Sunday, May 8, 2016

Monday May 9 2016 Housing and Economic stories


Bad loans and bankruptcies sound the alarm for Turkey's economy - (www.reuters.comAfter years of growth fueled by credit and domestic consumption, bad debts and bankruptcies are rising in Turkey, squeezing banks and exposing a fragile real economy which risks denting support for the ruling AK Party. In its first decade in power, the AKP, founded by President Tayyip Erdogan, built its reputation on growing Turkey's wealth, overseeing a sharp rise in incomes and providing new roads, hospitals and airports in what was long an economic backwater. But as he seeks support for an executive presidency to replace Turkey's parliamentary system, a decision that could be put to a national vote later this year, Erdogan may no longer be able to count on Turkey's rising prosperity to win him votes.

U.S. oil industry bankruptcy wave nears size of telecom bust - (www.reuters.com)   The rout in crude prices is snowballing into one of the biggest avalanches in the history of corporate America, with 59 oil and gas companies now bankrupt after this week's filings for creditor protection by Midstates Petroleum and Ultra Petroleum. The number of U.S. energy bankruptcies is closing in on the staggering 68 filings seen during the depths of the telecom bust of 2002 and 2003, according to Reuters data, the law firm Haynes & Boone and bankruptcydata.com. Charles Gibbs, a restructuring partner at Akin Gump in Texas, said the U.S. oil industry is not even halfway through its wave of bankruptcies. "I think we'll see more filings in the second quarter than in the first quarter," he said. Fifteen oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy in the first quarter.

 

Obama budgets $1.3 billion for illegal minors - WND.com – (www.wnd.com) President Obama has set aside an estimated $1.3 billion in his wish-list budget proposal to provide $17,613 for each and every of the 75,000 minor-aged children expected to cross from Central America into the United States this year – an amount that’s significantly higher than what’s even paid on an annual basis to Social Security retirees. A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies shows the average annual SSA retirement benefit for legal citizens comes in about $14,772. Obama’s budget, which is before Congress for consideration, includes $1.3 billion for the expected “unaccompanied children” due in the United States this fiscal year, as well as another $2.1 billion for refugees.

China Bondholders Lose Their Beijing-Bailout Confidence - (online.wsj.com) Investors’ long-held assumption that the government would step up for state-run companies is shaken. As signs of stress emerge in China’s huge corporate bond market, investors are getting a new message: Beijing may not be as ready as they thought to bail out troubled companies. Chinese companies have issued billions of dollars in new bonds in recent years, seeking to become less reliant on borrowing from banks. Issuance ramped up in earnest around 2010, making China’s $900 billion corporate bond market one of the world’s largest. But as Chinese growth slows and corporate profits decline, many are finding it hard to service their debt. Already, there have been 22 bond defaults in China’s domestic market this year, as many as in all of 2015.

R.I.P. TTIP? – (www.wolfstreet.comTTIP, the once super-secret transatlantic trade deal that is now broadly despised on both sides of the Atlantic, may not be alive yet but it could soon be dead. And all thanks to leaks which confirm a longstanding suspicion in Europe that the ultimate goal of TTIP is to pry open European markets for big U.S. corporations, with little offered in the way of reciprocity. The UK Independent reports that the 248 pages of documents released by Greenpeace show that the “hated” deal would grant US corporations “unprecedented powers” over any new public health or safety regulations to be introduced in the future: If any European government does dare to bring in laws to raise social or environmental standards, TTIP will grant US investors the right to sue for loss of profits.


No comments: