Getting Started with Facebook or “Getting to Know Me…”

Ok – so I admit it.  I finally joined Facebook.  I did this mainly because I just didn’t feel the kind of connectivity building with my LinkedIn groups, and I also wanted to start building a bit of “buzz” for our local Haines City, Florida YmPact Young Professionals Group. Visit the Haines City YmPact Group Page here.

So – I set up my Facebook profile , put a March 13th Pre-St. Paddy’s Day Bash event listing on the YmPact page I set up, and have played around with the Pandora and iLike apps.  But I need a bit more steering – some guidance as to how to get the best out of Facebook.

Here are some initial resources I have found.  Please recommend others as you come across them!

How Can I Use Facebook?
Besides the TechSoup article above, here are some good resources to check out:

• Start with Fast Company’s slideshow, “Eight Things You Can Do With Facebook”. You’ll see that you can connect with like-minded users, promote events, start your own groups, etc. You might also want to take a look at this profile of Facebook (scroll down to the features section), which gives a decent overview of the different Facebook elements.

• Read through Rob’s article on how he started his campaign and how he went from 8 supporters to 60 in a few days.

• Try Emily Weinberg’s “How Nonprofits Can Use Facebook”, which offers some ideas and a few mini case studies.

• This article on how educators can use Facebook also has some helpful tips.

• Also read The Chronicle of Philanthropy Special Report, “Face Time”, which looks at how nonprofits are using social networking sites in general.

• Check out Diosa Communications’ Tips for Nonprofits using MySpace. Many (if not most) of these can be adapted to Facebook.

• And if you want to get fancy about it and have access to some programmer types, then you might want to check out these 29 essential developer applications.

Will Falling Gasoline Prices Help Stave Off a Recession?

Given the stock market’s recent performance, it’s not surprising that gasoline’s falling prices here in Winter Haven, FL and across the US are garnering very little attention. That doesn’t make it any less relevant, however.

Since peaking in July, gas prices are off by 20 percent.

August Pending Home Sales Up 7 Percent

Buyers are returning to the housing market.

Each month, The National Association of REALTORS^® tracks homes under contract to sell, but whose closing has not yet happened.  It calls them “pending sales” and publishes a monthly report to quantify them.

The Pending Home Sales report is important because it’s meant to predict future home sales activity.  History shows that 80 percent of homes under contract will “close” within 60 days, and most of the rest will close within 120 days.

Two Things the Latest Fed Rate Cut to 1.5 Percent Means for Americans

The Federal Reserve made an “emergency rate cut” this morning, dropping the Fed Funds Rate by one half-percent to 1.500 percent.

The move is meant to stimulate the U.S. economy.

When the Federal Reserve changes the Fed Funds Rate, it often takes 9 months for the changes to work their way through the economy.

On a broad scale, therefore, we won’t know if the cut truly “worked” until Summer 2009.

But, as it relates to the good folks here in Winter Haven and across the nation, the rate cut spurred two immediate changes.

Great News! The Market Closed Below 10,000 Yesterday!

Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below the psychologically-important 10,000 level for the first time since 2004.

Despite the milestone-marker breach, however, there was a large group of Americans with reason to cheer.  As stocks sold off, mortgage markets rallied to the benefit of home buyers and mortgage rate shoppers here in Winter Haven, FL and across the nation.

Why Conforming Mortgages Rates Improved Yesterday

See A Rate You Like… Hurry and Lock it Now!

If you’re shopping for a mortgage here in Winter Haven or the surrounding Polk County, FL area – you’d do well to lock in a rate as soon as you see one you like.  In other words, a mortgage rate quote from the morning is likely to be “expired” by the afternoon.

Congress approved the $700 billion “Bailout Bill” Friday, answering the question that dogged mortgage markets all week long:

Will they or won’t they pass it?

The uncertainty prior to the vote created huge market swings that ultimately sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst week since the 2001 terrorist attacks, while causing similar damage in the mortgage markets.

Fannie Mae Cuts Mandatory Loan Fee by Half

Those looking to buy or refinance a home in Winter Haven, Florida and regions across the nation using Fannie Mae Loan Products have a bit more breathing room – thanks to a reduction in one of Fannie’s mandatory loan fees.

In an effort to provide “the most market support possible”, Fannie Mae is cutting one of its mandatory loan fees by 0.250 percent, effective immediately.

Fannie Mae introduced the Adverse Market Delivery Charge in December 2007 to offset

iPhone or Blackberry. Which Do You Prefer?

So there’s a lot of talk out there about the new Verizon Storm that’s on the horizon.  Sorry – the pun was (nearly) unavoidable.  Will its touch screen and 3G network capability provide an experienced to rival that of the new iPhone?  Or – will this represent yet another failed attempt to match the cultish wonderment of all things Apple?

I’ve set up a neat little poll using Twitter via PollDaddy.  You can find it here.  Chime in and let me know what you think?  Do the folks at Research in Motion (RIM) have a snowball’s chance in the “Hot Zone” of besting Apple’s latest darling?  Or – are they destined to roam the technological landscape as a perennial “also ran?”

Take a Poll on this Topic Now!

401(k) Withdrawals: The Pros and Cons

Here in Winter Haven, FL – and with the rest of the nation as well – household budgets get pinched and credit markets tighten, a growing number of Americans are making “hardship withdrawals” from their 401(k) plans.

One major fund group cites a 15 percent increase in activity from this time last year for various reasons including staving off foreclosure and medical emergency.

Bailout “No” Vote a Good Thing for Mortgage Rate Shoppers

Attention Winter Haven, FL Mortgage Rate Shoppers!  The following bit of information should lift your spirits a little as you stare into the face of our current national financial landscape…

Monday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the $700 billion “Bailout Bill”, surprising Wall Street and the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average responded by falling 777.68 points — its largest one-day loss in history and, this morning, every newspaper in America is covering the story as front page news.

Lost in the coverage, however, is how the “No” vote created a terrific opportunity for mortgage rate shoppers.

Yesterday, as money fled the tanking stock market, most of it ended up getting parked in the relative safety of government-backed bonds which includes, of course, the mortgage bonds.  This rising demand for mortgage bonds caused rates to fall.

To investors, stock markets represent risk and bond markets represent safety.  So, when market sentiment changes, as it did yesterday, Wall Street players often shift their dollars from one forum to the other.  This is why yesterday’s stock sell-off was good news for mortgage rate shoppers — the added demand for “safe” securities drove down rates.

Conforming mortgage rates were lower by about an eighth-percent Monday.

Now, today, mortgage rates are opening flat, suggesting that markets are in a Wait-and-See Mode.  Wall Streets knows that the defeated bill will re-emerge later this week and, when it does, expect traders to respond accordingly.

If the new-look bill is viewed as favorable to U.S. businesses without harming taxpayers, expect stock markets to improve and mortgage rates to rise.  If the bill fails to accomplish that goal, however, expect mortgage rates to improve.