Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Thursday February 2 2017 Housing and Economic stories


Is Italy’s Banking Problem Becoming Too Big to Solve? - (www.wolfstreet.com) Ever since the European Commission and ECB jointly decided that Italy’s government could bend EU banking rules out of all recognition in order to bail out the country’s third largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Europe’s financial stocks have been on a tear. But the good times were brought to a grinding halt Monday after Italy’s largest bank, Unicredit, which employs 55,000 people in 17 countries, announced losses for 2016 of €11.8 billion. By the bank’s logic, it would have announced profits if it hadn’t had to write off €12.2 billion, including billions of euros of non-performing loans (NPLs) festering on its balance sheets. But it got worse. In the registration document for its pending recapitalization, published on its website today, Unicredit also announced that its capital ratios at the end of 2016 might fall short of ECB requirements. It was enough to prompt a 5.45% slide in its shares. As detected in the ECB’s latest stress test, Unicredit already had the slimmest capital buffer of all Europe’s Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs). And it just got slimmer.

Leaked Executive Order Reveals Trump Crackdown On Immigrant Welfare - (www.zerohedge.com) Seemingly following the proposals of Bill Clinton (and Ron Paul), The Washington Post reports that a leaked document shows the Trump administration is planning to crackdown on current, and would-be, immigrants who are likely to require public assistance. After Bill Clinton received a standing ovation for suggesting crackdown on immigrant welfare... "We are a nation of immigrants.. but we are a nation of laws" "Our nation is rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country...   Illegal immigrants take jobs from citizens or legal immigrants, they impose burdens on our taxpayers... That is why we are doubling the number of border guards, deporting more illegal immigrants than ever before, cracking down on illegal hiring, barring benefits to illegal aliens, and we will do more to speed the deportation of illegal immigrants arrest for crimes... It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws that has occurred in the last few years.. and we must do more to stop it."

Greek Markets Tumble as EU Holds Up Payment Amid IMF Doubts - (www.bloomberg.com) Greek stocks and bonds fell on Monday after the government in Athens failed to bridge differences with European creditors over the conditions attached to the country’s latest bailout review and the International Monetary Fund warned that its debt is on an unsustainable path. Almost two-thirds of the actions creditors have demanded for the disbursement of the next tranche of emergency loans have yet to be completed, the government conceded in a memo discussed between Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and bailout auditors last week in Brussels, a person familiar with the matter said. Even though the memo laid out a series of commitments to ensure the work will be completed, creditors said the proposals weren’t good enough, a separate official said. The people asked not to be named as the contents of the memo haven’t been made public.

The Granular Detail of Miami’s Preconstruction Condo Flipping Bloodbath - (www.wolfstreet.com) Ever since the European Commission and ECB jointly decided that Italy’s government could bend EU banking rules out of all recognition in order to bail out the country’s third largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Europe’s financial stocks have been on a tear. But the good times were brought to a grinding halt Monday after Italy’s largest bank, Unicredit, which employs 55,000 people in 17 countries, announced losses for 2016 of €11.8 billion. By the bank’s logic, it would have announced profits if it hadn’t had to write off €12.2 billion, including billions of euros of non-performing loans (NPLs) festering on its balance sheets. But it got worse. In the registration document for its pending recapitalization, published on its website today, Unicredit also announced that its capital ratios at the end of 2016 might fall short of ECB requirements. It was enough to prompt a 5.45% slide in its shares. As detected in the ECB’s latest stress test, Unicredit already had the slimmest capital buffer of all Europe’s Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs). And it just got slimmer.

German inflation and French election push up borrowing costs across Europe – (www.cnbc.com) The cost of borrowing across Europe spiked up Monday as German inflation figures and French elections triggered concern over whether central bank stimulus could be cut short. Official data from Germany' statistics office show consumer price inflation across the country has risen 1.9 percent year-on-year, the highest level since July 2013. It slightly undershot forecasts of a 2.0 percent rise and sent the euro to an 11-day low.



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