Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in January to the highest level since May 2010 as investors took advantage of lower prices to buy distressed properties. Purchases climbed 4.3 percent to a 4.57 million annual rate, less than forecast, from a revised 4.38 million pace in December that was slower than previously estimated, a report from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. Distressed properties made up the largest portion of all purchases since April. Almost one in four of all transactions was made by investors. That’s helping to clear the market of unsold properties and may stabilize prices. While the threat of more foreclosures risks slowing progress, housing may get a boost from gains in employment and mortgage rates that are near record lows. “I don’t think we’re seeing a full-fledged recovery in housing,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “Outside of investors and people wanting to buy distressed properties, the primary housing demand is recovering much more gradually.” Bloomberg
Submitted 52 minutes ago

Just because Apple (AAPL) hasn’t done something before under Steve Jobs‘ tenure, doesn’t mean that Tim Cook won’t consider it. Cook’s already demonstrated that when it comes to the possibility of Apple paying a dividend. There’s still no announcement, but all indications from his earnings call comments and recent appearance at the Goldman Sachs (GS) Technology Symposium are that one is coming – probably a small regular dividend that still won’t take Apple’s cash balance much below $100 billion. Forbes
Submitted 1 hour ago

Car companies have conversations all the time, about all kinds of projects. But a possible link up between General Motors and France’s PSA Group, which owns Peugeot and Citroen, could help each company address some pressing needs. The talks were confirmed Wednesday by France’s labor minister, Xavier Bertrand, who said he had been briefed by PSA chief executive Phillipe Varin on Tuesday night, about the discussions. Forbes
Submitted 1 hour ago

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- After more than a year in the making, the Obama administration on Wednesday released its plan to overhaul the corporate tax code. The main proposal for reform would slash the corporate tax rate to 28% from 35% and pay for the reduction by eliminating "dozens" of business tax breaks. There are currently more than 130 on the books. The Obama administration's plan is in sync with Republicans in terms of wanting to lower the top rate. But Republicans want to lower the corporate rate even further to 25%. There are also many other differences between their plans, and with Congress stuck in election-year gridlock, the odds of passage of any corporate tax reform plan this year are long. CNN
Submitted 1 hour ago

If you’re searching for signs of hope in Northeast Florida’s economic future, consider looking to the area’s growing Asian-born population. That was the message from several people Tuesday who said that Asian immigrants are already helping to drive Jacksonville’s economy. “We are very much entrepreneurs. We’re driven to be business owners, business executives,” said Eric Nguyen, a member of the Vietnamese Association of Jacksonville. He was one of more than 100 people who came to an entrepreneurship and small business conference at the Main Library. The event was open to anyone, but a majority of the attendees were born in or traced their ancestry to Asia. Florida Times-Union
Submitted 1 hour ago

Georgia lawmakers are considering a bill aimed at boosting investment in renewable energy production. A bill introduced into the Georgia Senate Feb. 7 would let businesses and other property owners finance the installation of solar panels and other types of renewable projects through third parties. Current law allows such projects but only if the business puts up the money and owns and operates the system. Atlanta Business Chronicle
Submitted 1 hour ago

Caterpillar Inc. said Friday that it’s building a manufacturing plant close to Athens, Ga., bringing at least 1,400 jobs, and more in related production jobs. The company will relocate production of small excavators and backhoes from Japan. The plant is the largest creation of jobs in Georgia since Kia Motors moved to West Point, Ga. in 2009, Gov. Nathan Deal said in a press conference Friday morning. The announcement is a big win for Georgia, as Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) has been courted by other Southeast states, including North Carolina, where the company has a division headquarters in Cary, near Raleigh. Atlanta Business Chronicle The announcement is a big win for Georgia, as Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) has been courted by other Southeast states, including North Carolina, where the company has a division headquarters in Cary, near Raleigh. Atlanta Business Chronicle
Submitted 1 hour ago

It can take as little as 10 minutes for someone to go through your Facebook profile and predict how you’ll perform in the workplace. In a new study to be published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers asked a university professor and two students to spend 10 minutes looking through the Facebook profiles of employed college students. They were then asked a series of personality-related questions about those students, like whether they thought the students were dependable or emotionally stable. Time Magazine
Submitted 2 hours ago

President Obama’s proposal to raise the tax on corporate dividends should leave investors trembling. It has the ability to affect anyone with an interest in equities, from the executive in the c-suite to the grandmother next door. You pay 15% on dividends right now. Under Obama’s plan, the wealthy would see a total personal tax rate of nearly 45%. And before a company gives a dividend, that money is taxed as corporate profit. Obama would like to lower the corporate tax rate to 28%. By the time the dividend reaches your bank account, it has been taxed twice, a total of 73%. The corporate dividend tax hike is part of Obama’s broader restructuring of America’s corporate tax structure. As a whole, the plan is a game-changer for American business. But the dividend tax increase is the plan’s most striking element, since it’s hard to identify who it would help. Forbes
Submitted 2 hours ago

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January, which helped to lift the pace of home sales, according to a report from an industry trade group. The National Association of Realtors reported that the median home price in January fell 2% from December to $154,700. That's the lowest price reading since November 2001, before the run-up in home prices that became known as the housing bubble. CNN
Submitted 2 hours ago