Monday, February 13, 2017

Tuesday February 14 2017 Housing and Economic stories


Global Shipping Meltdown Mauls German Banks, Retail Investors, Taxpayers - (www.wolfstreet.com) When Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest bank, reported earnings on Thursday, it made another groan in direction of the collapsing maritime shipping industry. It raised its loan loss provisions to €900 million, as it said, “in timely response to the deterioration in the shipping markets.” It warned that its losses on shipping loans alone could reach €600 million in 2017 after having nearly doubled to €559 million last year. At one point, Commerzbank had €18 billion in shipping loans. Over the years, as the shipping crisis worsened, it has whittled down its shipping loan portfolio to €5 billion. But Commerzbank is neither alone nor the biggest player among German lenders. Before the Financial Crisis, German lenders went on a wild binge and became the world’s biggest issuers of shipping loans that ended up funding horrendous overcapacity of ships, just when global trade would face enormous challenges. Of the $400 billion in maritime loans issued by large banks, German banks hold nearly $100 billion.

Cash No Longer King: Europe Accelerates Move To Begin Elimination Of Paper Money - (www.zerohedge.com) In the shadow of Donald Trump’s spree of controversial actions, the European commission has quietly launched the next offensive in the war on cash. These unelected bureaucrats have boldly asserted their intention to crack down on paper transactions across the E.U. and solidify a trend that has been gaining momentum for years. The financial uncertainty amplified by Brexit has incentivized governments throughout Europe to seize further control over their banking systems. France and Spain have already criminalized cash transactions above a certain limit, but now the commission has unilaterally established new regulations that will affect the entire union. The fear of physical money flowing out of the trade bloc has manifested a draconian response from the State.

Greek bonds sell off sharply as EU-IMF rift deepens - (www.ft.com) Greek debt sold off sharply on Thursday amid fears the country’s bailout lenders will not be able to bridge their differences in time to lend Athens the €7bn it needs to avoid bankruptcy. The International Monetary Fund has refused to sign on to the aid programme unless EU authorities grant further debt relief to Greece, but the rift deepened after the head of the eurozone’s €500bn rescue fund dismissed the IMF’s demand. Eurozone finance ministry deputies were locked in meetings on Thursday night attempting to resolve the dispute. Although Athens’ debt bill does not come due until July, authorities fear they must achieve a breakthrough by mid-February to avoid the issue becoming politicised in the upcoming Dutch and French national elections.

Italy's bitter bank rescue tsar bemoans lack of strategy  - (www.reuters.com) The head of Italy's bank-bailout fund said on Tuesday the country lacked a clear strategy for shifting 356 billion euros ($381 billion) in problem loans... "There is no clear vision of the problem and no strategy," Penati said at a financial conference in Milan, suggesting that he was virtually working alone on rescues that had revealed "horror stories" within some banks.

Italy's UniCredit bank posts massive $14.5 billion loss - (www.yahoo.comItalian bank UniCredit announced a heavy fourth-quarter loss Thursday of 13.6 billion euros ($14.5 billion) as its new CEO moved to fortify the firm by cleaning up its portfolio of soured loans. Italy's largest bank by assets, UniCredit said that it incurred 13.2 billion euros in one-off expenses, which included a previously announced 8.1-billion-euro write-off on bad loans plus other charges such as contributions to an Italian fund to save weaker banks. CEO Jean Pierre Mustier called 2016 "a pivotal year" for the bank. "We took a number of decisive actions regarding legacy and operational issues to ensure the future success of the group," he said, citing progress on the reorganization plan announced in December, including deals this month with unions to slash 14,000 positions by 2019.


Bank, energy stocks lift Wall St indexes to record highs - (www.reuters.com)
Mexico Raises Key Rate After Inflation Surges and Peso Stumbles
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed’s Bullard Says Fiscal Uncertainty Should Delay Rate Increase
- (www.bloomberg.com)
New GOP Memo Targets Stress Tests, CFPB in Dodd-Frank Changes
- (www.bloomberg.com)

Home Prices Rose in 89% of U.S. Metro Areas in Fourth Quarter
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Trump Promises Airlines New Infrastructure, Less Regulation
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Greece optimistic of deal with lenders on reforms, debt, next week
- (www.reuters.com)

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