L.A.’s Trophy Homes Starring in Sequel for
Luxury Market - (www.bloomberg.com) The
Reserve is a six-bedroom, 11-bath Art Deco mansion in Los Angeles that Kristoffer Winters spent more than
two years rebuilding and decorating down to its monogrammed bathroom towels.
His asking price was $25 million. “The gentleman that bought it got it
completely furnished,” Winters said during an interview at the Holmby Hills
estate, a six-minute walk from the Playboy Mansion. “The day we close escrow,
he can actually throw a dinner party.” Their deal is scheduled to close today. Speculative
building and flipping of homes with $20 million-plus price tags are rebounding
in the toniest areas of Los Angeles as buyers, many from overseas, are drawn to
the land of swimming pools and movie stars. Sales stalled after the 2008 real
estate crash when demand and financing dried up. A
stronger economy and scarce listings are driving prices skyward again.
A
Summer of Troubles Saps India’s Sense of Confidence - (www.nytimes.com) For the last 10 years, India seemed poised to
take its place alongside China as one of the dominant economic and strategic
powerhouses of Asia. Its economy was surging, its military was strengthening,
and its leaders were striding across the world stage. But a summer of
difficulties has dented India’s confidence, and a growing chorus of critics is
starting to ask whether India’s rise may take years, and perhaps decades,
longer than many had hoped. “There is a growing sense of desperation out there,
particularly among the young,” said Ramachandra Guha, one of India’s leading
historians. Three events last week crystallized those new worries. On
Wednesday, one of India’s most advanced submarines, the Sindhurakshak, exploded and sank at its berth in Mumbai, almost certainly
killing 18 of the 21 sailors on its night watch. On Friday, a top Indian
general announced that India had killed 28 people in recent weeks in and around
the Line of Control in Kashmir as part of the worst fighting between India and
Pakistan since a 2003 cease-fire. Also Friday, the Sensex, the Indian stock
index, plunged nearly 4 percent, while the value of the rupee continued to
fall, reaching just under 62 rupees per dollar, a record low. The rupee and
stocks fell again on Monday.
Spanish
banks' bad loan ratio rises to record in June - (www.reuters.com) Spanish
banks' bad loans as a percentage of total credit rose to a fresh high of 11.6
percent in June, Bank of Spain data
showed on Monday, as more households and small companies, particularly those
from the property sector, struggle with debts. The rise in loans in arrears has
dragged on Spanish banks' earnings in
the first half of 2013, even though in the second quarter some reported a
slower rate of increase in bad loans. The overall bad debt ratio for Spanish
banks was up from 11.2 percent in May and has been steadily increasing since a
drop-off at the end of last year when rescued lenders transferred toxic
property assets to Spain's so-called bad bank. The Bank of Spain had previously
put the bad debt ratio at 11.6 percent last November, using provisional data,
though this was later revised to 11.4 percent.
Fannie,
Freddie should recognize bad loan costs immediately: watchdog - (www.reuters.com) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are
masking billions of dollars losses because of the level of delinquent home
loans they carry, a federal watchdog said in an internal report, and it said
the companies should be required immediately to recognize the costs of some bad
mortgages. The report, written by the inspector general for the Federal Housing
Finance Agency and reviewed by Reuters, said the FHFA's timeframe for mortgage finance companies
Fannie (FNMA.OB)
and Freddie (FMCC.OB)
to have up to two years to recognize the cost of mortgages delinquent at least
180 days was "inordinately long." The change in the accounting
treatment of these delinquent loans potentially could require Fannie and
Freddie, which have rebounded to enormous profitability in the past two years
as the housing market recovered,
to "charge off billions of additional dollars related to loans," the
inspector general's report stated.
What's
Ailing America's Cattle? - (online.wsj.com) A
growing number of cattle arriving for slaughter at U.S. meatpacking plants have
recently shown unusual signs of distress. Some walked stiffly, while others had
trouble moving or simply lay down, their tongues hanging from their mouths. A
few even sat down in strange positions, looking more like dogs than cows. "I've seen cattle walking down a truck ramp
tippy-toed," said Temple Grandin, a doctor of animal science and consultant
to the livestock industry. "Normally, they just run down the truck ramp
and jump out. We do not want to see bad become normal." With few other
changes to animals' diets that could trigger such symptoms, Dr. Grandin and
other scientists involved with the livestock industry began to suspect a tie to
weight-gain supplements called beta-agonists that have only recently become
widely used. On Friday, drug maker Merck & Co. said it would temporarily
suspend sales of Zilmax, one such feed additive, responding to widening
animal-welfare concerns within the U.S. beef industry over the use of
pharmaceuticals in meat production.
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