Pressing on: His campaign rocked anew, Herman Cain claimed a “groundswell of positive support” from backers today and accused critics of trying to derail his White House bid as he worked to stem the fallout from allegations of a 13-year extramarital affair. “They’re attacking my character, my reputation and my name in order to try to bring me down,” a feisty Cain told a friendly crowd without naming his critics. “But, you see, I don’t believe that America is going to let that happen.” Questions about the campaign’s viability nonetheless hovered over Cain’s one-day bus tour through Ohio. Read the full story from The Associated Press here.
Signed, sealed, delivered: The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes jumped in October to the highest level in a year. But the gain follows three months of declines and isn’t enough to signal a housing recovery. The National Association of Realtors says its index of sales agreements rose 10.4% last month to a reading of 93.3. A reading of 100 is considered healthy. The last time it was that high was in April 2010, one month before a federal home-buying tax credit expired. Contract signings usually indicate where the housing market is headed. There’s typically a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed deal. But a growing number of buyers have canceled contracts after appraisals showed the homes were worth less than the bid. Read the full story by The Associated Press here.
Going mobile: Google’s next foray in digital mapping will span the world’s shopping malls and airports. An upgrade of Google’s mobile mapping service released Tuesday includes directions within stores, malls, airports and transit centers in the U.S. and Japan. The initial index only covers a small fraction of the great indoors, but Google is hoping that will change as more owners and operators of shopping and transportation hubs submit their indoor floor plans. For now, Google’s indoor maps can only be viewed on smartphones and tablet computers that run on the company’s Android software. Google wouldn’t say why the feature would work only on Android devices, nor would it say whether it eventually plans to offer the indoor maps on other products. Read the full story from The Associated Press here.
