By Adam Lass, Senior Editor, Taipan Publishing Group

This American company has gained 777% the old-fashioned way: selling junk in backroom deals.

As regular readers know, I am a Ford man.

Back when I was a kid, you had to make three really important choices. First, you had to pick a political party. Didn’t matter how well you knew the candidates – you picked a party and that’s what you were.

We are talking Democrat or Republican here. Libertarians weren’t much discussed, and backing the Socialists could get your parents blackballed at work. And if you wanted peace around the dinner table, you just went with the same side your folks did.

Second, you had to choose “your” baseball, basketball and football teams. We didn’t have rotisserie leagues back then, so there was no “à la carte.” You picked your guys, and you defended their every move in the schoolyard and on

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This American company has gained 777% the old-fashioned way: selling junk in backroom deals. As regular readers know, I am a Ford man. Back when I was a kid, you had to make three really important choices. First, you had to pick a political party. Didn’t matter how well you knew the candidates – you picked a party and that’s what you were. We are talking Democrat or Republican here. Libertarians weren’t much discussed, and backing the Socialists could get your parents blackballed at work. And if you wanted peace around the dinner table, you just went with the same side your folks did. Second, you had to choose “your” baseball, basketball and football teams. We didn’t have rotisserie leagues back then, so there was no “à la carte.” You picked your guys, and you defended their every move in the schoolyard and on the stoop – with fists if need be. Prudent Choices To this ...

Housing Streak Ends At Four

To anyone holding a half-full glass and with rose-tinted spectacles firmly in place on their face, the latest batch of real estate data has brought them back to reality with a sharp bump.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) dampened the spirits on Thursday morning, with the news that sales of existing U.S. homes fell by 2.7% in August to an annual rate of 5.1 million.

And thus, the streak of four straight months of rising sales came to an end. Although given the fragile, stumbling recovery of the housing market, that’s akin to Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played streak for the Baltimore Orioles.

As for prices, they’re still stuck in reverse, too. The average price is currently $177,000 – about 12.5% lower than this time last year. And it’s no surprise to see

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