Buying

There's nothing unusual about House Speaker Michael E. Busch's efforts to solicit corporate sponsorships for the National Speakers Conference he's hosting in Annapolis this weekend, which will treat some of the most influential members of 30 state legislatures to a crab feast, Chesapeake cruise, golf and a fireworks display at Fort McHenry. And that's the problem. The Washington Post's John Wagner reported Wednesday that corporate sponsors, companies with business before Maryland's legislature and those of other states, are footing the tab to the tune of more than $500,000.

We had planned to keep our beloved 1997 station wagon. Then something happened. On the way home from picking up a small, new SUV, its air conditioning stopped. Its temperature soared and the needle on its temperature gauge flew past "H. " The towing company took it to our trusted, longtime mechanics, Tony and Steve, who said repairs would cost about $3,000. As much as we loved that little white wagon, we could not indulge in that repair after we had just bought a new car. On April 23, we bid the wagon adieu.

Not buying BP gasoline is shortsighted ("Ill will at BP pumps," June 15). We need to keep BP healthy and profitable so they can pay the cleanup bills. Mike Finan, Glen Burnie

Maryland officials agreed Wednesday to buy the historic Annapolis post office building from the U.S. Postal Service for use as part of the government complex surrounding the State House. Without dissent, the three-member Board of Public Works agreed to pay $3.2 million for the 13,000-square-foot building on Church Circle. Built in 1901, the structure is listed on the Maryland Historical Trust inventory of historic properties. Under the deal, the state will lease space back to the Postal Service to continue services for eight to 20 months until it relocates.

Baltimore-based FTI Consulting Inc. said Thursday that it is expanding in Asia with the acquisition of a Hong Kong firm. Like FTI, Baker Tilly Hong Kong Business Recovery Ltd. specializes in forensic accounting, litigation support and corporate restructuring. FTI, which did not disclose what it is paying, said the firm will change its name to FTI Consulting (Asia) Ltd. - Jamie Smith Hopkins

Hebron Savings Bank, a company based on the Eastern Shore, said Monday it would buy the Salisbury branch of Bay National Bank for an undisclosed amount. Lutherville-based Bay National is selling the branch's $21 million deposit base and about 36 percent of its total loans to Hebron, according to a regulatory filing. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, would close by the end of September, the two companies said. Bay National has been operating under federal oversight since last year as it tries to recover from losses on bad mortgage loans.

CDs were the new vinyl. Then, mp3s were the new CDs. These days, vinyl is the new mp3. At many dance nights around Baltimore, DJs are increasingly spinning vinyl 45s instead of CDs or mp3s. Patrick "DJ Action Pat" Griffin, who regularly plays Save Your Soul at Lithuanian Hall, has been collecting vinyl for the past 10 years. His collection, which numbers about 4,000, is heavy on soul, R&B and rock ‘n' roll from the ‘50s. Over time, Griffin has developed strategies for where to find the most obscure records, and how much to pay. Here are his tips for aspiring vinyl collectors.

Many companies allow investors to buy shares directly without a commission. Here's a list:American Recreation CentersCentral Vermont Public Service (Initial purchase permitted in over half of the states)Citizens First BancorpExxonR. GraceJohnsons ControlsKrogerMadison Gas & ElectricMobilProcter & GambleQuestarTexacoThese companies allow customers of the company -- or, in som cases, residents of company's home state -- to buy shares without a commission.Bancorp HawaiiCenterior EnergyCentral Maine PowerDuke PowerFlorida ProgressHawaiian Electric IndustriesMinnesota Power & LightNational Community BanksNevada PowerPhiladelphia SuburbanPuget Sound Power & LightSouthwest GasUnion ElectricSOURCE: Charles B. Carlson, editor of the Dow Theory Forecasts newsletter and the book "Buying Stocks Without a Broker" ($16.

There is an emotional trait that causes some investors to buy certain stocks at exactly the wrong time -- after long price run-ups. Sharp gains in share prices whet one's buying appetite but in reality, most of the quick price gains are supported by little more than rumors and hopes and not by solid reasons.A recent example is what happened to the share price of the GEICO Corp., a large insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase.GEICO shares, which were split 5 for 1 about two months ago, were trading after the split at near 50, having run up sharply prior to the split and accompanying dividend increase.

How long does it take to buy a house?Buying a house can take anywhere from a few days to a few years. In most cases, the process will take several months of diligent effort.There are two major phases to buying a house. First you need to find a house to buy. Once you find a house and negotiate a mutually satisfactory purchase contract with the seller, the next part of the process involves satisfying the terms of the purchase agreement so that title to the property can be transferred to the buyer.

Top state officials will decide Wednesday whether to buy the Annapolis post office on Church Circle to use it for government offices. The Board of Public Works -- comprised of the governor, comptroller and treasurer -- will vote on spending $3.2 million to buy the building. Appraisals for the building at 1 Church Circle range from a low of $950,000 to a high of $3.55 million, according to the state. The property is less than one acre and the building is 13,058 square feet.

Howard County took an important step in the fight against homelessness last week by purchasing an 8-acre lot that will be the future home to a 30-unit housing facility. Using $3.25 million in land acquisition dollars, the county bought the land at the corner of routes 1 and 32 to serve as a replacement for an existing shelter run by Grassroots Crisis Intervention in Jessup. A center will be built on the new site by the Volunteers of America Chesapeake. For County Executive Ken Ulman and his administration, the move demonstrates a commitment to defeating a problem that might seem hard to believe even exists in a county as financially blessed as Howard.

Terrorism, whether practiced in the U.S. or overseas, can be defined as a deliberate act of violence to instill fear in a target audience. We fight terrorism when we stay calm but resolute; we abet terrorists when our response is to panic or try to foment panic in others. This past weekend, the CEO of the National Rifle Association stood up on a stage in Houston and chose to follow the latter route, linking the recent bombings in Boston with gun ownership - or a lack thereof. "How many Bostonians," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre asked, "wish they had a gun two weeks ago?"

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has purchased a five-bedroom home along Falls Road in Lutherville for the price of $1.75 million. The seller is one Malcolm Cameron according to state records. He's better known as Cam Cameron, the offensive coordinator fired by the Ravens toward the end the most recent season, which ended in a Super Bowl victory. He bought the home for $1.5 million in July 2011, three years after joining the Ravens following a one-year stint as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

W. R. Grace & Co. of Columbia announced Wednesday that it acquired an Australian manufacturer of waterproofing and coatings systems for an undisclosed sum. Chemind Construction Products, a private research and manufacturing company based in Brisbane, Australia, brings waterproofing technology to Grace Construction Products division, which had $1 billion in sales last year. Chemind's waterproof coatings are used to protect commercial, residential and civil structures, the company said.

Veteran Baltimore County teacher Helen Zeitzoff may have retired from her day job, but these days she keeps busy writing books that help elementary-school teachers enhance their students' reading skills. Upon her retirement, Zeitzoff, who taught third grade for 32 years, introduced a school-based tutorial program for first-graders to reinforce their developing early literacy skills. In addition, Zeitzoff started her own private tutoring practice where she has worked with children from first to sixth grade.

Buying a home is generally considered a good way to spend money, but is a declining real estate market the right time to buy? How about markets where long-term prices have risen slower than average? What if prices had a big run-up and haven't fallen much? Those are the wrong questions because they focus on changes in prices, say Gary Smith and Margaret Smith, authors of a new book, Houseonomics: Why Owning a Home is Still a Great Investment. Buying a home can be a smart move, even if prices stay flat over a long period, say the husband-and-wife team who, respectively, are an economics professor at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

Ever since the legendary urban homesteading days of the 1970s, Baltimore City has been trying to develop a magic formula that would enable it to get rid of an overabundant supply of houses that are for sale or already vacant.Like a 1993 attempt, last year's expensive auction of tax-delinquent homes proved to be a major disappointment. There were some buyers, but in the end the city could not deliver.The concept of offering a shell to a buyer at the price of a finished home -- with the buyer having little say in how the repairs are made -- was a hare-brained idea.

The last time Yasmin and Adil Degani bought a home, they took the traditional route. They went with a commission-based real estate brokerage to show them homes and guide them through the homebuying process. This time around, in an effort to save money and time, they decided to try an emerging path. The Odenton couple went with Redfin, a "technology-powered brokerage" that employs salaried agents and encourages buyers to use online profiles of homes to determine what properties to tour.

When “12 O'Clock Boys” director Lotfy Nathan brought his film to this month's South by Southwest film festival, one of his main goals was to find distribution for the documentary. Nathan didn't have to wait long, as deadline.com reported this week that Oscilloscope Laboratories had purchased the North American rights to Nathan's documentary on the West Baltimore dirt-bike riders. Oscilloscope, which was co-founded by deceased Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, is considered a boutique film company.