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🇺🇸 LA
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🇺🇸 New York
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🇬🇧 London
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🇮🇹 Rome
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🇮🇳 Delhi
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🇨🇳 Beijing
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🇰🇷 Seoul
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Parallel Petroleum Welcomes Samsung C&T

permianbasin360.com

Parallel Petroleum Welcomes Samsung C&T
By: Mycah Glover
Updated: February 28, 2012

MIDLAND -- Deals are made in the Permian Basin oil and gas industry everyday, but not deals like this. Samsung C&T, a trading arm of Samsung Group, agreed to purchase Midland-based Parallel Petroleum from Apollo Global Management last year. Today, representatives from the Korean-based company traveled thousands of miles to formally announce their newest venture in the oil and gas business.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Bloomberg: Descending Treasury Yield Signals Slowing U.S.

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

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.

Reuters: PIMCO's Gross shifts to defensive investment model

Reuters

PIMCO's Gross shifts to defensive investment model
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK | Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:56pm EST

(Reuters) - It's time for defense, says Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund.

Gross, manager of PIMCO's $250 billion Total Return bond fund (PTTRX.O), used American football as a metaphor for his investment model in his March newsletter. He wrote that he has turned defensive as he watches out for potential downside risks and warns about the government's increased demand on available capital in the economy.

CNNMoney: Throwing cash at the housing market will make it worse

CNNMoney

Throwing cash at the housing market will make it worse
By Nin-Hai Tseng, writer-reporter February 28, 2012: 11:42 AM ET

Nearly half of current homeowners buying new homes by the end of 2012 are expected pay in cash, and that's not a good thing for home prices.

FORTUNE – In today's troubled housing market, it's all about the Benjamins.

Home prices are at a 9-year low, and it should come as no surprise. For the past three years, tighter lending standards and record foreclosures have driven an unusually higher number of homebuyers to pay for discounted properties in cash. The bulk has come from investors eyeing fixer uppers, as well as foreign buyers armed with wads of cash for properties from California to Miami.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Bloomberg: Greece Running Out of Alternatives: Krugman

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/krugman-says-greece-running-out-of-alternatives-to-euro-exit.html

Greece Running Out of Alternatives: Krugman
By Anabela Reis - Feb 27, 2012 4:01 PM

Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman said Greece is “close” to having no option but to quit the euro as austerity measures imposed on the nation hamper its economic recovery.

USA Today: 3 doomsaying experts who foresee economic devastation ahead

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/stocks/story/2012-02-26/stock-market-bears-doomsayers/53259742/1

3 doomsaying experts who foresee economic devastation ahead
By Adam Shell, USA TODAY

NEW YORK – Behind the mainstream Wall Street happy talk about more stable financial markets and an improving economy are grim warnings of tough times ahead from a small cadre of doomsayers who warn that the worst of the financial crisis is still to come.

Bloomberg: Pending U.S. Home Resales Show Housing Market Regaining Footing: Economy

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.

USA Today: Home sales contracts rise 2% in Jan.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-02-27/january-pending-home-sales/53268806/1

Home sales contracts rise 2% in Jan.
By Derek Kravitz, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose in January to the highest level in nearly two years, supporting the view that the housing market is gradually coming back.

USA Today: Business economists see continued slow growth overall

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.