...Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (click title to entry - thank you), whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the liquidity of the global financial market."
A day after his government collapsed because of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence, Topolanek took the EU presidency on a collision course with Washington over how to deal with the global economic recession.
The blunt comments pushed other European politicians into damage control mode, with some reproaching the Czech leader for his language and others reaffirming their good diplomatic ties with the U.S....
Durable goods orders, new home sales rise in Feb. (click here)
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
(03-25) 08:44 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods and new homes sales both rose unexpectedly in February, but economists said the gains were unlikely to last as the recession persists....
The best news from The Washington Post article is the fact home sales in the west were up 6.6%. California carries the highest foreclosure rate in the country and considering it has a large population participating in a globally competitive economy, I consider this exceptionally good news for them and us.
New Home Sales Jump 4.7 Percent in February (click here)
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 25, 2009; 10:40 AM
New homes sales unexpectedly jumped 4.7 percent in February, but prices continue to tumble as buyers make their way through a huge backlog of unsold homes.
Sales of new single-family homes reached an seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 in February, according to the Commerce Department data. Analysts had expected sales to continue to fall. That figure is down 41 percent from the same period a year ago.
Sales continued to drop last month in the Northeast and Midwest, 3.3 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. But sales surged 9.7 percent in the South, which includes the Washington region. Sales were up 6.6 percent in the West....
California February home sales up 42.5 percent (click here)
Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:08pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Home sales in California rose 42.5 percent in February from a year earlier as the median home price fell by 39.9 percent, driven by sales of foreclosed properties, according to an MDA DataQuick report released on Thursday.
The report said 29,225 new and resale houses and condominiums were sold in California last month, down 0.8 percent from January. The median price paid for a home in the most populous U.S. state was unchanged from January at $373,000.
February was the eighth straight month that California home sales rose from year-earlier levels and was the first time since May 2007 that the median home price did not decline from the prior month, according to MDA DataQuick....
