Business Articles

Florida tourism in first quarter up 2.4% over 2011

The number of people visiting Florida in the first quarter rose 2.4 percent from a year ago, when tourism already was rebounding.

Preliminary figures from Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing organization, show 23.4 million visitors came to the Sunshine State from January to March.

Florida has added 19,200 travel-related jobs from a year ago. The total tourism-related employment of 1,027,500 is the highest since the first quarter of 2008, during the early days of the Great Recession.

An estimated 19.7 million domestic visitors came to Florida during the most recent quarter, a 1.2 increase, while international travelers rose 13 percent, at 2.4 million.

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Tags: First Quarter, Quarter

Friday, May 11th, 2012 Business Articles No Comments

Wall Street falls on Europe, but late buying trims losses

– Stocks ended lower on Tuesday after political developments in Greece fanned concerns about Europe’s fiscal health, but a late rally helped indexes cut losses to close well above lows.

Stocks spent most of the session sharply lower, with selling following declines in European markets. Fears that Greece will reject an existing international bailout and potentially leave the euro prompted the selling across markets.

“A lot of people have been looking at 1,350 as the short-term correction level, a level that the buy-the-dip crowd was hoping to get.

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Tags: Losses

Monday, May 7th, 2012 Business Articles No Comments

Joint house deal goes sideways

Question: I purchased a home as tenants in common with a friend. I paid more than $40,000 down and my friend paid nothing down.

My friend is listed as the “borrower” on the loan and I’m the “co-borrower.” We have been splitting the monthly mortgage payments.

Now, we are at odds with each other. My friend has moved out and wants to sell the property. Since the housing market has slowed down, the house is worth less than we paid for it, so there is no chance of selling it for enough to recover my down payment after selling expenses.

I have offered to buy out her equity in exchange for a quit claim deed. She has rejected my offer, contending that a quit claim deed will not release her from the mortgage obligation. I think it will.

Answer: First of all, your friend is correct. Read all post…

Saturday, April 14th, 2012 Business Articles No Comments

Pay your taxes, or else

The government will soon implement stringent measures to clamp down on tax defaulters, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Sunday.

Launching the South African Revenue Service (Sars) compliance programme in Pretoria, Gordhan said that although overall tax compliance had improved, the trends required constant monitoring.

“Sars will continue to widen the base of people who are within the tax bracket through constant innovations to ensure that all who should be part of the tax system are part of it,” he said.

“Research has identified particular areas in our economy and in our tax system posing higher risks of non-compliance.”

Both small and major players in the construction industry were among the major defaulters, said Sars commissioner Oupa Magashula.

“Those people who are not compliant, we know who these people are [and are] going to do something about it,” he said.

“The message today is: talk to us before we talk to us. Read all post…

Monday, April 9th, 2012 Business Articles No Comments

11 area buildings on Florida’s Top 100 list

The buildings that give Florida its special sense of place are being celebrated by the American Institute of Architects in an online competition.

AIA-Florida’s “Top 100 Buildings & Places” gives the public the chance to vote for its favorite Florida structures from a list of 100 actually 109 iconic buildings, from Cà d’Zan in Sarasota to the Fontainebleu Hotel in Miami.

Voting continues through April 6 at www.aiafltop100.org. Voters also can write in their own nominees.

The event is part of AIA-Florida’s 100th anniversary celebration.

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Tags: 100, Top 100

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 Business Articles No Comments

Stock index futures point to slightly higher start

Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:56am EDT

n”> – Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 both up 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent at 0830 GMT.

European stocks were flat on Thursday, hovering around a three-week low as rallying mining shares offset losses in the energy sector, where Total extended its slide, hit by worries over a gas leak in the North Sea.

The Nikkei eased 0.7 percent to 10,114.79 as investors locked in profit from a meteoric January-March rally that is poised to be its best first-quarter performance in 24 years.

Roche Holding hiked its cash bid for U.S.

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Tags: Futures Point, Higher, Index Futures Point, Slightly Higher

Saturday, March 24th, 2012 Business Articles No Comments