Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Wednesday September 21 20916 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

State pension funds are awash in red ink: Here's your share - (www.cnbc.com) Years of underfunding and lackluster investment returns have left state pubic pensions even deeper in the hole — a shortfall taxpayers will eventually have to make up. Some states are in much better shape than others, according to the latest data from S&P Global Ratings. In New Jersey, for example, the state has set aside just 38 percent of what it needs to make good on promises to current and future retirees, which leaves a shortfall that works out to $10,648 per person. Wisconsin, on the other hand, has slightly overfunded its public pension plans, which has left it with a small surplus.

Duterte Turns Back On US, Orders Philippines To Buy Weapons From Russia And China - (www.zerohedge.com) In an abrupt departure from his nation’s longstanding military reliance on the U.S., Duterte said the Philippines would pursue "independent" foreign and military policies separate from US interests in the region, and ordered his defense secretary to seek weapons from suppliers in China and Russia to fight drug traffickers and insurgents. In another dramatic shift, the WSJ notes that the president also said Tuesday that the Philippines would stop patrolling the South China Sea alongside the U.S. Navy, to avoid upsetting Beijing. Instead, he said the nation’s military would focus on combating drugs and terrorism, handing a major diplomatic victory of Beijing and a symbolic loss to the US and its support of non-Chinese terrotorial claims to the South China Sea.

Canada’s Household Debt Burden Is Now Bigger Than Its GDP - (www.bloomberg.com) Canadian household debt exceeded the country’s gross domestic product for the first time as liabilities climbed to a fresh record relative to disposable income. Household debt rose to 100.5 percent of gross domestic product in the second quarter from 98.7 percent previously, Statistics Canada said Thursday from Ottawa. Credit-market debt such as mortgages increased to 167.6 percent of after-tax income, from 165.2 percent in the first quarter. The Bank of Canada and Finance Minister Bill Morneau have said the economy is at risk from record consumer debt burdens and a housing boom in Vancouver and Toronto. 

China’s Credit Fire Hose Floods Housing Market - (www.wsj.com) China’s credit engines were at it again last month and, worryingly, instead of sprinkling debt evenly across the financial system, mortgages took an outsize share. More than 70% of new loans in August were to households, much of that in the form of mortgages, going by historical averages, a remarkable shifting of the fire hose of credit. It also helps explain why China’s property market has raced higher despite broader economic worries. China’s stock of mortgages stood at 16.9 trillion yuan ($2.5 trillion) as of June 30. 

The Bond Market Is Flashing a Signal That Traders Haven’t Seen Since 2012 – (www.bloomberg.com) The $13.6 trillion Treasury market is sending a signal it hasn’t flashed in more than four years. The message: Shorter-dated debt is the place to be as traders gain confidence the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold, at least through next week’s policy meeting. The extra yield investors demand to own 30-year rather than five-year securities, a measure of the yield curve, increased for a ninth straight day Wednesday. That’s the longest streak since 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show.




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