Wednesday January 27 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

BHP Billiton books $7.2 billion writedown US shale assets - (www.reuters.com) Top global miner BHP Billiton said on Friday it would book a $7.2 billion writedown on the value of its U.S. shale assets, reflecting a slump in oil and gas prices and a bleak near-term outlook. The hefty impairment is the third spawned by BHP's badly timed push into U.S. shale in 2011, when it spent $20.6 billion, including assumed debt, on two acquisitions at a time when oil and gas prices were much higher than they are now. "Oil and gas markets have been significantly weaker than the industry expected," BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement. In the wake of the collapse in oil prices over the past year, BHP has sharply cut its operating costs and capital spending at its U.S. onshore operations, reducing the number of rigs from 26 to five.

Investors pull $9 billion from stock funds during weekly period: Lipper - (www.reuters.com) Fund investors continued to sour on U.S. stocks and corporate debt during the weekly period that ended Jan 13, Lipper data showed on Thursday, as risk appetite waned in the wake of global market turmoil. U.S.-based stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds lost $9.0 billion to withdrawals during a week that saw U.S. stocks continue one of their worst starts to a new year amid fears of a further fall in oil prices. "We had another rocky week for equities," said Lipper analyst Jeff Tjornehoj, referencing losses logged by the Dow Jones industrial average, a widely cited market benchmark. "We had three triple-digit loss days. It's really hard to build any momentum when that's your headwind, so naturally mutual-fund investors withdrew money out of equities overall."

Asia shares hit 3-1/2-year lows as oil resumes fall - (www.bloomberg.com) Oil prices dove below $30 a barrel on Friday, dragging major equity indices around the world sharply lower, as fears of a global slowdown amid a crude supply glut roiled markets and unsettled investors who snapped up gold and other safe-haven assets. Major stock indices in Europe and on Wall Street tumbled more than 2 percent while crude prices slid on expectations Iran will increase oil exports once international sanctions are lifted, possibly within days. Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note were poised to fall below 2 percent and gold rose as retreating oil prices and equity markets underpinned demand for assets perceived as safer. The December futures contract on the federal funds rate surged to its highest since October, implying the Federal Reserve will raise rates only one more time this year.

French drug trial disaster leaves one brain dead, five injured – (www.reuters.com)  One person has been left brain dead and five others have been hospitalized after taking part in a clinical trial in France of an experimental drug made by Portuguese drug company Bial, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Friday. In total, 90 people have taken part in the trial, taking some dosage of the drug aimed at tackling mood and anxiety issues, as well as movement coordination disorders linked to neurological issues, Touraine said. The six men aged 28 to 49 had been in good health until taking the oral medication at the Biotrial private facility that specializes in clinical trials, she said.

[Bloomberg] Oil Slides, Deepening Gloom in Stocks as Bond Buyers Celebrate - (www.bloomberg.com) Crude’s drop to a 12-year low is sending shock waves around the world at the same time concern is mounting that China’s policy interventions will fall short of stoking growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Figures on retail sales and manufacturing Friday showed the U.S. economy ended the year on a weak note, and the start of 2016 wasn’t any better. Energy firms are laying off workers and currency markets from commodity-producing countries are in turmoil. The slump is also denting the outlook for inflation, causing traders to curb bets on how far the Fed will raise rates this year. “Markets have to go through several stages and right now they’re just holding their head and crying,” Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at Oppenheimer Funds Inc. in New York, said by phone. “The drama and issue overnight is more related to oil prices not finding a floor. If it was just China and everything else was OK, we’d see through that. But when China is down and oil drops everyday, the market recognizes it has substantial issues.”

OTHER STORIES:

U.S. retail sales, industrial output data point to softer growth - (www.reuters.com)
Retail Sales in U.S. Decrease to End Weakest Year Since 2009 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Shift in Inflation Expectations Clouds Interest-Rate Outlook - (online.wsj.com)
Global Malaise Spurs U.S. Growth Worries - (online.wsj.com)
Wal-Mart to Shut Hundreds of Stores - (www.bloomberg.com)

Watch out for this $1 trillion stock bubble - (www.cnbc.com)
Arab winter has become markets’ chief worry - (www.reuters.com)
China seeks investment for disputed islands, to launch flights - (www.reuters.com)
Schaeuble Says Schengen Close to Collapse on Refugee Inflow - (www.bloomberg.com)