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And the Oscar for Best Real Estate Client Goes to…

Jennifer Lawrence! The “Joy” actress, christened “too cool to be America’s sweetheart,” took home this year’s Oscar for Best Real Estate Client, voted by members of the real estate industry as the nominee they’d most like to help buy or sell a home in RISMedia’s 2nd Annual Academy Awards of Real Estate. “Absolutely Jennifer Lawrence!” said Nancy […]
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Consumer Spending Has Biggest Increase in Eight Months

(TNS)—Consumers ramped up their spending in January at the fastest pace in eight months as incomes also continued to grow at a strong pace in a sign economic growth is improving after slowing at the end of last year. Inflation also picked up last month, which could help push Federal Reserve policymakers to enact another […]
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Consumer Credit Default Rates Inch Lower

Data through January 2016, released recently by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, shows the composite rate at 0.96 percent in January, down one basis point from the previous month. The bank card default rate increased three basis points in January, recording a default rate of 2.52 percent. […]
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From Huts to Cities: How Changes in Dwellings Impact Human Immune System

The shift from living in jungle huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes, which could have implications for healthy immune function, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online February 12 in Science Advances. “Our study found that urban living spaces increase the number of human-associated microbes […]
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Consumers Feel Confident in January

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in December, improved moderately in January. The Index now stands at 98.1 (1985=100), up from 96.3 in December. The Present Situation Index was unchanged at 116.4, while the Expectations Index increased from 83.0 to 85.9 in January. “Consumer confidence improved slightly in January, following an increase in […]
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How to Create a Modern Homestead

Did you know that Hilary Swank raises her own chickens from eggs? She’s not the only celebrity getting into modern homesteading: Julia Roberts composts her kitchen scraps and chicken poop while Oprah has a 12-acre organic garden in Maui. Even the White House has a vegetable garden thanks to Michelle Obama! Anyone willing to give […]
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5 Home Improvements that Pay Off—and 5 that Don’t

Favorable economic conditions have long triggered investment in home improvements—more money, more upgrades—and progress on the housing front is set to spur the next wave of homeowner spending on both necessary and discretionary projects. How should homeowners invest their remodeling dollars this year?  By and large, homeowners can expect to reap the highest returns on projects that […]
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Consumers Have Confidence in 2016

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had decreased moderately in November, improved in December. The Index now stands at 96.5 (1985=100), up from 92.6 in November. The Present Situation Index increased from 110.9 last month to 115.3 in December, while the Expectations Index improved to 83.9 from 80.4 in November. “Consumer confidence improved in […]
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Is Coming to Work Sick Really a Good Idea?

(TNS)—Too ill to work? Many people, and especially those with paid sick leave, stay home. However, even people with sick leave regularly engage in “presenteeism” — going to work while ill. It’s the opposite of absenteeism, and its impact on the workplace has been a topic long sequestered in academic journals. As we head into […]
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Donald Trump Voted Worst Celebrity Neighbor in 2015

Americans would most like to be neighbors with the singer-songwriter and pop sensation Taylor Swift in 2016, according to the ninth annual Zillow® Celebrity Neighbor Survey. Republican presidential candidate and business mogul Donald Trump was named the least desirable neighbor of 2015. The annual Zillow survey asks U.S. adults which celebrities they would most like to be their […]