Americans
Are Flipping Houses Like It’s 2006 - (www.bloomberg.com) Housing market investors have pushed the
share of flips, or properties sold twice in 12 months, to its highest
level in a decade. A tactic that helped define the height of home-buying
madness in the U.S. in the years before the market collapsed is rearing its
head again. Home flippers, who buy homes as a speculative bet on short-term
price appreciation, accounted for 6.1 percent of U.S. home sales in 2016,
according to Trulia, which defines a flip as a property sold twice in a
12-month period in arm’s-length transactions. That’s the highest share since
2006, when flips accounted for 7.3 percent of sales.
A
Rising Tide of Used Cars Threatens Ford’s Profits - (www.bloomberg.com) All those years of rising U.S. auto sales are
starting to work against carmakers. A glut of used vehicles has started to
depress prices. That trend will intensify as Americans will return 3.36 million
leased cars and trucks this year, another jump after a 33 percent surge in
2016, according to J.D. Power. The fallout has already begun, with Ford Motor
Co. shaving $300 million from its
financial-services arm’s profit forecast for this year. “Ford is the canary in
the coal mine,” said Maryann Keller, a former Wall Street analyst who’s now an
auto industry consultant in Stamford, Connecticut. This drag may
be hitting the rest of the industry, too. A National Automobile Dealers
Association index of used-vehicle prices declined each of the last six months
of last year. When auto lenders lease out vehicles, they charge the customer a
monthly payment and make an assumption of the car or truck’s value when it will
be returned for resale. If vehicles are depreciating more than expected, losses
can pile up.
Google
Permanently Bans 200 "Fake News" Sites – (www.zerohedge.com) From November to December 2016, we reviewed
550 sites that were suspected of misrepresenting content to users, including
impersonating news organizations. We took action against 340 of them for
violating our policies, both misrepresentation and other offenses, and nearly
200 publishers were kicked out of our network permanently. In addition to all
the above, we support industry efforts like the Coalition for Better Ads to
protect people from bad experiences across the web. While we took down
more bad ads in 2016 than ever before, the battle doesn’t end here. As we
invest in better detection, the scammers invest in more elaborate attempts to
trick our systems. Continuing to find and fight them is essential to protecting
people online and ensuring you get the very best from the open web. Google has
not disclosed the list of 200 sites it had permanently banned.
U.S.
home sales drop as supply tumbles to 17-year low - (www.reuters.com) U.S. home resales fell more than expected in
December as the supply of houses on the market dropped to levels last seen in
1999, but the housing market recovery remained intact against the backdrop of a
tightening labor market. The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday
existing home sales decreased 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 5.49 million units. In addition to the lack of properties to purchase,
rising home prices and mortgage rates also likely sidelined some buyers last
month. The drop in sales followed three straight months of increases and
probably does not signal impending housing weakness, with the labor market near
full employment and the economy strengthening.
Federal
Debt Projected to Grow by Nearly $10 Trillion Over Next Decade - (www.nytimes.com) After seven years of fitful declines, the federal budget deficit
is projected to swell again, adding nearly $10 trillion to the federal debt
over the next 10 years, according to projections
from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The numbers
reveal the strain that government debt could have on the economy as President
Trump presses to slash taxes and ramp up spending. The deficit figures released
Tuesday will be a major challenge to House Republicans, who were swept to power
in 2010 on fears of a bloated deficit and who made controlling red ink a major
part of their agenda under former President Barack Obama.
Pricier
Oil Means China's Foreign Reserves Will Shrink Even Faster, Goldman Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
China says will protect South China Sea sovereignty - (www.reuters.com)
Trump Injects High Risk Into Relations With China - (www.nytimes.com)
China says will protect South China Sea sovereignty - (www.reuters.com)
Trump Injects High Risk Into Relations With China - (www.nytimes.com)
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