Monday, December 19, 2016

Tuesday December 20 2016 Housing and Economic stories


As global populism rises, so does fear among corporate elite: Survey - (www.cnbc.com) From Brexit to the election of Donald Trump and the recent constitutional referendum in Italy, worldwide populist revolt is sending shock waves beyond the halls of government and into the elite C-suite. Chief financial officers at major corporations expressed growing fears about the rise of populism and serious downside risks to the global economy in a recent survey. Although not representing the majority, nearly 41 percent of CFOs believe the rise of populism in Europe and the United States had a negative impact on consumer demand, according to the latest CNBC Global CFO Council survey. That's a finding heightened by the fact that for the second quarter in a row, consumer demand was cited as the biggest external risk factor by CFOs.

Freddie Mac Issues Warning As Mortgage Rates Soar - (www.zerohedge.com) Blink, and you missed your chance to refi. And according to nationalized mortgage giant Freddie Mac, it's about to get worse. As shown last week, as a result of the recent spike in yields, the population of eligible refinance candidates has already plunged by more than half. As Black Knight pointed out, as of the end of November, though there are still 2M borrowers who could save $200+/month by refinancing and a cumulative $1B/month in potential savings, this is less than half of the $2.1B/ month available just four weeks ago.

Canada's Gravity-Defying Household Debt Swells to C$2 Trillion - (www.bloomberg.com) The appetite for bank borrowing remained unabated in the third quarter, setting fresh records for total credit and mortgage borrowing, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. The widely-followed ratio of household debt to after-tax income rose to another record high of almost 167 percent. The numbers will intensify concern among policy makers the economy has become over-reliant on bank borrowing, and is vulnerable to a housing downturn and rising interest rates. The latest report covers the three months before Finance Minister Bill Morneau tightened mortgage lending rules again in October, a move designed to discourage Vancouver and Toronto home buyers from signing larger mortgages than they could handle.

Shadow Banking in China Appears to Have Made a Roaring Comeback - (www.bloomberg.com)  Time to don the tin hats? Chinese shadow-banking activity registered a surprise jump in November, throwing into sharp relief how policy makers are struggling to make good on their vow to rein in the runaway loan growth that threatens the stability of the financial sector. Often cast as one of the weakest links in the global financial system given the potential threat it poses to Asia's largest economy, shadow credit — which consists of trust loans, entrusted loans and bank-acceptance bills — rose sharply to 479 billion yuan ($69 billion), after having dropped to 55 billion yuan in October. 

Hong Kong Property Shares Turn Toxic as Mortgage Costs Spike - (www.bloomberg.com) Hong Kong’s property developers are fast falling out of favor among investors as surging mortgage costs and punitive taxes threaten to choke home sales. Your cheat sheet on life, in one weekly email. A gauge of real estate companies traded on the city’s stock market has tumbled 13 percent this quarter, with developers accounting for half of the biggest losers on the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which has fallen 5.3 percent. During the three-month period, a key interbank rate -- known as Hibor -- has doubled to an eight-year high, while the government also slapped a 15 percent levy on residential purchases.
  
China Credit Expands Most Since March on Robust Mortgage Lending - (www.bloomberg.com)
Yield Stress Tests Find Emerging Markets Have Most to Lose: S&P
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Finance Titans Face Off Over $5 Trillion London Gold Market
- (www.bloomberg.com)
China central bank advisers rally behind beleaguered yuan as Trump threat looms
- (www.reuters.com)

China says damage to 'one China' principle would impact peace
- (www.reuters.com)
Too big to fail: China maps out its Trump strategy
- (www.reuters.com)
Exclusive: China installs weapons systems on artificial islands - U.S. think tank
- (www.reuters.com)
Anxious Mutual-Fund Industry Holds ‘Seismic Shift Senior Leadership Forum’
- (www.wsj.com)

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