_Economy and Finance

Westfield Sells 7 U.S. Malls to Starwood for $1.6 Billion By Nichola Saminather - Sep 16, 2013 Westfield Group (WDC), the world’s biggest shopping-center operator by assets, will sell seven malls in the U.S. for $1.6 billion to an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group LLC, as the company consolidates its U.S. portfolio to fund higher-return activities. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/westfield-sells-seven-u-s-malls-to-starwood-for-1-6-billion.html

THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR April 24, 2013, 12:25 p.m. ET Here Comes the Next Hot Emerging Market: the U.S. By JASON ZWEIG The investment visionary who coined the term "emerging markets" and helped launch the first funds to invest in developing countries thinks he has spotted what you might call the next great emerging market. It is called "the United States." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578432832232151840.html

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

KKR Said to Debut Real Estate Fund With $500 Million By Devin Banerjee & Sabrina Willmer - Mar 13, 2013 KKR & Co. (KKR), the buyout firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, is preparing to market its first fund dedicated to real estate investments with an initial $500 million committed to the pool, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-12/kkr-said-to-debut-real-estate-fund-with-500-million.html

AMERICA'S COMEBACK Unemployment rate falls to lowest level since 2008 By Annalyn Kurtz @CNNMoney March 8, 2013: 12:33 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Hiring picked up in February, helping to bring the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since December 2008. The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. That's much stronger growth than in January, when employers hired a revised 119,000 workers. http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/08/news/economy/february-jobs-report/index.html

Housing and Core Inflation – It’s Complicated Laura Rosner - Market Economics US Daily Spotlight | 22 Feb 2013 03:15 | Markets were risk-off on Thursday, as equity markets sold off by more than 0.6% for the second day in a row, while the 10yr Treasury closed the day at 1.98%. Data for the day were unimpressive with jobless claims for the week suggesting only modest improvement in February payroll employment, existing home sales edging marginally higher and the February Philly Fed manufacturing index falling sharply (details of the report were less negative than the headline index implied). Meanwhile, core inflation was slightly stronger than expected in the January CPI report, mainly reflecting a rebound in core goods prices, but also modestly firmer increases in housing costs.

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...

U.S. High Yield Default Loss Rate Below 1% in 2012 For the third consecutive year, the U.S. high yield default rate remained well below average, ending 2012 at 1.9% and up just modestly from 1.5% in 2011. The average recovery rate on the year’s defaults was 50.2% and the median recovery, 38.9%. Both measures slipped from 2011’s more robust 59.4% average and 47.9% median.

US Outlook 2013 Bulent Baygun,Interest Rate Team - Rates Desknotes US | 14 Dec 2012 15:29 | Summary We are facing a period of increased demand for high-quality paper, which should keep funds flowing into Treasuries, agencies, mortgages and SSAs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/u-s-to-overtake-saudi-arabia-s-oil-production-by-2020-iea-says.html U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020 By Lananh Nguyen U.S. oil output is poised to surpass Saudi Arabia’s in the next decade, making the world’s biggest fuel consumer almost self-reliant and putting it on track to become a net exporter, the International Energy Agency said.

Bloomberg Bernanke Takes On Krugman’s Criticism Ignoring Own Advice By Jeff Kearns and Craig Torres Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke took on Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman yesterday and called his advice to reduce unemployment by boosting inflation “reckless.”

Bloomberg Geithner Calls China’s Changes on Yuan Very Significant By Ian Katz U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said China’s decision to widen the yuan’s trading band against the dollar reflects changes that are “very significant and very promising.”

Bloomberg Service Industries in U.S. Kept Expanding in March: Economy By Alex Kowalski - 2012.04.04 12:42 PM Service industries in the U.S. grew in March, capping the strongest quarter in a year and indicating the world’s largest economy will keep generating jobs.

Bloomberg Related News: Executive, U.S., Finance Dimon Letter Derides Contrived, Confusing Financial Rules By Dawn Kopecki - 2012.04.04 05:02 PM Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), used his annual letter to shareholders to rail against “contrived” and confusing financial rules that he said may stymie lending.

Bloomberg Hedge Funds Make Wrong-Way Bets for a Fourth Week: Commodities By Joe Richter - Mar 25, 2012 9:21 PM Hedge funds wagered the wrong way on commodity prices for a fourth consecutive week, boosting bullish holdings just before reports showing a contraction in manufacturing from China to Europe drove prices lower.

Bernanke Sees Need for Higher Household Spending to Fuel Growth By Joshua Zumbrun - 2012.03.22 08:08 PM Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy is operating below its level prior to the financial crisis, and that increased household spending is needed to sustain the expansion.

Bloomberg Descending Treasury Yield Signals Slowing U.S. By John Detrixhe and Daniel Kruger - 2012.02.28 08:29 PM The $10 trillion market for U.S. Treasuries is signaling that the economic recovery may be poised to weaken even as consumer confidence rises toward pre-recession levels.

Bloomberg U.S. Consumer Sentiment Climbs Toward ’08 Levels By Timothy R. Homan - 2012.02.28 01:28 PM Consumer-confidence measures are climbing out of the depths reached during the last recession as employers step up hiring and stocks rally, signaling Americans may be poised to increase spending.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/pending-sales-of-existing-homes-in-u-s-increase-a-more-than-estimated-2-.html Pending U.S. Home Resales Show Housing Market Regaining Footing: Economy By Shobhana Chandra - 2012.02.27 08:39 AM More Americans than forecast signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in January, indicating the industry that sparked the last recession is improving.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/story/2012-02-27/business-economists-forecast/53268208/1 Business economists see continued slow growth overall By Samantha Bomkamp, Associated Press NEW YORK – Economists are increasingly confident that some pillars of the U.S. economy will improve this year, but they remain cautious in their expectations on the overall pace of economic growth.