Astepahead

For the third consecutive month, NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index dropped. It was slight drop of .3 points, with the index settling at 90.9 in May—the index makes clear that optimism is moving in the wrong direction: a recession-level reading for an economy fighting its way through a recover...

New short-sale contracts issued by two of the largest banks in the country are causing concern in the local real estate community.The object of the contracts is to protect banks against what has become known as "flopping", which is a form of mortgage fraud where a real estate professional gets a...

  The median price of existing single family home sales in the Greater Fort Myers area hovered at $100,000 an increase of 9.9% from May 2010. The median price does represent a decrease of 2.9% month over month.             Median Price by City 2009 2010 2011 Fort Myers $ 110,050 $ 115,000 $ 126,0...

U.S. Economy at a Glance: Perspective from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Accounts BEA produces some of the most closely watched economic statistics that influence decisions of government officials, business people, and individuals. These statistics provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture o...

ECONOMIC RECOVERY WIDESPREAD ACROSS STATES IN 2010  Advance 2010 and Revised 2007–2009 GDP-by-State Statistics June 2011 Advance 2010 and Revised 2007–2009 GDP-by-State Statistics Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2010, according to new stat...

Defying all the talk of a potential Social-Media bubble, Morgan Stanley AM has bought 2% of LinkedIn for approximately $147M. In a filing released on Thursday afternoon, the asset management arm of Morgan Stanley disclosed that it had purchased 2,044,717 shares, or 22.7 percent, of LinkedIn Class...

        Current Economic Conditions                              by Federal Reserve                           June 2011                                 Real Estate and ConstructionResidential real estate activity improved since the last report. Most Districts noted an increase in home sales and c...

  Employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose 38,000 from April to May on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report® released today.  The estimated change of employment from March 2011 to April 2011 was revised down slightly to 177,000 from th...

Consumer confidence among Floridians remained flat in May at 68. Among the five components two declined, one increased and two remained unchanged.  1.   Perceptions of personal finances now compared to a year ago fell four points to 52. 2.   Perceptions of personal finances a year from now incre...

Date                              Amount           Party 1                                    Party 2  10.  5/23/2011          $2,400,000      FIRST BANK                     LOVE A CHILD HOLDING LLC 9.   5/23/2011          $2,500,000      BARNES THOMAS C           JOHNSON MERCEDES TRUSTEE  8.   5...