Thursday April 23 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Rolling Stone author apologizes — but not specifically to the fraternity that her story accused - (www.washingtonpost.com)  But, as John Hinderaker (Powerline) points out, Erdely didn’t expressly apologize to the most obvious victim of any discredited accusation: the accused. Her story accused Phi Kappa Psi fraternity members of gang rape, and obviously reflected not just on the unnamed individuals, but on the fraternity itself. It damaged the reputation of the fraternity, at least for a time, and would have damaged it still more had the flaws in the story not come out so publicly. Yet the closest she gets to apologizing to those her story accused is by apologizing “to the U.V.A. community.” Not quite right, it seems to me.

When work isn't enough to keep you off welfare and food stamps – (www.washingtonpost.com) This picture casts the culprit in a different light: Taxpayers are spending a lot of money subsidizing not people who won't work, but industries that don't pay their workers a living wage. Through these four programs alone, federal and state governments spend about $150 billion a year aiding working families, according to the analysis (the authors define people who are working here as those who worked at least 10 hours a week, at least half the year).

"We Have Come To The End Of The Road" - Greece Prepares For Default, FT Reports - (www.zerohedge.com) Update: as always is the case in Europe, nothing is confirmed until it is officially denied by officials, so here you go: GREEK GOVT OFFICIAL DENIES FT REPORT GREECE PLANNING DEFAULT. There was no explanation from the government official where Greece would get the €2.5 billion it needs to fund upcoming IMF interest and principal payments. * * * It should hardly come as a surprise that after the latest round of Greek pre-negotiation negotiations with the Troika, in which the Greek representative was said to behave like a taxi driver, who "just asked where the money was and insisted his country would soon be bankrupt" and in which the Eurozone members "were disappointed and shocked at Athens' lack of movement in its plans, and in particular its reluctance to talk about cutting civil servants' pensions" that the next Greek step is to fall back - yet again - to square zero: threats of an imminent default. Which is precisely what, according to the FT, has happened "Greece is preparing to take the dramatic step of declaring a debt default unless it can reach a deal with its international creditors by the end of April, according to people briefed on the radical leftist government’s thinking."

Fed official warns ‘flash crash’ could be repeated - (www.cnbc.com) A senior Federal Reserve official has warned that last autumn's "flash crash" in US Treasurys could happen again due to the changing nature of the US government debt market, and urged banks, investors and exchanges to adopt a revised set of guidelines in response to the turmoil. The US Treasury market is the biggest and most liquid in the world, and forms the bedrock for the global financial system. Its steadiness and the solid creditworthiness of the US government is a large reason why it constitutes a mainstay of global central banking reserves and the default haven asset in times of crisis. However, last October, Treasurys see-sawed dramatically, seemingly on little news. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US government bond, which moves inversely to price, slid as much as 33 basis points to 1.86 per cent before rising to settle at 2.13 per cent. Mathematically this move was so sharp it would only be expected to occur once every 1.6bn years.

Shale oil boom goes bust as expected production dips for first time in years - (www.forbes.com)  The U.S. shale oil boom that powered the country’s highest crude oil production levels in decades appears to be slowing down due, in part, to a glut of supplies. Oil output from the most productive U.S. shale fields is expected to drop off next month by 57 million barrels of crude daily from April to May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday. That would represent the first monthly decline in more than four years, according to Reuters. The EIA forecasted that the seven shale formations — Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara, Permian and Utica — will produce a total of 5.56 million barrels of crude oil daily next month, down from 5.62 million barrels per day in April. While the most productive formation, Permian, will see slightly higher output — by 11,000 barrels per day, to 1.99 million — output at the next-highest producer, Eagle Ford, will drop 33,000 barrels daily while Bakken’s output will decline by 23,000 barrels next month.

OTHER STORIES:

China's Great Wall of Sand - (www.bloomberg.com)
German 10-Year Yields Approach Zero With ECB Set for QE Update - (www.bloomberg.com)
Prudential Chief Echoes Dimon Saying Liquidity Is Top Worry - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fighting in eastern Ukraine rages on overnight despite talks - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Kremlin confirms oil-for-goods swap with Iran under way - (www.reuters.com)

Putin’s Mideast Gains Trump $27 Billion Loss From Iran Agreement - (www.bloomberg.com)
China farm pollution worsens, despite moves to curb excessive fertilisers, pesticides - (www.reuters.com)
Hank Paulson: Economic challenges, China — and the birds - (www.usatoday.com)
U.S. SEC investigating sale of complex securities to mom-and-pop investors -official - (www.reuters.com)
U.S. Drug Spending Increases Most in 13 Years to $373.9 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)