Month: September 2015

By Beth Rucker

Happy Friday! You made it to the weekend, and I hope you get an extra day off work to enjoy the Labor Day holiday. And since this is a weekend to rest from your hard work, I want to share with you one of my favorite hardworking small spaces that just so happens to be a sweet little getaway spot.

Designer Heidi Richardson worked with the owners of a dairy farm to create a spot to accommodate their guests in a “family camp” environment. The result was this adorable, 260-square-foot bathhouse with sleeping quarters that perfectly fits the setting of the California farm.

Richardson selected red-and-white gingham bed linens and vintage, Shaker-style furniture to match the cottage style of the bathhouse’s architecture. There’s also a small closet in the corner whose door mimics the style of the doors on the barn nearby.

The bathhouse serves both the sleeping quarters inside of it as well as a collection of nearby platform tents, so Richardson added two toilets, two showers and plenty of shelving space for towels and toiletries to accommodate a crowd. Sign me up! I’ll be there shortly!

Read more about this adorable bathhouse and check out the HGTV Photo Library for more design inspiration.

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From:: HGTV

Gold futures finished with a loss on Friday, down 1.1% for the week as traders looked to the latest U.S. jobs data for hints on the timing of a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike. December gold lost $3.10, or 0.3%, for the session to settle at $1,121.40 an ounce on Comex following losses over the previous two trading days. The settlement was the lowest since Aug. 18.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that it was important that China allow market pressures to drive the yuan up as well as down, a Treasury spokesperson said Friday. Lew met with Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei on the sidelines of the G-20 ministers meeting in Ankara, the official said. Last month, China changed its foreign exchange regime to allow more market influence in the setting of its daily exchange rate. The move pushed the yuan lower by more than 2%. Many analysts agreed that the key test for China would be to see if it allowed the market to push the currency higher as it would hurt the export sector.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil futures pared losses after data from Baker Hughes released Friday showed that the number of active oil-drilling rigs fell 13 to 662 as of Sept. 4. The total active rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was at 864, also down 13 rigs. Compared to last year, the total rig count has fallen by 1,061, with the oil rig count down 922. Oct. crude fell 27 cents, or 0.6%, to $46.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $46.02 just before the data.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Brian Bandell

Two major commercial foreclosure lawsuits were recently filed in Miami-Dade County, although a Broward County surgical center resolved its problems with its lender.

The River Landing retail project in Miami’s Health District hasn’t broke ground yet, and first it must resolve a foreclosure lawsuit.

River Landing Development, led by Andrew Hellinger, has secured approval for 537,000-square-foot of stacked retail and 440 apartments on about nine acres along the Miami River. Hellinger previously… …read more

From:: biz journal foreclosures

The Australian dollar fell to its lowest level against the dollar in six-and-a-half years Friday after the Labor Department’s August jobs report. The aussie weakened to 69.20 cents in recent trade, a session low, from 69.80 cents before the report, according to FactSet data. The report’s headline number missed expectations, but upward revisions to the June and July numbers helped push the unemployment rate down to 5.1%, bringing it within the target range of Federal Reserve policy makers. Falling commodity prices and signs of flagging demand from China have also helped weaken the aussie. Australia’s economy is dependent on exporting coal and iron ore.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

The dollar traded higher against its emerging-markets rivals Friday after the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls report for August showed the unemployment rate fell to 5.1%. The Brazilian real fell to 3.79 to the dollar from 3.74 before the report. The Turkish lira fell to 2.99 to the dollar from 2.97 before the report. The South African rand fell to 13.73 to the dollar from 13.60 ahead of the report. The Mexican peso was flat at 16.83 to the dollar. The Malaysian ringgit fell to 4.26 from 4.25. The unemployment rate is now within the range of what Federal Reserve policy makers would consider “full employment,” which suggests that the Fed’s rate-setting committee will soon vote to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. Higher interest rates in the U.S. would increase the return on assets denominated in dollars, making them more attractive relative to foreign assets. Emerging-markets currencies have broadly weakened against the dollar since Chinese policy makers devalued the yuan, China’s currency, on Aug. 11.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Friday with the main indexes on track to post hefty weekly losses. Stock prices extended early losses in the futures market as the official payrolls numbers were viewed solid enough for the Federal Reserve to consider raising rates at the September meeting. The main indexes looked at weekly losses of nearly 3%. The S&P 500 opened 23 points, or 1.2% lower at 1,928. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 205 points, or 1.2%, to 16,165. The Nasdaq Composite began the day down 56 points, or 1.2% at 4,677.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Financial stocks extended losses in premarket trade Friday, after data showing August job growth was less than expected. The SPDR Financial ETF dropped 1.5%, after being down less than 1% right around when the jobs report was released. Among the ETF’s most heavily-weighted components, shares of Wells Fargo & Co. fell 1.2%, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. lost 0.8%, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. gave up 1.2%, Bank of America Corp. declined 0.8% and Citigroup Inc. shed 1.1%. Banks can benefit from higher interest rates, as it increases the spread they earn between what they borrow to fund longer-term loans. The XLF has lost 6.3% over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has declined 6.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Treasury yields moved lower Friday morning after the Labor Department said that the U.S. economy created a modest 173,000 new jobs in August, the smallest gain in five months. Initially yields rose after the report’s release, but fell in recent trade. On balance, the 10-year Treasury yield moved 0.7 basis point lower on the day to 2.163%. Meanwhile, the two-year yield rose by 2.5 basis points to 0.721% and the 30-year yield shaved off 2.6 basis points to 2.921%. Treasury yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News