Archive for the 'Luxury News' Category
Yahoo! to Google: Real Time Stock Quotes
Google has become a noun, a verb and a trusted friend in my life.
It of course answers endless questions and sends curious clients my way, but also handles my email, documents, maps, spreadsheets, instant chat, and more. And when I want to check traffic conditions, I can do it with another Google real time mapping application on the Blackberry.
Just when I have to count both fingers and toes to list all the very cool Google applications, they surprise us with another:
Now, we can all get real time stock quotes and financial news about our favorite stocks. No more delayed quotes from Yahoo or other financial sites. If Google had any shortcoming, it has been in the financial arena. For stock quotes and financial news, son and sometimes-trader Scott has always championed Yahoo Financial News for quick quotes and relevant company news.
No more. When life moves quickly (and it does), consider the importance of twenty minutes–and all the things that can happen in that short time frame.
Yahoo! to Google (and a thousand balloons) for transporting real time stock quotes from the traders to the people. This is major financial news–and one I’ll also be able to put on my Blackberry.
read comments (0)Luxury on a Gold-Plated Shoestring
I call Eve Sieminski the Polish Contessa. She loves fine jewelry, expensive hairstylists and fine wine. I don’t know where Eve shops for jewelry or what deal (if any) she strikes with her hairstylist, but we follow her wine recommendations religiously.
You see, the Polish Contessa, has no problem pouring a classless wine down the drain, nor does she hesitate to share her latest finds. One recent jewel was the TBD Zinfandel that is available at Trader Joe’s for (shhhh!) $4.99 a bottle. We tried one bottle and immediately bought a case. It really is that good. But the recommendation comes from Eve, who says:
“This tastes like a $30 bottle of fine Zinfandel that I wouldn’t hesitate to serve at a State Dinner–or to my snootiest clients. It might be good, however, to decant the wine first. The TBD label and name just don’t do justice to what is inside the bottle.”
If you are looking for commentary about hints of raspberry, chocolate finishes or oakey notes, Eve suggests you visit a symphony or read reviews for $80 bottles of wine in Wine Spectator or the like. And while Eve can afford Opus One or perhaps a Chateau Clement Pichon, she takes great pleasure in finding great wines at fabulous prices–and enjoys sharing her conquests.
If you want reviews and inside bargain scoops on fine wines from a true wine lover (instead of a critic), I advise you to stay tuned. Eve has promised to gift our luxey readers with more of her outstanding finds in wine and food. And if you, dear reader, have a recommendation for great wines under $20, Eve promises she (and we?) will try them out and share the results.
Eve’s Bonus Wine Tip: If you don’t have time to property chill your red wine to European room temperature (yes, red wine blossoms with slight chilling), put it in your freezer for 15 minutes (set timer), remove and enjoy.
This will be an irregular column, but we promise to share great wine finds, food discoveries and bonus wine and food tips with our luxury readers as soon as they become available.
What better way to truly enjoy your luxury home with appreciative friends and other oenophiles.
In the meantime, please feel free to share your own!
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2008 Luxury Home Design Trends
This piece is for those of us unable to make the biannual trek to Paris for the biannual Maison & Objet trade show that features the hottest home decor designs produced by the smartest and most influential names in the industry.
Those in the luxury home business are always on the prowl, trying to spot the latest trends that might help update, inspire and improve the luxury home decor.
Patty Bouley was fortunate enough to attend the Maison & Objet show and was able to sort through around 3000 new products and note the hot new home trends for 2008:
- Purple and grey are THE new color companions.The combination is classy and elegant and I am rethinking my bedroom colors.
- Nature gets glitzy. Floral patterns are now accented with metallics: Think bronze, platinum and silver.
- Aspen is hot. Look for nubby wools and furs, bare wood and hunting themes to create the cozy ski chalet feel.
- Morocco is in. Think perforated metal, hand-tooled leather, intricate textiles and hand blown glass. Great for eclectics.
- So is Japan. You will see vibrant colors (think red), stylized floral patterns, origami folds, and delicate hand stitching and embroidery,
Enjoy the following slide show from one of my favorite sites: PointClickHome
Luxury Builder Says 2007 Worst in 40 Years
If real estate investors are looking for blood in the streets, they had better be wearing galoshes.
Even the books of venerable Toll Brothers, America’s largest builder of luxury tract homes, are in the red. For the first time in 21 years, the company is suffering its first quarterly loss (Oct. 31) in the amount of $81.8 million. Much of this loss can be attributed to $314.9 million in pretax writedowns for homes it could no longer sell at a profit. Even Robert Toll, the company’s founder, concedes that 2007 has been the most challenging year in the company’s 40 year history.
But every loss also registers a gain–somewhere and somehow.
It has been evident that newer tract home subdivisions have been hit especially hard the past couple of years. Many homeowners needing to sell had bought during market highs and more than a few a have been forced to sell at a loss. Funds spent on landscaping, hardscaping, flooring/ surface upgrades, and window coverings (and perhaps even the down payment) have gone down the drain.
It is a tough time to be a home seller.
This has forced a number of builders with standing inventory to offer costly upgrades as an incentive for potential home buyers. Those buyers, who once had to budget for many of these improvements, are now getting them for free–sometimes packaged with interest rate buydowns and other incentives. It is a spiral that has forced builders and their prior home buyers to compete.
Many shrewd real estate buyers have been renting and waiting for opportunities such as these–and are coming out of hiding. Real estate investors who sold at or near the top of the market a couple of years ago are also back into buying mode. And so are foreign investors, who benefit not only from depressed real estate prices in prime US markets, but also the strength of their Euros and Canadian dollars against the US dollar.
This may explain the recent phenomenon in the beaten-down San Diego real estate market, where multiple offers are being made on properties that are priced under market. It’s something we haven’t seen in a long time, and just may be the beginning of a market bottom.
If you have any questions (or need to borrow a pair of rubber boots), just give us a call at 877-818-8197 or 760-402-9101.
Malibu Thanksgiving Wildfire Burning Homes
by Roberta Murphy
The Malibu fire started early this morning just before 3:30 a.m. near Malibu Lake and Mesa Peak Canyon–and as of this writing, has destroyed over 35 homes. Propelled by strong Santa Ana winds and fed by dry brush and trees, this Thanksgiving weekend wildfire is currently out of control.
Over 1500 acres burned in the first five hours as huge walls of fire and smoke raged through the canyons. It jumped Pacific Coast Highway and is heading toward the Pacific Ocean, with winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. There are sustained winds of around 30 mph.
Multi-million dollar luxury homes are in flames.
Hundreds of homes in Malibu communities have been evacuated, as has Pepperdine University, where students are urged to congregate at the campus shelter. The local Malibu high school is being used as a community shelter.
Hundreds of firefighters, aided by at least 10 water-dropping helicopters, are battling the blazes.
Southern California had been warned about the weekend Santa Ana wind conditions, and hundreds of firefighters are mobilizing.
This report will be updated during the day….
