Puerto Rico Debt Crisis Mounts With Key
Deadline Just Week Away - (www.bloomberg.com)
The pressure is building on Puerto Rico as
lawmakers struggle to ease a cash crunch days before the commonwealth’s
electric utility confronts a bond payment it may be unable to make. Prices of
the junk-rated island’s newest general obligations reached a record low
Wednesday after David Chafey, chairman of the territory’s Government
Development Bank, said he’s resigning for personal reasons. The departure,
which sparked worries about a leadership void, came as a group of hedge funds
asked GDB officials and the governor for a meeting to discuss terms of
a planned bond sale. As legislators struggle to pass a budget in San Juan, the power
utility is set to talk with creditors in New York Thursday about restructuring
$9 billion of debt. It faces a July 1 bond payment and has insufficient reserves. Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering a bill
that would allow the government to suspend monthly cash deposits for repayment
of general-obligation debt.
Anti-Uber
protest in Paris blocks access to airports - (www.marketwatch.com) Scores
of taxi drivers snarled traffic around the French capital Thursday, burning
tires in protest against the expansion of Uber Technologies Inc. and its
network of nonprofessional drivers. Anti-riot squads were deployed to Porte
Maillot — one of the main gateways into central Paris — where some taxi drivers
hurled stones at police. The striking drivers also blocked access to both of
Paris’ main airports as well as its train stations, said Christophe Crepin, a
police union representative. “In the 24 years I’ve been a cabdriver, my future
has never been in so much danger,” said Ahmed Elmoatamid, a 62-year old
Parisian taxi driver who joined a protest at Gare du Nord, France’s busiest
train station, after ending his night-shift.
Macau Slump Spreading From Gambling Tables to
Property Market - (www.bloomberg.com) Macau’s
six-year lucky streak has come to an end. That’s become evident not just at the
baccarat tables but at real estate agencies, too. After more than quintupling
over six years, residential prices are heading for their first year of declines
since 2008, tracking a gambling revenue slump in the world’s largest casino
hub. Home prices may drop 15 percent this year, real estate broker Jones Lang
LaSalle Inc. forecasts. Homeowners -- mostly local residents who had been
enriched by Macau’s casino boom -- have been selling properties at lower prices
as the drying up of high-stakes gambling ripple through the city’s economy.
Residential prices will stay under pressure as gaming revenue shows few signs
of recovery, falling for the 12th straight month in May. “We don’t see any
upturn in Macau’s gaming industry in the near term, so I don’t see residential
prices going back up,” said Gregory Ku, managing director for JLL in Macau.
“Most economic figures are dropping to various degrees.”
[Bloomberg] Weidmann Says Greek ELA May Breach State Financing Ban - (www.bloomberg.com) Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said the European Central Bank’s approval of Emergency Liquidity Assistance for Greek lenders raises “serious” concerns about monetary financing, which is prohibited under European Union rules. “When banks without access to the markets buy debt of a sovereign which is likewise locked out of the market, taking recourse to ELA raises serious monetary-financing concerns,” Weidmann, who sits on the ECB’s Governing Council, said in a speech in Frankfurt on Thursday. “The Eurosystem must not provide bridge financing to Greece even in anticipation of later disbursements.” Weidmann’s remarks came as Greece and its creditors continue talks in Brussels to secure a deal that would unlock aid money as the country teeters on the brink of default. The ECB, which is reviewing the cap for ELA on a daily basis, left it unchanged for a second day on Thursday.
Options Bears Take Fresh Stab at Biotech Amid
Rally Topping 500% - (www.bloomberg.com) Knives
are out again for biotechnology stocks amid a rally that has burned skeptics
repeatedly for six years. Demand for options tied to declines in an
exchange-traded fund tracking the companies rose to the highest level in three
years relative to bullish ones, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The
Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has risen 549 percent since March 2009, including a
3.8 percent advance last week. Interest in bearish options on drug developers
has jumped in the last year after the group was called out as overvalued by
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on two occasions. Biotechs are selling stock
at a pace not seen in a decade and one concern is that something will disrupt
the money spigot.
China Tech Stock Boom Falters as Traders Shun Soaring
Valuations - (www.bloomberg.com)
Goldman Sees Ukraine in Solvency Crisis, Likely Default in July - (www.bloomberg.com)
NATO warns of risk of return to heavy fighting in Ukraine - (www.reuters.com)
China says Manila trying to 'rope in' others to sea dispute - (www.reuters.com)
Goldman Sees Ukraine in Solvency Crisis, Likely Default in July - (www.bloomberg.com)
NATO warns of risk of return to heavy fighting in Ukraine - (www.reuters.com)
China says Manila trying to 'rope in' others to sea dispute - (www.reuters.com)
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