Monday, September 19, 2011

Tuesday September 20 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Deutsche Bank CEO Just Gave A Terrifying Speech In Frankfurt - (www.businessinsider.com) Josef Ackermann just gave a terrifying speech about the fragility of the Euro banking sector right now. At a conference in Frankfurt he said, "It is an open secret that numerous European banks would not survive having to revalue sovereign debt held on the banking book at market levels." We have translated the speech based on Handelsbatt's, the organizer of the event where Ackermann spoke, account of it. "In recent weeks, the distrust of the financial markets has spread to the banks because they are now suffering from the debt crisis in Europe and have a lot of exposure to, for example, Greek bonds." "Since the financial crisis, some European banks have lost a third or more of their market capitalization," he said, according to Google Translate. "Most institutions have a rating of "below the book value or at best." There are three major stress factors crushing Euro banks right now, he says: the debt crisis, structural factors and financial regulation. With them together, it will be hard for the European banks to increase their revenues. The implication is that not just Eurozone countries are buckling under the pressure of Greece's, France's, and Italy's debts, but banks are too. It sounds like a desperate call for a bailout. Now.

Analysis: Pension funds in new crisis as deficit hole grows - (www.reuters.com) Pension funds in developed economies are facing a new crisis as falling equities and tumbling bond yields widen their deficits, threatening the incomes and retirement dates of future retirees. At the heart of their problems is a steady move by pension plans in the United States, euro zone, Japan and the UK to cut exposure to risk after the financial crisis. But this "de-risking" may end up depressing their long-term returns from stock market investment and challenge the conventional wisdom that shares generate higher returns than bonds. With weaker holdings and increased liabilities, companies will find it more difficult to fund existing pension schemes. They may cut new business investments as they use more cash to pay pensions. For future pensioners, it means they will potentially face a lower retirement income and a longer working life -- or both.

Germany's Judgment on Bailouts Looms - (online.wsj.com) Europe's bailouts of struggling euro-zone countries could face fresh obstacles on Wednesday, when Germany's constitutional court rules on the bailouts' legality. The court's judgment, highly anticipated in European capitals and financial markets, will settle whether Chancellor Angela Merkel's government breached the German people's property rights in agreeing to the initial bailout of Greece in 2010. The court also is due to rule on whether the German government should have asked the country's parliament before taking part in the bailouts of Ireland and Portugal, as well as on the legality of the European Central Bank's purchases of government bonds. Legal analysts say the court is unlikely to rule that aid for euro-zone partners is unconstitutional, but that the judges could make future loan packages for euro countries subject to approval by Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. That would subject future bailout deals to German parliamentary politics and potentially slow Europe's crisis-response times.

Deutsche says Europe crisis could kill weak banks - (www.reuters.com) Europe's sovereign debt crisis will stunt bank profit for years and could kill off the weakest, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) Chief Executive Josef Ackermann told industry bosses, amid intense scrutiny of the sector's finances. "Prospects for the financial sector overall ... are rather limited," the CEO of Germany's top bank said on Monday. "The outlook for the future growth of revenues is limited by both the current situation and structurally." Ackermann was speaking at Frankfurt's annual Banks in Transition conference against a backdrop of gloom in the capital markets, where fears some euro zone countries could default on their debts have sent investors scurrying for shelter.

Labor Leader On Tea Party: "Let's Take These Sons Of Bitches Out" - (www.businessinsider.com) Teamsters President James Hoffa, Jr. provided a controversial — and profane — opening act for President Barack Obama in Detroit Sunday, telling a union crowd to "take these son of bitches out" while raving against the tea party and members of the GOP. "We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Hoffa said. "President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march.... Everybody here's got to vote. If we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," he added.

OTHER STORIES:

Stocks, Italian Bonds Drop as Euro Weakens on Debt Crisis; Gold Advances - (www.bloomberg.com)

World stocks slide on economy and debt fears - (www.reuters.com)

Merkel-Any Euro Exit Could Cause Dangerous Dominoes - (www.reuters.com)

ECB spent $18.8 billion on bond buys last week - (finance.yahoo.com)

Debt fears take toll of euro - (www.ft.com)

Europe’s banks face unsecured bond test - (www.ft.com)

Merkel’s Euro Gambit Ends in Defeat at Home - (www.bloomberg.com)

Slovaks should vote on EFSF before Dec - FinMin - (www.reuters.com)

Indian Services Expand at Slowest Pace in Two Years After Rate Increases - (www.bloomberg.com)

G7 to seek ways to prop up global growth: source - (www.reuters.com)

Fed Seen Doing Twist - (online.wsj.com)

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