_Economy and Finance

Houston Makes Top 5 as Boom Lures Foreigners: Real Estate By Dan Levy - Mar 26, 2013 International real estate investors are falling in love with Houston, a fast-expanding energy hub that’s luring buyers from Toronto to Tel Aviv seeking properties with lower costs and higher returns than buildings in the priciest U.S. cities. Firms from outside the U.S. acquired $2.83 billion of Houston (OFCRAHOU) office buildings in the past three years, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc. They were the largest net buyers of any investor class, spending four times more than U.S. real estate investment trusts, which ranked second. Last year, Houston for the first time was among the top five global cities in an annual survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate that dates back to 1994. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-26/houston-makes-top-5-as-boom-lures-foreigners-real-estate.html

Biggest Buyers Retreat from Junk Bonds (Source: Bloomberg, February 15, 2013 ) According to Bloomberg, major institutional investors pulled back from junk bonds as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced record withdrawals, marking the first losses in eight months. The combined value of the five largest junk-debt funds fell 7% from January highs, with State Street’s $11.9 billion fund alone seeing nearly $1 billion in withdrawals over 12 days. Analysts noted that institutions such as hedge funds and banks are shifting away from broad indexes, instead targeting specific bonds. Junk bond ETFs, which attracted $8 billion in 2012 amid strong returns, are now facing outflows as strategists forecast weaker performance in 2013. Prices have declined from record highs, with concerns that valuations are stretched after years of double-digit returns. Prominent investors including Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles and Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital warned that the market is “overbought” and calle...

Economy Drives More Americans to Extreme Poverty By Catherine Dodge - 2011.11.02 09:01 PM The number of Americans living in neighborhoods beset by extreme poverty surged in the last decade, erasing the progress of the 1990s, with the poorest areas growing more than twice as fast in suburbs as in cities.

Related News: Bloomberg, Economy, U.S., Municipal Bonds Fed’s Dudley Says U.S. Economic Performance ‘Mixed,’ Banks in Better Shape By Caroline Salas Gage - Aug 19, 2011 06:42 AM Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said U.S. economic performance is “at worst, mixed,” with negative news offset by loosening credit, firmer retail sales and stronger bank balance sheets.

Related News: Bloomberg, Canada, Retail, Economy, Currencies, Italy, Municipal Bonds, US Cut in Household Spending Points to Recession By Shobhana Chandra and Steve Matthews - Aug 11, 2011 04:01 AM GMT Recession signals in the world’s largest economy are flashing red again.

Fed Data Cruncher Finding No New Normal Unemployment Nationwide By Vivien Lou Chen - Jul 11, 2011 8:01 AM GMT+0900 Mary Daly holds up two charts containing 33 bars that all point down. They show eight industries getting hit equally hard after the 18-month recession ended in June 2009, suggesting that much of the past two years’ high unemployment is broad-based and should dissipate as the economy improves.

Related News: US, Currencies, Municipal Bonds, Economy Service Industries in U.S. Expand at Slower Pace in Sign Economy Cooling By Alex Kowalski - Jul 7, 2011 5:40 AM GMT+0900 Service industries in the U.S. expanded at a slower pace in June, a sign the economy cooled at the end of the first half of 2011.

Related News: Economy , Real Estate , US , Municipal Bonds Bloomberg : Existing-Home Sales in U.S. Fell in May to Six-Month Low, May Be at Bottom By Timothy R. Homan - Jun 22, 2011 5:19 AM GMT+0900 Sales of existing U.S. homes decreased in May to the lowest level in six months, a sign that the housing market is lagging other parts of the economy.

Related News: U.S. · Bonds · Economy · Retail · Municipal Bonds Retail Sales in U.S. Fall Less Than Estimated; Demand for Autos Declines By Shobhana Chandra - Jun 15, 2011 5:38 AM GMT+0900 Sales at U.S. retailers fell less than projected in May, showing consumers were weathering elevated gasoline costs.

Related News: Economy · U.S. · Municipal Bonds U.S. Manufacturing Grows at Faster Pace Than Estimated, Leading Recovery By Bob Willis - May 3, 2011 5:24 AM GMT+0900 Manufacturing expanded faster than forecast in April, driven by gains in exports and inventories that are keeping the industry at the forefront of the U.S. economic expansion.

Related News: Economy · U.S. · Municipal Bonds Economic Outlook Brightens on Leading Indicators, Confidence By Alex Kowalski and Timothy R. Homan - Apr 22, 2011 5:36 AM GMT+0900 The index of U.S. leading indicators increased for a ninth month in March and Americans’ confidence rose for a fourth week, signaling the expansion may withstand higher fuel costs.

Related News: Law · Finance · Insurance · Real Estate · U.S. · Funds · Politics · Municipal Bonds Banks Await Foreclosure Deal’s Financial Terms as States Split By David McLaughlin - Apr 21, 2011 3:33 AM GMT+0900 Attorneys general negotiating the settlement of a nationwide foreclosure investigation have yet to approach banks with a proposed dollar amount that would fund principal reductions for borrowers, a state official said.

Related News: Economy · Real Estate · U.S. · Municipal Bonds Housing Starts in U.S. Increased to 549,000 in March, Exceeding Forecasts By Bob Willis - Apr 20, 2011 5:07 AM GMT+0900 A gain in March housing starts failed to make up for ground lost the prior month, as U.S. home builders continue to struggle almost two years into the economic recovery.

Related News: U.S. · Real Estate · Economy · Canada · Municipal Bonds · Currencies Home Prices, Consumer Confidence in U.S. Probably Fell By Alex Kowalski - Mar 29, 2011 1:00 PM GMT+0900 Residential real estate prices probably dropped in January by the most in more than a year, raising the risk that home sales will keep slowing, economists said before a report today.

Related News: Economy · Finance · Law · Eastern Europe · Europe · France · India & Pakistan · Latin America · U.K. & Ireland · U.S. · Opinion · Funds · Municipal Bonds · Matthew Lynn Portuguese Bailout Costs More Than Money Alone: Matthew Lynn By Matthew Lynn - Mar 29, 2011 8:00 AM GMT+0900 Bloomberg Opinion Is it 50 billion euros? Or perhaps 70 billion euros? The cost of bailing out Portugal varies according to who makes the calculation. No one will know the real price until officials from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank tell us.

Related News: U.S. · Bonds · Municipal Bonds Risk of Widespread Municipal Bond Defaults Near `Zero,' Moody's Zandi Says By Mark Niquette and William Selway - Feb 28, 2011 6:22 AM GMT+0900 Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg Dire warnings about impending defaults in the municipal-bond market are overblown, an economist and analyst told a group of the nation’s governors. The risk of a major default or round of defaults is “close to zero,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said during a panel session at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington. “I think that the very loud hand-wringing over the prospects for major municipal-bond defaults is entirely misplaced,” Zandi said.