Top 10 U.S. cities for Chinese homebuyers

Detroit came in at No. 4 on the list of top U.S. cities for Chinese homebuyers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Where are they buying?

New York and Los Angeles top the list of U.S. cities they are most interested in, according to Juwai.com, a website where Chinese buyers browse global real estate listings.

More surprisingly, Philadelphia and Detroit come in at No. 3 and No. 4.

The top 10 list is rounded out by Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Diego and Memphis.

Chinese buyers purchased $8.2 billion worth of U.S. property in 2012, according to Juwai. It ranked cities by how many searches they attracted from Chinese house hunters.

Related: 5 most affordable housing markets

This is a welcome clientele for U.S. sellers. The median home price among Chinese buyers was $425,000 in 2012, compared with the overall median U.S. home price of $199,500.

And the transactions are often quick and clean: 70% of the Chinese buyers pay cash, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Buyers have different reasons for picking a city.

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Diego have substantial Chinese communities.

Others seek homes near colleges their children can attend.

Related: Chinese homebuyers flood U.S. housing market

And the wealthiest of these Chinese buyers are looking for economically strong cities, using U.S. real estate to diversify their investments.

"They look at these as a safe haven for their money," said Pam Liebman, CEO of broker the Corcoran Group.

Wei Min Tan, a broker with Rutenberg Realty in Manhattan, said that most Chinese buy to rent out, or for sporadic use themselves.

"They often have kids in school somewhere nearby and they fly into New York, spend a few days and then go on to visit their kids," he said.

He added that most of these New York City sales are in the $1 million to $3 million category. "Rarely do they buy the trophy properties -- $15 million and up -- that make the news," said Tan.

Related: Cities with the most million-dollar homes

Cities like Detroit and Memphis are more appealing to Chinese looking for predictable, steady cash flow, according to Juwai. They're snapping up foreclosures and other heavily discounted properties, fixing them up and renting them to local residents. They hire local managers to take on the day-to-day maintenance and collect the rents.

In the case of Detroit, the buyers often don't even do repairs right away, according to Rachel Saltmarshall, president of the Detroit Association of Realtors. They're buying at tax sales and foreclosure auctions and holding the properties, sometimes keeping them vacant, hoping that the city's comeback is imminent.

Downtown Detroit is going through a renaissance, according to Kelly Sweeney a local real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel. "The Chinese are making bulk purchases of inexpensive properties, $25,000 or less, in the rings around downtown," he said. "They're banking on the downtown resurgence spiraling out into those rings."

First Published: December 4, 2013: 7:54 PM ET

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Ford unveils all-new Mustang

The new Ford Mustang retains the iconic coupe's familiar style but adds an available four-cylinder engine and independent rear suspension.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Mustang GT will still have a 5.0-liter V8 but with more power than the current version and there will also be an available V6 engine for price-conscious buyers. But, for the first time since the 1980s, the Mustang will also be offered with a turbocharged performance-tuned four-cylinder engine.

"It is going to surprise and delight a lot of people," said Ford (F, Fortune 500) Mustang chief engineer David Pericak.

And, for the first time ever, the Mustang will have fully independent rear suspension That's something that almost every other passenger car on the market has had for many years, but it's a huge change for this performance icon.

The new suspension will provide a more supple ride and better handling than the current car, Pericak said.

Gallery - 12 historic Ford Mustangs

The new Mustang's body remains familiar with a long, bulging hood and stubby trunk. But the lines are a bit more muscular in the new version. The redesigned car is longer and lower than the current Mustang with a sleeker profile. It retains what Ford calls the "shark bite" front end with its signature trapezoidal grill.

The new V8 Mustang's 5.0-liter engine will produce something over the current Mustang's 420 horsepower, according to Ford. The 3.7-liter V6, meanwhile, will also offer more than the current car's 305 horsepower but Ford hasn't released final performance numbers yet.

But the real news is the new four-cylinder 2.3-liter turbocharged engine, which will be available as a mid-range option. This little engine will crank out 305 horsepower and more than 300 foot pounds of torque (that's the pulling power you feel on acceleration.) Even with all that, Ford is promising "class-leading" fuel economy. Official fuel economy estimates for the car are not yet available.

Special performance packages will be offered with both the V8 and four-cylinder turbo cars. The V6 will be offered as a low-cost, entry-level option.

Final pricing for the car will be announced closer to the fall of 2014 when the car is expected to go on sale.

Since this is a performance car, it's expected that a large percentage of Mustang buyers will opt for the manual transmission. This will be a six-speed transmission with less space between the gears for quicker shits. The shifter's also been moved closer to the driver's seat and away from the cupholders so drivers will no longer knock the lids off their soda cups while changing gears.

The automatic transmission will now offer steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters for the first time. The car will also automatically match engine RPM for smoother shifts even under hard acceleration or when downshifting. Paddle shifters are nothing new but Ford engineers say that, until now, they haven't had a paddle shift system they felt was worthy of the Mustang.

A computer-assisted torque-vectoring program can direct power to individual rear wheels during hard turns for improved handling.

The new Mustang will be sold in countries around the world but will continue to be built at Ford's Flat Rock, Mich., assembly plant.

First Published: December 5, 2013: 12:15 AM ET

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Apple completes key China Mobile deal - report

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The deal's completion, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will greatly expand Apple's reach in the world's most populous country and provide access to a previously untapped revenue stream.

China Mobile is the world's largest carrier by subscribers, with around 700 million users -- or more than twice the population of the United States. Apple executives have long courted the mobile carrier, and analysts have deemed the partnership a must-have for Apple as it seeks to gain devoted fans among China's rapidly growing middle class.

The country of 1.3 billion is Apple's largest market outside the United States, but the iPhone maker has stumbled there, losing ground in the smartphone race to rivals including Xiaomi that offer cheaper phones.

In a brief statement issued Thursday, China Mobile said that negotiations with Apple were "in progress." A company spokesperson said they had no further information to release. Representatives from Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Wall Street Journal report, which cited anonymous sources, said that China Mobile will start offering iPhones later this month. Specifically, the kickoff could happen at a Dec. 18 conference held by the carrier in the Chinese megacity of Guangzhou.

Related story: Apple has its mojo back

Other signs are pointing to an announcement before the end of the year. Apple cleared a key regulatory hurdle in September, securing permission from Chinese regulators to run the iPhone on China Mobile's network.

And Chinese regulators earlier this week issued a license to China Mobile to run a fourth-generation wireless network, which uses lightning-fast TD-LTE technology. The new offering will replace the carrier's outdated and unreliable 3G network, which was thought to be a stumbling block during negotiations.

Some key questions about the deal remain unanswered, including how large a subsidy will be offered to China Mobile subscribers who wish to purchase an iPhone.

Apple is No. 1 or No. 2 in almost all other countries where it sells the iPhone, but has lagged its competitors in China. Samsung and Nokia (NOK), for example, both typically beat Apple in terms of smartphone sales in China. A host of local brands, including Lenovo (LNVGF), Coolpad, Huawei and ZTE have also topped Apple in recent quarters.

Related story: Jeff Bezos isn't the next Steve Jobs

Even in the face of intense competition, Apple CEO Tim Cook has maintained his optimism about Apple's business in the region.

"I continue to believe that in the arc of time here, China is a huge opportunity for Apple," Cook said earlier this year.

-- CNN's Dayu Zhang contributed reporting.

First Published: December 4, 2013: 11:45 PM ET

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Insurers still reporting errors on Obamacare applications

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Obama administration says it fulfilled its promise to get healthcare.gov working for the vast majority of Americans.

It also says it has made substantial progress in another big problem area -- the accuracy of application forms once they get to the insurer. More than 80% of the mistakes on applications were due to one bug that has now been addressed, officials said Monday.

But insurers say they are still seeing many issues with the forms, known as 834s, and that it will take time before they know whether all the problems have been resolved.

"We are reviewing the recent 834s, but it's too soon to weigh in on the reports of improved accuracy and higher numbers at this time," said Kristin Binns, spokeswoman for WellPoint, a major Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer.

Share your story: Are you worried about losing your coverage because you can't sign up for Obamacare?

Insurers say the application forms from healthcare.gov have been riddled with all sorts of errors since open enrollment started on Oct. 1.

Some in the industry say things have been getting a bit better lately. Highmark Blue Shield in Pennsylvania, for instance, reports it has had to take fewer steps to reconcile inaccurate or incomplete information over the weekend.

But others say any improvements have been minimal.

The most worrisome error is applications that never get to the insurer, said one industry executive. That means consumers may think they've signed up, but the insurer has no record of it.

It's not known how many missing applications are out there, but at least thousands of people could be in this situation, the executive said.

"People may show up on the doorstep of the doctor of hospital thinking they have coverage and they don't," the executive said. "A lot of work is needed to be where we need to be on January 1."

Other issues include missing or incorrect fields, such as birth dates, addresses or Social Security numbers, or dependents listed as spouses. Some applications are listed as canceled, while others come in twice. Some have inaccurate subsidy breakdowns.

Insurers have been reviewing the forms with healthcare.gov officials or calling applicants to get the correct information.

Such manual fixes are time-consuming. Insurers been able to take these steps because the sign-up numbers have been relatively low. The process of receiving applications from healthcare.gov and sending enrollment packets to consumers is supposed to be automatic. Insurers don't have the staff to comb through a flood of applications.

"More work needs to be done to make sure enrollment files come in accurately and can be automatically processed," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group.

The administration says it will keep making improvements. "We expect the info now sent to insurers to be vastly improved, but we're going to continue to work with issuers to make sure that whatever remaining problems exist are addressed and fixed," said White House Spokesman Jay Carney on Monday.

CNN's Laura Koran contributed to this report.

First Published: December 2, 2013: 6:56 PM ET

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Big defense to Congress: End budget cuts

Wes Bush of Northrop Grumman is among defense industry CEOs calling on Washington to end sequester.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney)

Northrop Grumman (NOC, Fortune 500) CEO Wes Bush warned Monday that his company would be forced to cut more jobs if a second round of sequester, or forced budget cuts, will go through in January. Already, he said the company has been cutting its workforce in recent years.

"When there is less money to be spent, it has implications," Bush said, in a news conference.

Bush was among nearly 110 defense and aerospace CEOs who signed a letter on Monday, warning that the sequester is damaging national security and the economy, and should be put to an end.

Related: Airlines sound alarm on possible security fee hikes

"We urge you to do whatever it takes to end sequestration before even greater damage is done to our nation's defense industrial base, technological advantages and national security," said the letter, which defense trade group Aerospace Industries Association sent to the President, the Senate Majority Leader and House Speaker.

Other CEOs who signed the letter include Phebe Novakovic of General Dynamics (GD, Fortune 500), Linda Hudson of BAE Systems (BAESY), Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing (BA, Fortune 500)'s defense unit and Robert Stevens of Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500).

Bush said Northrop has cut staff by 19% in recent years due to a double whammy of the sequester combined with a pullback in war spending.

The first round of the sequester went into effect in March, slicing $80 billion from both defense and non-defense programs this year.

If Congress fails to get a deal by Jan 15, round two of sequester will hit, which would cut another $110 billion from budgets.

Bush said sequester is hurting the economy.

"Sequester is having a negative impact on research and development that will inevitably slow economic growth," he said.

Large defense companies like Northrop, Lockheed and Boeing are some of the largest spenders on lobbying Congress and federal agencies. Through the end of October, the industry spent $97 million on lobbying this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Northrop Grumman has shelled the most -- $13.2 million. Boeing has spent $11.5 million and Lockheed spent $11.1 million.

Related: Contractor stocks slammed during shutdown

Trying to end, or blunt, budget cuts was listed as a top lobbying issue for many companies.

"I think it's important for us all to speak up. . .this represents a slow decay for our country," Bush said, when asked about his company's move to pressure the president and lawmakers to end sequester.

First Published: December 2, 2013: 4:21 PM ET

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Why big box stores can't crack China

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The world's three largest retailers -- Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour -- have all stumbled in China, leading them to scale back their ambitions.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) said this month that it would close a number of stores in China. Earlier this year, Tesco (TESO) transferred its 131 stores and shopping mall business in China to a joint venture with a state-owned company.

Carrefour (CRERF) has also shuttered many stores, and is reported to be exploring a sale of its China and Taiwan businesses.

Hypermarkets -- big box stores that combine supermarkets and department stores -- first opened up in China's largest cities over a decade ago. And it's no wonder companies such as Wal-Mart have been keen to get a slice of the market.

It's a fast growing sector -- hypermarket sales in China rose to 445 billion yuan ($73 billion) in 2010 from about 18 billion in 2000. By some estimates, sales could reach 1 trillion yuan by 2015.

Related story: Six high-growth industries in China

But slower growth and fierce competition have made it hard for international retailers to turn a profit, despite the prospect of more consumer spending by the country's expanding middle class.

Experts say many foreign retailers don't understand how the behavior of Chinese consumers differs from their Western counterparts. Everything from the frequency of visits, to the mix of goods purchased, is likely to be very different for shoppers in China -- no matter how big the store may be.

"To win, players need to understand the Chinese market, and then learn how to operate in a way to meet the market on its own terms," said Daniel Hui of McKinsey. "Chinese consumers are used to shopping almost every day for fresh food ... And just because they can now do this in really big spaces doesn't mean they will change their habits."

Sun Art Retail -- a joint venture between Taiwan's RT Mart and France's Groupe Auchan -- has managed to leverage its local knowledge and become the leading big box retailer in China.

Sun Art's stores may look like Wal-Marts from the outside, but inside they recreate the look and feel of local street markets.

The chain has local management and offers discounted goods that vary according to regional tastes. And Chinese consumers love a bargain, according to Hui.

Related story: Tesco finds China market tough

Sun Art also saves money by renting less store space than its competitors. Homes tend to be smaller than in the West, so even if shoppers wanted to make bulk purchases, they can't because they have nowhere to keep them.

Stores could fare better by focusing on managing their stock levels and making sure they have the right selection of goods available, rather than building excess shelf space, experts say.

This approach has led to big gains for Sun Art. Third quarter profits soared 72%, and the chain continues to open new outlets.

Its competitors are scrambling to catch up, and some are changing their strategy.

Wal-Mart, for example, is trying to benefit from China's e-commerce shopping boom. The U.S. retailer bought a majority stake in Chinese online store Yihaodian last year. The deal gives Wal-Mart access to Yihaodian's 24 million registered users, and could provide more insight into the local market.

First Published: December 2, 2013: 9:25 PM ET

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Wal-Mart protesters arrested at Black Friday rallies

Demonstrators protesting outside a Walmart in Paramount, Calif. are arrested during a 2012 Black Friday protest. Protesters took to the streets near a number of Walmart locations again this year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Ten people were arrested on misdemeanor charges Friday at a protest near a Wal-Mart in Ontario, Calif., after they moved into an intersection and failed to disperse, Ontario Police Department Sgt. David McBride said.

McBride called the incident "peaceful," and estimated that between 100 and 150 people had attended the rally. It was unclear how many of those were actual Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) workers.

Another 10 people were issued citations at a protest near a Wal-Mart in Chicago for blocking a roadway. Protests also occurred in cities including Alexandria, Va.; Quincey, Mass.; Orlando, Fla.; Bellevue, Wash; Lakeside, Colo.; and Hyattsville, Md.

Wal-Mart's U.S. CEO defends early Thanksgiving Day opening

The protesters are calling for Wal-Mart to pay full-time employees at least $25,000 per year, and to increase opportunities for full-time work.

Wal-Mart currently employs 1.2 million hourly associates who earn an average of about $12 an hour and are also eligible for up to $2,500 a year in quarterly bonuses, spokesman David Tovar said. Of that 1.2 million, "over 50%" are full-time employees working an average of 37 hours per week, Tovar said.

Workers are considered full-time at Wal-Mart if they work 34 hours or more per week. The company's part-time workers average about 27 hours a week.

Over 475,000 of the company's associates earned $25,000 or more last year, according to a Wal-Mart presentation from September.

Protest organizers claimed rallies took place at 1500 locations Friday. Tovar said that number was hugely inflated, and that very few demonstrators were actual Wal-Mart employees.

Holiday shopping season kicks off with fights, arrests

Friday's protests were organized by OUR Walmart, a group backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. OUR Walmart and the UFCW do not represent Wal-Mart workers, and say their goal is only "helping Wal-Mart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Wal-Mart over labor rights and standards."

OUR Walmart held similar protests last year. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board said it was ready to bring a case against Wal-Mart for allegedly retaliating against workers who took part in those protests.

The NLRB, which protects the rights of workers who organize for better working conditions, alleged that Wal-Mart stores in more than a dozen states "unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees" who participated in legal strikes and protests.

Speaking to CNN Friday, Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon denied the NLRB accusations and defended the company's labor practices, saying its pay is above the median for the retail sector.

"Black Friday...is the big stage and Wal-Mart is a big player on the big stage. Those who want to try to change an industry like retail, it's not unexpected that they would be out on Black Friday at Wal-Mart with something to say about it," Simon said.

First Published: November 29, 2013: 3:52 PM ET

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Thanksgiving eats into Black Friday sales

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Overall brick-and-mortar store sales for Thursday and Friday rose 2.3% from last year, to $12.3 billion, according to a report released Saturday by ShopperTrak, a retail industry research firm. But the earlier opening of stores on Thanksgiving cut into sales on Black Friday itself, which were down 13.2% from 2012.

"The Black Friday shopping experience is changing, with more shoppers choosing to go out on Thanksgiving Day," says Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder, in a statement.

Sales were higher in all regions of the nation except the Northeast, according to the firm. The Northeast dealt with a storm on Wednesday, and the cold and windy aftermath the two days afterward.

While sales in stores edged up, online sales rose -- particularly on mobile devices.

Related: Thanksgiving openings are the new normal

IBM's survey of 800 retail websites showed sales on mobile devices grew by more than 40% from Black Friday last year, accounting for more than one in five online sales transactions Friday and more than one in four on Thanksgiving Day.

While more people browse at merchandise on their smartphones, the report shows they're more likely to touch "checkout" on their tablets. Tablet sales accounted for more than 14% of online sales on Black Friday, about twice the sales of smartphones. Tablet users also spend nearly $133 per order, 15% more than smartphone shoppers.

IBM says year-over-year total online sales grew 19.7% on Thanksgiving Day and nearly 19% on Black Friday.

Related: 2013 Fortune holiday gift guide

More reports on holiday weekend sales are expected in coming days.

Retail analysts are expecting lackluster holiday sales. Although the stock market is at record highs and gas prices have fallen, concern about the 2014 economy and the specter of another government fiscal crisis early in the year has "dampened confidence on the cusp of holiday shopping," Morgan Stanley analysts said.

-- CNNMoney's Hibah Yousuf contributed to this report

First Published: November 30, 2013: 7:08 PM ET

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Cyber Monday: Life imitating hype

Even Scott Silverman, one of the people who coined the term "Cyber Monday," is surprised it caught on the way it has.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

When it started in 2005, the first Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend was only the 10th busiest day of the year for online sales, according to comScore.

The following year, it actually fell to the 12th.

But the name was catchy enough to prompt retailers to offer Cyber Monday sales. And that prompted online shoppers to make more of their purchases on Cyber Monday. By 2010, it was the biggest day of the year for online sales.

"It became a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Andrew Lipman, vice president of marketing & insights at comScore.

Last year, there were $1.5 billion in online orders from desktop computers on Cyber Monday, and that is expected to hit $1.8 billion this year. Including mobile, online sales could reach $2 billion.

As much as those online sales have grown in the last eight years, it's still a fraction of traditional brick-and-mortar store sales. One estimate from ShopperTrak puts those in-store sales for Black Friday 2012 at $11.2 billion.

Related: We went shopping on Thanksgiving!

The name Cyber Monday was coined by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation.

"It was pretty amazing the way it took off," said retail consultant Scott Silverman, who was the executive director of Shop.org at the time, and part of the two-person team that thought it up. The other is Ellen Davis, an official with NRF.

Lipman said he expects Cyber Monday will continue to hold onto its lead in online sales for the foreseeable future. But other days are seeing even greater growth in online sales.

Black Friday online sales were up 28% last year, topping $1 billion for the first time, compared to 17% growth for Cyber Monday.

And the more rapid growth of mobile online sales could give Black Friday even greater growth this year. Lipman said Black Friday could become Showrooming Friday, as shoppers look at an item in stores, then make the purchase for less online.

"Black Friday isn't going stop having huge offline sales," he said. "But people are out there bargain hunting. Mobile sales make that easier to do."

First Published: November 30, 2013: 10:43 PM ET

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Bitcoin worth $9M buried in garbage dump

A hard drive containing about $9 million in bitcoin is trapped under mounds of trash at a landfill site like this one in the U.K.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The device is now buried under a mountain of garbage at a landfill site in Wales. It will be almost impossible to find.

James Howells got rid of the drive, which holds a digital store of 7,500 bitcoins, between June and August this year.

The IT worker mined the virtual currency four years ago when it was the exclusive domain of tech geeks.

Back then bitcoin was worth very little. On Friday, the cryptocurrency broke through $1,200, making the missing hard drive worth around $9 million.

Related: Bitcoin worth almost as much as gold

Howells had been hanging onto it for several years before deciding to clean up his home.

After discovering the mistake late last week, a "devastated" Howells began a frantic search through computer files and other drives for a backup. There isn't one.

A trip to the garbage dump was the only option.

"As soon as I saw the site, I thought you've got no chance. The area covered is huge," he told CNN.

A spokesperson for Newport City Council said an item thrown away in the summer months would now be buried under 25,000 cubic meters of waste and earth.

The council, which operates the dump, said it has helped retrieve items in some circumstances "but this would have to be done very quickly after it was thrown away."

Howells said he's had all sorts of suggestions emailed to him about how to get the drive back.

But well-meaning individuals shouldn't bother heading to the tip on his behalf - it's closed to the public for safety reasons.

Related: 8 things you can buy with bitcoin

Speculators have helped power bitcoin's dazzling rise this year.

A growing number of businesses now accept bitcoins, including some Subway sandwich shops and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space travel venture, though critics claim it's unlikely to become a legitimate currency.

The program behind bitcoin was created anonymously and introduced on the internet in 2010. Unlike traditional money, bitcoins are not managed by a central authority and exist only in cyberspace.

-- CNN's Adam Dunnakey contributed to this report.

First Published: November 29, 2013: 11:08 AM ET

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