Following two days of gains, mortgage rates took a small step backward yesterday after a tapebomb from the St. Louis Federal Reserve bank. The news release sparked inflation fears among market participants who quickly sold their fixed income investments which includes treasuries and mortgage backed securities pushing yields higher. Adding more anxiety to traders was the improvement in the services sector of our economy, the ISM non-manufacturing index moved from contracting in November to expansion...

The churches have left their lights on bright and shining for what has begun. Those unfortunate enough not to have made preparations before this day are surely welcome but there is no guarantee that someone will be there to help them. Along the highways, the back country roads, and even in parking lots, cars have been abandoned and their owners are nowhere to be found. A few of the cars are even left running - perhaps the world still has a few optimists left. The aisles at the grocery store have...

Sarasota has a lot of perks as far as its location and activities, but perhaps the greatest perk to me is just how nice the city itself is. Great people, clean street. What else is there??

There are other cities in Southwest Florida, however. Let me give you a quick rundown, starting from the south:

Punta Gorda - Quaint downtown area, a lot of older homes but some newer ones as well in nice communities. Good deals on waterfront properties right now.

Port...

Good Morning dear friends! Dull and overcast here this morning. Lots of deer tracks near the bird feeders and of course, the bird feeders are empty. There are even deer tracks on the front deck! Hungry deer!
I woke up early this morning and went to sleep late last night. I broke a rib yesterday morning and it's really sore this morning. Hopefully the Advil will start working soon. There's...

After a relatively mild november, December was not as friendly since many cold days and nights came to the area. I suffered a head-cold from the 1st thorugh 7th of the month and it was brutal having to deal with the coldness and the freezing mist.

Most of the rain fell on the 1st of the month, but other rain events were fairly frequent throughout December 2009. Like the November 2009 weather systems, December's were fast paced causing only moderate rainfall amounts to fall. I gauged...