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Economy
3:07 am
Wed March 20, 2013

For Some Ready To Buy, A Good Home Is Hard To Find

Originally published on Wed March 27, 2013 9:30 am

The first day of spring typically signals the high season for open houses and home sales.

The season seems to have arrived early in some places where homebuying is already frenzied, and in many markets, the pendulum has swung from an excess of homes on the market a few years ago to a shortage.

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Financial Basics For Baby Boomers
3:06 am
Wed March 20, 2013

Annuities Explained: The Choices And Red Flags

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed March 27, 2013 9:32 am

Companies are licking their chops at the prospect of a wave of baby boomers leaving their jobs with trillions of dollars in 401(k)s and other savings accounts, so older Americans may find themselves bombarded with ads for annuities. And younger boomers, too, may be targeted, since many are helping their parents with investment decisions.

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Sweetness And Light
10:03 pm
Tue March 19, 2013

What's The Score On Spirited Sports Banter At Bars?

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 8:16 am

The more I travel, the more I see sports bars. They've been around for years, usually in obvious places, like in college towns or near arenas.

But now they're everywhere, even in airports and hotels, places where you'd expect generic bars. Sports bars are becoming ubiquitous and ordinary — merely, as my wife calls them, public man caves.

All bars, of course, have forever been places where men talk about sports. Other prime saloon subjects include women, the traffic and the weather.

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The Two-Way
6:27 pm
Tue March 19, 2013

NFL Owners Pass Two New, Safety Related Rules

Credit Kathy Willens / AP
Trainers work on Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in 2012.

NFL owners passed two rules aimed at improving player safety, today.

The Associated Press reports:

"The owners outlawed peel-back blocks anywhere on the field; previously, they were illegal only inside the tackle box. A player makes a peel-back block when he is moving toward his goal line, approaches an opponent from behind or the side and makes contact below the waist.

"The penalty will be 15 yards.

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Business
6:21 pm
Tue March 19, 2013

Odd Political Bedfellows Agree: Banks Still Too Big To Fail

Credit Gary Cameron / Reuters/Landov
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke during a Senate hearing last month. Senators from both ends of the political spectrum argue that financial reforms are insufficient to protect taxpayers from potential risks posed by large banks.

Originally published on Tue March 19, 2013 7:51 pm

Amid Washington's dysfunction, one issue has united some liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans: a common concern that "too big to fail" is alive and well.

Despite the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, these lawmakers believe the nation's largest banks still pose a threat to the economy and that the government will step in to bail them out if they get in trouble.

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