Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Business briefly: First-timers boost home sale in West region
Home sales jumped 30 percent in the Western region of the country in November, driven largely by first-time buyers racing to qualify for a tax credit that was set to expire. In the West, foreclosures and other financially distressed homes in the low price ranges accounted for many deals in California, Arizona and Nevada. That helped pull down the region's median price by 4 percent to $231,100. Nationally, sales soared by almost 47 percent from November last year, without adjusting for seasonal factors, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The median price dipped 4 percent to $172,600. The latest data benefited from an easy comparison to November 2008 sales, which were down sharply as the U.S. financial crisis worsened. Sales in the 13-state region have improved this year, aided by low mortgage interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.
Microsoft loses Word patent case
A federal appeals court ordered Microsoft Corp. to stop selling its Word program in January and pay a Canadian software company $290 million for violating a patent, upholding the judgment of a lower court. But people looking to buy Word or Microsoft's Office package in the U.S. won't have to go without the software. Microsoft said Tuesday it expects that new versions of the product, with the computer code in question removed, will be ready for sale when the injunction begins on Jan. 11. Toronto-based i4i Inc. sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind a tool in the popular word processing program. The technology in question gives Word users an improved way to edit XML, or code that tells the program how to interpret and display a document's contents.
Comcast executive joins Buffet board
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Tuesday named Stephen Burke, the chief operating officer of Comcast Corp., to its board of directors. Buffett said in a statement that Burke, 51, is “keenly interested” in the company. Burke also is president of Comcast Cable Communications, a unit of Comcast. Berkshire did not say if Burke was replacing anyone on the board. A Berkshire representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fake document fraud scheme alleged
Three real estate investors, two mortgage brokers and a disbarred attorney have been indicted for allegedly participating in a complex scheme to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in the Boston area, authorities announced Tuesday. The six defendants are charged with larceny and making false or exaggerated statements. State Attorney General Martha Coakley, who announced the indictments at a news conference, said the scheme netted more than $2 million in proceeds gained from inflated property appraisals and other fraudulent documents.
From Herald staff and news services
Microsoft loses Word patent case
A federal appeals court ordered Microsoft Corp. to stop selling its Word program in January and pay a Canadian software company $290 million for violating a patent, upholding the judgment of a lower court. But people looking to buy Word or Microsoft's Office package in the U.S. won't have to go without the software. Microsoft said Tuesday it expects that new versions of the product, with the computer code in question removed, will be ready for sale when the injunction begins on Jan. 11. Toronto-based i4i Inc. sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind a tool in the popular word processing program. The technology in question gives Word users an improved way to edit XML, or code that tells the program how to interpret and display a document's contents.
Comcast executive joins Buffet board
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Tuesday named Stephen Burke, the chief operating officer of Comcast Corp., to its board of directors. Buffett said in a statement that Burke, 51, is “keenly interested” in the company. Burke also is president of Comcast Cable Communications, a unit of Comcast. Berkshire did not say if Burke was replacing anyone on the board. A Berkshire representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fake document fraud scheme alleged
Three real estate investors, two mortgage brokers and a disbarred attorney have been indicted for allegedly participating in a complex scheme to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in the Boston area, authorities announced Tuesday. The six defendants are charged with larceny and making false or exaggerated statements. State Attorney General Martha Coakley, who announced the indictments at a news conference, said the scheme netted more than $2 million in proceeds gained from inflated property appraisals and other fraudulent documents.
From Herald staff and news services
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