Housing and Core Inflation – It’s Complicated

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.

Asia Insights: Reasons not to be too bullish on China

Fixed Income | Asia Ex-Japan
21 February 2013

Asia Insights: Reasons not to be too bullish on China

· We reiterate our view that the consensus forecast for China’s economic growth is too optimistic. We expect GDP growth to slow in H2 to 7.3% y-o-y while the consensus expects it to be 8.1%.

· We list five recent developments that support our cautious view, including local governments lowering their 2013 GDP growth targets by 0.5 percentage points (pp), and the severe air pollution problems that could spur Beijing to rethink its growth model.

· The strength of coincident macro data may continue in Q1, but we believe leading policy indicators such as total social financing and M2 growth will soon moderate from currently high levels.

Oil and gas industry facing ‘a roller-coaster ride’

Oil and gas industry facing ‘a roller-coaster ride’
JOSH O’KANE
The Globe and Mail
Thursday, Feb. 21 2013, 6:00 AM EST

Canada is home to the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves and is the sixth-largest producer of oil.

But global economic conditions are pressuring fuel prices worldwide, and Canada’s oil and gas sector has the added frustration of a deficit in infrastructure that, among other things, is driving the price of western Canadian oil down by nearly $25 from benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-and-gas-industry-facing-a-roller-coaster-ride/article8900814/

The Asian energy equation

The Asian energy equation

This article appears in full in the January/February issue of LNG Industry, to view the full article log-in here or you can register as a reader here.

If, as the International Energy Agency speculates, we are about to enter a ‘Golden Age of Gas’, the Asia-Pacific region will be a major player in it. In particular, the region’s robustly growing energy needs, of which natural gas will play no small part, means that it will become a major focus for both existing and prospective exporters of LNG for the rest of this decade and beyond.

http://www.energyglobal.com/

US LNG export capacity seen at 70 billion cu m/year by 2020: Goldman Sachs

US LNG export capacity seen at 70 billion cu m/year by 2020: Goldman Sachs
Houston (Platts)--20Feb2013/442 pm EST/2142 GMT

The US likely would build liquefaction capacity totaling 70 billion cubic meters/yr (6.77 Bcf/d) between 2016 and 2020, according to Goldman Sachs analysts.

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/NaturalGas/6177738

Asian Real Estate, Asset Owners Return

Asian Real Estate, Asset Owners Return
LiveTradingNews.com
wire staff
report@livetradingnews.com

Asian Real Estate, Asset Owners Return

JLL

An estimated $110-B is expected to flow into Asian commercial real estate in Y 2013, making up about 25% of the global total, according to Jones Lang LaSalle NYSE:JLL

http://www.livetradingnews.com/asian-real-estate-asset-owners-return-105583.htm

Asia Chart Alert: China: The largest hike in the rail freight tariff since 2003

20 February 2013

Asia Chart Alert: China: The largest hike in the rail freight tariff since 2003

It reinforces our view that CPI inflation will rise above 3.5% in H2 and lead to two interest rate hikes.

Fig. 1: Rail freight tariff and its growth

2012: reserved growth with strong fundamentals - February 2013

http://www.realestate.bnpparibas.com/bnppre/en/market-research/overview/2012-reserved-growth-strong-fundamentals-february-2013-p_1567281.html

20/02/2013
Western Europe | Hotels
Property Report H2 2012

2012: reserved growth with strong fundamentals - February 2013

At € 6 billion invested during 2012, the hotel investment volume in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom suffered a 5% drop compared to the previous year.

London Regains World's Most Expensive Office Market Crown

LONDON REGAINS WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE OFFICE MARKET CROWN
19 Feb, 2013, London

- London leapfrogs Hong Kong to take top spot for first time since 2008
- Rio de Janeiro soars from 8th to 3rd with a rental uplift of 43% on previous year
- Global office rents increase by 3%

http://www.cushwake.com/cwglobal/jsp/newsDetail.jsp?Country=GB&Language=EN&repId=c58100005p

U.S. LNG Exports: Increasingly A Reality

U.S. LNG Exports: Increasingly A Reality
February 19, 2013 |

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The past two months have been marked by a whole series of significant announcements in the U.S. LNG sector indicating that large-scale natural gas exports from the U.S. and Canada are firmly on track to become a reality. The headlines included three major long-term LNG supply agreements and the decisions by Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell to take equity stakes in LNG export projects. The announcements have several important implications and suggest that the LNG exports will not only have material consequences for the North American natural gas market but are already impacting pricing mechanisms of the entire international LNG trade.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1202741-u-s-lng-exports-increasingly-a-reality