The Big Picture

This ABC News segment explores whether consecutive stock market rallies indicate an economic recovery. The reporter uses footage from Capitol Hill as well as corporate earnings stories and economists to answer the question.

Today’s Tip: Think of daily news stories as possible pieces to a larger puzzle.

Stop to think about a broader impact and ask what it all means. For instance, with earnings, do you see a pattern among particular types of companies? With commercial real estate vacancies, are certain areas more susceptible? If so, where do people in those areas work? There may not always be a connection, but at least take the time to think about the possibility.

$10 Billion in Fraudulent Flips

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune launched a six-day series and interactive online package looking at how flipping houses led to inflated prices and $450 million in defaulted mortgage loans. Using public records to get mortgage filings and deeds, the paper concluded that the fraudulent flip transactions totaled about $10 billion.

Investigative reporter Matthew Doig said the story started when a county property appraiser analysis showed frequent sales of certain properties as well as repeat buyers and sellers. And Michael Braga’s experience covering real estate helped them see the connections between the parties.

“He has a ‘Rain Man’ quality with a memory that serves him well. He knows all the players,” Doig said.

The paper also created its own database of 19 million property sales records dating to January 2000. The paper’s Web site provides details about the reporters’ calculations.

Today’s Tip: Public records searches can shed light on business connections because sometimes companies use several names for various partnerships.

The Florida Division of Corporations’ Sunbiz Web site helped the Herald-Tribune connect the flippers. To get started on your own investigation, check out this toolbox from the Society of Professional Journalists that lists several online options for accessing public records.