Investing in a Bad Economy - Real Estate Economy Watch

With our economy finally recovering from a terrible recession and the possibility of another financial collapse in the coming months, it can be difficult to decide whether or not to invest. Is investing during a bad economy good, or bad?

Residential real estate invest has done surprisingly well for investors during the housing depression.

Large, affordable inventories of distress sales, foreclosures and short sales, have put real estate investing in reach of millions of investors who never would have considered it.? Returns of eight percent or better have encourages more than two dozen well-funded private equity investors to enter the market, creating additional demand for well-managed ?Investors saw their share of non-distressed property purchases inch higher from 11.3 percent to 12.2 percent over the past five months, according to Campbell Surveys.

While there are many bad investments that you should avoid during a down economy, there are also of plenty positive ones, too.?? In his new book The Only Three Questions That Still Count, ?Forbes ?Portfolio Strategy? columnist Ken Fisher suggests you ?begin your search or the right investment by answering three questions so you know exactly how to make good investing decisions.

Source: http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2012/11/investing-in-a-bad-economy/

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Samuel Adams Teams Up With TCHO Chocolate

Post image for Samuel Adams Teams Up With TCHO Chocolate

Most people wouldn?t pair beer and chocolate, but this holiday season, that?s about to change.? Samuel Adams and?San Francisco-based craft chocolate maker TCHO have teamed up to introduce the?Samuel Adams?Beer Lover?s Chocolate Box.? The Brewers at Samuel Adams worked closely with TCHO?s Chief Chocolate Maker Brad Kintzer to design the gift box so that each premium chocolate pairs with a Samuel Adams brew from the?Samuel Adams?Winter Classics Variety Pack. Just in time for holiday festivities and gifting, this assortment of specialty chocolates will prove to any foodie that beer and chocolate are the perfect combination.

Chocolate lovers and craft beer connoisseurs alike will enjoy the surprising flavor combinations. The malty sweetness and rich flavors of craft beer enhance, and are enriched by, the flavors of rich premium chocolate. The carbonation of the beer also cleanses the palate from the heavy finish of the chocolate; after a sip, the palate is ready for another taste. You may even become convinced that chocolate pairs better with craft beer than red wine, which is thought of as a traditional pairing.

Full-flavored craft beers like Samuel Adams have helped elevate craft beer to its rightful place at the table as an ideal food pairing and alternative to wine. In fact, in a recent Gallup poll*, beer topped wine (and liquor) as America?s favorite alcoholic drink. Craft beer is an accessible food pairing too ? for about the same price as a mediocre bottle of wine, you can buy a great six-pack of flavorful, craft beer made with the highest quality ingredients.

Jennifer Glanville, Brewery Manager at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery shares her passion for food and beer pairings:
?The idea of pairing beer and food has been around for centuries, but many people are just starting to explore the idea and have fun with it while learning what works. From a juicy burger to a rich cheese or dessert, there?s a beer to create that perfect pairing ? it?s all about letting the flavor of one enhance the other,? says Jennifer. ?We?re looking forward to hearing drinkers? responses to the Samuel Adams Beer Lover?s Chocolate Box. So many people think of wine as the quintessential chocolate pairing, but we think this pairing will certainly change some minds.?

What?Brad Kintzer, TCHO Chief Chocolate Maker has to say:
?As both a veteran chocolate maker and novice homebrewer, I?m amazed by the flavor complexity found in beer ? and by the similarities in the chocolate making process and how complementary the resulting flavors can be. Great beer ? like great chocolate ? is the result of a careful fermentation that yields an array of flavor possibilities,? says Brad. ?Many of the flavors found in cocoa and chocolate can also be found in beer, and you can taste the synergy when they are paired. Many food and drink combinations come off as a bit forced as ?pairings;? they just don?t seem to work together flavor-wise.? In developing the Beer Lover?s Chocolate Box, it was surprisingly natural to pair Samuel Adams brews with our TCHO chocolates.?

Where to find the chocolates and the brews:
The?Samuel Adams?Beer Lover?s Chocolate Box includes 12 8g chocolates, and the first 150 orders will also include two?Samuel Adams?Perfect Pint Glasses. The chocolate box is available nationwide for$16.95?at?TCHO.com/SamuelAdams; limited quantities will also be available at the?Samuel AdamsBoston Brewery gift shop.?Samuel Adams?Winter Classics Variety Pack is available through December for a suggested retail price of?$13.99. To find the brews near you, visit?http://www.samueladams.com/find-a-sam.aspx.

NYC Beer and Wine Sommelier,?Gianni Cavicchi?recommends some additional food and beer pairing tips:
?Craft beer comes in such a variety of styles that it can complement most any meal and can add dimension to recipes in cooking. Beef is one of the best pairings for?Samuel Adams Boston Lager. The brew?s upfront malt flavor matches the caramelized flavors of the meat, and its hoppy finish prepares the palate for the next bite,? says Gianni. ?Samuel Adams Boston Lager?is also a great beer to match the intensity of a creamy cheese, like a Roquefort blue cheese. The deep flavors and firm texture of blue cheese needs a bold and well hopped beer to cleanse the palate, and the earthy, nutty, and smoky flavors in the beer are reflected and enhanced in the cheese. And of course, pairing chocolate and beer is a win-win. In fact, it?s actually better to pair beer with chocolate than wine because sometimes the intensity of chocolate takes over wine and the acidity in wine doesn?t balance.?

Samuel Adams?Beer Lover?s Chocolate Box Pairing Notes

  • Samuel Adams Boston Lager???+ PureNotes? Dark ?Chocolatey? (70%)
    • The malt character and subtle Noble Hop bitterness of Boston Lager bring out the rich, fudgy flavor and malty sweetness of TCHO?s ?Chocolatey.?
  • Samuel Adams??Winter Lager?+ PureNotes? Dark ?Citrus? (67%)
    • Winter Lager?s rich, hearty flavor is a pleasant balance to the delicate, smooth flavor of TCHO?s ?Citrus.? The subtle citrus notes in both the beer and the chocolate complement each other perfectly.
  • Samuel Adams??White Christmas + PureNotes? Dark ?Fruity? (68%)
    • White Christmas is a crisp, unfiltered white ale blended with holiday spices. TCHO?s ?Fruity? chocolate boasts bright berry notes that highlight the citrus and wheat characters of this ale, while bringing out the warmth of its spices.
  • Samuel Adams??Holiday Porter + PureNotes? Dark ?Nutty? (65%)
    • Holiday Porter is a robust and flavorful brew. The complex espresso and roasty notes of this beer are deliciously accentuated by the roasted nut and toasted malt notes of TCHO?s ?Nutty? chocolate.
  • Samuel Adams??Old Fezziwig??Ale + SeriousMilk? ?Classic? (39%)
    • Old Fezziwig?Ale is bursting with spices of the season and the rich flavors of roasted malt. The creamy, caramel notes of TCHO?s ?Classic? milk chocolate balance delicately with this beer?s ginger and cinnamon undertones.
  • Samuel Adams??Chocolate Bock + SeriousMilk? ?Cacao? (53%)
    • Chocolate Bock is a dark, decadent beer with a big, malty character, combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate. TCHO?s ?Cacao? dark milk chocolate brings out the chocolate notes of this beer and complements the brew?s nutty and fruity notes.

Connect with Samuel Adams:

Connect with TCHO

*Source:?http://www.gallup.com/poll/1582/alcohol-drinking.aspx

ABOUT THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY:
The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father?s attic. Inspired and unafraid to challenge conventional thinking about beer, Jim brought the recipe to life in his kitchen. ?Pleased with the results of his work, Jim decided to sample his beer with bars in?Boston?in the hopes that drinkers would appreciate the complex, full-flavored beer he brewed fresh in America. ?That beer was aptly named Samuel Adams Boston Lager?, in recognition of one of our nation?s great founding fathers, a man of independent mind and spirit. ?Little did Jim know at the time,?Samuel Adams Boston Lager?soon became a catalyst of the American craft beer revolution.

Today, The Boston Beer Company brews more than 50 styles of beer. ?It relentlessly pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of classic beers by searching the world for the finest ingredients. ?Using the traditional four vessel brewing process, the Company often takes extra steps like dry-hopping, barrel-aging and a secondary fermentation known as krausening. ?The Company has also pioneered another revolution, the ?extreme beer? movement, where it seeks to challenge drinker?s perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company has been committed to elevating the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions around the globe, and in the past five years has won more awards in international beer competitions than any other brewery in the world. As an independent company, brewing quality beer remains its single focus. Although Samuel Adams beer is America?s largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for only one percent of the U.S. beer market. ?The Boston Beer Company will continue its independently-minded quest to brew great beer and to advocate for the growth of craft beer across America. For more information, please visit?www.samueladams.com.

ABOUT TCHO:
TCHO is a craft chocolate maker in?San Francisco, supplying bars of dark and milk chocolate, chocolate drenched treats, and drinking chocolate to consumers and professional chefs nationwide.? In addition to their store and website, TCHO products can be found in over 850 gourmet specialty and natural food retail accounts nationwide, including Whole Foods, Fairways, Gelsons, Bristol Farms, etc. Look for TCHO as an ingredient on dessert menus at your favorite restaurants, too.

TCHO is New American Chocolate. What does it take to make New American Chocolate? Obsession. Obsession with flavor. Obsession with innovation. Obsession over fusing the two to craft the very best chocolate, from bean to bar. The obsession begins at origin. We don?t just buy good beans, we help make the best beans. TCHOSource is our unique sourcing program, designed to obtain the best beans in the world while enabling the producers of those beans to earn a better living. For more information about TCHO?s flavor obsessions and the TCHOSource program, please check out our website athttp://www.tcho.com/tchosource.

SOURCE Samuel Adams

Source: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2012/40318/samuel-adams-teams-up-with-tcho-chocolate

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The cream of the crop - Australian Food News

  • November 28, 2012
  • Kate Carey

This week Dairy Australia announced the ?best of the best? dairy products at the 2013 Australian Grand Dairy Awards in Melbourne.

Over 153 cheeses and 246 dairy products were judged by industry experts on Monday at the Circa restaurant in Melbourne. Dairy Australia awarded twenty recipients across the cheese category and dairy category, which includes yoghurt, milk, butter, cream, desserts and other dairy products.

All twenty award recipients are able to display the Australian Grand Dairy Awards medal on their product. According to Dairy Australia, the medals provide consumers with ?a tangible, readily recognised symbol of the product?s superior quality and excellence, as well as instilling confidence that they are buying Australian-made.?

Lion Dairy & Drink?s Tasmanian Heritage St Claire was awarded 2013 Grand Champion Cheese. Judges said it was an ?excellent example of a modern Swiss cheese? and ?exhibited a sweet, nutty and complex flavour that cheeses are admired for.?

Bulla Dairy Foods? Bulla Premium Sour Cream was awarded 2013 Grand Champion Dairy Product. Bulla Premium Sour Cream received the accolade for its balance of acidity, ?with a good texture and a great balance of creamy flavours.?

Other Australian Grand Dairy Awards (AGDA) recipients are as follows:

The 2013 AGDA Grand Champion Winners are:

2013 Grand Champion Cheese ? Tasmanian Heritage St Claire, Lion Dairy & Drinks (Tas)
2013 Grand Champion Dairy Product ? Bulla Premium Sour Cream, Bulla Dairy Foods (Vic)

The 2013 AGDA Champion Cheese Winners are:

Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese ? Cuore Blu Burrata, That?s Amore Cheese (Vic)
Champion White Mould Cheese ? Old Telegraph Road Brie, Jindi Cheese (Vic)
Champion Semi-Hard and Eye Cheese ? Tasmanian Heritage St Claire, Lion Dairy & Drinks (Tas)
Champion Cheddar-Style Cheese ? Pyengana Cheddar, Pyengana Dairy (Tas)
Champion Hard Cheese ? Mil Lel Superior Parmesan, Lion Dairy & Drinks (Simpson, Vic)
Champion Blue Cheese ? Old Telegraph Road Heritage Blue, Jindi Cheese (Vic)
Champion Washed Rind Cheese - Jindi Reserve Washed Rind, Jindi Cheese (Vic)
Champion Flavoured Cheese ? Mil Lel Superior Pepato, Lion Dairy & Drinks (Simpson, Vic)
Champion Goat?s or Sheep?s Milk Cheese ? Red Hill Mountain Goat Blue, Red Hill Cheese (Vic)

The 2013 AGDA Champion Dairy Winners are:

Champion Natural Yogurt ? Jalna Greek Natural Yoghourt, Jalna Dairy Foods (Vic)
Champion Flavoured Yogurt - Brancourts Premium Dessert Mango Yoghurt, Brancourts Pty Ltd (NSW)
Champion Ice Cream ? Dooley?s Licorice Ice Cream, Dooley?s Ice Cream (Vic)
Champion Dairy Gelato ? Cow and the Moon Pistachio Gelato, Cow and the Moon (NSW)
Champion Dairy Dessert ? King Island Dairy Belgian Chocolate Cr?me Dessert, Lion Dairy & Drinks (King Island, Tas)
Champion Milk ? Sungold Jersey Milk, Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory (Vic)
Champion Specialty White Dairy Drink ? Norco Hi Lo, Norco Foods (Labrador, Qld)
Champion Flavoured Dairy Drink ? Oak Egg Nog, Parmalat (Clarence Gardens, SA)
Champion Cream ? Bulla Premium Sour Cream, Bulla Dairy Foods (Vic)
Champion Butter or Butter Blend ? Western Star Original Butter, Fonterra Brands (Aust) Pty Ltd (Vic)
Champion Dairy Dip ? Paradise Beach Pesto Swirl Dip, Paradise Beach Purveyors Pty Ltd (NSW)

2013 Australian Grand Dairy Awards hosted by Dairy Australia.

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Source: http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2012/11/28/the-cream-of-the-crop-the-2013-australian-grand-dairy-awards-announced.html

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Fisker Automotive names ex-GM marketing chief Ewanick to post

(Reuters) - Green-car startup Fisker Automotive named former General Motors Co and Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> marketing executive Joel Ewanick as interim chief commercial officer, Fisker said on Monday.

Ewanick was ousted as the global marketing chief at GM in July after serving in that position for a little more than two years.

Fisker recently hired Ewanick as a marketing consultant and he will remain a consultant even as he takes over as the chief commercial officer, a company spokesman said.

Ewanick will replace Richard Beattie, who is retiring.

Tony Posawatz, Fisker Automotive's chief executive, said "as we seek to appoint a long-term successor, there is no one better than Joel, with his wealth of motor industry experience and knowledge to guide us through this interim period. I am delighted to welcome him to the Fisker team."

When Ewanick left GM, the No.1 U.S. automaker said that Ewanick had "failed to meet the expectations that the company has for its employees."

People familiar with the situation said Ewanick was fired for not properly disclosing as much as a third of the cost of a $559 million sponsorship deal with English soccer club Manchester United, Reuters reported in early August.

Ewanick was credited by GM executives for raising consumer awareness of the automaker's four brands - Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. At Hyundai, he led the Korean automaker's U.S. marketing efforts as its sales steadily climbed, before he went to GM.

Ewanick joins Fisker near the end of a year in which it has had multiple problems, including product quality and financial setbacks. In August, Fisker recalled 2,400 of its plug-in hybrid Karma, which sells for more than $100,000.

Fisker is developing a less expensive second model called the Atlantic.

(Reporting By Bernie Woodall)

Source

Source: http://finance.blogrange.com/finance-news/fisker-automotive-names-ex-gm-marketing-chief-ewanick-to-post/

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PFT morning after: The unappreciated Cutler

Bears quarterback Cutler is pressured by Vikings defensive end Griffen during the first half of their NFL football game at Soldier Field in ChicagoReuters

If you don?t like Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, you?re not alone. A poll of fans conducted last season found that Cutler was one of the Top 5 most disliked players in the NFL.

And if you?re looking for reasons not to like Cutler, you saw one when the Bears beat the Vikings on Sunday: Cutler committed one of the dumber penalties of the day when he ran out of bounds and then threw the ball at Vikings cornerback A.J. Jefferson. Throwing the ball at an opponent is an automatic 15-yard penalty, as every NFL player should know. Yes, Cutler can be an idiot sometimes.

But if you don?t think Cutler is a good quarterback, well, you?re wrong. Cutler?s abilities were on display in Sunday?s 28-10 win over the Vikings, but they were even more on display in the way the Bears completely fell apart without him a week ago against the 49ers. And Cutler?s importance to the Bears is on display in every game he misses: In the last three years, in games Cutler both started and finished, the Bears are 26-9. In games Cutler either missed entirely or was knocked out because of an injury in the first half, the Bears are 1-8.

No, Cutler doesn?t put up the kinds of numbers that the NFL?s elite quarterbacks produce, but Cutler doesn?t have anywhere near the kind of offensive talent surrounding him that the NFL?s elite quarterbacks have. The Bears have had one of the NFL?s worst offensive lines for Cutler?s entire tenure in Chicago, and they only got a high-level wide receiver for the first time this year, when they traded for Brandon Marshall.

I believe it?s that Chicago offensive line and that Chicago receiving corps ? as well as, yes, acting like a jerk at times by doing things like throwing a ball at an opponent ? that has made Cutler one of the most underappreciated players in the NFL. This is a good quarterback, playing on a team that appears headed toward the playoffs, in the NFL?s second-biggest media market, and he should get more credit than he does.

Cutler has a great opportunity, however, to change the way he?s regarded over the next couple of months. With the Bears right in the thick of the NFC playoff race, Cutler has the chance to do what he didn?t do when a knee injury knocked him out of the NFC Championship Game a couple years ago, and play the best football of his career on the biggest stage. I think Cutler is going to open some eyes in December and January. And maybe by February, he won?t be unappreciated anymore.

Here are my other thoughts on Sunday?s games:

Robert Ayers was the toughest player in the league on Sunday. Ayers, a backup defensive end for the Broncos, found out late on Saturday night that his father had died suddenly. But instead of heading home right away, he decided to stay in Kansas City to be there for his team against the Chiefs. Ayers played and played well in a 17-9 win in which the Broncos? defense shut down the Chiefs? offense, then was awarded a game ball in the locker room afterward and headed home to tend to his family.

Jared Allen got away with a brutal cheap shot. While his teammate Antoine Winfield was returning an interception, Allen launched himself directly into the head of Bears offensive lineman Lance Louis, delivering a hit that knocked Louis out of the game. Allen said after the game that he thought the hit was legal, but he?s wrong. That?s a blatant penalty that the officials somehow missed, but the league office won?t. Allen is in for a big fine.

The Chiefs got too cute. Kansas City?s opening drive against Denver was running smoothly, with an emphasis on running: Out of the Chiefs? first nine offensive plays, eight of them were runs, and those eight runs produced 48 yards. So what on earth were the Chiefs thinking with the play they called on third-and-3 in the red zone? Instead of running it again, the Chiefs called a bizarre trick play on which running back Peyton Hillis took the snap, ran to his right, then turned around and threw it to quarterback Brady Quinn. Hillis?s pass showed that there?s a reason he?s not a quarterback: He threw an ugly duck that didn?t even get close, falling to the ground a few feet in front of Quinn. That was a dumb play call that stopped a promising drive.

Something has to be done about the officials, Part 1. Everyone saw the horrendous call on Thanksgiving in which the officials somehow ruled that Texans running back Justin Forsett had run 81 yards for a touchdown, even though he was obviously down after just eight yards. But on Sunday not as many people noticed that the opposite mistake was made in the 49ers-Saints game: San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree caught a pass, got hit, put his hand down to steady himself and kept running, about to break a big play ? except that the officials whistled the play dead, wrongly thinking Crabtree had been down. If we can?t count on the officials to get it right on a call as fundamental as whether or not a player was down, what can we count on them to get right?

Something has to be done about the officials, Part 2. Remember during the lockout, how everyone complained that the replacement refs were dragging out the games by taking way too long to make their rulings? No delays from the replacement refs were as bad as the ridiculous delay late in Sunday?s Ravens-Chargers game. After Ray Rice made an amazing play to turn a short pass into a first down on fourth-and-29, the officials delayed the game by a whopping 10 minutes to watch a replay and re-measure the spot of the ball, only to discover that it had been correctly ruled a first down on the field all along. A 10-minute delay late in the fourth quarter of a close game takes all the energy out of the building. Make the call and move on, refs.

Anyone want to help Charlie Batch out? With Batch, the Steelers? 38-year-old third-string quarterback, pressed into duty on Sunday, the Steelers needed to get big games from their running backs. Instead, Pittsburgh?s four running backs ? Rashard Mendenhall, Jonathan Dwyer, Isaac Redman and Chris Rainey ? combined for just 49 yards on 20 carries, while fumbling six times. Mendenhall and Rainey had two fumbles apiece, while Dwyer and Redman each had one. The Steelers? eight turnovers were the most for any NFL team in one game since 2001, and the Steelers were upset by the Browns.

Jim Harbaugh made the right decision. Colin Kaepernick is a better quarterback than Alex Smith, and if anyone doubted it before, no one should doubt it after Kaepernick led the 49ers to a big win at New Orleans on Sunday. Harbaugh was wise to bench Smith in favor of Kaepernick, who is now 2-0 as a starter with wins over the Bears (playing without Cutler) and Saints. With Kaepernick under center, the 49ers are going to be a tough team to beat in January. Although if they meet again in the playoffs, I like the Bears? chances with a healthy Cutler.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/26/nfl-morning-after-the-unappreciated-jay-cutler/related/

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