Monday May 29 2017 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:            

Freezing State Employees' Wages Could Save Connecticut $1.5 Billion - (www.dailycaller.com) A tentative concessions deal from public employees unions in Connecticut could save the state $1.5 billion over the next two years. Concessions from public employees unions is widely viewed as a crucial step in solving the state’s projected $2.3 billion deficit in the first year of a two-year budget. The deficit is predicted to rise to $2.7 billion in the second year, according to U.S. News & World Report. The potential deal would save the state $712.6 million next year and $849.4 million the following year, totaling $1.56 billion in savings over two years, according to the Connecticut Mirror. Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy has called for $1.59 billion in concessions in order to solve the state’s financial mess. Under the tentative deal, state employee wages would be frozen for two years, retroactively starting in 2016. In the third year of the proposal, some workers would be eligible for a $2,000 lump sum bonus, but short of a pay raise.

Used Vehicle Trade-in Values Sink, Hit New Vehicle Sales - (www.wolfstreet.com) This is just relentless: Wholesale prices of used vehicles up to eight years old going through auctions across the US dropped another 1.5% in April from the prior month. It pushed the seasonally adjusted Used Vehicle Price Index by J.D. Power Valuation Services (formerly known as NADA Used Car Guide) down to 109.9. The 10th month in a row of declines. The index is down 7.1% year-over-year and down over 13% from its peak in mid-2014. It’s at the lowest level since September 2010, when prices were still spiking from the cash-for-clunkers program which had eliminated a whole generation of often perfectly good cars. In that sense, values are just now beginning to normalize (chart by J.D. Power Valuation Services): According to the report, “the used market continues to experience negative pressure from a struggling new market.”

Ford to cut North America, Asia salaried workers by 10 percent: source - (www.reuters.com) Ford Motor Co plans to shrink its salaried workforce in North America and Asia by about 10 percent as it works to boost profits and its sliding stock price, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters on Monday. A person briefed on the plan said Ford plans to offer generous early retirement incentives to reduce its salaried headcount by Oct. 1, but does not plan cuts to its hourly workforce or its production. The move could put the U.S. automaker on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who has made boosting auto employment a top priority. Ford has about 30,000 salaried workers in the United States. The cuts are part of a previously announced plan to slash costs by $3 billion, the person said, as U.S. new vehicles auto sales have shown signs of decline after seven years of consecutive growth since the end of the Great Recession.

Indian solar power prices hit record low, undercutting fossil fuels – (www.theguardian.com) Wholesale solar power prices have reached another record low in India, faster than analysts predicted and further undercutting the price of fossil fuel-generated power in the country. The tumbling price of solar energy also increases the likelihood that India will meet -- and by its own predictions, exceed -- the renewable energy targets it set at the Paris climate accords in December 2015. Analysts called the 40% price drop "world historic" and said it was driven by cheaper finance and growing investor confidence in India's pledge to dramatically increase its renewable energy capacity. It reduces the market price of solar tariffs well past the average charged by India's largest thermal coal conglomerate, currently around 3.20 rupees per kWh . Wholesale price bids for wind energy also reached a record low of 3.46 rupees in February.

Bitcoin Surge Is Driven by People Leaving Riskier Digital Currencies, Say Execs - (www.bloomberg.com) Bitcoin’s dramatic surge may be more than just a speculative frenzy. The recent rally is being driven partially by enthusiasts rotating out of riskier digital assets and into the more established cryptocurrency, according to industry executives. "A lot of the volume into bitcoin right now is actually not dollar or yen or euro into bitcoin, but is rather alt digital assets," said Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of digital asset software platform Blockchain, at an industry conference Tuesday that brought in 2,700 people on the first day. “People do view a lot of these newer assets as more risky, and so when they make big gains there, they’re selling down those gains and rotating into bitcoin." Numerous alternative cryptocurrencies, or "altcoins" such as ripple, have emerged since bitcoin broke into public consciousness in 2013. Companies can sell new tokens through initial coin offerings, or ICOs. While the cost of one bitcoin has skyrocketed to more than $2,000 from just 8 cents in 2010, you can buy one litecoin for about $30.

OTHER STORIES:

Broker Stocks Drop After Labor Secretary Says Fiduciary Rule Will Take Effect June 9 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Corruption in Asia Is Getting Worse, Especially Among Millennials: EY Survey - (www.bloomberg.com)
North Korea, if left unchecked, on 'inevitable' path to nuclear ICBM: U.S. - (www.reuters.com)

The Fed is about to reveal how it could wind down its biggest policy experiment ever - (www.cnbc.com)
Read the full transcript from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's interview - (www.cnbc.com)
Banks' bond trading roars back in first-quarter but FX lags badly - survey - (www.reuters.com)