Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Thursday October 18 Housing and Economic stories



TOP STORIES:

Exclusive: Euro zone considering bond insurance for Spain - sources - (www.reuters.com)  The euro zone is considering aiding Spain by providing insurance for investors who buy government bonds in a move designed to maintain Spanish access to capital markets and minimize the cost to European taxpayers, European sources said. One senior European source said the plan could cost about 50 billion euros ($64.5 billion) for a year. It would enable Spain to cover its full funding needs and trigger potentially unlimited European Central bank buying of short-term Spanish bonds in the secondary market.

Iranians Abandon Meat for Bread as Rial Drop Fires Protests - (www.bloomberg.com) Iran’s freefalling currency is turning meat into a luxury, sparking overnight price surges and spurring shoppers to stockpile goods.
“Most of my customers just look at products behind the window and pass,” said Behrouz Madani, 42, who owns a butcher shop in northwest Tehran. “I see them going to the next store, which is a bakery, to feed their families with bread.” Iran’s rial is in a tailspin, having lost more than half of its value against the dollar in street trading in the past two months as U.S. and European sanctions aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear program bite. Riot police yesterday fired tear gas and sealed off parts of downtown Tehran after the currency’s plunge triggered street protests. Hundreds of security forces patrolled the area today and most foreign currency shops were closed. The inflation rate, estimated by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani at 29 percent last week, has accelerated to the point where the price of milk in Tehran rose 9 percent yesterday.

Eyes on Spain as ECB meets, bazooka ready - (www.reuters.com) European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday everything was in place for the bank to buy the bonds of troubled euro zone countries such as Spain and that conditions linked to it need not be punitive. At the first ECB meeting since Draghi unveiled his controversial bond-purchase plan a month ago, markets were looking for signs of when Spain might make a formal aid request and trigger the program that some have hailed as a savior for the battered euro zone.

Romney's Strong Debate Showing Puts Europe on Edge - (www.cnbc.com) In Europe, where leaders and finance officials have worked closely with the Obama administration over the past 2½ years trying to resolve the euro area debt crisis, there was particular consternation at Romney's singling out of deficit-ridden Spain as a poorly administered economy. "Romney is making analogies that aren't based on reality," Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters after a meeting of his center-right party. Leading Spanish daily El Pais highlighted the fact that Spain was the only European country mentioned, and contrasted Romney's negative depiction of it with Obama's praise for Spain's renewable energy policies during the 2008 campaign.

Gas prices spiking in California - (money.cnn.com) Drivers in California could soon be paying nearly $5 a gallon for gasoline as prices in the wholesale market have surged this week. Wholesale gasoline prices in Los Angeles jumped Thursday to $4.35 a gallon, according to Tom Kloza, chief analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. The wholesale price is "by far the highest we've ever seen in that market," said Kloza. Once taxes and other costs are factored in, wholesale gas prices in California are at levels consistent with retail prices near $5 a gallon, he added. "California is ground zero for one of the most dramatic price spikes in a while," said Kloza.






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