Wednesday April 20 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

China Ocean Freight Index Collapses to Record Low - (www.wolfstreet.com)  The amount it costs to ship containers from China to ports around the world, a function of the quantity of goods to be shipped and the supply of vessels to ship them, just dropped to a new historic low. The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) tracks contractual and spot-market rates for shipping containers from major ports in China to 14 regions around the world. It reflects the unpolished and ugly reality of the shipping industry in an environment of deteriorating global trade. For the latest reporting week, the index dropped 0.6% to 636.14, its lowest level ever. It has plunged 41% from the already low levels in February last year, and 36% since its inception in 1998 when it was set at 1,000. 

Credit Suisse: Germany Is Asking for a Different Kind of Bailout - (www.bloomberg.com) Forget about Greek debt sustainability. Another part of the continent is in need of relief—and this time, it's a part of the core, not the periphery. That's how Credit Suisse Group AG analysts led by Peter Foley characterized comments from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble earlier this month. "The German Finance minister said record low interest rates were causing'extraordinary problems' for German financial institutions and pensioners and risked undermining voters' support for European integration," writes Foley. "His words sounded like a request of a bailout for his countries' saving industry and savers, in an ironic twist from previous bailout requests coming from the periphery."

Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill - (www.nytimes.com) Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill’s passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation.

Merkel Feels Heat From Backing Prosecution of Erdogan Satirist - (www.bloomberg.com) Chancellor Angela Merkel, already weakened by Europe’s refugee crisis, came under fire over the weekend for granting a Turkish request to prosecute a German satirist who derided President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Merkel took criticism from Germany’s Turkish community, opposition leaders, a journalist group and her junior coalition partner after deciding to leave the legal fate of comedian Jan Boehmermann in the hands of the country’s courts. Two-thirds of Germans surveyed said her decision was wrong, Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday. “The German government is passing the buck for protecting free speech to the courts, instead of upholding its own human rights obligations,” Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The government is contributing to the violation of free speech that a potential prosecution would constitute.”

Could the San Francisco real estate market finally be slowing down? - (www.marketwatch.com)  Some air may finally escaping from the inflated San Francisco real estate market. Home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area were down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis in March, the first such drop in four years, according to Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate brokerage. “For years, San Francisco has been one of [the most] — if not the most — competitive markets in the country,” said Redfin’s chief economist, Nela Richardson. “Now we are seeing this white-hot market start to cool and contract,” she said. Richardson noted that the share of Redfin properties attracting multiple offers dropped to 77% in March from 94% a year earlier. “This,” she said, “suggests that the price drop is not about inventory; it’s about buyers fed up with high Bay Area prices and crazy competition.”

OTHER STORIES:

Saudi Prince Sticks to Oil Freeze Ultimatum as Iran Stays Home - (www.bloomberg.com)
Saudi Prince Says He Could Add a Million Barrels Immediately - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan's pitch for FX action meets cool G20, US response - (www.reuters.com)

Brazilians watch helplessly as impeachment crisis nears climax - (www.latimes.com)
As China’s Growth Slows, Banks Feel the Strain of Bad Debt - (www.nytimes.com)
Erdogan and the Satirist: Inside Merkel's Comedy Conundrum - (www.spiegel.de)