TEXAS RANKS FIRST FOR BUSINESS

TEXAS (Austin Business Journal) – Texas stands out as the top state for business, according to Directorship magazine.

Texas "has a pro-business tax climate that ranks third, a low cost of living, a relatively solid economy and a litigation environment that ranks tenth on our list," the magazine reported. "Texas also ranks first in the number of Fortune 500 companies located there."

Major corporate relocations and expansions such as Comerica's move to Dallas and Caterpillar's new plant in Seguin were highlighted as reasons for Texas' ranking.

Directorship evaluated states' overall economies, tax climates, cost of living and education to determine rankings

Home Maintenance Tip -

Your washer and dryer are designed to be simple to maintain, and there are a few things you can do that will prolong the life of the machines and reduce service calls.
Avoid overloading the washer - an overloaded washer strains the motor and transmission, shortening their lives.
Once a month, remove and clean intake screens where water-supply hoses enter the washing machine, and check water-supply hoses for splits, cracks, or bulges.
Once a year, disconnect your dryer from the vent hose and wall, and thoroughly vacuum and clean the lint pipe to improve your drying efficiency and remove potentially flammable lint buildup.
Once a year disconnect the washer and dryer to clean underneath and check for any small leaks or hidden maintenance problems.

TEXAS STILL BUYER'S MARKET

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, The Herald-Zeitung) – Despite rising foreclosure rates in the United States (now nearly 32 percent), the rate in Texas is down 14 percent since last year.

Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the Texas housing market is doing very well compared with the rest of the nation.

"We're being compared to large, high-growth states like Florida, New York, California and Illinois, and our housing market is in much better shape. This is partly because about four or five years ago, we didn't have the big run-up in prices that many of those states had," Gaines said.

Texas also benefits from a lack of overbuilding, which often creates an excess of inventory to drive down home prices.

Affordable homes, low mortgage and interest rates, and first-time homebuyer tax credits also make this an ideal time to buy a home, according to Gaines.

TEXAS QUICK TO BOUNCE BACK FROM RECESSION, FORBES SAYS

WASHINGTON (Forbes) – Several Texas cities are poised for a quick recovery from the national recession, according to Forbes.

Austin–Round Rock ranked first on the magazine’s recent list of ten cities most likely to bounce back quickly.

Meanwhile, San Antonio ranked fifth, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington seventh and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ninth.

To compile its list, Forbes looked at estimates from Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.

Forbes also put together a list of ten worst cities for recession recovery. No Texas cities made that list.

This Economy Wants to Recover

In his recent Croesus Chronicles for Forbes, Robert Lenzner outlined several economic points:

"The bear market ended March 9, and the end of the worst recession since the 1930s, or is it the mid 1970s, is plainly in sight."

"About $120 billion has been pulled out of global market funds since mid-March;"

'Yet money market assets are still equal to 50% of the S&P 500 market cap...Since 1990, money market assets have averaged about 20% of the S&P 500 market cap. This is a huge potential buying power.

While no one is certain that a new bull market has begun, we can point to some telling signs: "Stocks broke higher on June 1 even though the yield on 30-yeard Treasuries climbed back above 4.5%...This is what the long bond yielded in August of 2008. Just before the meltdown in credit markets during the fall of 2008."

"Credit markets are healing, as spreads have fallen considerably."

"Corporations are able to raise tens of billions in the short-term debt market."

"The yield curve, the difference in yield between short-term and long-term securities, usually widens in advance of an economic recovery, and it has done so."

"Stocks also rose spectacularly despite the bankruptcy of General Motors and the continuing loss of jobs in the automobile industry. Bad news doesn't seem to be rocking the market like it did a few months ago."

"Earnings yields on equities still remain comfortably above the yield on 10-year Treasuries and should have the ability to absorb higher interest rates driven by economic recovery."

'The US manufacturing institute for Supply Management index rose to 42.8 in May, which usually signals that gross domestic is expanding rather the faltering."

'Housing, the genesis of the crisis, is showing signs of stabilization and even amelioration. Pending sales were up 6.7% in April, even if prices are still in the tank.'

'Even automobile sales improved in May to an annualized 10 million vehicle level.'

'There has also been a mini-bull market going on in commodities that has been mightier than the one for stocks. This outperformance by commodities is another leading indicator of an economy about to turn the corner.'

And lastly, "Another factor that helps the Dow is the replacement of two stocks with no earning--General Motors and Citigroup--with Travelers and Cisco."

"Looks to Croesus that this market wants to rise, deflation or inflation both be damned!"