Social Media Taking Off in the Over 50 Crowd

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Social media has taken off for the over 50 crowd, showing an interesting and surprising surge for older Americans. A recent report from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that social media use in the 50 plus crowd is actually growing faster than is any other age group.  The usage for those 65 and older has tripled since 2009, moving from 13% to 43%. From the 50-64 age group, the usage has risen from 24% to 60%.

As senior researcher with Pew Aaron Smith explained, “These are folks who have lived perfectly successful and happy lives for six decades or more without any of this stuff. When they do adopt a social media platform, it’s because a friend or a family member has shown them how they can make your life better, or solve some problem you’ve had.”

The data from Pew has shown that 57% of internet users in the 50-64 age group use Facebook and that 35% of those over 65 do.

Companies that cater to the older crowd, like AARP, are paying attention. VP of Social Media at AARP, Tammy Gordon, explains, “Facebook is the starter site. It’s based on the idea that I know you, you know me and we have a connection – especially for families spread across country.”
Gordon actually heads a six person social team that she founded in 2010 that helps to build the social media presence at AARP.

AARP now has one million Facebook followers and over 200 social media accounts on Twitter and on other sites.

Strip Mall Vacancies Down, Showing Promise

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Strip malls have become big business in America, but they’ve taken a beating during the recession. Reports now for those running a small business are looking up. The national vacancy rate dropped to 10.5% last quarter from 10.6% during the previous period, as real estate research firm Reis Inc. reports.  Interestingly the drop in the vacancy rate is mostly a result of the lack of new construction. As Ryan Severino, a senior economist at Reis, said, “People look at the market and say: ‘These buildings are sitting 10 percent vacant or so, why are we going to build something new?'”

Retailers are in possession of 2.453 million square feet of US strip centers. This is slightly down from their first quarter possession of 2.959 million square feet. The asking rent at the end of this quarter was $19.19 per square foot per year.

There is a large range in the classification of strip malls, as anyone running a small business can explain. Regional malls, for instance, are considered those that have department stores on book-ends with specialty stores in the middle. These malls saw a flat rate that stands at 8.3% vacancy in the second quarter.


Not surprisingly, top-tier malls in the wealthier areas are showing the most improvement, as they tend to house the most successful small businesses. The top nine markets with the lowest vacancy rates include California, New York and others. As Severino said, “There’s a pretty big rift in the high-end centers that cater to the affluent and the other centers that cater to everyone else. The wealthy are not immune to the economy, but they’re definitely more insulated.”

Rare Book Sales on the Rise

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Most people would assume that the value of actual books has gone down as the e-readers have made everything so much more accessible. This does not, however, appear to be the case. Prices for the rarest of books are rising.

Matthew Haley, the head of the books, manuscripts and photographs department at the auction house Bonhams in London said that the internet has actually made more collectors more aware when a rare book comes onto the market.

As he said, “More people can find it and there is only one of them around,” he told an audience at the Hay Festival. He continued by saying, “We see that the mid-rank is really the struggling area of the market, which in our terms would be books between 100 pounds and a thousand.”

The overall value for rare books has held at about $600 million a year, he said. Second-hand bookshops, he said, are unfortunately closing at a tremendous rate. As he said, “I fear that we are going to see the end of the serendipity of browsing through a bookshop and finding a book you didn’t know you wanted.”

While some have argued that digital books would outsell printed books soon, probably by 2015, in Britain, he believes that this has not been the case. As Haley said, “There is no substitute for handling a book.”

Sophocles N. Zoullas to Join 1st Annual Marine Money Geneva Forum

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The 1st Annual Marine Money Geneva Forum will take place on Thursday, June 27th at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva. The forum brings together many of the most important ship finance professionals from around the globe. As part of a panel at the conference, Sophocles N. Zoullas, Chairman and CEO of Eagle Bulk Shipping, will provide market commentary.

The program will start with coffee and registration at 8:30 am and will be co-hosted by Erasmus Shipinvest B.V. During the opening remarks, both Mrs. Mia Jenson, the Greek Director of Marine Money International, and Mr. Kevin Oates, the Managing Director of Marine Money Asia Pte. Ltd. will address the audience.

Some of the topics to be discussed include: Global growth prospects and their impact on commodity demand; Assessing Market Prospects and Risk; Legal Issues with Letters of Credit; The trading houses and shipping and many more. The panel discussion where Sophocles Zoullas of Eagle Bulk Shipping will participate will also include Fabrice Piard, George Wells, Minas Sorotos, and John Su. It will be moderated by George Cambanis.

Good News for Small Businesses

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Good news for small businesses. Optimism in this sector has been on the rise, peaking in May. The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday that is Small Business Optimism Index increased 2.3 points to 94.4 last month. This is the highest that it’s been since May of last year.

As NFIB said, “Expectations about the future course of the economy clearly improved over the past few months, but not to levels seen in a ‘recovery’ or even in periods of solid growth.”

40% of the index’s rise was due to share of owners expecting better business conditions for the next six month. This level increased 10 points. There were also those who expect a rise in their inflation-adjustment sales and those who think this is a good time to expand their operations and to increase inventories.

Housing Prices on the Rise: Good Signs for Economy

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Home owners may be pleased to learn that home prices have accelerated by the most in almost seven years. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas has climbed 10.9% year over year. This has beaten the expectation that was set at 10.2%. This showing is the biggest increase since April of 2006.

According to the experts, the housing market has finally turned the corner as a result of historically low mortgage rates, tightening of inventory and easing of foreclosures. Consumer confidence in general has also picked up as a result of the stock market rally and the lower gas prices.

Home prices in Phoenix, for instance, continued to climb, rising 22.5% from a year earlier. San Francisco, in addition, is up 22.2%. Vegas is showing gains of 20.6%. The Case-Shiller report showed, as well, that Los Angeles prices rose 16.6% from a year ago.

As Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays in New York, said, “Low inventories and gradually improving housing demand have combined to push housing starts higher and support home price appreciation. We see these factors as remaining in place and expect residential investment to add to GDP growth in the coming quarters. We also expect rising real estate wealth to support household balance sheets and underpin consumption, helping the broader economy to offset a substantial fiscal drag in 2013.”

Vehicle Production Group Shutting Down

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Vehicle Production Group LLC, the maker of wheelchair-accessible vans, has closed after running out of money. The company produced a six-passenger MV-1 van that ran on compressed natural gas. Investors includes billionaire T. Boone Pickens and they had received a $50 million in low-interest federal loans as well.

As Department of Energy spokeswoman Aoife McCarthy said, “While this is unfortunate news about a very promising company, it is the exception rather than the rule for our portfolio of more than 30 projects.”
The company had already built and sold more than 2000 vehicles and had a backlog of orders. The news comes at a time when there are many doubts and worries about green car start-ups. 

Made in America Makes a Rebound

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The pendulum on “Made In America” products and its importance swings a great deal. Twenty years ago, Roger Simmermaker, an electronics technician, wrote a book called “How American Can Buy American.” Recently, he has seen more American-made products and they are often even available without a higher price tag.
Many industries are still dominated by imports, including toys and textiles. Simmermaker and many others still believe that buying American is important and they see others shifting towards that mindset. As Simmermaker said, “It’s definitely easier. Especially in the last year or so, things have really changed.”

Last year, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that it would be standing behind the movement. In January, they said they planned to spend an additional $50 billion over the next 10 years on American-made products. Apple Inc. also has plans to build some of its iMac lines in the US instead of in China.

It’s certainly worth watching in the coming year or more to see which companies focus their efforts in America.

Jan Brewer Vetoed Gold and Silver Measure

Posted on by Scott Hodges

In a move that many were watching for its legal precedent, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer just vetoed a measure on Thursday that would have allowed gold and silver to be legal tender in the state. She explained that her veto was due to the fact that the legislation could have resulted in lost tax revenue. The bill would have allowed gold and silver to become legal tender beginning in mid-2014.

The Republican-controlled state legislature voted the measure through last month. Brewer, in an open letter to state Senate President Andy Biggs explained, “While I believe the concern over a devalued dollar as a result of an unsustainable federal deficit is justified, I am unable to support this legislation.”

In recent years, the desire to establish gold and silver as currency has become popular in the US with hardline fiscal conservatives. They’ve been backed by the Tea Party movement, American Principles Project, the Gold Standard Institute and others.

Brewer, however, noted that the “administrative and fiscal burdens” for taxpayers and the revenue department “remain vague.”

Had the measure been signed, Arizona would have become only the second state in the US to establish precious metals as legal tender. Utah has such measures in place. 

Florida Adopts a Record Spending Plan

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Florida may be a place worth watching for states that are still struggling with the recession. Florida legislators just adopted a record $74.5 billion spending plan on Friday at the close of their 2013 lawmaking session.
As Republican Joe Negron told the Senate just before the unanimous vote to approve the plan, “While it’s true that our spending did go up, we have held $2.8 billion in reserve, we paid back a $300 million loan and we are spending $500 million for our state pension plan.”
Amy Baker, the coordinator of the state Revenue Estimating Conference, said that general revenue collations are now projected to increase by $1.1 billion in the coming year. 81.1% of that total comes from the state’s 6% sales tax, while 18.8% of it comes from the stamp tax on real estate activities.
 Standards & Poor’s Rating Service has shown that Florida’s situation isn’t entirely unusual.  State governments across the country are showing surprisingly strong gains from income and sales taxes.