Click here to see the most popular towns

According to real estate website Trulia, there are several commonly searched-for vacation spots all over the country, from Big Deer Lake, Calif., to Panama City Beach, Fla. Right now, no spot is in higher demand than Ocean City, N.J. Based on searches on real estate listing service Trulia, these are the most popular towns to buy a vacation home.

Not surprisingly, people who are searching for the most-sought after locations tend to live within driving distance of the vacation spot, said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. People who search for North Wildwood, N.J., he said, tend to live around the Philadelphia and New York areas. People who search for Lake Arrowhead, Calif., tend to live in Los Angeles and San Diego.

The presence of picturesque natural resources is also important for vacation home owners, Kolko added. Because of this, they usually are located either on a beach or in a mountainous area.

It is not only the wealthy that have second homes. While the most expensive area on this list, Ocean City, N.J., had a median home price of $525,000, the least expensive on this list, Gatlinburg, Tenn., had a median home price of just $179,600. However, even within a single area prices can vary by hundreds of thousands of dollars from street to street.

Prices for vacation homes have started rising in these areas, but not as fast as the U.S. housing market as a whole, Kolko noted. “Second homes are a luxury,” he said. “The demand for second homes bounces back more slowly after a recession.” Indeed, in three of the five most searched-for markets, home prices are either unchanged or down, year-over-year, even as national asking prices have risen by more than 8%.

The top two vacation spots — Ocean City and to a lesser extent North Wildwood — were hit by Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. Kolko said that although searches in these areas declined initially after the storm, they bounced back quickly. He explained that after disasters, some housing stock is destroyed, tightening supply in the area.

Based on data provided by Trulia, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 most searched places for vacation homes on Trulia’s website between April 2012 and March 2013. A place was considered a vacation area if 25% of the housing stock was used seasonally or occasionally, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. We also looked at the median asking price in the area, also provided by Trulia.

These are the most popular towns in which to buy a vacation home.

The list also reflects how industry trends can accelerate the demise of certain brands. This year, we included two magazines — Martha Stewart Living and Road & Track. With print advertising in a multiyear decline, some magazines have weathered the decline better than others. These two, however, have suffered sharp drops in advertising revenue over the past five years. Magazines also carry the heavy legacy costs of printing, paper and distribution — a problem not shared by online-only competition.

Click here to see the 10 brands

Consumer electronics is another category with disappearing brands. The Barnes & Noble Nook is on the list. It competes with better-selling products made by larger companies — Apple and Amazon.com — and is also in the e-reader business, a shrinking industry. The Olympus digital camera also will disappear from store shelves by the end of 2014. Camera sales, especially point-and-shoot models, have been eroded by smartphones, which have increasingly high-quality cameras.

Yet another industry with two brands on our list is automobiles. Car sales are growing in the United States, but brands with market shares under half a percent cannot compete with companies that either produce high-luxury models like Mercedes-Benz or multiline giants like General Motors. Suzuki pulled out of the American market last year. Mitsubishi and Volvo will follow soon.

Looking back on last year’s calls list, we have had some winners, and some bad calls. Suzuki, MetroPCS and Current TV are all gone in the United States. American Airlines is part of a new company through its combination with U.S. Airways, though the American Airlines name lives on. Talbots was acquired by a private equity firm less than two months after we called it. Research In Motion is no longer a brand, having been renamed BlackBerry. We bungled our predictions regarding Avon, the Oakland Raiders and Salon.

We continue to use the same methodology in deciding which brands will disappear. The major criteria include:

1. Declining sales and losses;
2. Disclosures by the parent of the brand that it might go out of business;
3. Rising costs that are unlikely to be recouped through higher prices;
4. Companies that are sold;
5. Companies that go into bankruptcy;
6. Companies that have lost the great majority of their customers; and
7. Operations with withering market share.

Each brand on the list suffers from one or more of these problems. Each of the 10 will be gone, based on our definitions, within 18 months.

This is 24/7 Wall St.’s 10 brands that will disappear in 2014.

The U.S.-China Business Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes trade between the two nations, has released data on exports to China from each state. Last year, Texas exported more than $10 billion in goods to the country. California exported more than $13 billion. Based on the gross export data provided by the U.S.-China Business Council, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 states exporting the most goods to China.’

Click here to see which states send the most goods to China

While U.S. exports to China grew by nearly 300% in the past 10 years, the growth has slowed substantially in the past several years as China’s economic growth suffered from the global recession. U.S. exports to China increased by just 6.5% last year. Despite the slowing growth, it was still better than nearly all other export partners, said Daniel Anthony, research director at Trade Partnership, a Washington D.C. economic research consulting firm.

For the first couple of months of this year, U.S. exports to China rose by 4.3%. While it was far less than previous years, “the rest of the world are up 0.2%.” explained Anthony. “So, in a lot of ways, at least for the first couple months of 2013, export Growth to China is really the only game in town.”

The states that export the most goods benefit from demand that remains strong in China but is weak in most other countries. According to Anthony, in the first few months of this year, machinery exports to China rose by 13% and declined by 7% to the rest of the world. Computers and electronics exports to China increased by 18% and fell by 3.4% to the rest of the world. This benefits states like California, which alone accounts for well more than a quarter of all U.S. computer and electronics shipped to China.

Other states that have benefited from growing Chinese demand include Washington, due to increased demand for its aerospace industry. Ohio and Illinois are profiting from increased demand of soybeans and other crops. Michigan has benefited from rising auto shipments to China, which grew 23% in the first few months of 2013.

Not all evidence suggests that trade with China is unconditionally positive for all Americans. According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2011, America’s trade deficit with China led to the displacement of 2.87% of all jobs in California. In Minnesota, another top exporter, this figure was 2.66%. However, Anthony notes, “it doesn’t make sense for the U.S. to hang on to low-value jobs.” Instead, he argues, Americans should focus on promoting jobs that utilize the U.S.’s relative strengths and advantages, while exporting less valuable work.

To determine the 10 states with the most exports to China, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed figures provided by the U.S.-China Business Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes trade relations between China and the U.S. All figures provided by the council are not inflation adjusted. Data on exports for different metropolitan areas comes from the International Trade Administration (ITA) and are for 2011, while figures on crop exports are produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service and are also as of 2011.

These are the 10 states sending the most goods to China.

While some brands barely received any criticism, others got a hefty share. Mini was the most complained-about brand in 2012, with almost 646 complaints per 100,000 cars sold from 2005 through the end of 2012. Based on data provided by Edmunds.com, these are the cars with the most complaints per 100,000 vehicles sold.

Click here to see the cars with the most complaints

The most complained-about cars are not necessarily the least popular ones. They include some of the most-purchased cars in America and some of the least. Dodge and Nissan, which sold more than 5 million vehicles from 2005 through 2012, had the fifth and sixth most complaints per 100,000 vehicles sold. Other makes with a high number of complaints per vehicle, like Mini, sell less than 100,000 units per year.

For many of the cars that received the most complaints, the issues may be affecting customer loyalty. For the five worst-performing brands on our list — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mini and Smart — less than one-third of car owners purchased the same brand again. The top car brands for customer loyalty retain 45% to as much as 60% of their customers.

In most instances, the number of complaints in 2012 rose compared to previous years. For example, 4,958 complaints were lodged against Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) vehicles, much higher than the 3,395 annual average of complaints between 2008 and 2012.

It is important to note, however, that vehicle sales also have increased sizably in the past several years. In 2009, Ford sold just over 1.4 million vehicles. The number of vehicles Ford sold in each of the years after rose, reaching almost 2.2 million by 2012. Similarly, for General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Chevrolet, sales have risen from 1.3 million in 2009 to more than to 1.8 million in 2012.

To determine the 10 car brands with the most complaints, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed sales figures and information on complaint submissions to the NHTSA published by Edmunds.com for the year 2012. We then calculated the complaints made in 2012 per 100,000 vehicles sold by brand between 2005 and 2012. Makes were excluded from the list if complaints figures were not available or if the car brand was no longer actively manufactured and sold in the United States — eliminating makers such as Mercury and Saturn. References to the most complained about model are only in reference to complaints made in February 2013. Loyalty figures, which represent the percentage of drivers turning in a car who intend to buy a new vehicle from the same make, were also provided by Edmunds.com for 2012.

These are the cars with the most safety complaints.

The number of residents receiving disability insurance from the Social Security Administration (SSA) varies from state to state. In West Virginia, close to one in every 10 people aged 18 to 64 was receiving SSDI benefits from the federal government, more than three times the rate in states like Utah and Alaska.

Click here to see the states with the most Americans on disability

The proportion of eligible workers applying for disability benefits also has doubled in the past 10 years, according to the SSA. Two main reasons are driving the increase, explains The National Association of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives. First, baby boomers are entering years in which they are more prone to disability. Second, women who began to work in greater numbers in the 1970s and 1980s are also now eligible for disability through Social Security for the first time.

However, changing demographics only partially explain the increase. Tad DeHaven, budget analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, explained that the recession played a major role in the growth in disability claims. “When you see unemployment rates rising, you see disability moving with it,” DeHaven noted.

In fact, states with the highest disability claims tend to have the highest poverty rates and the fewest jobs offering competitive wages. Seven of the 10 states with the most residents receiving disability have among the highest poverty rates in the country. The number of jobs in these states in manufacturing and retail, which tend to pay modest wages, are above the national average. Meanwhile, jobs in finance and professional occupations are scarce.

While it is true that disability claims rise when the economy is in trouble, disability claims also skew the unemployment rate. The vast majority of disability claimants do not work and are therefore not counted as part of the labor force, which the government uses to calculate unemployment. Of the 10 states with highest proportion of 18 to 64 year olds on Social Security disability, seven have among the lowest labor force participation rates in the country. Unemployment rates in these states, six of which are already above the national average, would be even higher if those on disability were counted.

In principle, the reason Americans apply for disability is because their health prevents them from working. A review of a recent Gallup-Healthways survey shows that nearly these states with the highest rates of disability are in the top 10 for serious conditions, including heart attacks, diabetes, hypertension and recurring knee, leg and back pain. West Virginia, the state with the highest disability rate, had either the highest or the second-highest rate in the country for all of these conditions.

Residents in these states find it hard to get a job that will pay much more than disability with their work experience, education and health condition, explained Gary Burtless, economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “In states like Alabama and West Virginia,” Burtless said, “lots of the workers are going to be in occupations where the next job they obtain — if they do stick it out and work through the pain and the disability — is one that is going to pay considerably less than the last job that they held.”

To determine the 10 states with the most residents getting disability benefits, 24/7 Wall St. relied on figures published by the Social Security Administration in its Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program for December 2011, the most recent available data. We only considered the number of claimants and average payment from the SSA. Unlike SSA, Supplemental Security Income, another federal disability program, provides financial support to low-income residents, children and senior citizens, regardless of work history. Statistics on labor force participation and average annual unemployment rates were provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2011. Figures for the percentage of residents suffering from a specific disease or condition are from the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index. Education, income and poverty statistics are from the U.S. Census Bureau.

These are the states with the most Americans on disability.

The editors at Kelley Blue Book (KBB) have named their 10 best cars for American families based on criteria such as safety, roominess, comfort and value. That seems like a pretty good list to us, and KBB’s choices appear to strike a reasonable balance.

Click here to see the 10 best cars for the American family

It is worth pointing out that of the top 10 there is only one minivan, the Honda Odyssey. Minivans are declining in popularity among American families due to a combination of factors. Fuel economy for the minivans is lower than for smaller cars like the Honda Accord or small SUVs like the Honda CR-V. Minivan designs have not really kept pace with new small SUV designs either. As a result, minivan sales are falling. The Honda Odyssey, for example, sold more than 135,000 units in 2008, compared with around 126,000 in 2012.

KBB’s list includes a vehicle for nearly every purpose, from a bulky Chevrolet Suburban that costs more than $51,000 and gets combined city-highway fuel mileage of 17 miles per gallon (mpg) to a Honda Accord that costs less than half that amount and gets 27 mpg combined. The Accord sold nearly 332,000 units in the United States in 2012, compared with just over 48,000 Suburbans.

Another difference among the cars on KBB’s list is revealed in the five-year cost of ownership. A Suburban costs more than $63,000 to own over a five-year period, compared with a cost of around $35,000 for an Accord. The Accord’s resale value at the end of five years totals 43% of its sales price, where a Suburban retains 38% of its original value.

Which cars are selling best? The clear leader here is Volkswagen’s Passat, which has seen sales jump from about 30,000 in 2008 to about 117,000 in 2012. The Passat is also priced just barely higher than the lowest price Accord.

The top-ranked family car based on customer loyalty in the Edmunds ranking is the Toyota Avalon. Some 43% of Avalon owners who are trading in their cars for a new model plan to buy another Avalon. About 40% of Honda Odyssey owners plan to buy another Odyssey, and nearly 39% of Suburban owners plan to buy another Suburban. These numbers indicate that the cars’ owners believed that they received exactly what they anticipated when they bought the first version of the car. That is a pretty strong endorsement.

One note on the data that follows. KBB lists its 10 best cars by trim level, whereas Edmunds groups the cars more generally by model name. Many of the reviews referenced in the piece from groups like J.D. Power, Edmunds and Consumer Reports are for the most recent available period, and in some cases may be for the 2012 model.

Representing a $250 billion market for American companies today, according to the U.S.-China Business Council estimates the country, it’s worth noting the American companies that can take advantage of the enormous opportunity. Some of the nation’s biggest brands have already managed to be the Chinese market leaders in their particular segments. Apple sells more tablets than any competitor in China and Gillette more razors than any other brand. While some of these companies are facing increased competition internationally and from China-based firms, others appear to be pulling away from the pack. 

Click here to see the most popular brands in China

Because China is not an open market, international companies cannot compete in some sectors. According to the U.S.-China Business Council, the Chinese government currently imposes restrictions on about 100 different sectors in both manufacturing and service industries, including much of the agriculture and food production, cloud computing, financial services, petrochemicals, and health insurance, among others.

In the sectors that remain more open to international competition, China represents an opportunity for companies to strengthen their brand and also move ahead of their closest competitors globally. One example of a company capitalizing on its leading position in China is Yum! Brands. The fast food company is behind global competitors like McDonald’s, which had roughly double Yum’s worldwide sales in 2012. Nevertheless, Yum! currently has a very strong foothold in China. Its leading chain, KFC, has more than 4,200 stores in the country, more than double that of McDonald’s, its closest competitor. What’s more, the company, despite setbacks, is growing its presence significantly there.

No doubt, the companies that entered the Chinese market planned their entry carefully. But it’s also clear that many managed to capitalize on their domestic and international brand dominance outside of China. Companies such as Starbucks, Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola have thrived in the country — just as they do all over the world. Whether the companies can continue to leverage that value against up-and-coming Chinese brands remains to be seen.

These are the most popular American brands in China.

Internal conflict and repressive regimes are marked problems in many of countries where citizens feel unsafe. In Afghanistan, which received the worst possible rating from the Economist Intelligence Unit for internal organized conflict, the government continues to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In both Madagascar and Gabon, recent changes in political power have led to tension among opponents.

In Chad, more than 68% of residents do not have confidence in the national government, and 74% of residents said they have no confidence in their military, the lowest percentage measured by Gallup. By comparison, among developed countries at least 53% trust the government.

Some of the nations where residents do not feel safe are among the world’s poorest, including Afghanistan and Madagascar, which were estimated to have among the lowest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of any nations.

Some of the countries where residents feel the least safe, however, have relatively stable governments and enjoy prospering economies. Among these is South Africa, which is one of the world’s largest emerging economies. Additionally, Botswana has been led for decades by a well-functioning, democratically elected government.

Yet, government stability and prosperity do not necessarily ensure residents feel safe. While Botswana is considered to have among the most stable governments in its region, residents are among the most fearful in the world.

According to Steve Crabtree, senior research analyst at Gallup, as nations develop and their economies grow, “some countries experiencing rapid economic development may have ‘growing pains’ in terms of rising income inequality.” These inequalities, and the sense of injustice they often foster, may contribute to rising crime rates and, as a result, fears of crime.

In any country, one of the most meaningful measures of how safe people feel is the way law enforcement officials are perceived. Of the 10 nations where people feel least safe, four also had the lowest ratings of their police forces. In Bolivia and Chad, 66% and 64%, respectively, of those polled disapproved of the local police, the two worst reviews out of the nations measure.

Based on data provided by Gallup, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 countries where people do not feel safe walking alone at night. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided GDP per capita figures, and they are stated on a purchasing power parity basis. Where data was not reported, the IMF has estimated it. Life expectancy figures were taken from the World Bank. Much of the information provided regarding the safety of these countries were provided by the U.S. State Department.

These are the 10 countries where people do not feel safe.

Real estate site Trulia.com provided data to 24/7 Wall St. on the popularity of different home types around the country. The most commonly listed properties are ranch-style homes, followed by colonials. Based on that report, we reviewed the most popular home styles in the country.

Click here to see the seven home styles

The types of home styles that are available depend entirely on the part of the country in which you live. According to Trulia, most homes for sale that were built before the 1900s, like colonials and federal revivals, are found more in the Northeast. This is not always the case, however. Victorian era homes, built primarily in the U.S. during the second half of the 1800s, are also popular on the West Coast, particularly San Francisco.

Much of the housing that currently stands in the United States was built during the post-war boom, between the 1940s and 1970s. Ranch-style homes, which represent the largest share of homes built in the country, were common at that time and can be found all over the U.S. In Detroit, according to Trulia, nearly 20% of all homes for sale were built in the 1940s.

The styles of U.S. homes have different origins. Tudor-style homes can be traced to 16th century Britain during the Tudor Dynasty. The modern version of a Tudor home became popular in the U.S. during the 1930s. Meanwhile, bungalow-style homes originated in India during the 19th century, when British colonists made these homes their residences.

While home styles tend to be more prevalent in some regions of the country and less in others, housing architecture appears to have spread around the country with ease. For example, according to Realtor Magazine, two of the most popular locations for Spanish revival homes are Los Angeles and Wilmette, Illinois.

Based on data provided by Trulia, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the most popular reported home styles in the country. For the purposes of our article, we excluded home types that do not refer to a particular architectural style. Descriptions of home style characteristics and history came from groups like Realtor Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens and other sources.

Doctors miss roughly one day every four months due to illness. Those working in the service industry, on the other hand, miss almost one day every two months. These are the jobs in which workers take the most and least sick days.

Click here to see who takes the most (and fewest) sick days

It would make sense that Americans miss work days because they are sick. And to some extent that is true. Physicians, who miss by far the least amount of work due to sickness, are by far the healthiest. However, doctors appear to be an exception.

In fact, some of the professions that rarely call in sick are among the least healthy. More people working in the farming, forestry and fishing industry have health problems preventing them from doing things appropriate for their age group than any other occupation, according to the study. Despite their poor health, they miss an average of just one day every four months, the second least among the 14 job categories measured. Meanwhile, nurses, clerical workers and service workers report average or above average health but miss the most days from work due to illness.

Unreliable salary also makes it less likely that workers will take time off. Many professions that miss relatively more days, such as nurses and office workers, are often salaried positions with allotted sick days. Workers in installation and repair jobs, who miss relatively little time, are much more likely to be paid per service roles. “If you’re in a low income situation that is coupled with a job that requires punching in,” Gallup’s Dan Witters suggested, “you’re going to be highly motivated to show up for work whether you’re in good physical health or not.”

Based on data provided by Gallup-Healthways as part of their Well-Being Index survey, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average number of days per month missed because of poor health in each of 14 major professional categories. We reviewed a variety of other data provided by the group as part of its 2012 Well-Being Index. The data are based on a survey of 94,000 Americans between January 2 and September 10, 2012. All responses are for those who worked 30 hours or more per week.