May sees pickup in homes facing foreclosure risk

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings against more U.S. homeowners in May, setting the stage for increases in home repossessions and short sales ? scenarios that could further weigh down home values in coming months.

Default or scheduled-home-auction notices were filed for the first time against 109,051 homes last month. That's an increase of 12 percent from April and up 16 percent versus May last year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

The firm monitors documents filed on properties with mortgages that have gone unpaid. Once that process begins, homes can end up foreclosed-upon, sold at auction or via a short sale. A short sale is when the bank agrees to accept less than what the borrower owes on their mortgage.

May was the first month since January 2010 that the number of homes starting on the foreclosure path rose on an annual basis. But the trend has been visible in the monthly numbers, with four out of the first five months of this year recording increases over the preceding month.

The data reflects how banks and mortgage servicers have been stepping up efforts this year to address unpaid mortgages.

Foreclosure activity, as measured by the number of homes receiving foreclosure-related notices, slowed sharply last year as banks grappled with allegations that they had been processing foreclosures without verifying documents.

A $25 billion settlement reached in February between the nation's biggest mortgage lenders and state officials has since cleared the way for banks to move against homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

"Lenders are starting to catch up with the delayed foreclosures of the past year and a half," said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

Some 33 states saw annual increases in homes entering the foreclosure process last month, with New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida posting the biggest gains.

Many of the homes now entering the foreclosure process could end up repossessed by banks. Going by the last five years, it could be as many as half.

Some 8.7 million U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process between January 2007 and last month, RealtyTrac said. Out of those, 4.3 million properties ended up foreclosed-upon.

Still, the pace of home repossessions has been easing overall of late, with May being an exception.

Banks took back 54,844 properties last month, up 7 percent from April, the firm said.

That represents the first monthly increase after three consecutive monthly declines. Repossessions were still down 18 percent from May last year, although 17 states saw increases, including North Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

Notably, states that have been foreclosure hotbeds throughout the housing downturn ? California, Nevada and Arizona ? each recorded sharp annual declines in home repossessions last month.

One factor: Banks are increasingly opting to resolve foreclosure cases via short sale, rather than completing the foreclosure process by taking back properties.

In the first three months of the year, short sales grew 25 percent from a year earlier, hitting a three-year high. In contrast, sales of bank-owned properties declined 15 percent versus the first quarter of last year, according to RealtyTrac.

"The trend we're seeing is actually short sales are becoming the preferred method for many lenders, rather than bank repossession," Blomquist said.

Foreclosure sales can spell trouble for nearby homeowners, who could see the value of their homes erode further as neighboring foreclosures sell. But short sales typically sell at a smaller discount than bank-owned homes, so they have less of a negative impact on home prices.

All told, foreclosure-related notices were reported on 205,990 U.S. properties last month, an increase of 9 percent from April and down 4 percent versus May last year, RealtyTrac said.

On a state level, foreclosure activity in Georgia jumped 33 percent between April and May, and vaulted 30 percent from May last year. That translates to one in every 300 households receiving a foreclosure-related warning, the nation's highest foreclosure rate last month.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in May are Arizona, Nevada, California, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, South Carolina and Utah.

Associated Press

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NVIDIA GeForce beta drivers released for Windows 8 RP

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It's taken a while but today, NVIDIA is finally giving all those Windows 8 users who have GeForce graphics cards on their desktop PCs some love. In an updated blog post, NVIDIA has now released the 302.80 beta versions of the desktop GeForce drivers (32-bit version and 64-bit version) for the Windows 8 Release Preview.

The same day that the Windows 8 Release Preview was launched by Microsoft, NVIDIA said it would release its WHQL-based Windows 8 compatible GeForce graphics driver versions sometime in the next week. However, NVIDIA later announced that the release of those drivers was delayed. These new beta drivers that were made available to download today are not yet WHQL certified. Furthermore, notebooks that use NVIDIA graphics chips won't get their own beta Windows 8 drivers until Friday.

The release notes for the 302.80 beta drivers reveal some of the known issues with this release, including some "flickering/shimmering within several DirectX applications when launched with FXAA turned on from the NVIDIA Control Panel" with the GeForce GT 520 graphics card in the 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Keep in mind that this driver release is just for the Windows 8 Release Preview and should not be installed on a PC if you still have Windows 7, Vista or XP installed.

Source: NVIDIA blog

John Callaham

John began his journalism career writing for print newspapers but 11 years ago moved on to write mostly for online outlets, particularly PC gaming sites. He has worked for a variety of sites including Firing Squad and most recently AOL's Big Download web site.

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CoQ10 for Parkinson's Disease Management | Diet-Fitness-Health ...

Clinical studies show CoQ10 plays an important role in the management of Parkinson?s disease. Dr. Meschino explains how Coenzyme Q10 positively affects Parkinson?s disease. Visit www.meschinohealth.com to read Dr. Meschino?s full article on this topic.
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This is another patient treated with Dr Omar Gonzalez method at Integra Medical Center

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DoLectures: Canada best G20 country to be a woman, India worst: poll | Via Reuters http://t.co/v8PWwx04

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Germany warns Italy over euro zone crisis

MILAN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany told Italians on Wednesday they must accept Prime Minister Mario Monti's tough economic measures to avoid becoming the next victim of the euro zone debt crisis after a bailout for Spain's banks failed to calm markets.

"If Italy continues along Monti's path there will be no risks," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with La Stampa daily when asked whether Rome was next in the markets' firing line.

Highlighting that peril, the euro zone's third biggest economy had to pay nearly 4 percent to sell one-year treasury bills at auction on Wednesday, a six-month high, due to fears about its ability to keep servicing its debt mountain.

Italy's 1.9 trillion euro ($2.4 trillion) public debt is equivalent to 120 percent of gross domestic product, a ratio second only to Greece. A month ago, Rome had paid just 2.34 percent on one-year paper.

Schaeuble said Italy had made huge progress under Monti's government of technocrats, which has taken austerity measures and launched pension and labor market reforms since replacing Silvio Berlusconi's scandal-plagued administration in November.

"This is acknowledged everywhere in Europe and by the markets," the German minister said. "I can only hope that political forces in the Italian parliament and public opinion continue to decisively back him, because the road towards a return to sustainable growth through structural reforms, improved competitiveness and a lower deficit is the right one."

Monti, whose popularity has slumped after an initial honeymoon, met the leaders of the parties backing him in parliament on Tuesday and urged them to give their unified support to help Italy through market turmoil.

In a statement, he said he was "worried by the situation of emergency" on financial markets, and had told the party chiefs that "cohesion" was needed "to overcome the critical situation and give an image of unity abroad".

Markets calmed slightly on Wednesday due to expectations of further euro zone policy action to tackle the debt crisis, but investors remain wary ahead of a general election in Greece on Sunday that could lead to the country leaving the euro area.

STRONGER INTEGRATION

Greek banks have seen a marked increase in the pace of deposit withdrawals as a June 17 election, the second in two months, nears and fears grow that Athens could be forced out of the euro, senior bankers said.

Combined daily deposit outflows from the major Greek banks have reached 500-800 million euros over the past few days, with the pace picking up as the election draws closer and rising noticeably on Tuesday, two bankers said.

EU officials have hinted that they would be willing to consider giving Greece more time to achieve its fiscal targets, easing the pace of austerity, provided a new government accepted the main conditions of its international assistance programme.

The possibility of a victory for radical leftists who have vowed to tear up Athens' EU/IMF bailout memorandum has driven neighboring Cyprus to the brink due to its banks' heavy exposure to Greece.

The country's central bank governor said on Wednesday Cyprus was seeking the best terms for any bailout it might apply for and had other options than an EU-led rescue, an apparent reference to the possibility of seeking help from Russia and China. He declined to comment on the timing.

"If we eventually apply, because it is not a given that we will apply (and) there are also other options, we will seek the best terms for the economy," Panicos Dimitriades told reporters.

European Union leaders plan to call for much stronger banking and fiscal integration and enhanced governance in the euro zone at a summit later this month, but draft conclusions obtained by Reuters left the details vague.

"Recent developments have demonstrated the need to take the EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) to a further stage," said the draft due to be discussed by EU ambassadors on Thursday.

"The new stage will build on deeper policy integration and coordination. There is a need for more specific building blocks centered around a much stronger banking and fiscal integration, underpinned by enhanced euro governance," it said.

The document said leaders of the 17-member currency area would hold a separate meeting right after the 27-nation EU summit to discuss a timetable for those reforms.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, speaking in Madrid, said that while each country had to take its own measures to clean up public finances and reform the economy, only closer European integration could solve the crisis.

"This situation can only be fixed by doing what must be done at home and with much more Europe and much more integration," the Spanish leader said. "The most urgent thing is that there should be more clarity on the euro zone."

Addressing parliament in Rome on Wednesday, Monti said the European Union needed a growth plan including greater investment and eventually joint euro bonds to stem the spread of the crisis. He was to take that message to Berlin later in the day, where he will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Spanish 10-year bond yields fell slightly after hitting a euro lifetime record of 6.86 percent on Tuesday, as investors weighed the risk that the Spanish state may eventually need a full bailout if the bank rescue fails to stop the rot.

Germany's Schaeuble sought to quash such talk, telling La Stampa: "Spain too is on the right path. It does not need an aid programme. It has a specific problem with its banking sector and I am sure it will solve it."

Market nerves over the worsening euro zone crisis are also beginning to affect Germany, which has so far seen its borrowing costs fall to negative levels in real terms because it has been seen as a safe haven.

German bond prices tumbled on Wednesday, extending a steep fall seen the previous day, though traders expect them eventually to rebound with markets still fixated on Spain's elevated bond yields and the Greek election risk.

(Additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan, Paul Day in Madrid, Michele Kambas in Nicosia, William James and Emilie Matarise-Sithole in London. Writing by Paul Taylor, editing by Mike Peacock)

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Avid Pro Tools 10

For many musicians, recording engineers, and producers alike?at Abbey Road Studios and Skywalker Sound, right on down to the smallest bedroom studios?Pro Tools feels like home. Avid Pro Tools 10 ($699), the latest version, includes numerous enhancements. Collectively, they're significant, even if they don't approach the scale of Pro Tools 9 in terms of improvements. Pro Tools 9 was a huge leap forward in its ability to work with any audio hardware, not just Avid or M-Audio-branded, for the first time. While Pro Tools remains expensive, it's definitely a case where you get what you pay for, particularly when it comes to audio recording and mixing workflow. As a result, Pro Tools 10 is our Editors' Choice for PC-based recording software; while it's equally awesome on the Mac side, Apple Logic Pro 9 ($199.99, 4.5 stars) slightly edges it out there thanks to its extremely low price.

System Requirements and Packages
For this review, I tested Pro Tools 10.2 on two machines: a custom-built Core i7 PC with 16GB RAM, 2.7TB of hard disk space (including a 240GB SSD system drive), and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium SP1; and an 8-core Mac Pro with 6GB RAM, 2TB of internal storage, and Mac OS X 10.7.4 (Lion). For audio interfaces, I tested Pro Tools 10 with an Avid Mbox Mini ($299.99, 3.5 stars) and an M-Audio Fast Track ($149.99, 4 stars). Avid optimizes Pro Tools to work seamlessly with the company's hardware, including HD and its new third-generation lineup of Mbox systems, all at extremely low latencies. That bore out in testing: All configurations ran Pro Tools 10 flawlessly, and I never saw it crash once, even during heavy use of massive third-party plug-ins like EastWest's PLAY engine.

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With Pro Tools 10, you can play back up to 96 simultaneous stereo tracks at 48kHz, 48 tracks at 96kHz, or 24 tracks at 192kHz, with up to 32 tracks of simultaneous recording. Professional-level customers will want to look at Pro Tools HD 10, which can be used either natively or with new HDX hardware ($9,999 and up, depending on configuration) in addition to Avid's long-running HD and HD Accel lineup (which Digidesign introduced back before Avid bought the company). Pro Tools HD 10, which comes with the company's high-end hardware interfaces, bumps the track count to 256/128/64 (for 48/96/192kHz), or 768/384/192 when paired with new HDX hardware, as well as the simultaneous virtual instrument count to 128. Avid's Complete Production Toolkit ($1,999) adds support for 64 video tracks and 7.1-channel surround, plus many workflow improvements geared toward video, post-production, and otherwise ultra-large project files.

Existing Pro Tools users can upgrade to version 10, but at a high cost. The least expensive upgrade is from the full version of Pro Tools 9, and even that costs $299, which will likely give many current users pause. Crossgrades from less expensive LE and Express versions cost $399. Existing Pro Tools HD users can upgrade to 10 for a staggering $999 to $2,499, depending on the prior version, although at least that includes the Complete Production Toolkit.

The good news is that so much of Pro Tools 10 is now available without Avid's high-end HD and new HDX interfaces; you can run just about any feature natively now. In an interview with PCMag, Avid media programs manager Mark Williams emphasized the importance of this, even as the company still recognizes and supports the need for high-end hardware. For example, Williams said engineers working on James Cameron's Avatar were pushing 500 tracks, all fully loaded with plug-ins. That's still well beyond what any multi-core PC could handle even today.

Unfortunately, all versions of Pro Tools 10 require an iLok key, which is a USB copy protection dongle. That's not a problem if you're using a desktop machine, and at least iLok is a fairly widely used standard. But it's still an annoyance if you're using a laptop, particularly one with just one or two USB ports, such as with most Ultrabooks and the MacBook Air. Another downside: While you can buy SONAR X1 and Logic Pro as online downloads, Pro Tools 10 requires a retail store or mail-order purchase, though at least you don't need an optical drive the way you do with Steinberg Cubase 6.5 ($499, 4 stars).

New Features, Audio, and MIDI
So what's new in Pro Tools 10? Most of it isn't visible up front, but taken together, the upgrades address a number of long-standing issues. A big one is Clip Gain, which lets you adjust clip volumes on the fly using a pop-up volume slider, without having to install Gain plug-is or manually add automation data everywhere. (Clips are what Avid used to call Regions.) Another one of our favorites is Avid Channel Strip, a new AAX plug-in that mimics Avid's ultra-high-end System 5 console's EQ, dynamics, filter, and gain effects. While it's not automatically built into every channel the way ProChannel is with SONAR X1, you can always add it. Channel Strip sounds excellent and is almost infinitely flexible.

Other upgrades: You can also record and master audio in 32-bit floating-point format, and record in a new ultra-low latency mode with direct monitoring for third-party interfaces. Plus, a new disk engine improves responsiveness on slower hard drives. It loads audio files from each project into RAM, which greatly speeds up response times. You can assign the cache up to the maximum memory in your machine, minus 3GB on Macs and 4GB on PCs. Avid also claims to have improved the responsiveness of fade-heavy sessions, and you can create long-format projects via a new 24-hour timeline. Interestingly, the disk caching system is 64-bit underneath the surface, but Pro Tools itself remains a 32-bit app, which poses a problem when loading up large sampled instruments. All of the other major sequencers are now 64-bit; this is something Avid should rectify sooner rather than later.

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Personal Trainer Jobs

Looking for personal trainer jobs? You absolutely need to have the right stuff to apply for personal trainer jobs with any hope of getting the position, you need to show dedication, loyalty, and have a great encouraging personality. Health and fitness isn't a zero sum game, you don't have to look a certain way to be fit and healthy, but you do need to have enough knowledge to apply for these personal trainer jobs. Knowledge required for personal trainer jobs comes down to a few key areas. The first of these areas is biology; you need to know how the body works. You need to understand when it's under too much stress, when it is injured, and when it is healthy. You need to be able to recognise signs that the fitness regime you're putting forward to your client is too strenuous or too lax, you need to know when someone is overworked either through exercise or their regular job, and you need to be able to tell when someone is ill.

Nutrition knowledge is the next step in getting personal trainer jobs. Nutrition isn't down to eating salads all the time, the key part of a balanced diet is the balanced part. You don't need to be a fascist about what your clients eat as long as they're not overdoing it on certain foods and avoiding the essentials.

Next up for personal trainer jobs qualifications is the subject of exercise. You couldn't apply for any personal trainer jobs without knowing the ins and outs of exercise. Not everybody has to lift weights, run miles, and swim one hundred laps to be fit. Fitness isn't down to an idealised idea of tight muscular bodies and exercise should not reflect that. You don't have to be a body builder to be strong, you don't have to be thin to be able to run for miles and swim for hours, and you don't need to be young to be in great condition. If you know about these elements and beyond, personal trainer jobs will open up to you as well as other opportunities.

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