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BANKERS SOUND OFF: Here's What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Working On Wall Street

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zoltar fortune teller machine

It's the time of year when college seniors around the country say goodbye to their carefree childhood and get ready to join the real world.

And if that real world is going to be Wall Street, they're about to experience a totally new way of life — long hours, intense bosses, hard work etc.

But they know that. No one makes it to Wall Street blind.

There are some things, however, that aren't obvious before you start the job. That's why we asked some current and former Wall Streeters what they wish they had known on day one.

It's coming.

Attitude is 80% your first year.

You don't know anything yet, so your boss is going to want you to be happy and engaged go-getter/team player more than anything else.

Male, 26, private equity.



Don't get sucked into the salary.

Banking pays well at first, but you may want to take a medium term pay cut after a while to take your skills to another industry where, in the long term, you can make more money and be happier.

Maybe you want to be the COO of a company in an industry you really love, for example.

Male, 28, former Goldman Sachs employee



Get a black belt in accounting.

You can learn all the capital markets things (M&A, arbitrage, derivatives)  you need for Wall Street as an apprentice. Accounting requires classroom time, so learn the basics in school if you can. It will help you with everything you do on The Street.

Male, 41, portfolio manager.



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20 Iconic Photos Of Kate Middleton & Prince William's Royal Life

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kate and williamToday marks Prince William and Kate Middleton's second anniversary.

After two years together, the couple have welcomed a dog, moved into their own home at Kensington Palace, and are now preparing for the their first child this summer.

From million dollar galas to riding on Batman's motorcycle, relive some of the couple's most memorable moments.

December 2010: The couple's official engagement photos were released.

(Source: People)



April 29 2011: Kate and William together on their wedding day.



May 24, 2011: The royals meet the Obamas at Buckingham Palace before attending a special lunch hosted by Queen Elizabeth.

(Source: People)



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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JIM O'NEILL'S FINAL PRESENTATION: Goldman Guru Presents His View Of The World From Now Through 2020

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Jim O'Neill Presentation

"I have chosen to focus on the world," said Jim O'Neill in his final note as an economist for Goldmans Sachs.

O'Neill, who is famous for coining the acronym BRICs, discusses how the BRICs and other growth markets will continue to be an increasingly important driver of global growth.

"If China grows by 7.5% in this decade, and if the developed world returns close to trend, then the world will grow by around 4%," he said.

And in this environment, O'Neill argues that the stock market is a great place to be invested.

"Current ERP (equity risk premium) levels continue to indicate that equity markets are still quite attractive in many parts of the world," he said.

O'Neill provides forecasts for all of the major economies in both the developed and developing worlds.

Thanks to Jim O'Neill and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for giving us permission to feature this presentation.

'The size of our populations alone does not drive economic growth, but it is a necessity to become big.'



'Canada, Australia, Spain, South Korea, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland ... are in this list and not the first one.'



'Only three of the most populated countries – the US, Japan and Germany – are currently in the top wealthiest.'



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Hot Israel Startup Wix Has A Gorgeous Headquarters Overlooking The Mediterranean Sea

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Wix office 24

Ask anyone working in Israel's tech scene to name the hottest startups in the nation and Wix is always on the list.

The five-year-old company is backed by VC firms like Benchmark and Bessmer. It provides free and low-cost websites for people with no tech background; Wix hosts over 30 million sites. 

The 300-person startup is headquartered in Tel Aviv in an up-and-coming area near the beach called Tel Aviv Port.

The Wix office greets you with a wall of windows that show off the sea.



VP of Marketing, Omer Shai, is one of Wix's earliest employees. He's here with Ethan Chernofsky of Headline Media.



The windows line the outer walls of the office...



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People Are Buying Legal Ingredients Online To Make Illegal Drugs

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doing drugs

Drugs are much more widely available than we might like to admit.

A lot of them can be made easily in your kitchen with ingredients you can buy online.

It's a gray area for law enforcement: People looking for a high of questionable legality will find that the internet is loaded with weird knowledge about alternative uses for what's in your pantry, and online stores that will gladly sell you the other ingredients you'll need.

Mushroom spores

Drug it's used for: Spores give way to mushrooms. The right spores will produce hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Effects: Hallucination, mood lift, sensation of insight.

Where people buy it: Specialty shops online can't sell mushrooms since they contain psilocybin, currently a Schedule III prohibited substance, but the spores can be bought from a number of online specialty shops, like Spores 101.



Morning Glory seeds

Drug it's used for: Morning Glory seeds contain lysergic acid, the same potent psychoactive found in LSD. These seeds can be eaten raw or you can perform an extraction and drink it.

Effects: Mild hallucination, nausea.

Where people buy it: Any store carrying seeds will have these. Just make sure you buy them untreated since many are treated with chemicals that can make you sick. These are readily available on Amazon – 3,000 of them cost just $2.49.



Mimosa hostilis root bark

Drug it's used for: DMT.

Effects: Immersive hallucinations, spiritual experiences.

Where people buy it: The legal status of Mimosa hostilis bark is a bit ambiguous right now. Some storefronts aren't willing to sell it, but Botanical Spirit is.



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10 Ways Technology Is Forcing Us All To Be Ruder

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on phone theater rude

It's a scene so familiar that it's a cliché – you're out seeing a brand new movie, arm-deep in a tub of popcorn when someone's "Stayin' Alive" ringtone goes off. A million eyes shoot to the direction of the sound while the phone's owner wrestles with the settings to turn it off, his smile simultaneously reassuring yet apologetic.

There's almost no way to say it without coming off as some wily old codger, but our gadgets are making us impolite.

Technology has presented some tremendous boons to the world, but at least a little of it comes at the cost of our etiquette.

Some people think it's now rude to leave a voicemail.

Some people just aren't feeling the voicemail lately. The New York Times recently proclaimed that voice mail had become "another impolite way of trying to connect with someone."

But phones are first and foremost for voice calls. There are still plenty of people who enjoy (and even prefer) using a smartphone for talk instead of text, but we're noticing that this is changing.

Some people regard it as rude to call someone without first having introduced themselves in a less intimate medium.



When did talking on the phone become more important than talking to the person in front of you?

We noted recently that Mark Zuckerberg suggested that using your phone while you're at dinner with someone else was not, in fact, a negative thing.

Trying to handle two conversations at once is the new normal. Whether it will ever become acceptable or not is still up in the air: This coffee shop in the U.K. refuses to serve customers who are using a phone.



There's no pressure to get anywhere on time if you can just text an excuse when you're running late.

When excuses are easier to make, people are glad to pick up the slack and make lots of excuses.

There's a drastically reduced need to get somewhere at a predetermined time when you can instantly let everyone know you'll be late with a few button presses.



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TULIPMANIA: Why We Still Talk About A Financial Bubble From 376 Years Ago

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flores mallewagen

Last week, 376 years ago, the Dutch government gathered to resolve a pressing issue: it's tulip sector was melting down.

If a tulip sector sounds absurd now, you may be surprised to learn it was viewed with equal curiosity and disdain then. 

"I don't know what kind of angry spirit was called up from hell," a contemporary wrote in 1648. "Our descendants doubtless will laugh at the human insanity of our age, that in our times the tulip flowers have been so revered."

Dutch tulips were the modern world's first speculative asset to see prices scream higher, then melt down in almost nuclear fashion.

But they weren't the last. And that's why the incident has persisted in modern memory.

Using historian Anne Goldgar's 2007 "Tulipmania" as our guide, we bring you this curious but most instructive story.

According to lore, Tulipmania had its roots in the Ottoman Empire.

An ambassador working at the court of Suleiman the Magnificent noticed the flower, which is native to Central Asia, was all over Constantinople. In the late 1500s, he decided to send some to a Botanist friend in Leiden, Clusius. 

Source: Anne Goldgar, "Tulipmania"



But collecting stuff in general — from art to sea shells — was already big when Tulips began popping up in Europe.

Clusius told his sea merchant friends to pick up odd fish for him on their travels, and would exchange rare plants for "medals or unusual man-made objects."

Source: Anne Goldgar, "Tulipmania"



And there was also already a robust futures trade in Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam stock exchange opened in 1602. The Baltic grain trade, which had helped lead to the creation of the Dutch East India Company, had been operating as an informal futures exchange for decades.

Source: Anne Goldgar, "Tulipmania"



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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7 Personal Finance Moves 'The Big Bang Theory' Gets Wrong

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the big bang theoryCBS' No. 1 hit show, "The Big Bang Theory," has reached a stratosphere of popularity not many shows achieve.

What originally began as a show about three California Institute of Technology physicists (and one engineer, Howard, who has his master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and a quirky "actress" neighbor, has progressed into a full cast surrounding a love of science and odd friendship. While the show has evolved, one thing is still a constant: None of the characters are very smart about their money.

Personal finance experts Ellie Kay and Steve Repak, who love the show and watch it regularly, agree. "These guys have grand plans and goals for their work, but they never have a money plan," says Kay, family finance expert and author of "The 60-Minute Money Workout." Repak, a professional speaker and author of "Dollars and Uncommon Sense" agrees, saying, "It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out that you'll have more money if you earn interest on it."

Our experts say the show would still be funny if the characters used their mathematical genius on their money, too. Here they weigh in on various scenes where the characters make less-than-brilliant money moves and what they should have done.

1. Sheldon uses 46% of the income. Where's the rest?

Sheldon: I don't see any large upcoming expenditures unless they develop an affordable technology to fuse my skeleton with adamantium like Wolverine.

Whatever the ratio of living expenses to income, most experts agree that a worthy savings goal should represent 10 percent of income. But Sheldon only has a "small savings account."

Kay: Because Sheldon shares the rent with Leonard and lives well below his means, without a car and its related expenses, he should save much more. His money should, at least, be in a bank (money market account) savings account or tied up in a (certificate of deposit) ladder to take advantage of any future rate changes. What if the guys invested their extra money in property and owned condos across the hall from each other or all pitched in together to buy a house instead of throwing away money on rent?

Repak: The guys never mention giving or sharing their wealth with anyone. I also advise allocating another 10 percent of income for giving because you help others and learn to spend less at the same time.



2. Does Penny need debt counseling?

Penny: You know, sometimes when I'm feeling all stressed out about something, I go out and buy a cute top or a fun skirt, and I have a whole new outlook on life.

Sheldon: Don't you eventually realize you're just the same stressed-out person in a cute top or a fun skirt?

Penny: Yep, that's when I buy shoes.

According to The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft, Spending and Hoarding, shopaholics buy to relieve anxiety, but over time the buying creates an increasingly dysfunctional lifestyle.

Kay: Penny should cut up her credit cards and go to her local National Foundation for Credit Counseling office (NFCC.org) to see a nonprofit consumer credit counselor to help get her finances on track and get on a repayment plan she can afford. The way she lives is so dangerous because she has zero emergency fund. (Remember when she couldn't pay her rent because her car broke down and she was hiding from the landlord, so she borrowed the money from Sheldon?)

Repak: Penny needs to get her priorities straight, which are paying her rent, electric bill and food before shoes and clothes. Period.



3. Let Bernadette be bossy with the bank account?

Howard: Yes, but we're married now. That means when you get sick, I take care of you, and when you make a bunch of money, I get to buy stuff. Sorry if you don't like it, but that's how love works.

Bernadette: No, here's how love works. You're gonna return the machine, or you can print out a working set of lady parts and sleep with those.

A recent study titled "The Role of Money Arguments in Marriage," published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues, found that money arguments are an important indicator of relationship satisfaction -- but not divorce! -- and can be used to strengthen the relationship with financial or marriage counseling.

Kay: Bernadette was rightly frustrated, but it's condescending to get "punished" for spending by your spouse. I recommend meeting with a third party (such as a financial counselor) to teach them how to handle the joint checking account.

Repak: Just because one partner makes more money doesn't mean he or she gets to make all the rules. Howard needs a separate spending account that they budget for together or with a financial counselor. But then Bernadette can't be judgmental on his spending from that account.



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Three Columbia Business School Students Won $100,000 With This Monster Presentation About Investing In Hertz

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hertz-office.jpg

This year, three Columbia Business School students took home $100,000 from Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital, for their long thesis on rental car company, Hertz.

They were the winners of the Pershing Square Challenge, an investment thesis contest Ackman has held since 2008.

And it just so happens that two of the winners of Ackman's contest are members of SumZero, an online community for buy-side investors. They were kind enough to share the winning slide deck with Business Insider.

Here's the quick thesis from SumZero:

We recommend investors buy Hertz shares with a 12-month target share price of $36, which represents ~52% upside to the current share price. There are four main points to our investment thesis: 1) The market significantly underestimates the impact of Hertz's recent merger with Dollar Thrifty on car rental pricing; 2) The market underestimates the levers Hertz can pull to counter the negative impact of falling used car prices; 3) Hertz has strong growth opportunities in the U.S. and will realize significant revenue and cost synergies through its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty; and 4) A divestiture of the non-core Equipment Rental segment would unlock substantial value by deleveraging the balance sheet.







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10 Foreign Airports That Put America To Shame

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vertical garden and Green wall at Singapore airport

Congress's solution to flight delays caused by sequester-mandated budget cuts is going to cause pain in the long run.

To avoid further furloughing air traffic controllers, the FAA will be allowed to draw on funds that had been set aside to improve the nation's airports.

American airports aren't great to begin with, and now they won't be getting much better.

To give American travelers a look at what they're missing, we've put together a list of the world's best airports, based on the 2013 World Airport Awards, announced this month by leading airline reviewer Skytrax.

The awards, which include categories for best terminal, shopping, security, cleanliness, dining, and more, are determined by public opinion. More than 12 million people responded to this year's survey.

As President Obama noted in a press conference Tuesday, the highest ranked U.S. airport is Cincinnati at #30. Not very impressive.

10. London Heathrow Airport

london heathrow airport

Yearly passengers: 70 million

2012 rank: 11

Why it's awesome: Despite London Mayor Boris Johnson's concern that Heathrow gives visitors "a terrible impression of the UK," the overcrowded airport made it into Skytrax's top ten.

The third busiest airport in the world in 2012, it took home the awards for Best Airport Shopping and Best Airport Terminal, for T5, which opened in 2008 after a $6.2 billion, 19-year design and construction process.

Heathrow's Skytrax review includes four or five out of five star rankings for ease of use, flight information, public transport, security staff efficiency, and more.

Source: Skytrax World Airport Awards. Yearly passenger figures are preliminary rankings for 2012 provided by Airports Council International.



9. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)

tokyo Haneda Airport Terminal 1 Marketplace

Yearly passengers: 66.8 million

2012 rank: 14

Why it's awesome: Haneda moved up five places this year, partly thanks to how clean it is.

With a third, international terminal that opened in 2010, Haneda can accommodate 90 million passengers annually.

More construction is already in the works: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced plans to expand the new terminal with eight more gates, more parking, and a hotel, by March 2014.

The airport won the Skytrax awards for Best Airport Terminal Cleanliness and World's Best Domestic Airport, and took second place for Best Airport Immigration Service.

Source: Skytrax World Airport Awards. Yearly passenger figures are preliminary rankings for 2012 provided by Airports Council International.



8. Vancouver International Airport

vancouver international airport

Yearly passengers: 17.6 million

2012 rank: 8

Why it's awesome: The least busy airport in the Skytrax top ten, Vancouver International offers visitors a large collection of Pacific Northwest Coast Native art.

Skytrax named Vancouver International the Best Airport in North America for the fourth year in a row in 2013, a streak that justifies the $1.4 billion the airport spent on recent expansion.

Volunteers, known as Green Coat Ambassadors, work in the airport to help travelers get where they're going.

Source: Skytrax World Airport Awards. Yearly passenger figures provided by Vancouver International Airport.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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13 Reasons You Should Start Biking To Work

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cyclists bike helmets bikingThough the U.S. has seen a 40 percent growth in bicycle commuters since 2000, their numbers have yet to surpass 1 million. In contrast, there are 204 million personal vehicles on the road on a given day.

That's a shame.

Not only does biking to work have the potential to improve individuals' health, wealth, and standard of living, but the combination of more cyclists and fewer cars on the road could give the entire country a much-needed boost. 

It would make cycling safer for everyone.

Much unlike cars, the more bicycles on the road, the safer it becomes for cyclists, research shows. 

"It's a virtuous cycle," Dr. Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from UNSW, says.

"The likelihood that an individual cyclist will be struck by a motorist falls with increasing rate of bicycling in a community. And the safer cycling is perceived to be, the more people are prepared to cycle."



It is vastly cheaper than driving.

Due to rising fuel costs and tire upkeep, the cost of owning a car increased nearly 2 percent in 2012 to $8,946, according to AAA. 

It costs just $308 per year to keep bikes in shape––nearly 30 times less than cars, according to the Sierra Club:

"If American drivers were to make just one four-mile round trip each week with a bicycle instead of a car, they would save nearly 2 billion gallons of gas. At $4 per gallon, total savings would be $7.3 billion a year."



It's a free gym on wheels.

On average, bicycle commuters lose 13 pounds in their first year of cycling alone.

"[Bike commuting] can be a very effective cardiovascular benefit," says Lisa Callahan, MD, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

"If you're overweight and start an exercise program, sometimes it's harder on your joints because you are overweight ... so something like swimming or biking that's not pounding on the joints can be a good thing." 



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The World Is About To Fall In Love With The Netherlands' New Queen

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Queen Maxima Netherlands princess of orange

It's a happy day in the Netherlands as orange-bedecked cheering crowds welcome King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima as the newest Dutch monarchs.

And it was quite a day for Máxima in particular, who was born a commoner and had never dreamed of becoming a royal, let alone queen.*

The Argentinian-born beauty has been a beloved royal in the Netherlands for more than 10 years now, and with her new title she is about to take the world by storm.

*NOTE: Technically, Maxima only takes the style and title of "Her Majesty Queen Máxima, Princess of the Netherlands." She will not receive the title "Queen of the Netherlands."

Máxima can speak three languages — Dutch, Spanish, and English — and has a degree in economics. She worked as the Vice-President of Institutional Sales at Deutsche Bank in NYC before marrying the prince.

Source: Het Koninklijk Huis



She met Prince Willem-Alexander in April of 1999 in Spain during the Sevilla Spring Fair. He introduced himself only as "Alexander," and she didn't know he was a prince until he later told her. She assumed he was joking.

Source: The Examiner



Maxima is not just any commoner. Through her father Jorge Zorreguieta she is a descendant of King Afonso III of Portugal and his son King Denis of Portugal as well as many other noble families.

Source: The Examiner



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13 Money Secrets From The Amish

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Amish farmer

The number of Amish in the U.S. has doubled since the 1990s.

Though they're typically known for for their traditional, family-based Christian values and austere lifestyles, there's one thing most people probably wouldn't guess about them –– the Amish are a lot better at managing their money than the rest of us.

"Some Amish do quite well and have a lot of success in business,"Erik Wesner, founder of AmishAmerica.com, told us. “An Amish millionaire is not something unheard of.”

Their business and financial savvy goes far beyond rebuking modern conveniences like electricity and technology. 

We asked Wesner, along with Lorilee Craker, author of "Money Secrets of the Amish," to let us in on how the Amish have mastered their money.

The Amish value experiences more than material goods.

The Amish make sure they buy things that are built to last, and don't often buy something because of a splashy marketing campaign at the store, Craker said.

"They always have their eye on the big picture and the long-term," she said.

That's not to say they don't spend any money on fun. Many Amish enjoy going on hunting trips, for example, Wesner said. But for the most part, they spend their money on value-oriented purchases.



They're huge savers, often setting aside up to 20% of their income.

In contrast, the average American only saves about 6% of their income.

Craker met one man who had managed to stash $400,000 in the bank in 20 years while renting a farm and raising a family of 14 kidsHe planned to use his savings toward a down payment on a farm and wanted to buy his children a trampoline during the summer.

Another man told Craker he's content knowing he wakes up a little richer every morning from interest accrued on savings, instead of interest accrued on debt.



They loathe debt and try to avoid credit cards.

Though there are some members of less traditional Amish communities who use credit cards, many are "absolutely phobic" toward debt, Craker said.

"They're literally horrified by it," Craker said. "When you and I might be awake at night thinking, 'Oh my gosh, I have so much debt,' they sleep very peacefully."

On the other hand, the average American carries three to four credit cards with an average of  $16,000 in total debt.



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H&M Subtly Used A Plus-Sized Model For Its Swimsuit Collection

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h&m plus size model beachwear

H&M decided to use plus-sized model Jennie Runk to be the face and body of its new beachwear collection.

Click here for more photos>

But what makes H&M's decision so laudable is how casually it handled breaking fashion norms. There was no press release or loud declaration on its website.

It just so happened that when consumers clicked on the "new beachwear" section on the retailer's website home page, they were greeted by images of a six foot tall woman with curvy proportions you're more likely to see in a normal setting rather than on a runway.

"Models whose bodies differ from the straight-size standard should be visible in fashion, outside of the stigmatizing magazine "Size" issues and the dedicated "Plus" categories, which retailers always seem to bury,"Jezebel's Jenna Sauers wrote. "Why shouldn't Jennie Runk, and other women like her, get [to] be on the homepage, too?"

This quiet integration seems to be H&M's style. 

The Swedish retailer began using mannequins with size 12 bodies in its lingerie departments in March. But even though H&M did so quietly, critics loudly complained once they noticed the figures, saying that the company was promoting obesity.

Although looking at Runk's photos, she looks anything but unhealthy, which only emphasizes the bizarre norms that the fashion industry has created.

Consumers visiting H&M's homepage were greeted with this invitation to click through its new beachwear collection.



At first it was hard to tell that Jennie Runk wasn't your "typical" model.



She has curves like most average, healthy looking women.



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5 Housing and Mortgage Trends To Get Ready For This Spring

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rent, own, homeownership, moving

Homeowners who endured years of declining home values will discover that the game has changed in their favor.

With low mortgage rates and home prices gaining momentum, an increasing number of buyers are expected to shop for homes this spring. The good news for sellers: The inventory of homes for sale is shrinking, so they have less competition and more control of the situation.

Loan mods: As more distressed homeowners regain equity in coming months, many with high-interest loans will be able to refinance and perhaps cash out some equity. If you fell behind on your mortgage payments, you might get a second chance to modify your loan.

Homebuyers are losing bargaining power as the market shifts in favor of sellers. But home prices remain attractive for the most part, and low mortgage rates should stay on their side for a little longer.

1. Fewer options, higher prices and bidding wars

If you plan to buy a home this spring, expect competition.

Demand from homebuyers is growing faster than the supply of homes for sale, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

"It's creating a little bit of a shortage and a mismatch between supply and demand," says Jed Smith, managing director of quantitative research for the National Association of Realtors.

Buyers are encountering bidding wars in many parts of the country, Smith says. Competing offers pose a challenge for first-time homebuyers.

Competition: "Multiple offers seem to be the norm these days," says Patty Da Silva, owner of Green Realty Properties in Davie, Fla. She says she recently represented a seller who received more than 15 offers in one weekend for a house in Cooper City, Fla.

"Home listed Wednesday evening; first showing on Saturday at 1 p.m.; several offers came in on Saturday and several Sunday; the home was under contract by Monday morning," she says.

As of February, there were 1.94 million homes for sale nationwide. That represented a supply of 4.7 months at that month's sales pace. A balanced market requires about six months' of supply.

During the same period last year, there was a supply of 6.4 months.

"Back in 2010 we had 9.4 months' of supply," Smith says.

2. Loan modifications made easy — for some

Homeowners who are behind on their mortgages may get a hassle-free opportunity to reduce their monthly payments.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require mortgage servicers to offer a streamlined modification program to borrowers with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, starting in July. The offers will be sent to homeowners who are at least 90 days behind on their loans but no more than two years behind. To qualify, borrowers must owe at least 80 percent of the home's value.

The modification reduces the loan's interest rate and extends the loan term to 40 years.

Minimal paperwork: Borrowers won't be required to submit any financial documentation to the lender to get approval. The loan modification becomes permanent after three payments are made during the three-month trial period.

"Streamlined modification provides borrowers who face difficulty satisfying the documentation standards of traditional workout programs with a path to stay in their homes with reduced paperwork requirements," says Meg Burns, senior associate director for housing and regulatory policy for the FHFA. "This option should be especially helpful to those who are self-employed, part of multigenerational households, or simply overwhelmed with the document-collection burden."

3. Federal Housing Administration loans lose appeal again

Borrowers seeking low-payment mortgages will be charged for mortgage insurance for the life of their loans if they don't get their Federal Housing Administration mortgages by June 2.

The FHA currently requires borrowers to pay for mortgage insurance on FHA loans until the balance reaches 78 percent of the original value of the home.

Pay forever: Once the change goes into effect, all new FHA loans with less than a 10 percent down payment will carry mortgage insurance until the loan is refinanced or paid off. Loans with a 10 percent down payment or greater will have to pay for mortgage insurance for at least 11 years.

For borrowers who plan to stay in their homes for less than 10 years, the new rules won't make that much of a difference, says Cameron Findlay, chief economist at Discover Home Loans. That's because normally, it takes borrowers about 10 years to reach the required loan level for the insurance to cancel anyway.

"But for those who are planning (to) keep their houses for an extended period, this is a big deal," Findlay says. "They can always refinance later -- but who knows where rates are going to be 10 years from now?"

4. Equity loans and cash-out refinances are back — sort of

About 1.7 million homeowners regained equity in their homes last year, and an additional 1.8 million are close to it, according to a recent study by CoreLogic. All they need is home values to go up by another 5 percent, CoreLogic says.

As home prices rise, millions of homeowners might consider turning to their homes as a potential source for a loan. Cash-out refinances and home equity loans, which were popular during the housing boom, are slowly returning, along with the temptation to tap into equity.

"I'm starting to see some of that," says Michael Becker, a mortgage banker at WCS Funding in Baltimore. He says he has recently received a couple of inquiries from parents who are thinking of using some of their equity to pay for college expenses. Another client is considering a cash-out refinance to pay off credit card debt.

Home as ATM: Lenders remain somewhat reluctant because these types of loans contributed to the mortgage meltdown as homeowners turned their homes into ATMs. But borrowers who have good credit scores and sufficient equity should be able to find lenders willing to do cash-out refis and home equity loans this spring.

5. Mortgage rates rise at a snail's pace

Mortgage rates are expected to creep up this spring but should remain low.

Up just a little: The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates the 30-year fixed rate will reach 3.9 percent by the end of the first quarter this year. That's not as good as the superlow rates that borrowers got in December 2012, when the 30-year fixed hit a record low of 3.5 percent in Bankrate's weekly survey. But it's still a good deal for most buyers and refinancers, housing experts say.

"Rates are climbing slowly, but even by the end of year, they are not going to be astronomical," Smith says. "They are still a bargain."

SEE ALSO: 9 things you should always haggle for >

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Here Is Martha Stewart's New Match.com Profile

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Yesterday we learned that Martha Stewart was signing up for Match.com, and the TODAY Show has just confirmed the existence of Stewart's dating profile.

The profile certainly appears to belong to Stewart: it has the handle "thegoodlonglife"— the title of Stewart's latest book — and describes a 71-year-old woman seeking men 55-70 years old with incomes over $150,001.

It also has two pictures of Martha, and she looks fantastic.

Check out the screen grabs from the media mogul's supposed profile below.

Martha describes herself as, "Curious, intelligent, entrepreneurial, hard working, fun, and adventurous" as well as a "social drinker."

Martha Stewart Match.com

"You may recognize me from my pictures. Yes, It's really me."

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Martha's flexible on occupation, past relationships, and children.

Martha Stewart Match.com

And describes herself as a frequent exerciser, "Very Liberal," and lover of both the British and American "House of Cards."

Martha Stewart Match.com

See the complete profile here.

SEE ALSO: Stunning Photos Of Martha Stewart As A Young Model

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This 18-Slide Pitch Just Landed Payment Startup Dwolla $16.5 Million

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dwolla teamDwolla, a startup that makes it easy and cheap for businesses to collect payments, just raised a $16.5 million Series C round. The company charges $0.25 per transaction, not a percentage like credit card companies, and it has processed more than $1 billion to date. 

Top VC firm Andreessen Horowitz is a new investor. Union Square Ventures, Thrive Capital and Ashton Kutcher are also investors.

How does a startup convince VCs to give it $16.5 million?

It usually starts with a PowerPoint presentation. Pitch decks are essential fundraising tools, whether a founder is after $500,000 or $50 million.

Here's what Dwolla used to get millions of dollars from investors.







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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Breaks Sound Barrier In Historic Test [PHOTOS]

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SpaceShipTwo's First Supersonic Flight.

On Monday private space tourism company Virgin Galactic successfully conducted their first rocket-powered test of SpaceShipTwo their private space plane.

The ship broke the sound barrier during its test run, after being set lose by it's "mothership" WhiteKnightTwo.

The test sets the road for the final phase of testing — possibly to be completed by the end of the year. Then, Virgin Galactic will have to make good on the more than 500 space tourism flights they've sold for $200,000 each.

Here's Sir Richard Branson in SpaceShipTwo, the commercial edition of their space tourism shuttle. Branson started Virgin Galactic in 2004.



Group photo of the Future Astronauts and Sir Richard Branson outside SpaceShipTwo. The ship has done dozens of test flights, but this was the first in which they fired up the rocket engine.



Previously, they spent time testing these rockets on the ground. They'd never fired it up in the air before.



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How To Live Like A Modern Day Great Gatsby

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Jay Gatsby may have been an illegal bootlegger, but his wild parties, love for Daisy, and smooth talking ways are why he is one of the most beloved protagonists in literature.

And with Gatsby's return to the big screen less than two weeks away, we began to wonder what the famous '20s character would be like if he was real and living today.

Since Gatsby was a bootlegger, the modern Gatsby would also come by his fortune through underhanded means. Maybe he'd be dealing ecstasy, which can bring in a surprising income in NYC, or maybe a modern Gatsby would earn his dough from good old fashioned insider trading.

But nevermind how a modern Gatsby would get his money. To know how he'd live today, we have to know how he'd spend his money. 

Gatsby lived in a 12-bedroom mansion in the "new money" fictional West Egg. As the Modern Gatsby, you'd live in this expansive East Hampton property that just went on the market for $75 million. (Not to mention all your homes in Miami, NYC, and London.)

Source: Curbed Hamptons



And just like Gatsby, you'd be dating your very own Daisy Buchanon — might we suggest either of the gorgeous socialites Tinsley Mortimer or Olivia Palermo?



Gatsby drives a yellow Rolls-Royce in the book. You'd obviously have a garage full of cars, but your favorite would be the flashy new Ferrari LaFerrari supercar, which is expected to cost $1 million.

Source: Business Insider, NYT



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The 9 Tallest Skyscrapers That Are Being Built Right Now

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One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center is about to reach the dizzying height of 1,776 feet, when the spire is placed on top of the building today. The addition of the spire will make it the new tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, architects around the world are reaching to infinity and beyond with new construction. In addition to One World Trade Center, there are several notable skyscrapers that are currently undergoing construction.

Emporis, a database of construction projects, tracks the tallest skyscrapers that are currently under construction (meaning they have a foundation laid). The buildings sport an average height of 1,857 feet — or more than one-third of a mile high. China leads the way, with six buildings on this list.

Even amongst all this construction, Dubai's Burj Khalifa will still keep its spot as the world's tallest building at 2,717 feet tall. If other proposed building plans are put into motion, there could soon be skyscrapers that dwarf the Burj in height.

But for now, these buildings are the tallest in progress.

Callie Bost contributed to this story.

#9 Busan Lotte Town Tower — Busan, South Korea. Height (when completed): 1,675.02 feet

Source: Emporis



#8 Pentominium — Dubai. Height (when completed): 1,692.91 feet (construction is currently on hold)

Source: Emporis



#7 Dalian Greenland Center — Dalian, Liaoning, China. Height (when completed): 1,699.48 feet

Source: Emporis



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