Thursday March 30 2017 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:            

Huishan Dairy Fallout Spreads as Chinese Bank's Stock Falls - (www.bloomberg.com) Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank Corp. shares slumped by a record amid concern over its exposure to the embattled dairy-product manufacturer China Huishan Dairy Holdings Co. Shares of Jiutai Bank, based in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, tumbled 8.7 percent in Hong Kong trading on Monday, the biggest drop since it listed 2 1/2 months ago. A mysterious collapse in Huishan Dairy’s shares on Friday that erased about $4 billion of its market value and prompted a trading halt has hurt other firms linked to the dairy company. Jiutai Bank is Huishan Dairy’s second-biggest creditor with 1.83 billion yuan ($266 million) of loans, Caixin reported Saturday. Champ Harvest Ltd., Huishan Dairy’s largest shareholder, owns 17.9 percent of the lender’s Hong Kong-listed shares, data from the city’s exchange show. Champ Harvest is controlled by Huishan Dairy’s Chairman Yang Kai.

Auto Industry Resorts to Biggest Incentives Ever Just to Slow the Decline in Sales - (www.wolfstreet.com) In a few days, automakers are going to report their new vehicle deliveries for March. TrueCar, Kelley Blue Book, and LMC Automotive are predicting total vehicle sales slightly above the flat-line compared to March a year ago, though sales were down year-over-year in both January and February. TrueCar forecasts an increase of 0.2% year-over-year to 1.586 million new cars and light trucks, with retail deliveries (excluding fleet sales) growing 1% to 1.276 million units. J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Friday that they expect an increase of 1.9%, to 1.62 million units, with retails sales up 1%, boosted by record incentives. If sales nevertheless fall, everyone will blame the winter storm that arrived in the winter – “unexpectedly” or something. And it is possible that sales might fall. There was no winter storm in February, which was one of the warmest Februaries on record. Yet, sales in February fell 1.1% year-over year. They edged down in January too. And sales in both months combined fell 1.4% from the same period a year ago.

Massive 100 Kilogram Gold Coin Worth $4.5 Million Stolen From German Museum - (www.zerohedge.com) On Monday morning, thieves broke into the German capital's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth at least $4.5 million by weight.

Perhaps even more brazen than the infamous theft of a bucket full of gold woth $1.6 million from an armored truck in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan last September 29, moments ago local German press has reported that thieves broke into Berlin's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions. According to German media, the stolen coin is the "Big Maple Leaf", a commemorative piece issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007. The three-centimeter (1.18-inch) thick coin, with a diameter of 53 centimeters (20.9 inches), has a face value of $1 million. By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5 million at market prices. The Bode Museum, located on the German capital's UNESCO-listed Museum Island, houses one of the world's biggest coin collections. The holding includes 102,000 coins from ancient Greece and about 50,000 Roman coins.

The end of global QE is fast approaching - (www.ft.com) One of the most dramatic monetary interventions in recent years has been the unprecedented surge in global central bank balance sheets. This form of “money printing” has not had the inflationary effect predicted by pessimists, but there is still deep unease among some central bankers about whether these bloated balance sheets should be accepted as part of the “new normal”. There are concerns that ultra large balance sheets carry with them long term risks of inflation, and financial market distortions. In recent weeks, there have been debates within the FOMC and the ECB Governing Council about balance sheet strategy, and it is likely that there will be important new announcements from both these central banks before the end of 2017. Meanwhile, the PBOC balance sheet has been drifting downwards because of the large scale currency intervention that has been needed to prevent a rapid devaluation in the renminbi. Only the Bank of Japan seems likely to persist with policies that will extend the balance sheet markedly further after 2017.

Rich Chinese Race to Apply for a U.S. "Golden Visa" - (www.bloomberg.com)  As members of Congress in Washington debate raising the minimum required to obtain a U.S. immigrant investor visa from $500,000 to $1.35 million, concern about the hike has set off a scramble among wealthy would-be participants in China. ... At stake if the EB-5 is curtailed is a program estimated to have played a role in creating at least 200,000 U.S. jobs and drawing as much as $14 billion from Chinese investors alone, based on data provided by Rosen Consulting Group and the Asia Society. Past projects taking advantage of EB-5 include New York's Hudson Yards, Hunter's Point Shipyard in San Francisco, and a Trump-branded tower in Jersey City.

OTHER STORIES:

OPEC, non-OPEC to look at extending oil-output cut by six months - (www.reuters.com)
Passing Tax Reform Will Be As Difficult As Repealing Obamacare - (www.forbes.com)
Republicans’ Tax Overhaul Could Face Its Own Slings and Arrows - (www.wsj.com)

With GOP Plan Dead, Trump Weighs Other Ways to Reshape Health Care - (www.wsj.com)

Internal White House battles spill into Treasury - (www.politico.com)
Dow Poised for Longest Losing Streak Since 2011 - (www.wsj.com)