Yesterday the Seattle Times reprinted a New York Times article on the "third wave" of foreclosures--foreclosures on people who had good credit and reasonable mortgages, but who have fallen behind due to job loss or pay or hours reduction. The first wave came when flippers and speculators got caught by plunging real-estate prices, and wave number two arrived when option-ARM mortgages reset at higher rates. Foreclosures are terrible for the value of surrounding homes. In Seattle, says the PSBJ, the "average price of a Seattle home dropped 16.4 percent in March from a year earlier, which is moving closer to the national average decline of 18.7 percent." more ›

Though a lot of reviewers are using a "buck a cup" formulation for Starbucks' instant coffee VIA, we note Starbucks isn't so down-market as all that--the VIA experience comes in packs of three, so you end up dropping a latte's worth of coin on the counter anyway. We're sure this is somehow related to SBUX shares being worth a little less than three VIA themselves. more ›