DOW FALLS: Here's What You Need To Know, February 13, 2013

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		Home Tech Finance Markets Politics Strategy Entertainment Advertising Retail Sports Life Wednesday, February 13, 2013 Advertisement Stocks barely budged.  But they're still just a handful of points from their all-time highs. First the scoreboard: Dow: 13,982, -35.7, -0.2 percent S&P 500: 1,520, +0.9, +0.0 percent NASDAQ: 3,196, +10.3, +0.3 percent And now the top stories: Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union speech.  And as with previous State of the Union speeches, there were no major next-day move in markets. The speech did have its moving moments and bizarre moments.  In terms of the message, Obama called for a $9 minimum wage.  This may have freaked out investors of fast-food stocks, who rely on low wages as part of their business strategies.  Stocks like McDonald's fell today. At least one expert declared that today's January retail sales report would be the most important economic datapoint so far this year.  Indeed, this was the first period where consumer behavior was supposed to be impacted by the recent payroll tax hike.  Retail sales climbed by just 0.1 percent in January.  However, this was right in line with expectations, allowing some people to breathe a sigh of relief as it wasn't unexpectedly worse.  This is not to say that we're in the clear.  "The tax hikes and latest leap in gasoline prices (which will leave households with less cash to spend on other items) could hit spending harder in February and March," said Paul Dales of Capital Economics. Don't Miss: 14 Ways An Economist Might Say 'I Love You' > Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Share this: Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon LinkedIn The email address for your subscription is: dwyld.kwu.jobhuntportal11@blogger.com Change Your Email Address | Unsubscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe to the Money Game RSS Feed Business Insider. 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

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CHART OF THE DAY: Why Buying An Old Home Is A Bad Investment

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		Home Tech Finance Markets Politics Strategy Entertainment Advertising Retail Sports Life Wednesday, February 13, 2013 CHART OF THE DAY: Why Buying An Old Home Is A Bad Investment Just because the price of a home goes up, doesn't mean it was a good investment. Typically, homes undergo costly renovations to keep them up-to-par with newer homes, which employ the latest technologies to make them, among other things, more energy efficient. "Housing traditionally is not viewed as a great investment," said economist Robert Shiller in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week.  "It takes maintenance, it depreciates, it goes out of style. All of those are problems. And there's technical progress in housing. So, new ones are better." New data from the Energy Information Association confirms that newer homes are indeed way more energy efficient than older homes. "Analysis from EIA's most recent Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) shows that U.S. homes built in 2000 and later consume only 2% more energy on average than homes built prior to 2000, despite being on average 30% larger," wrote the agency today. "Homes built in the 2000s accounted for about 14% of all occupied housing units in 2009. These new homes consumed 21% less energy for space heating on average than older homes (see graph), which is mainly because of increased efficiency in the form of heating equipment and better building shells built to more demanding energy codes." Sure, a homeowner could easily do the renovations to make their homes more efficient.  But that's not free. Here's the energy consumption chart from the EIA: Read » Also On Money Game Today: CITI: OPEC's Days Look Numbered Whole Foods Shares Tank After Earnings Advertisement CHART OF THE DAY: Investors' Attitudes Toward Corporate Cash Hoards Have Made A Major Bullish Shift CHART OF THE DAY: Spending Is The Problem CHART OF THE DAY: How The World's Biggest Stock Markets Evolved Since 1900 Share this: Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon LinkedIn The email address for your subscription is: dwyld.kwu.jobhuntportal11@blogger.com Change Your Email Address | Unsubscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe to the Money Game RSS Feed Business Insider. 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

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