CdA Resort hosts real estate forum
Local economic development and real estate experts will offer their projections on the Inland Northwest’s market today at the Real Estate Market Forum.
The annual event, which is presented by the Spokane-Kootenai Real Estate Research Committee, will be held this year at the Coeur d’Alene Resort from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is sold out.
Topics to be addressed include the residential, office and retail markets in Spokane and Kootenai counties; regional perspectives of Walla Walla, Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene; and workforce housing issues.
The keynote speaker is Lawrence Yun, managing director of quantitative research for the National Association of Realtors.
Burbank, Calif.
Buffett tries hand at animated films
Warren Buffett: billionaire investor and cartoon hero?
Buffett, the head of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will advise youngsters on financial management issues in an animated series currently in production, DIC Entertainment announced Wednesday.
Buffett’s voice and likeness will appear in “The Secret Millionaire’s Club.” He also was a consultant to the show but was not paid for the work, his assistant Debbie Bosanek said.
The direct-to-DVD series is about four children whose online auction to raise money for their youth center turns them into millionaires. They save the center and then turn to Buffett for investment advice.
Hartford, Conn.
Mistrial No. 2 for ex-Cendant exec
A federal judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the accounting-fraud trial of former Cendant Corp. Chairman Walter Forbes, whose company was ensnared in one of the first corporate scandals of the 1990s.
Forbes, whose first trial also ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict, was accused of participating in a scheme that cost the company and investors more than $3 billion.
The jury in the second trial deliberated in Hartford for 27 days.
Jurors sent a note to U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson this morning saying they were deadlocked, Thompson’s clerk said. Thompson, who had encouraged the jury to work through a previous deadlock, discussed the note with the jurors and then discharged them.
Washington
30-year T-bond back, booming
The 30-year Treasury bond made a long-awaited return on Thursday, delighting bond investors and the cash-strapped federal government.
The Treasury Department sold $14 billion of the bonds with a yield of 4.53 percent. Strong demand helped to keep the yield at its lowest level ever.
Bond sales stopped while the government ran a string of budget surpluses. Deficits returned and set records, so the government reintroduced the bond, hoping to lock in interest payments at low rates for a longer period.