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NewsChews - Great Clicks for Fri Nov 4 2011

11-04-11
Kevin Hawkins

King Tut Day - 308 days down, 57 to go

BUSINESS

Real Estate as a Longer Term Investment
http://www.kcmblog.com/2011/11/04/real-estate-as-a-longer-term-investment/

Bank of America Changes it's Mind: No Debit Card Fee
http://freefrombroke.com/bank-of-america-changes-its-mind-no-debit-card-fee/

Groupon Raises 30% More Than Sought, Prices IPO Above Range
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-04/groupon-raises-30-more-than-sought-prices-ipo-above-range.html

TECHNOLOGY
Android hardware fails more than iPhone, BlackBerry; repairs cost carriers $2 billion
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/03/android-hardware-fails-more-than-iphone-blackberry-repairs-cost-carriers-2-billion/


Apple Releasing Two New iPads Next Year: iPad 2S And iPad 3 [REPORT]
http://www.redmondpie.com/apple-releasing-two-new-ipads-next-year-ipad-2s-and-ipad-3-report/

Amazon Kindle Owner’s Lending Library offers 5,000 borrowable books
http://www.slashgear.com/amazon-kindle-owners-lending-library-offers-5000-borrowable-books-03192673/

TRENDS

Why Your "TQ" May Matter More Than Your "IQ"
http://blogs.hbr.org/schrage/2011/11/why-your-tq-may-matter-more-th.html

NetSuite: The new SAP as ERP goes cloud?
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/netsuite-the-new-sap-as-erp-goes-cloud/62649

SALES & MARKETING
Exclusive: Majority of YouTube views from Non-English audience
http://gigaom.com/video/youtube-global-language-stats/


Why Twitter could win the online identity race
http://gigaom.com/2011/11/02/why-twitter-could-win-the-online-identity-race/

Apple’s First Freebie IPhone Pits Once-Premium Brand Against Bargain Fare
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-04/apple-s-freebie-iphone-pits-premium-brand-against-bargain-fare.html


How LinkedIn Brought $72,000 in Sales for PostcardMania
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-linkedin-brought-72000-in-sales-for-postcardmania/

WEBSITES
Google’s New Algorithm Update Impacts 35% Of Searches
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/03/googles-new-algorithm-update-impacts-35-of-searches/


7 Content Marketing Tactics To Rank Higher In Google’s New Fresh Results
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/11/7-content-marketing-tactics-to-rank-higher-in-googles-new-fresh-results.html

REALLY?

Weaponized UAV Drones in the Hands of Local Police
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/11/weaponized_uav.html

FUN
'Call of Duty' to let gamers compete across platforms
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/04/tech/gaming-gadgets/call-of-duty

Cartoon of the Day:
An amazing social network
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1612.html


Compiled daily by Kevin Hawkins, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing at Imprev., Inc., a Bellevue, WA based marketing technologies firm serving more than 200,000 real estate agents and brokers worldwide.

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NewsChews: Great Reads - Your Daily Digital Digest - Mon. Oct. 31, 2011

11-02-11
Kevin Hawkins

BUSINESS

At best places to work, trust, pride and camaraderie overshadow pay

http://usat.ly/sY06h1

Corporations Must Become Socially Conscious Citizens

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/corporations_must_become_socia.html

Apple acquired mind-blowing 3D mapping company C3 Technologies, looking to take iOS Maps to the next level
http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/29/apple-acquired-mind-blowing-3d-mapping-company-c3-technologies-looking-to-take-ios-maps-to-the-next-level/’

TECHNOLOGY

Google Image Ripper lets you download images without visiting the sites they came from

http://www.redferret.net/?p=29572

Six ways to combine mobile marketing with social media
http://memeburn.com/2011/10/six-ways-to-combine-mobile-marketing-with-social-media/

B2C Facebook Results Are 30% Above Average on Sundays

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research-2/b2c-facebook-results-are-30-above-average-on-sundays/?%2BConvert%3A%2BHype-Free%2BSocial%2BMedia%2BStrategy%29=

'Batterygate': Apple's latest iPhone controversy?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/batterygate-apples-latest-iphone-controversy/62165

Moglue Lets Anyone Make A Children’s Book For Tablets
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/31/moglue-lets-anyone-make-a-childrens-book-for-tablets/

SCIENCE

Your Kindle becomes a little heavier when you load it up with ebooks. Seriously!

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/10/31/your-kindle-becomes-a-little-heavier-when-you-load-it-up-with-ebooks-seriously/?awesm=tnw.to_1BcDO

SALES/MARKETING

The 5 Words That Kill Potential Sales
http://www.bnet.com/blog/small-biz-advice/the-5-words-that-kill-potential-sales/4999

Social media and search – how do they influence each other?

http://www.nmk.co.uk/article/2011/10/31/social-media-and-search-%e2%80%93-how-do-they-influence-each-other

Custom Reporting using Google Analytics and Google Docs - The Ultimate Analytics Mashup

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/custom-reporting-using-google-analytics-and-google-docs

More Than Facebook: The Time Is Right For Social Business
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/More-Than-Facebook-The-Time-xfoftp-178145560.html

SOCIETY

"We Are All Greeks" - SocGen Presents The New World Order

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/we-are-all-greeks-socgen-presents-new-world-order

Steve Jobs' sister shares his final moments, last words
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/30/steve_jobs_sister_shares_his_final_moments_last_words.html

Introverts vs. Extroverts: Who Benefits More from Social Media?
http://wildhairmedia.com/2011/10/30/introverts-vs-extroverts-who-benefits-more-from-social-media/

HUMOR and FUN

Why Do We Get Goosebumps and Chills When We're Scared?
POPULAR SCIENCE - NEW TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE NEWS, THE FUTURE NOW | OCTOBER 28, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/2CzLk

Candy Corn Cocktail Recipe
http://www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2011/10/31/candy-corn-cocktail-recipe/

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UPI: Survey Says Homeowners Hit "Highest Level" of Pessimism

09-19-11
Kevin Hawkins

UPI Story and link below:

"Homeowners are growing even more pessimistic about the potential short- and long-term values of their homes.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 40 percent of U.S. homeowners now expect their home's value to go down over the next year, the highest level of pessimism to date. Prior to the latest finding, this number ranged from a low of 19 percent to a high of 37 percent since April 2009.

Just 13 percent expect the value of their home to go up over the next year. While that shows no change from last month, it's up just two points from the all-time low reached in July. Forty-five percent (45 percent) think their house will be worth about the same amount in one year's time.

When it comes to the longer term, 36 percent believe their home's value will go up during the next five years, down from 40 percent last month and just one point above the lowest level measured in over two years. This finding was over 50 percent for much of 2009 and 2010.

Twenty-four percent (24 percent) think housing values will decrease over the next five years, up slightly from the past two months. Thirty percent (30 percent) predict that their home's value will be about the same in five years. Homeowners who make $20,000 or less annually are more likely than those who earn higher incomes to believe the value of their home will go down in one and five years.

The Rasmussen survey echoes a HomeGain National Home Values Survey released last week. HomeGain found that 47 percent of surveyed real estate professionals nationwide expect home values to decrease over the next six months;

HomeGain also found that real estate professionals believe 75 percent of homeowners believe their homes are worth more than the recommended agent listing price. In contrast, 68 percent of home buyers believe homes are overpriced."

Source: UPI

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Real-Estate/2011/09/19/Homeowners-Sour-on-2012/8471316447442/#ixzz1YRIrTSSO

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MBA Says Mortgage Applications Decline Despite "Second Lowest" Mortgage Rates Ever Recorded

09-07-11
Kevin Hawkins

Interesting news today (Sept. 7, 2011) from the Mortgage Bankers trade group: applications are 35% below where they were last year despite hitting the "second lowest" 30 Year fixed mortgage rates the MBA has recorded.

Here is their news release from today:

Mortgage applications decreased 4.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 2, 2011.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 6.3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 13.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

“Heading into the Labor Day weekend, the 30-year rate was at its second lowest level in the history of our survey (the low point was reached last October), and the 15-year rate marked a new low in our survey,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Despite these rates however, refinance application volume fell for the third straight week, and is more than 35 percent below levels at this time last year. Purchase application volume remains relatively flat at extremely low levels, close to lows last seen in 1996.”

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 3.2 percent. The four week moving average is down 3.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 3.1 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 77.1 percent of total applications from 77.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 7.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.23 percent from 4.32 percent, with points decreasing to 1.04 from 1.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the second lowest 30-year rate recorded in the survey. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.41 percent from 3.49 percent, with points decreasing to 0.94 from 1.00 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the lowest 15-year rate recorded in the history of the survey since the beginning of January 1990. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

Link for the data:

http://www.mbaa.org/ResearchandForecasts/ProductsandSurveys/WeeklyApplicationSurvey

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Conference Board Says Employment Trends Down From Last Month, But Up from Last August

09-07-11
Kevin Hawkins

The Conference Board issued it's Employment Trend Index and while it was down slightly from July's number, it is up 4.1% from a year ago August.

Here is a news release from the Conference Board and some key links to the data:

"Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) decreased again in August to 100.8, down from July’s revised figure of 101. The August figure is up 4.1 percent from a year ago.

Says Gad Levanon, Associate Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board: “While the Employment Trends Index has been on a slightly declining trend in recent months, the decline in the index is still not as strong as it was in the months leading to previous recessions. We still expect the economy to moderately add jobs in the next several months, but not fast enough to lower the unemployment rate.”

This month’s decrease in the ETI was driven by negative contributions from six out of the eight components. The weakening indicators include The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®“Jobs Hard to Get,” Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance, Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons, Job Openings, Industrial Production and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales.

The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor-market indicators, each of which has proven accurate in its own area. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out so-called “noise” to show underlying trends more clearly.

The eight labor-market indicators aggregated into the Employment Trends Index include:

  • Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find “Jobs Hard to Get” (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®)
  • Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor)
  • Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now (© National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation)
  • Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons (BLS)
  • Job Openings (BLS)
  • Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board)
  • Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)

The Conference Board publishes the Employment Trends Index monthly, at 10 a.m. ET on the Monday that follows each Friday release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment situation report.

Technical notes for the survey are here: https://www.conference-board.org/pdf_free/economics/ETITechNotes032011.pdf

Link to the original release is here, with great daily summary data of key economic indicators and trends:

https://www.conference-board.org/press/pressdetail.cfm?pressid=4280

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