The percentage of Americans owning homes that are under water is falling, according to Zillow's third-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which focus on 156 metropolitan areas. The other good news is that home values were relatively flat between the second and third quarters, so the price declines may be over for most homeowners.

Zillow found that 21% of homeowners with single-family homes were underwater on their mortgages at the end of the third quarter, down from 23% in the previous quarter. Two factors play into the drop. One is that many under water homeowners have already lost their homes to foreclosure. The second is that home values have stabilized in some areas of country and have even started going back up in other areas.

As I posted, Boeing (BA) is opening a plant in South Carolina to help build its 787 Dreamliner -- the up to 330-passenger aircraft whose scheduled delivery date has been delayed six times. BusinessWeek reports that Boeing is investing $750 million in that plant and expects to pay the workers there $15 an hour, 42% less than its unionized Washington state workers get. With 850 Dreamliner orders worth $110 billion on the books, Boeing can hardly afford more problems with this plane. Is this move by the company short-sighted?

The answer depends on whether Boeing can train those South Carolina workers to do what those in Washington can. Lately, things haven't worked out so well for Boeing in its relationship with those Washington workers. About a year ago, Boeing's 27,000-member...

Comments (2)Permalink

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS), has put an unusual spin on the bank's activities. He says his firm is doing "God's work." This may seem like an audacious statement coming from a man whose company has been harshly criticized for planning to give many of its employees multi-million pay packages just a bit more than a year after the collapse of the credit markets.

Blankfein told The Times of London, "We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose." That is, of course, a social purpose that comes at a very steep price; it charges huge fees for raising money and handling M&A transactions, even if they eventually fail.

It has been expected for some time now. U.K. business authorities told Kraft (KFT) some weeks ago that it would need to make an official bid for Cadbury (CBY) or make no bid at all. Cadbury has been clever about maneuvering itself into a position to either stay independent or fetch a high price from Kraft. It increased its guidance two weeks ago. Last week, Kraft's position to make the acquisition was hurt when it missed Wall Street revenue estimates.

None of that past is more than prologue now: Kraft made its much-anticipated official bid for Cadbury at a price of 717 pence a share or 9.8 billion pounds ($16.5 billion). Cadbury shares fell 1% to 750 pence just after the news was released. Shares had traded as high at 768 pence on hopes that Kraft would be more aggressive with its bid.