Menu

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 5.65 percent this week, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.46 discount and origination points.

The international automobile industry is facing a huge upheaval. We are currently witnessing a shift in the most important production locations and sales markets to emerging markets. These shifts in emphasis will carry consequences for the entire industry and new global players will emerge. Arthur D. Little’s study, entitled "Shifting Centers of Gravity - The End of the Automotive Industry as we know it?" points to future scenarios and the most important spheres of activity.

Chief Executive magazine's CEO Index, the nation's only monthly CEO Index, dropped to 63 in July, after showing gradual improvement. All components of the index are down, with Employment Confidence taking the largest hit.

Led by rising investment confidence and expectations for the future, the most recent results of the RBC CASH (Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household) Index show a sharp upswing in consumer sentiment for August 2009, reversing the slide of the previous two months. The RBC CASH Index for August stands at 37.5, a 15.1 point increase from July's 22.4 reading. Although consumer sentiment remains volatile, the Index saw improvement in all four of its sub-indices, which measure consumers' views of current conditions, their expectations for the future and their confidence in investing and job security.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for Japan increased 1.0 percent while The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) decreased 0.1 percent in June.

The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor fell for the second consecutive month from 85.6 to 83.5 (based out of 100), as consumer attitudes towards the economy and the current state of their personal finances continued to deteriorate. Overall, 61 percent rated current economic conditions as poor, a 2-point increase from the previous month.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.K. increased 1.0 percent, and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) increased 0.1 percent in June.

There is a silver lining to the continuing recession for the majority of small businesses, with two-thirds of owners reporting they are finding new ways to operate more efficiently. This finding is revealed in the latest Small Business Success Index™, an ongoing measurement of the overall health of U.S. small businesses sponsored by Network Solutions® (www.networksolutions.com) and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business (www.rhsmith.umd.edu). The index, based on a June 2009 telephone survey of 500 small business owners, also found that small businesses’ mood has brightened compared to six months ago, with 38% of small business owners expecting the economy to improve in the next 12 months, compared to the 23% who felt this way in January. In June, only 28% of small business owners expected the economy to decline in the next 12 months, compared to nearly half (48%) just six months ago.

While the nation's health care industry invests hundreds of billions of dollars each year in new technology and infrastructure to care for an increasingly aging population, its most important investment should be in its people, according to a new white paper published by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement.

Strativity Group (www.Strativity.com) announced it will be unveiling the surprising results of their Customer Experience consumer study today.