Wednesday December 2 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Petrobras's Dangerous Debt Math: $24 Billion Owed in 24 Months - (www.bloomberg.com) The debt clock is ticking down at Brazil’s troubled oil giant, Petrobras. Next up: $24 billion of repayments over 24 months. That’s a towering hurdle for a company that hasn’t generated free cash flow for eight years and whose borrowing rates are soaring. Annual debt servicing costs have doubled to 20.3 billion reais ($5.4 billion) in the past three years. The delicate task of managing the massive $128 billion mound of debt accumulated by Petroleo Brasileiro SA -- 84 percent of it in foreign currencies -- falls to the two banking veterans parachuted atop the company earlier this year, CEO Aldemir Bendine, 51, and Chief Financial Officer Ivan Monteiro, 55. The pair came from the state-controlled Banco de Brasil SA to contain the damage from the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s history.

Baltic Dry Ship Index Drops to Record as Iron Ore Growth Slumps - (www.bloomberg.com) The cost of shipping commodities fell to a record, amid signs that Chinese demand growth for iron ore and coal is slowing, hurting the industry’s biggest source of cargoes. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping rates for everything from coal to ore to grains, fell to 504 points on Thursday, the lowest data from the London-based Baltic Exchange going back to 1985. Among the causes of shipowners’ pain is slowing economic growth in China, which is translating into weakening demand for imported iron ore that’s used to make the steel. “The main issue is the lack of demand for iron ore from China,” Eirik Haavaldsen, a shipping analyst at Pareto Securities AS in Oslo, said by phone. “This market is looking like a disaster and the rates are a reflection of that. It is looking scary for the market and it doesn’t look like there is going to be any life in the market in the near term.”

Iron Ore Bludgeoned to Record Low in Asia on China Steel Concern - (www.bloomberg.com) Iron ore contracts in Asia slumped to records amid speculation that mills in China are reining in steel production as they battle losses, slumping prices and tighter credit, hurting demand for the raw material that’s mainly shipped from Australia and Brazil. Futures sank 1.8 percent to 331 yuan ($51.89) a metric ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the lowest close since trading started in October 2013, while the SGX AsiaClear contract in Singapore fell to a fresh low. Losses on markets in Asia can signal declines in the Metal Bulletin Ltd. price for 62 percent content spot ore in Qingdao, which is updated once a day. That was at $46.35 a dry ton on Wednesday from $45.58 a day earlier, a four-month low. “Steelmakers are going through a very difficult time and a number of them have halted output,” Dang Man, an analyst at Maike Futures Co. in Xi’an, China, said by phone. 

For Market Debut, Square Scales Back Valuation by $3 Billion - (www.nytimes.com)  The long-running gold rush into hot technology start-ups showed signs of faltering on Wednesday, as a much-anticipated market debut had to scale back its ambitions. Square — valued in a private financing last year at $6 billion — priced its initial public offering at a level that gave the payments company a valuation of $2.9 billion. The difference between the two may be seen as a sign that the market for venture-backed companies has reached too high. The shares, which are to start trading on Thursday, were priced at $9 after Square was unable to get demand from investors within the $11 to $13 range it was seeking. The company and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit, decided to sell $243 million through the offering, 25 percent less than the $324 million they had been aiming to raise.

"Devastated" Trader Crushed By Soaring Biotech, Starts Online Begging Campaign To Fund $106,000 Margin Call - (www.zerohedge.com) However where this story gets abusrdly entertaining, or woefully tragic, depending on one's perspective, is that one trader, Joe Campbell, was on the wrong side of last night's massive surge. As the RutRho blog, which noticed it first explains, a "dummy" E-trader, Joe Campbell, decided to go $35,000 short KBIO "and now owes $ETFC a wonderful $106K." But it was Campbell's decision what to do next, that is perhaps a first in the history of the market place. The "faily new trader" decided to give online begging a try, and has launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking to "crowdfund" the $106,445 margin call. From his just Gaunched GoFundMe website: Hello to all you traders out there.  I'm starting this page out of the recommendation of other traders in the community. I hesitated on doing this but I literally owe Etrade $106,445.56 as of this moment what would you do if you were in my situation?  I'll do whats needed and sell what I have to get them paid but if someone feels my pain and is willing to help out---who am I to say no

OTHER STORIES:

Brazil's Inflation Surpasses 10% for First Time in 12 Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Where Have All the Arbitrageurs Gone? - (www.bloomberg.com)
BOJ keeps monetary policy steady - (www.reuters.com)
China banks turn blind eye to soaring overdue loans - (www.reuters.com)

Morgan Stanley's China Bear Puts Zero Odds on 6% Economic Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)
For Market Debut, Square Scales Back Valuation by $3 Billion - (www.nytimes.com)
Antibiotic resistance: World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era' - (www.bbc.com)