Tracy Davidson

For the first time in years there is a glimmer of hope in the condo market. After falling 20% nationwide and 60% or more in the hardest-hit areas, median condo prices remained flat nationally in the first quarter vs. a year earlier.
And sales in March were up 40% from the previous year, hinting that prices [...]

Filling up the family car’s gas tank is getting more expensive as the 4th of July weekend nears, but that won’t stop a lot of people from hitting the road.
Gasoline prices rose 1.2 cents Thursday to a national average of $2.753 per gallon, according t AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Pump prices [...]

USA TODAY-
If United and Continental airlines merge, passengers will end up paying higher fares — right?
Aaron Gellman, who’s spent 40 years in and around the airline industry as an analyst, consultant, researcher, teacher and board member, is convinced of it.
“Concentration in any industry leads to higher prices,” says the veteran transportation economist who teaches at [...]

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC – News) and other banks are preparing new fees on basic banking services as they try to replace revenue lost to regulatory rules, in a push that is expected to spell an end to free checking accounts for many Americans.
Free checking accounts, which have been widely available for more [...]

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Wednesday approved an increase for Aqua Pennsylvania Inc.’s 406,050 customers that will boost residential water rates 5.2 percent, less than half the company’s request.
The commission voted, 4-0, to approve the increase, which was negotiated among the PUC, user groups and advocates, and the company, a unit of Aqua America [...]

USA TODAY
Thousands of pending home sales may be in jeopardy unless Congress extends the June 30 deadline for buyers to close on their deals and claim a tax credit.
The Senate on Wednesday approved a three-month extension, giving buyers until Sept. 30 to close, but it’s attached to another bill that still has to be passed [...]

First-time homebuyers looking to land an $8,000 federal income tax credit may have a little more time to close on their purchases if a Senate amendment unveiled Thursday makes it into law.
As it stands now, homebuyers must have signed contracts by April 30 and must close the deal by June 30. They could be eligible [...]

Were you smart enough to sell your tech stocks in March 2000? Or your house in July 2006? If so, you should seriously consider buying some gold. A lot of it.
But if — like most people — you don’t have the gift for knowing when a financial bubble is about to burst, you may want [...]

USA TODAY-
A growing number of doctors across the country are boosting revenue by asking patients to pay new fees for services they say insurance doesn’t cover, insurance and physicians’ groups say.
The extra payments include no-show fees of $30-$50 for missed appointments, widely varying charges for filling out health forms for school, work or athletic teams, [...]

Several downtrodden cities are on the verge of defaulting on their debt, putting financially encumbered states and taxpayers on the hook to pick up the tab. The National League of Cities says municipal governments will probably come up $56 billion to $83 billion short between now and 2012. That’s the tab for decades of binge [...]