KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday October 28 Housing and Economic stories

Monday, October 27, 2014

Tuesday October 28 Housing and Economic stories

Debt Crisis Reawakens in European Bonds as Greece Roils Market - (www.bloomberg.com) European government-bond traders would be forgiven for thinking they’d stepped back in time to 2012. Today’s selloff in Greek securities, the biggest since July of that year, triggered a schism in sovereign debt evocative of those days before European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever it took to defend the euro. Yields on 10-year securities from Europe’s most-indebted nations surged, led by Greece and sweeping up Portugal, Ireland and Italy. At the same time, benchmark yields in the so-called core, which includes Germany and France, tumbled to records as investors sought the safest assets.

Nurses Say No Ebola Protocol Meant Tape to Cover Skin - (www.bloomberg.com) Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital inDallas, where two health-care workers contracted Ebola after treating a patient with the deadly illness, lacked protocols for dealing with the virus and resisted employee calls for stricter isolation and sanitation measures, a nurses union said. National Nurses United said there was inadequate protective equipment for the nurses who initially cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient from Liberia who died in Dallas last week. The union said the allegations came from nurses who were reluctant to be identified for fear of retaliation.

Abnormal bond market move signals bears capitulating - (www.cnbc.com) A wild and historic move in the Treasury market Wednesday stunned traders and signaled capitulation by some investors who have been clinging to bearish positions. The dramatic buying and big swing in rates coincided with a swift downdraft in stocks and was blamed on a combination of factors. The weakness in Europe, worries Greece would exit its bailout, the possible breakdown of the AbbVie-Shire merger, Ebola concerns, and weak U.S. retail sales data were all cited as factors for the jump in bond prices and slide in yields. The yield on the 10-year slid to 1.86 percent in a quick move down—its lowest level in intraday trading since May 2013—before later reversing to 2.1 percent in the biggest one day move since November 2008, according to Jefferies. "We've had our shock and awe short-covering rally, and all that, but something has changed," said David Ader, chief Treasury strategist at CRT Capital.

As US Politicians Consider Travel Bans, Istanbul Quarantines Hospital Of Suspected Ebola Patient - (www.zerohedge.com) Istanbul's Marmar University Training and Research Hospital is not accepting new patients after, as Daily Sabah reports, a person suspected of being infected with Ebola has been quarantined. The patient, who arrived by plane from Ivory Coast, is suffering high fever and nausea. While Lagos, Nigeria was CDC Director Frieden's worst nightmare with regard Ebola contagion, we suspect Istanbul is a close second with over 14 million people living there. This news comes as US politicians begin to call for visa restrictions and travel bans from infected nations.

Oil Slump Heaps Losses on Energy Debt in $50 Billion Glut - (www.bloomberg.com) Gobbling up $50 billion of high-yielding U.S. junk-bond offerings by energy companies this year may have seemed like a good idea when oil was above $100 a barrel and yields were at record lows. With prices falling toward $80, bond buyers have instead been saddled with more than $2 billion of lost market value and growing concern that too much credit has been extended too fast amid America’s shale boom. Prices on $1.6 billion of speculative-grade bonds sold by the upstart exploration firm of former Chesapeake Energy Corp. chief Aubrey McClendon have plunged as much as 19 percent since being issued in July. Another $1.1 billion issued the same month by Paragon Offshore Plc are down as much as 28 percent.

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