| Housing Downturn Squeezing Schools
Some school-level spending is under review for this year as a result of inheriting a system that was in financial ruins," Hobson wrote. "We are spending this year getting the financial house in order." Although districts have tried to keep instruction intact, some effects are unavoidable as long-term plans to promote achievement are postponed. In the Prince George's system, which has struggled to make federal standards, the fiscal hard times have stalled the expansion of the International Baccalaureate program, among others. There are no plans to give teachers a raise this year. The system has 16,000 positions, and more than 300 vacant ones are being eliminated. But the hardest blow was the postponement of an ambitious plan to create schools for pre-K to eighth grade.
When a ‘Rescue’ Is Not: Bank of America Buys Countrywide
When the four billion dollar deal was leaked to the media, the markets were ecstatic and the share price went up. The acquisition crazed BOA which, thanks to new bank-friendly laws and deregulation, went from being a Western institution to a national one, was said to be acting to prevent the collapse of a company vital to saving the national economy. "My hero?" Actually, the Bank had invested two billion in Countrywide last August which was then seen as a great deal. They had paid only $18 dollars a share for 16% of the company. But the value of that investment fell by nearly half in just a few months. As the housing market went into free fall, Countrywide did as well with 7.2 percent of the loans they were servicing in serious arrears. Foreclosures on their properties had doubled.
Investing amid all the recession buzz
Buy a large-cap stock fund that can ride out problems with the economy? How about bond funds or CDs? --Matthew Beck Answer: I'm glad to see that the steady drumbeat of dismal economic news hasn't scared you and your wife from investing. But unless you revise your approach, I'm concerned that you could end up squandering much of that fifty grand. Let's start with your premise - namely, that the "recession buzz" should dictate what investments you buy. Granted, most of what you hear from pundits and read in news reports makes it seem as if we're definitely headed into a recession, which is generally defined as the economy shrinking in two consecutive quarters. (You can get a more comprehensive definition by clicking here.) But it's not a given. And even if we do slip into recession, it's possible that a combination of the Fed's rate cuts and some sort of economic stimulus package like the one being bandied about now could make it shorter and shallower than it otherwise might be.
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