John Thompson's passion for old television sets goes back to his childhood. "As soon as I was big enough to look inside a skip," he says, "I began pulling out discarded TVs and taking them home so I could get them working again. The same with junked radios. I think I was born with electricity in my blood."

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street in line with a fall in European and Asian markets as U.S. markets resume trading after the Thanksgiving holiday.

U.S. stocks look set to open higher on Wednesday as technology shares could be boosted by Dell's better-than-expected third-quarter results, while investors awaited key U.S. macro economic data.

The cost of claims for damage due to lightning strikes is soaring because of the burgeoning number of high-end electronic items and appliances in the average home, insurers say.

When the owners of a house in Scottsdale, Ariz. notice that the local rental market is sagging, they trade in their seasonal desert residence for a beachfront getaway in Costa Rica.

The real-estate market is nearing the end of the slowdown, experts said by nearly 2-to-1 in a WSJ.com survey. But they have wildly different views on where home prices are heading.