Houston Makes Top 5 as Boom Lures Foreigners: Real Estate

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 Stampede From Junk Bonds on Loss: Credit Markets

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 called for caution. Bank of America strategists described the pullback as evidence of instability at current valuations.

Meanwhile, credit-default swap costs rose slightly, signaling deteriorating confidence, while Heinz Co. bonds became the most actively traded following news of its $23 billion buyout by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital.

Overall, junk bond ETFs are losing institutional support, with investors increasingly wary of inflated valuations and shifting toward selective opportunities rather than broad exposure.

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정크본드 시장에서 대규모 투자자 이탈

(출처: Bloomberg, 2013년 2월 15일)

Bloomberg 보도에 따르면, 정크본드 시장의 주요 기관 투자자들이 빠져나가면서 ETF(상장지수펀드)에서 사상 최대 규모의 자금 유출이 발생했습니다. 이는 8개월 만의 첫 손실로, 상위 5개 정크본드 펀드의 총 가치가 1월 고점 대비 7% 하락했습니다. 특히 State Street의 119억 달러 규모 펀드는 12일 동안 약 9억 8,800만 달러가 빠져나갔습니다.

전문가들은 헤지펀드와 은행 같은 기관들이 광범위한 지수 투자에서 벗어나 특정 채권에 집중하고 있다고 분석했습니다. 2012년 156%의 수익률로 80억 달러가 유입됐던 정크본드 ETF는 2013년에는 약세 전망으로 인해 자금이 빠져나가고 있습니다. 금리 상승과 과도한 밸류에이션 우려로 가격은 고점에서 하락세를 보이고 있습니다.

Loomis Sayles의 Dan Fuss와 Oaktree Capital의 Howard Marks는 시장이 “과매수 상태”라며 신중한 접근을 강조했습니다. Bank of America는 최근의 자금 유출이 현재 밸류에이션에서 시장 불안정을 보여주는 신호라고 평가했습니다.

한편, 신용부도스왑(CDS) 비용은 소폭 상승해 투자심리 악화를 반영했으며, Heinz의 230억 달러 인수 소식으로 해당 회사 채권이 가장 활발히 거래되었습니다.

결론적으로, 정크본드 ETF는 기관 투자자들의 지지를 잃고 있으며, 투자자들은 광범위한 시장 노출보다 개별 채권 중심의 선택적 투자로 이동하고 있습니다.

Bloomberg: Economy Drives More Americans to Extreme Poverty

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.

Bloomberg: Fed’s Dudley Says U.S. Economic Performance ‘Mixed,’ Banks in Better Shape

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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.

Bloomberg: Cut in Household Spending Points to Recession

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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.

Bloomberg: Fed Data Cruncher Finding No New Normal Unemployment Nationwide

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.

Bloomberg: Service Industries in U.S. Expand at Slower Pace in Sign Economy Cooling

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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.

Bloomberg: Existing-Home Sales in U.S. Fell in May to Six-Month Low, May Be at Bottom

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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.

Bloomberg: Retail Sales in U.S. Fall Less Than Estimated; Demand for Autos Declines

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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.

Bloomberg: U.S. Manufacturing Grows at Faster Pace Than Estimated, Leading Recovery

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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.

Bloomberg: Economic Outlook Brightens on Leading Indicators, Confidence

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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.

Bloomberg: Banks Await Foreclosure Deal’s Financial Terms as States Split

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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.

Bloomberg: Housing Starts in U.S. Increased to 549,000 in March, Exceeding Forecasts

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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.

Bloomberg: Home Prices, Consumer Confidence in U.S. Probably Fell

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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.

Bloomberg: Portuguese Bailout Costs More Than Money Alone: Matthew Lynn

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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.

Risk of Widespread Municipal Bond Defaults Near `Zero,' Moody's Zandi Says

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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.