TOP STORIES:
States Make
End Run Around Food Stamp Cuts - (www.cnbc.com)
Connecticut and New York have
found a way around federal budget cuts that played a central role in the
massive farm bill passed this month: bump up home heating assistance a few
million bucks in return for preserving more than a half-billion dollars in food
stamp benefits. The moves by Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- with the possibility that more governors could follow --
cheer social service advocates who say the deep recession and weak economic
recovery have pounded low-income workers and the unemployed who rely on heating
assistance and food stamps. The $100 billion per year farm bill cut $800
million annually in the food stamp program by ending some state practices that
give recipients minimal heating assistance -- as low as $1 per person -- to
trigger higher food stamp benefits. Compromise legislation requires states to
give recipients at least $20 in heating assistance before a higher food stamp
benefit could kick in.
Detroit reaches new swaps
settlement with banks - (www.cnbc.com)
Hoping the third time's the
charm, the bankrupt city of Detroit says it has reached a tentative, $85
million deal to settle so-called "swaps" contracts with UBS AG and
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, after previous agreements were deemed too
expensive. The $1.45 billion contracts, which had allowed the city to sidestep
borrowing restrictions to shore up its pension plans, have been a key sticking
point in the bankruptcy. The announcement was made by city Emergency Manager
Kevyn Orr, who said the proposed agreement will be filed in court "in the
coming days." "We appreciate the banks' willingness to work with us
to reach a solution that we think balances our goal to provide realistic
recoveries to creditors while freeing up critical funds that we can invest to
improve the quality of life in Detroit," Orr said in a statement Monday. The
proposed settlement is half of what the city had proposed to pay the banks as
recently as January. But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes rejected the $165
million settlement as too costly, saying the swaps contracts could be
challenged in court as illegal, allowing the city to pay nothing at all. Under
the original terms of the swaps, the city would have been forced to pay $286
million, so Orr is portraying the latest agreement as a savings to Detroit's
taxpayers of approximately $201 million.
Expect A Historic Stock Market Collapse & Global Chaos
- (www.kingworldnews.com) The
simple truth is the Fed’s taper of asset purchases is going to lead to a
collapse of stock and real estate values in the United States. And this
will cause major turmoil in currencies, equities and interest rates across the
globe. International equity markets, commodity prices, credit spreads and bond
yields are all clearly telling investors that global economic growth is anemic
and contracting. Therefore, investors need to decide who they want to put
their faith in; the promises from governments that have massively manipulated
economies worldwide, or whatever is still left of the free-market. Putting new
money to work into stocks when the S&P 500 is near a record high
(predominately through the use of a record amount of margin debt) is a
dangerous game. This is especially true in light of the fact that
earnings growth is built upon near-zero revenue growth and market cap growth is
woefully unsupported by GDP growth.
TARP
Funds Demolish Homes in Detroit to Lift Prices: Mortgages - (www.bloomberg.com) In Flint, once a thriving auto-industry hub,
excavators with long metal arms and shovels have begun tearing down 1,500
dilapidated homes in an attempt to lift the housing market. The demolitions in
this Michigan city of about 100,000 people
are part of the stepped up efforts by officials in several Midwestern states to
rid their blighted neighborhoods of decayed housing that’s depressing prices.
The funding for the excavator work comes from a surprising source -- the
Hardest Hit Fund of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, created in 2008
to stabilize to the financial system. The $7.6 billion Hardest Hit Fund was
intended to help troubled property owners avoid foreclosure and keep their
homes. As foreclosures fall
in most parts of the country, the fund is using the unspent $3.2 billion to
remedy the crisis ofabandoned homes.
In Detroit alone, 70,000 dwellings, or about 19 percent of the total, may need
to be torn down, according to the city.
Wall
Street Hates JPMorgan Fee for $1 Trillion Junk Loans - (www.bloomberg.com) On Wall Street, $3,500 goes further than anyone
dared imagine in the 1980s when the predecessor to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
charged the fee to trade each non-investment grade loan it sold. That surcharge
remains the same today and helps the biggest U.S. bank dominate the secretive
$1.1 trillion junk-loan market while stifling profits for investors and rivals,
which mostly stopped charging it years ago. The New York-based bank waives it for exclusive
customers: trade with JPMorgan, no fee; trade one of its loans with anyone
else, pay up. JPMorgan can dictate terms because of itssize, according to 12 people with knowledge
of the matter who are concerned they’d jeopardize their business if their
identities were revealed. The bank brings more corporate debt to market than
anyone, and competitors and investors say they might be shut out of future
deals if they don’t play by JPMorgan’s rules.
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