Ltd., the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois.
Based in Bradley, Illinois, BMA operates 36 senior living communities, housing more than 3,300 homes and apartments.
Among the communities managed by BMA are the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living communities in Aledo and Moline, Illinois, and John Evans Supportive Living in Pekin, Illinois.

Read More..

Big-data analytics company Cloudera raises $65 million

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Cloudera, a distributor of software that helps companies analyze big data, said it has raised $65 million in new funding.
The company is part of a growing group of businesses that help dig into the vast trove of data created by digital sources such as sensors, posts to the Internet, pictures and videos.
The field caught investor attention when Splunk, another data analytics firm, held an initial public offering earlier this year and doubled in price on its first trading day.
Cloudera's business is based on Hadoop, open-source software that aggregates results from large sets of data. Cloudera provides services that allow companies to easily use Hadoop.
The funding round was led by Accel Partners, with participation from Greylock Partners, Ignition Partners, In-Q-Tel and Meritech Capital Partners. All Things D, which first reported the funding, said the company's valuation was $700 million.

Read More..

T-Mobile to Offer Cheapest iPhone 5 in 2013

T-Mobile, the smallest of the "big four" wireless carries in the United States, already offers the country's cheapest iPhone service -- if you have an unlocked iPhone. And according to Engadget's Brad Molen, more than a million unlocked iPhones are on T-Mobile's network already.
Now, T-Mobile has announced that it will "add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year," according to parent company Deutsche Telekom AG. And while that could mean anything from the new iPad Mini to an as-yet-unreleased Apple product of some kind, many expect T-Mobile to finally get the iPhone, making it the last major carrier in the United States to get it.
If T-Mobile does, and it continues to offer its $30 "Unlimited Web & Text with 100 Minutes" plan, that may make T-Mobile's iPhone the cheapest one out there -- even if it costs hundreds of dollars more up front than on AT&T.
Subsidies aren't just for big corporations
Most of the big-name wireless carriers in the United States offer what are called "subsidized" smartphones, meaning you don't pay their whole cost up front. Instead, you pay a discounted price (which can be as little as $0.01), but are locked into a wireless contract for up to 2 years. Wireless customers who switch before their contract is up have to pay an "early termination fee," which can go over and above the actual cost of the smartphone.
Buy now, save later
With prepaid smartphone plans, on the other hand, you pay the whole cost of the phone up front and afterward it's yours to keep (whether its SIM card is locked into one network or not). And with the announcement that T-Mobile is going prepaid-only starting next year, that means any iPhone the company carries will be of the unsubsidized variety.
Apple currently sells the 16 GB iPhone 5 for $649, contract-free, on its website. It also sells the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $549, however, while contract-free carrier Virgin Mobile sells the same phone unsubsidized for $449 with a $35 per month data plan -- not too much more expensive than T-Mobile's.
Lessons of the past​
It's hard to say how much T-Mobile would offer an iPhone 5 for if the device landed on its network. Virgin Mobile started out charging more up front and offering a $30 plan, while Cricket currently sells the contract-free iPhone 5 for $499 but its service starts at $55.
Assuming T-Mobile continues to offer its current "web exclusive" $30 unlimited plan for a hypothetical iPhone 5 on its network, it's not likely to be discounted much if at all from Apple's asking price. Just paying for 5 GBs of data per month from AT&T would cost $1,200 over 2 years, however, plus the $199 cost of a subsidized iPhone (and you have to pay for voice minutes and texting on top of that). Meanwhile, it's possible right now to buy an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple and get 2 years of T-Mobile's $30 service for $1,369. That includes 5 GBs of data before connection speed throttling, plus unlimited texting and 100 voice minutes per month.
​Looking to the future
T-Mobile offers the cheapest iPhone 5 service right now. And if the "Apple products" T-Mobile is getting next year include the iPhone 5, T-Mobile customers may see even better offerings coming their way in the near future.

Read More..

Hug It Out: Public Charter and District Schools Given $25 Million to Get Along

If you need a loan, ask Bill and Melinda Gates. Or better yet, ask one of the seven cities that are splitting a new $25 million grant courtesy of the couple’s philanthropic foundation.
The funds are going to promote cross collaboration between charter and district schools, which have previously operated in a strict and contentious independence from one another.
The foundation announced the award this week, and the cities benefiting are Boston, Denver, Hartford (CT), New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Spring Branch (TX).
How did they get so lucky? They’re among a group of 16 communities that signed the Gates-sponsored “District-Charter Collaboration Compacts” pledging for an open-source collaboration between public charter and district public schools.
Communication between these two models is unusual to say the least; they’ve had a long and illustrious history of battling each other over tax dollars, students and even building space.
But when charter schools first opened 20 years ago, their original purpose was to create an experimental educational space which would then share its best methods with public district schools. Instead, the two grew into rivals and critics of each are vehemently opposed to the other.
Among the complaints, charter schools are seen as selfishly siphoning off the most motivated students from the district while upholding a rich-poor educational divide and failing to live up to the promise of a better education. Others say its district schools that are the issue for their unionized teacher complacency and a consistent inability to keep a large margin of students from falling through the cracks.
In truth, neither system is a slam-dunk, and both are experiencing closures nationwide due to underperformance.
The goal of the District-Charter Collaboration Compacts is to restore the original relationship of the two camps, effectively establishing a regular protocol of sharing their best practices, innovations and resources.
Don Shalvey, the deputy director at teh Gates Foundation told The New York Times, “It took Microsoft and Apple 10 years to learn to talk. So it’s not surprising that it took a little bit longer for charters and other public schools. It’s pretty clear there is more common ground than battleground.”
But what will this grand collaboration yield? If all goes according to plan, students from both camps will benefit from new teacher effectiveness practices, college-ready tools and supports, and innovative instructional delivery systems.
According to the Gates Foundation, only one-third of students meet the criteria of college ready by the time they graduate. And most of the kids who don’t are often minority students from lower income areas. By creating collaborative aims with charter and district, kids from all over can have access to a wider swath of teaching frameworks and curriculums.

Read More..

Composición de un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS independiente; conferencia prevista para marzo 2013

Un grupo de usuarios OpenNMS ha creado la OpenNMS Foundation Europe como organización sin ánimo de lucro para promover la gestión de red en general y la plataforma de gestión de red OpenNMS en particular.
"La OpenNMS Foundation Europe acoge a todos aquellos usuarios de OpenNMS dentro de la comunidad OpenNMS, no solo a aquellos que contribuyen al código. Hemos integrado con éxito a aquellos que contribuyen al código, pero si uno fuese únicamente un usuario satisfecho que deseara compartir con el resto y aprender de ellos, estaríamos mucho peor organizados", ha explicado Alex Finger, presidente de la OpenNMS Foundation Europe. "Ahora disponemos de un lugar en el que reunir a los seguidores de OpenNMS y difundir nuestros conocimientos y experiencia en relación con el producto. Queremos abogar por el open source y enseñar a los demás a utilizar OpenNMS. La fundación es una forma de ampliar esta comunidad". La agenda de la conferencia de usuarios prevista para el año que viene ya está repleta de las historias y experiencias de estos usuarios, y completada por una formación básica y avanzada de la aplicación.
Tarus Balog, CEO del grupo OpenNMS Group (la empresa con ánimo de lucro detrás de OpenNMS), ha declarado: "Una de las plataformas de gestión más exitosa de todos los tiempos fue OpenView, de Hewlett-Packard. En gran medida, este éxito se puede atribuir a la comunidad independiente y activa desarrollada por el grupo de usuarios OpenView Forum. El hecho de que la fundación promueva todavía más OpenNMS y haga hincapié en la naturaleza open source del software nos anima y entusiasma".
La conferencia de usuarios OpenNMS está prevista para la semana del 11 de marzo de 2013, y tendrá lugar en la Universidad de Fulda, Alemania. La información completa sobre dicha conferencia y las oportunidades de patrocinio están disponibles en http://opennms.eu.
ACERCA DE OPENNMS
OpenNMS (www.opennms.org) es la primera plataforma de aplicación de gestión de red de empresa desarrollada siguiendo el modelo open source. Es una alternativa de software totalmente gratuita frente a los productos comerciales como HP Operations Manager, IBM Tivoli, y CA Unicenter.
ACERCA DE LA OPENNMS FOUNDATION
La OpenNMS Foundation Europe (www.opennms.eu) es una organización registrada sin ánimo de lucro de Alemania. La fundación promueve la educación, investigación, defensa e intercambio de conocimientos en torno a la gestión de red con software open source y, específicamente, OpenNMS. Está abierta para aquellas personas y empresas interesadas en formar parte de dicha comunidad.
ACERCA DEL GRUPO OPENNMS
El grupo OpenNMS (www.opennms.com) mantiene el proyecto OpenNMS. Dicho grupo también ofrece asistencia comercial, servicios y formación para la plataforma OpenNMS.
El comunicado en el idioma original, es la versión oficial y autorizada del mismo. La traducción es solamente un medio de ayuda y deberá ser comparada con el texto en idioma original, que es la única versión del texto que tendrá validez legal.

Read More..

US designates Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra front a 'terrorist' group at lightning speed

The US State Department designated the Jabhat al-Nusra militia fighting Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria a foreign terrorist organization Monday.
The speed with which the US government moved to designate a fairly new group that has never attacked US interests and is engaged in fighting a regime that successive administrations have demonized is evidence of the strange bedfellows and overlapping agendas that make the Syrian civil war so explosive.
The State Department says Jabhat al-Nusra (or the "Nusra Front") is essentially a wing of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the jihadi group that flourished in Anbar Province after the US invaded to topple the Baathist regime of secular dictator Saddam Hussein. During the Iraq war, Sunni Arab tribesmen living along the Euphrates in eastern Syria flocked to fight with the friends and relatives in the towns along the Euphrates river in Anbar Province.
Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz!
The terrain, both actual and human, is similar on both sides of that border, and the rat lines that kept foreign fighters and money flowing into Iraq from Syria work just as well in reverse. Now, the jihadis who fought and largely lost against the Shiite political ascendancy in Iraq are flocking to eastern Syria to repay a debt of gratitude in a battle that looks more likely to succeed every day.
The Nusra Front has gone from victory to victory in eastern Syria and has shown signs of both significant funding and greater military prowess than the average citizens' militia, with veterans of fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya among its numbers.
The US of course aided the fight in Libya to bring down Muammar Qaddafi. In Afghanistan and Iraq, the chance to fight and kill Americans was the major drawing card.
In Iraq, the US toppled a Baathist dictatorship dominated by Sunni Arabs, opening the door for the political dominance of Iraq's Shiite Arab majority and the fury of the country's Sunni jihadis. In Syria, a Baathist regime dominated by the tiny Alawite sect (a long-ago offshoot of Shiite Islam) risks being brought down by the Sunni majority. Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in the odd position of now rooting for a Baathist regime to survive, frightened that a religiously inspired Sunni regime may replace Assad and potentially destabilize parts of his country from Haditha in Anbar's far west to the northern city of Mosul.
For the US, the situation is more complicated still. The Obama administration appears eager for Assad to fall, but is also afraid of what might replace him, not least because of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. If the regime collapses, the aftermath is sure to be chaotic, much as it was in Libya, where arms stores were looted throughout the country. The presence of VX and sarin nerve gas, and the fear of Al Qaeda aligned militants getting their hands on it, has the US considering sending in troops to secure the weapons.
That's the context in which today's designation was made – part of an overall effort to shape the Syrian opposition to US liking, and hopefully have influence in the political outcome if and when Assad's regime collapses. But while the US has been trying to find a government or leadership in waiting among Syrian exiles, Nusra has been going from strength to strength. Aaron Zelin, who tracks jihadi groups at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, notes in a recent piece for Foreign Policy that 20 out of the 48 "martyrdom" notices posted on Al Qaeda forums for the Syria war were made by people claiming to be members of Nusra.
Zelin writes that it's highly unusual for the US to designate as a terrorist group anyone who hasn't attempted an attack on the US. In fact, the US only designated the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan, which had been involved in attacks on US troops there for over a decade, this September.
His guess as to why the US took such an unusual step?
The U.S. administration, in designating Jabhat al-Nusra, is likely to argue that the group is an outgrowth of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). While there is not much open-source evidence of this, classified material may offer proof -- and there is certainly circumstantial evidence that Jabhat al-Nusra operates as a branch of the ISI.
Getting Syria's rebels to disavow Jabhat al-Nusra may not be an easy task, however. As in Iraq, jihadists have been some of the most effective and audacious fighters against the Assad regime, garnering respect from other rebel groups in the process. Jabhat al-Nusra seems to have learned from the mistakes of al Qaeda in Iraq: It has not attacked civilians randomly, nor has it shown wanton disregard for human life by publicizing videos showing the beheading of its enemies. Even if its views are extreme, it is getting the benefit of the doubt from other insurgents due to its prowess on the battlefield.
Will it hurt the group's support inside Syria? It's hard to see how. The US hasn't formally explained its logic yet, but it's hard to see how that will matter either. The rebellion against Assad has raged for almost two years now and the country's fighters are eager for victory, and revenge. The US has done little to militarily assist the rebellion, and fighters have been happy to take support where they can get it.
Most of the money or weapons flowing into the country for rebels has come from Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar and some of that support, of course, has ended up in the hands of Islamist militias like Nusra.

Read More..

News Summary: US 30-yr mortgage rate at record low

RATES AT RECORD LOW: Average U.S. mortgage rates fell to fresh record lows this week, a trend that is boosting home sales.
THE NUMBERS: Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average 30-year loan rate dipped to 3.31 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 2.63 percent, also a record.
HOUSING RECOVERY: Home sales and construction are rising, providing a much-needed boost to the economy. Lower rates have also persuaded more people to refinance. That usually leads to lower monthly mortgage payments and more consumer spending.

Read More..

Retirement Savings Plan Reality: Save More

There's a buzz building in California over a state move to create a retirement savings plan for private employees with no workplace 401k. It might seem that everyone has plenty of access to a retirement savings plan, but at least a third of U.S. households get to retirement with just Social Security to back them up, reports MarketWatch.
The "pioneering" part of such a retirement savings plan would be the opt-out clause. Under the California plan, which has to get past some federal rules and IRS hurdles, eligible workers would be automatically registered with the plan at a deduction rate of 3% of pay. They would have to choose to quit the plan, although of course they could instead choose to increase the takeout.
The enforced deductions requirement of a good retirement savings plan is backed by research from Harvard and the University of Copenhagen. According to the research, giving people a tax break encourages them to save, but not much. Using data from Denmark, which is similar to the U.S. system but offers more detail, academics found that tax subsidies worth $1 raised the national savings rate by a penny.
More On Forbes: 25 Best Places For A Working Retirement
That's not much bang for a buck. Meanwhile, previous research found that an automatic retirement savings plan, such as the proposed California "opt-out" model, is very effective at raising savings rates.
The reason, the researchers conclude, is that only about 15% of people in the system are active savers, that is, people who think about retirement and how much money it will take to achieve that goal. The remainder, a whopping 85%, are totally passive savers. They will save if obligated but make no concrete plan regarding their life after work.
All of this would be quite the revelation, except that private pensions have a long and quite well-documented history, starting back in 1980 in Chile. Under reforms instituted by the military regime of the time, anyone with a formal job in the South American country is required to pay 10% beyond a minimum monthly income level. There is an income tax break, too, on retirement savings plan contributions, which can be up to 20%.
More On Forbes: Do You Have Enough Money To Retire
The Chilean system was reformed in 2008 to create a bigger safety net for the poor, essentially granting public pensions to those who did not earn enough to participate in the private system. Currently, 13 countries have either private or quasi-mandatory pension systems, reports the OECD.
All pension plans fall into two categories, defined benefit or defined contribution (DC). A defined benefit plan puts the burden on future taxpayers to meet a minimum payout, which is essentially how Social Security works in the United States. A defined contribution retirement savings plan, the basis for private pension systems such as a 401k, means it's up to savers to put enough away and to invest and manage their savings carefully over decades.
Your retirement savings plan
As the OECD notes, "the starting point for a successful DC plan is a sufficiently high contribution rate." Put another way, depending on the market to deliver miracles is a mistake, but a similarly large (and common) mistake is believing that setting aside pennies in a retirement savings plan will add up to big dollars down the line.
The agency concludes:
In DC pension systems, one clear goal for policymakers should be to improve the design of default investment strategies so that investment risk is reduced as the worker approaches retirement. Such lifecycle investment strategies may need to be carefully regulated to ensure that workers are offered sufficient diversification and protection from market shocks in old age.
Amen and hallelujah, we say. Whatever the outcome in California, two points about a proper retirement savings plan by now should be impressively clear to everyone: You need to save more, sooner, and you absolutely must have a serious, long-term investment plan to protect and grow that nest egg over time.

Read More..

US pending home sales jump to nearly a 6-year high

An index measuring the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in October jumped to nearly its highest level in almost six years. Steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates have made home buying more attractive.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 5.2 percent to 104.8 in October. Excluding a few months when the index spiked because of a homebuyer tax credit, that is the highest level since March 2007.
The increase points to healthy sales increases of previously occupied homes in the months ahead. There's generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.
The rise in sales adds to evidence of a steady housing recovery. Builders are more confident in sales and are starting construction on more homes. Home prices are rising on a consistent basis, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they gain confidence that they can sell at a good price.
The report is "another indicator suggesting that the recovery in housing has broadened and has sustained momentum," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.
Signed contracts jumped 15.6 percent in the Midwest and rose 5.5 percent in the South. But they fell 1.1 percent in the West and dipped 0.1 percent in the Northeast.
Superstorm Sandy lowered pending sales in the Northeast, the Realtors' group said. The West was hurt by low inventories of available homes.
Mortgage rates remained near record lows this week. The average rate on the 30-year loan was 3.32 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said, just above 3.31 percent last week, which was the lowest on records dating to 1971.
A big reason for the rebound in housing is that the excess supply of homes that built up before the housing crisis has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale has fallen to a 10-year low. The inventory of new homes is also near the lowest level since 1963.
At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.
Those trends are also pushing up home sales and construction. Sales of previously occupied homes are near five-year highs, excluding temporary spikes in 2009 and 2010 when a homebuyer tax credit boosted purchases.
Builders, meanwhile, are more optimistic that the recovery will endure. A measure of their confidence rose to the highest level in six and a half years this month. And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years last month.

Read More..

US home sales jump to highest level in 3 years

U.S. sales of previously occupied homes jumped to their highest level in three years last month, bolstered by steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in November. That's up from 4.76 million in October.
Previously occupied home sales are on track for their best year in five years. November's sales were the highest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit that was soon to expire spurred sales. Excluding that month, last month's sales were the highest since July 2007.
Sales are up 14.5 percent from a year ago, though they remain below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market.
Job growth and low home-loan rates have helped drive purchases. Prices are also rising, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they feel confident they can sell at a good price.
In addition, the excess supply of homes that built up during the housing bubble has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale fell to a 10-year low in October. The supply of new homes is also near its lowest level since 1963.
At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.
These trends have supported a steady recovery in housing. Builder confidence rose in December for a seventh straight month to the highest level in more than 6½ years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.
The pace of home construction slipped in November, but it was still nearly 22 percent higher than a year earlier. Builders are on track this year to start work on the most homes in four years.
Economists note that the increase in building should lead to more construction jobs, though it hasn't yet done so. That could mean more construction hiring is coming.

Read More..

US home sales surge to highest level in 3 years

U.S. sales of previously occupied homes jumped to their highest level in three years last month, bolstered by steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates. The report was the latest sign of a sustained recovery in the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in November. That's up from 4.76 million in October.
Previously occupied home sales are on track for their best year in five years. November's sales were the highest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit that was soon to expire spurred sales. Excluding that month, last month's sales were the highest since July 2007.
Sales are up 14.5 percent from a year ago, though they remain below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market.
"The report is encouraging, and the positive momentum established in the housing market during 2012 appears likely to continue into 2013," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in an email.
Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales in the Northeast, the Realtors' group said. Those delayed purchases will likely close in the coming months, though the increase will be modest, the group said.
Even so, sales rose 6.9 percent in the Northeast last month compared with October. Sales increased 7.2 percent in the Midwest, 7.9 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the West.
Job growth and low home-loan rates have helped drive purchases. Prices are also rising, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they feel confident they can sell at a good price.
In addition, the excess supply of homes that built up during the housing bubble has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale fell to nearly an 11-year low in November. The supply of new homes is also near its lowest level since 1963.
At the current sales pace, it would take 4.8 months to exhaust the supply of homes for sale. That's the shortest such span since September 2005.
At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.
As low supply and rising demand push up prices, builders will likely be encouraged to start work on more homes in coming months, economists said.
"That's a good reason to feel optimistic about housing next year," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. "We just don't have enough homes right now, and we need to start building."
Builder confidence rose in December for a seventh straight month to the highest level in more than 6½ years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.
The pace of home construction slipped in November, but it was still nearly 22 percent higher than a year earlier. Builders are on track this year to start work on the most homes in four years.
Economists note that the increase in building should lead to more construction jobs, though it hasn't yet done so. That could mean more construction hiring is coming.

Read More..