Wednesday April 27 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Amid oil price plunge, Alaska's economy braces for losers and survivors  - (www.cnbc.com)  Alaska's $3.5 billion deficit — roughly two-thirds of its budget — reads like a classic boom-bust tale. With the collapse in crude prices, lower oil revenues are hitting Alaska hard. Roughly 90 percent of the state government and one-third of all state jobs comes from oil money. But weaning Alaska off oil revenues won't be a straight shot. And the pain won't be uniform. The effects of budget solutions will vary among Alaska's diverse population. In many ways, the Last Frontier State is a collection of regions and micro economies — each with its own constellation of employers and local price swings for everything, from a gallon a milk to a gallon of fuel.

Germans flock to property as interest rates fall and rents rise - (www.reuters.com) Unlike his parents who rented their whole life, Berlin resident Sebastian lives in his own apartment and is considering buying a second property in the German capital as an investment to top up his pension one day. For decades a nation largely of tenants and prudent savers, growing numbers of Germans are buying property, not just to own their homes but also in search of investment returns they can no longer earn on their bank savings. This shift to a more U.S. or British approach to property is being encouraged by the European Central Bank's cheap money policies and rising rents, especially in German cities.

China debt load reaches record high as risk to economy mounts - (www.cnbc.com) China’s total debt rose to a record 237 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter, far above emerging-market counterparts, raising the risk of a financial crisis or a prolonged slowdown in growth, economists warn. Beijing has turned to massive lending to boost economic growth, bringing total net debt to Rmb163 trillion ($25 trillion) at the end of March, including both domestic and foreign borrowing, according to Financial Times calculations. Such levels of debt are much higher as a proportion of national income than in other developing economies, although they are comparable to levels in the U.S. and the eurozone.

With Impeccable Timing, ‘Economic Miracle’ in Spain Unravels - (www.wolfstreet.com)  Since the granddaddy of all housing bubbles popped in Spain between 2008 and 2009, unleashing one of the deepest recessions in living memory, the nation’s public debt has more than doubled, from just over 40% of GDP to almost exactly 100% today. Last year, despite the fact that Spain grew faster than almost any other European economy, the government managed to rack up a deficit of 5.2%, one full percentage point above the target that it had set itself a year earlier and over three percentage points above the Eurozone average. It’s the third-highest deficit-to-GDP ratio in the Eurozone after Greece and Portugal. That’s some claim for Europe’s supposed economic success story. This is the eighth consecutive year that Spain has overshot its fiscal target. 

In Shocking Finding, The Bank Of Japan Is Now A Top 10 Holder In 90% Of Japanese Stocks – (www.zerohedge.com) The latest shocking example of just how intertwined central banks have become in all capital markets, comes courtesy of the Bank of Japan which days ahead of a move which may see it double its ETF purchases from the current run rate of JPY3.3 trillion to JPY7 trillion or more (if Goldman is correct), is revealed to be a top 10 holder in about 90% of all Japanese stocks. Crazier still, if as Goldman predicts the BOJ doubles its purchases of ETFs, the central bank could become the No. 1 shareholder in about 40 of the Nikkei 225’s companies by the end of 2017,

OTHER STORIES:

Saudi Arabia Leads Gulf Stock Gains on Eve of Post-Oil Vision - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Meeting, U.S. GDP, Primaries, Brazil: Week Ahead April 25-30 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Saudi Key Rate Climbs to 2009 High as Funding Squeeze Tightens - (www.bloomberg.com)
Financial institutions face increasing credit risks: China central bank vice governor - (www.reuters.com)

Exclusive: Seychelles says helping worldwide probe into Malaysia's 1MDB fund - (www.reuters.com)
China's Xi warns of foreign infiltration through religion - (www.reuters.com)
Dutch journalist who criticized Erdogan detained in Turkey: official - (www.reuters.com)