KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Friday February 27 Housing and Economic stories

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Friday February 27 Housing and Economic stories

UPS shipped contraband cigarettes in NY: Lawsuit - (www.cnbc.com) The New York state attorney general says in a lawsuit that UPSallegedly shipped 700,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes in the state between 2010 and 2014. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and New York City Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter plan to file the $180 million lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. According to the Times Union of Albany, they said the shipments amounted to $29.7 million in lost tax revenue. The lawsuit claims UPS shipped unstamped cigarettes from at least six unlicensed vendors on Indian reservations. UPS denied the allegations. It tells the newspaper that UPS tobacco policy strictly prohibits the shipment of cigarettes to consumers and unlicensed dealers or distributors.

Salad chain files for bankruptcy protection - (www.cnbc.com) Tossed salad chain Saladworks LLC has filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday as it seeks "to address pending litigation and facilitate a sale or restructuring transaction." During the Chapter 11 reorganization, the company expects normal day-to-day operations to continue. To maximize shareholder value, the company wants to sell itself or recapitalize. Launched in 1986, the made-to-order salad brand has more than 100 domestic and international locations. More than 80 are currently in development.

US producer prices post record drip on tumbling energy costs - (www.cnbc.com) U.S. producer prices posted a record decline in January, weighed down by plunging energy costs, pointing to very benign inflation pressures in the near term. The Labor Department said on Wednesday its producer price index for final demand dropped 0.8 percent, the biggest drop since the revamped series started in November 2009, after falling 0.2 percent in December. It was the third straight month of decline in the PPI. In the 12 months through January, producer prices were unchanged, the weakest year-on-year reading since records started in November 2010, after rising 1.1 percent in December. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI declining 0.4 percent last month and gaining 0.3 percent from a year ago.

Exclusive - Greece to run out of cash by end-March without new aid: source - (www.reuters.com) Greece is burning through its cash reserves and will not be able to meet payment obligations beyond the end of March at the latest unless it secures additional funds from its creditors, a person familiar with the figures told Reuters on Wednesday. Athens is locked in a battle with euro zone partners over the future of its bailout programme, which is due to expire in 10 days. Failure to clinch a deal would leave it at risk of bankruptcy, though until now it had not been clear how much time Athens had until state coffers run dry. Greece will be able to repay a 1.5 billion euro loan from the International Monetary Fund that falls due in mid-March, but the state will struggle to make payments after that despite continuing efforts to minimize cash needs, the person said. "Greece can cover its needs until mid-March or the latest by the end of March unless it secures additional funding from official lenders," the person told Reuters. Athens has repeatedly asked its euro zone partners to be allowed to issue more Treasury bills beyond an existing 15 billion euro ceiling that it has already hit but its request has been denied.

Italy warns of Libya threat, pressure for action grows - (www.reuters.com) Italy called on Wednesday for urgent international action to halt Libya's slide into chaos and said it was ready to help monitor a ceasefire and train local armed forces. The U.N. Security Council is due to meet later on Wednesday to discuss Libya, where two rival governments, each backed by former rebels who toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, are battling for power. The growing danger became apparent on Sunday when Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told parliament that possible alliances between local militias and IS militants, inspired by their counterparts in Syria and Iraq, risked destabilizing neighboring countries. "The deterioration of the situation on the ground forces the international community to move more quickly before it's too late," he said in a special address on the crisis.

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