Metro Detroit home prices surge, but sales weak

The median sales price of Metro Detroit houses and condominiums in May surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time in several years, jumping to $111,000, a 40.5 percent increase from May 2012, according to monthly data released today by Realcomp II Ltd.

Identify your 'money script'to tune finances

What's your 'money script?' Everyone has one. But not everyone knows what it is. Money scripts are your unconscious core beliefs about money. They're typically developed in childhood and drive your financial behavior throughout life.

AT&T customers will have to wait 2 years for upgrade

— AT&T is extending from 20 months to 24 months the time it takes for customers on contract-based plans to earn a fully subsidized upgrade to a new phone.

Matri-money: No marriage means no gifts

Some people dismiss etiquette as nothing more than arcane rules about which fork to use, but etiquette really is about the common understandings we need to avoid embarrassing ourselves, becoming unduly offended, or both.

Some firms let workers buy, sell vacation time

— Want more time off work to hang out at the beach? Need a little cash and have vacation days to spare?

U.S. homebuilder confidence soars to 7-year high

For the first time in seven years, most U.S. homebuilders are optimistic about home sales, a sign that construction could help drive stronger economic growth in coming months.

Chinese supercomputer named as world's fastest

Beijing — China has built the world's fastest supercomputer, almost twice as fast as the previous U.S. holder and underlining the country's rise as a science and technology powerhouse.

Does money equal happiness?

It's an age-old question: Can money truly buy us happiness?

How grads can crack dress code

Twenty-five years ago, office dress codes for men were fairly, well, uniform. Suits, suits and more suits. Don't forget the power tie.

Pennsylvania McDonald's franchise sued over payroll debit cards

Wilkes-Barre, Pa. — A single mother who worked briefly at a northeastern Pennsylvania McDonald's franchise is suing the owners after she said she was given a fee-laden debit card and told that she must use it to access her earnings.

Scammers use health care act to pry out info

— Scammers are trying to lure consumers into giving up their personal information by claiming they have been selected to be among the first to receive insurance cards through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

How to handle deceased military spouse's bad debt

Q. My husband was killed in action a few years ago.

Attempt to unmask office tattletale is asking for trouble

Q. I made the mistake of including an inappropriate person on a group email. Someone tattled about this to my boss, who sternly warned me to never do it again. I'm not sure who the tattletale was, but I suspect three people.

Whole Foods revises employee language policy

— Facing threats of national boycotts from Latino groups and a slew of online petitions, Whole Foods announced Friday that the organic grocery chain has revised its employee language policy following the suspension of two Spanish-speaking Albuquerque employees.

Father's Day spending looking up for Dad

With the economy and house prices on an uptick, Dear Old Dad may finally get the holiday he richly deserves.

Absurd $96,000 pension is just the tip of the governmental iceberg

He's 41 and holds a top job for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department that pays him $194,000, but Matthew Schenk apparently is fixin' to start drawing a ...

State teams up with faith-based groups to help prevent foreclosures

In an effort to help thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority on Friday announced a partnership with the ...

State House passes Medicaid expansion

Legislation to extend Medicaid health coverage to as many as 470,000 Michiganians passed 76-31 in the state House late Thursday.

Obama to take advantage of advances in wireless to create jobs

Washington — The White House says President Barack Obama is taking advantage of new advances in the wireless industry to help create jobs.

IMF: U.S. economy improving but spending cuts a drag

— The U.S. economy is on sounder footing than it was a year ago but is still being restrained by government spending cuts and tax increases, the International ...

U.S. wholesale prices rise 0.5% in May

Washington — A rise in food and gas costs drove a measure of wholesale prices up sharply in May. But outside those volatile categories, inflation was mild.

U.S. factory output rises just 0.1% in May

— U.S. factories barely increased their output in May after two months of declines, a sign that manufacturing is providing little support for the economy.

Consumer sentiment in U.S. declined in June from 6-year high

Consumer confidence in June eased from a six-year high as progress in the labor market supported Americans' views of the economic outlook.

University of Michigan study links social media and narcissism

For those Americans unnerved by the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a new study from the University of Michigan will come as ...

Study: More than $1B invested in Detroit's riverfront

Detroit — More than $1 billion in public and private investment has flowed along the Detroit riverfront in the past 10 years, including several major projects ...

GM to offer 4G mobile Internet access in most '15 vehicles

General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said Thursday that the automaker thinks cars and trucks will become the '

Fast-food eatery invests in workers with higher pay

Moo Cluck Moo, a quick-service restaurant in Dearborn Heights, is conscientiously bucking a fast-food trend by paying its 'Culinarians' a starting rate of $12 ...

Eastern Market awarded $1M grant to renovate Shed 5, install community kitchen

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. on Thursday awarded the Eastern Market Corp. a $1 million grant for the renovation of Shed 5 and a new community ...

Orr's plan will be defining moment for Detroit

The scale of Detroit's reckoning, decades in the making, will unspool Friday in an airport hotel.