Hard Money Loans

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – In an attempt to reduce spending on national defense and strengthen domestic arms industry, Japan on Tuesday eased self-imposed arms exports ban.

The liberalization will allow hundreds of Japanese companies to take part in multinational projects of developing weapons for the first time in several decades.

“Under the new standards, Japan will be able to transport military equipment for missions of peace-building and international cooperation,” Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters.

“This will mean that Japan can now address international peace cooperation and global challenges such as terrorism and piracy more proactively and effectively,” he added.

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AHN FeedSyndicate (AHN)- IMPORTANT ACCOUNT NOTICE

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When Steve Jacobs started Fairway Independent Mortgage in 1996, a life event prompted him to open the company in Wisconsin instead of Texas. The company has now grown to more than 1,000 employees. Fairway plans to continue its growth by maintaining a focus on purchase-money business.

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A study from Experian found that 47 percent of strategic defaulters opened a new mortgage during the six months prior their defaults. “This behavior further supports the evidence that these mortgage defaulters were doing so strategically,” the report said. In addition, around nine-in-10 strategic defaulters remained current on other obligations as much as a year past the default.

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Auburn Hills, MI, United States (AHN) – The 2012 Fiat 500 has hit the roads in the United States and has just as quickly garnered the titled Coolest New Car Under $18,000.

This year, Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com editors decided to rank their Top 10 choices from 10 to 1, and they rated the 2012 Fiat 500 as the No. 1 pick on their “Cool Cars” list. The fun ride can be customized in more than a half-million ways to stylize and personalize.

Kbb.com said of the Fiat 500, “Regardless of what the Hello Kitty mafia would like to believe, cute isn’t cool. Not usually, anyway. But that’s because cute is rarely backed up by substance, as it is in the 2012 Fiat 500.”

The car is Fiat’s first U.S. offering in 28 years.

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Premier Wen Jiabao said that China’s efforts to stem inflation have worked and that the pace of consumer-price increases will slow, an assessment that contrasts with some economists advocating further steps.

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United States (AHN) – Your closet is probably full of myriad sizes and it is not due to fluctuations in your weight. More and more designers are turning to vanity labeling, using smaller sizes and adding inches to traditional sizes, experts say.

Vanity sizing is defined as “when the price increases and the dimensions decrease.” It is especially common among the more expensive and higher-end brands. A once typical size 8 may now be a standard size 4. The trend is to portray a positive attitude for shoppers when perusing, trying on, and eventually purchasing clothes.

“A woman who actually needs a size 12, but fits into a size 8, gets an immediate self-esteem boost,” says Joan Chrisler, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College. Wearing larger sizes can have a direct effect on a woman’s self-esteem and behavior, as can wearing smaller sizes, psychologists say.

Clothes may make the man, but sizing just may make the woman.

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Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit must face a class-action suit on behalf of at least 1,800 investors over mortgage-backed securities, a federal judge ruled.

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A year after European officials bailed out Greece, investors say the region’s banks haven’t raised sufficient capital or cut loans enough to withstand the contagion that may follow a default

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The conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose nearly 4 basis points this week. The 15-year mortgage was also higher. The increase in rates pulled new mortgage inquiries down 4 percent.

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