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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (506979)	8/21/2009 12:55:48 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577900

You've got to figure the Bay Area will be the first to recover in CA. What's scary is that Seattle's median is only $80k less than the Bay Area's. At one time, the difference was over $300K. Bay Area Home Sales Hit Four-Year High SAN FRANCISCO (DQNews) -- Bay Area home sales rose last month to the highest level for a July in four years as deals above $500,000 continued to accelerate. The median sale price climbed above the prior month for the fourth consecutive month, lifted by the combination of more high-end transactions and fewer sales of lower-cost, lender-owned foreclosures, a real estate information service reported. The median price paid for a home in the nine-county region rose to $395,000, up 12.2% from $352,000 in June, but down 16.0% from $470,000 in July 2008, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records. Although last month's median was 36.2% higher than the current cycle's low of $290,000 in March this year, it was still 40.6% below the peak $665,000 median reached in June and July of 2007. The median's $43,000 gain between June and July was mainly the result of a shift toward a greater portion of sales occurring in higher-priced neighborhoods. The trend has been fueled this summer by several factors, including: More distress in high-end areas, leading to more motivated sellers; more buyers sensing a bottom could be near; and increased availability of larger home loans, which had become more expensive and far more difficult to obtain after the credit crunch hit two years ago. Loans above $417,000 accounted for 30% of Bay Area home sales last month - the highest since they represented 31.9% of sales in August 2008. Before the August 2007 credit crunch, such "jumbo" loans over $417,000 represented more than 60% of sales. < Previous 1 2 3 4 thestreet.com

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (506979)	8/21/2009 1:02:42 PM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577900

You're talking about a company selling 80B/y in insurance having a 10% cash reserve. That seems pretty reasonable to me. A couple of good flu outbreaks could significantly deplete their cash balance.