Wednesday February 17 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Global financial stocks slide to new lows – (www.ft.com) Financial stocks had some respite on Friday from a torrid week in which leading institutions plumbed their lowest levels in a generation on worries about the sector’s exposure to slowing economic growth. Share prices of major banks have plunged this week, with Credit Suisse hitting a 24-year low and Deutsche falling to 2009 prices. Santander, BBVA and UniCredit also traded at levels last seen during the eurozone crisis. Bank weakness is truly global.

Amazon Crashes To 4 Month Lows, Breaks Key Technical Support As "Growth" Fails - (www.zerohedge.com) It appears the growth-value divergence is collapsing...  AMZN just failed to hold its 200-day moving average and is down over 5% - 27% off its record highs to 4-month lows...

Unpaid and angry, some Chinese workers ditch holidays to protest - (www.reuters.com) This year, laborer Fan Fu and 20 or so colleagues working on the Zixia Garden apartment complex in Hebei province have not joined China's legion of migrant workers returning home to celebrate new year with their families. Instead, they have camped in the offices of the property developer's subcontractor, demanding almost a year's unpaid wages and too angry and proud to go back to native towns and villages empty-handed. With China's economy growing at its slowest in 25 years, more workers face Fan's predicament and labor unrest is on the rise, a concern for Beijing as it seeks to avoid social unrest even as financial pressures build.

You thought Syria couldn't get much worse. Think again - (www.cnn.com) Aleppo's fall to rebels -- back in 2012 a much more moderate bunch than the often al-Nusra-infected alliances we see now -- was a symbolic moment: the commercial heart of Syria turning on the country's own government. Now, as thousands flee to the Turkish border from Russian airstrikes pounding the city and government forces moving in, the battle for Aleppo is again gaining significance. The towns of Nubul and Zahraa were reached by government forces late Wednesday and their seizure could mark a turning point in the war in northern Syria. 

CCC-Rated Junk-Bond Yields Blow Past Lehman Moment, hit 20%, as Consensual Hallucination Fades - (www.zerohedge.com)  Late yesterday was a propitious moment. And today, when the index was updated, it became official: The average yield of junk bonds rated CCC or below, the bottom tier of the rating scale, hit 20%. Yields soar when bonds get crushed. The last time the average yield of those bonds jumped to 20%, on September 30, 2008, all heck had already broken loose. Lehman Brothers had gone bankrupt 15 days earlier. Liquidity had dried up. Banks were lining up to be toppled. Panic was breaking out. Today, there’s no panic.

OTHER STORIES:

Asian Stocks Fall as Japanese Shares Drop Amid Strengthening Yen - (www.bloomberg.com)
Yen Set for Best Week Since 2009 as Fed Outlook Overtakes BOJ - (www.bloomberg.com)
Short Squeeze Fuels Biggest One-Day Rallies in S&P 500: Chart - (www.bloomberg.com)

Plaza Accord II Faces High Hurdles to Move From Talk to Reality - (www.bloomberg.com)
Hong Kong Homeowners Under Water as Property Prices Slump: Chart - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Confirms Three Missing Hong Kong Booksellers Under Probe - (www.bloomberg.com)
Russia and Turkey trade accusations over Syria - (www.reuters.com)