Japan Manufacturing PMI Shows Output and News Orders Down at Accelerated Rate

Economic conditions in Japan continue to accelerate to the downside as PMI signals sharpest deterioration in operating conditions since April 2011 Key Points:Output and new orders down at accelerated ratesNew export business decreases at sharpest rate in 15 monthsAverage costs fall to greatest extent since November 2009July data from Markit/JMMA showed manufacturing output falling at the sharpest...

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Actor Marcus Giamatti Lists Hollywood Manor House

SELLER: Marcus GiamattiLOCATION: Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $999,000SIZE: 2,310 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to The Bizzy Boys at Celebrity Address Aerial (and a listing that brazenly announces the home is "celebrity owned"), Your Mama learned that actor/musician/writer Marcus Giamatti—older brother of Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti (Sideways, John Adams, Saving Private...

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ESM Banking License? Not Happening as Merkel Allies Harden Opposition

So far it's been nothing but hot air and no action from ECB president Mario Draghi after he pledged to do whatever it takes to save the euro.One of the highly-touted ideas as of late has been a ESM banking license. However, the idea is not really new, and has been shot down repeatedly already. Nonetheless eurocrats like Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup, keep bringing the idea up as if the answer will change.  It won't. Bloomberg reports Merkel Allies Harden Opposition to Granting...

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100,000 Workers in Spain Will Not be Paid Because Regional Government of Catalona is Broke

The crisis in Spanish regional governments continues to escalate. El Pais reports Catalona Will Not Pay Hospitals or Private Centers and 100,000 workers are affected.This month, the Government of Catalona cannot tackle  payments owed to hospitals, schools, residences, social organizations, and children in care centers and workshops. These are the services provided by entities, public and private, funded by the Government but managed not depend on it.The move affects up to 7,500 associations...

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In Tom Cruise Real Estate News...

...in case any of y'all care, soon-to-be-divorced Tom Cruise is rumored to be looking at swank (and private) spreads in some of the more expensive communities around New York City where he can play daddy-host to daughter Suri when his visitation times come around.Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.So the story goes in the New York Post this morning, Mister Cruise recently took Suri along to peep and poke around an unlisted, 11-acre waterfront spread with a 13,500 square foot main manse...

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Today in Pictures - St. Elizabeths

After nearly a century of being vacant, the District government opened the east side of St. Elizabeths to the public this weekend.  While construction on the federally-owned west side continues in anticipation of a new home for multiple agencies, the District is still creating a plan for what to do with their half - 183 acres with some of the most notable vistas and architecture in the city -...

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Recent Gold Hype Sounds Like Grade-School Chant; Five Non-Hype Reasons to Own Gold

Reader David emailed a link to GATA, SHAKA ZULU, And The Coming Gold/Silver STORM! with a note "please see fit to write about this!!!" The article is by Bill Murphy, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) chairman. Here are the key snips.To get right to the point, three quality sources told me three weeks ago that the gold and silver markets were going to take off in August and I have been pounding the table on such ever since. It is time for things to happen. As you know by now, I have been...

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Shades of 2006: That's What Australia Housing Bubble Looks Like From US Perspective

The Australia housing market did not bust when it should of and the delay is going to be painful. The bigger the bubble, the bigger the crash, and the Australia bubble is bigger than we saw in the US.On a timeline basis, Australia is about where the US was in 2006, essentially  a state of denial.Developers are offering massive incentives such as cars, furniture, and vacations to move homes while chanting the ever-popular "now is a great time to buy a house" mantra.Gifts GaloreThe Age reports...

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Beyonce and Jay-Z Do it Temporarily in the Hamptons

In case you ain't already heard... According to the New York Post, procreating international entertainment industry power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z coughed up several hundred thousand clams to lease a significant estate in the Hamptons for the month of August (2012). But, seriously, does that surprise even the most half-hearted of celebrity (real estate) watchers among us? These are, after all, the...

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Eurozone Retail Sales Sink 9th Month; 17th Month of Contraction in Italy; Margins Collapse in France; Germany Barely Above Contraction

Eurozone retail sales continue to dive and not even Germany is immune. German manufacturing has been in contraction off-and-on, and retail sales are once again on the verge contraction as well.Let's take a look at some reports.Italy Retail Sales Slump Extends to 17th MonthMarkit reports Downturn in retail sales continues in JulySummary: July data pointed to a further reduction in activity in the Italian...

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Pete Wentz, (San Fernando) Valley Boy

BUYER: Pete WentzLOCATION: Studio City, CAPRICE: $1,050,000SIZE: 2,000 square feet (approx.), 3 bedrooms, 3 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Listen chickens, we know many of y'all prefer to hear about the real estate doings of tawdry reality denizens like Teresa Giudice, Promethean sports figures like Tim Tebow and Michael Phelps and/or mega-stars like itty-bitty tweener tycoon Justin Beiber. We do too....

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The Ground Floor

Beau Thai, a Thai restaurant, will open a second DC location at 3162 Mt. Pleasant St. in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.  The restaurant is taking over the interim library location. Unleashed by Petco, the smaller, more unique version of Petco, is opening it's second store in the District at 1200 First St, NE.  The proposed start date for the project is late August. The new Southeast Asian restaurant from restauranteur Mark Kuller, owner of Proof and Estadio, has a name:  Quan.  Grizform...

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51% of Germans Believe Germany Better Off Outside Eurozone, 71% Favor Greece Leaving; Implications on Constitutional Court Ruling

A recent poll says 51 percent of Germans now believe Germany would be better off without the euro. The Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag mass circulation weekly showed 51pc of Germans believed Europe's top economy would be better outside the 17-country eurozone. Twenty-nine percent said it would be worse off, AFP reports.The survey also showed that 71pc of Germans wanted Greece to leave the euro if it did not live up to its austerity promises.Economy Minister Philipp Roesler told Bild am Sonntag...

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JCPenney to Eliminate All Checkout Clerks, Instead Using RFID Chips and Self-Checkout; End of JCPenny? How Many Jobs At Risk?

By 2014 JCPenney PLans to Eliminate All Check-Out Clerks, and instead use self-checkout machines and RFID chips.Struggling retailer JCPenney is making some big changes that will affect customers and its clerks. The store is getting rid of its check-out counters.CEO Ron Johnson said it will remove check-out counters in stores and replace them with a system that won't require clerks. It's all part of an effort to return the department store chain to profitability.Shoppers will be able to use self...

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Foreigners Dump Nearly €80 Billion in Spanish Debt; Haircuts Come After More Dumping

Through the first half of the year, foreigners reduced Spanish debt by Nearly €80 Billion as banks in Spain gobbled up more of the toxic garbage.Foreign investment in Spanish public debt has decreased by €78.168 billion in the first six months of the year, standing at  €203.271 billion euros, compared to  €281.439 billion which reached the end of 2011. This is a break of 27.7% over last year.The largest decreases were recorded in February and March, at nearly €25 billion each month. Analysts...

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Federal Bankruptcy Court Lets Stockton, California Cut Retiree Health Care Benefits; Flood of City Bankruptcies Coming

In a welcome, common sense ruling, Court lets Stockton, Calif. cut retiree health care A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday cleared the way for Stockton, California to cut health care benefits for retirees while it is in bankruptcy proceedings.Stockton is seeking Chapter 9 protection from its creditors and said that it would cut retiree health benefits while it reorganizes. Retired employees sued to stop those cuts.Judge Christopher Klein on Friday issued a temporary order denying the bid to stop...

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Schäuble Rejects ECB Help for Spain; Full Bailout Still Coming

As any clear-thinking person should have expected, Schäuble rejects ECB help for Spain Berlin - For days, it is speculated that the European Central Bank (ECB) is planning, together with the bailout fund EFSF Spanish government bond buy - so come back to Spain to cheaper capital. The "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" According to the euro countries willing to support this approach . Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), but has now dismissed the reports in an interview with the newspaper "Welt...

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Union Station Master Plan Released

Train shed looking southwest, Image courtesy of AmtrakAmtrak released details this week of a much-talked-about $7 billion plan for Union Station's tracks, platforms, concourses, and parking that will dramatically overhaul the space. Under the Union Station Redeveloment Corporation, Union Station is already undergoing a renovation of its Grand Hall.In a move officials acknowledged was belated, they...

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Friday Floor Plan Porn: Steven A Klar

SELLER: Steven A. KlarLOCATION: New York City, NYPRICE: $100,000,000SIZE: 8,000 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 9 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: Good grief! We suggest y'all grab a smidge of your favorite mood stabilizer—we're already on our second gin & tonic—and steel yourselves for this one, butter beans. With houses and apartments at the highest of the high end in both Los Angeles and New York selling...

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