Friday February 20 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down - (www.nytimes.com) Sofia, a 34-year-old Frenchwoman, moved here a year ago to take a job in advertising, so confident about Dubai’s fast-growing economy that she bought an apartment for almost $300,000 with a 15-year mortgage. Now, like many of the foreign workers who make up 90 percent of the population here, she has been laid off and faces the prospect of being forced to leave this Persian Gulf city — or worse. “I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.” With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.

The day the banks were just three hours from collapse - (www.dailymail.co.uk) Britain was just three hours away from going bust last year after a secret run on the banks, one of Gordon Brown's Ministers has revealed. City Minister Paul Myners disclosed that on Friday, October 10, the country was 'very close' to a complete banking collapse after 'major depositors' attempted to withdraw their money en masse. The Mail on Sunday has been told that the Treasury was preparing for the banks to shut their doors to all customers, terminate electronic transfers and even block hole-in-the-wall cash withdrawals. Only frantic behind-the-scenes efforts averted financial meltdown. If the moves had failed, Mr Brown would have been forced to announce that the Government was nationalising the entire financial system and guaranteeing all deposits. But 60-year-old Lord Myners was accused last night of being 'completely irresponsible' for admitting the scale of the crisis while the recession was still deepening and major institutions such as Barclays remain under intense pressure. The build-up to 'Black Friday' started on Monday, October 6, when the FTSE 100 dropped by nearly eight per cent as bad news on the economy started to multiply. The following day, Chancellor Alistair Darling began all-night talks ahead of an announcement on the Wednesday that billions of pounds of taxpayers' money would be used to pour liquidity into the system

Harvard Economist: 'Stimulus is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s' - (www.examiner.com) This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s. I don't know what to say. I mean it's wasting a tremendous amount of money. It has some simplistic theory that I don't think will work, so I don't think the expenditure stuff is going to have the intended effect. I don't think it will expand the economy. And the tax cutting isn't really geared toward incentives. It's not really geared to lowering tax rates; it's more along the lines of throwing money at people. On both sides I think it's garbage. So in terms of balance between the two it doesn't really matter that much.

Aetna 4Q profit falls 57 pct on capital losses, medical care takes up larger revenue share - (www.chicagotribune.com) Health insurer Aetna Inc. said Thursday its profit fell 57 percent in the fourth quarter as health care costs increased, and the company sustained large capital losses. Aetna earned $194.7 million, or 42 cents per share, down from $448.4 million, or 87 cents per share. Aetna says profit from operations rose to 96 cents per share from 88 cents. Revenue grew 8 percent to $7.76 billion. Excluding net realized capital losses, revenue rose 12 percent to $7.98 billion. Thomson Reuters says analysts expected 94 cents per share and $7.96 billion in revenue. The Hartford, Conn., company spent 81.8 percent of its premium revenue on medical care in the quarter, compared to 80.3 percent a year ago.

Ethanol, Just Recently a Savior, Is Struggling - (www.nytimes.com) Barely a year after Congress enacted an energy law meant to foster a huge national enterprise capable of converting plants and agricultural wastes into automotive fuel, the goals lawmakers set for the ethanol industry are in serious jeopardy. As recently as last summer, plants that make ethanol from corn were sprouting across the Midwest. But now, with motorists driving less in the economic downturn, the industry is burdened with excess capacity, and plants are shutting down virtually every week. In the meantime, plans are lagging for a new generation of factories that were supposed to produce ethanol from substances like wood chips and crop waste, overcoming the drawbacks of corn ethanol. That nascent branch of the industry concedes it has virtually no chance of meeting Congressional production mandates that kick in next year. The decline in fortunes has been extreme for both kinds of ethanol since last summer, when $145-a-barrel oil appeared to shift fuel economics in their favor. Only months ago, refiners in some regions were buying up as much corn ethanol as they could to blend with expensive gasoline, effectively keeping pump prices down slightly. Meanwhile, investors seemed willing to finance plants to produce next-generation biofuels

The Audacity of Pork - (thelastgoodidea.blogspot.com) First it was a promise of doing things differently. A more ethical White House, but that dream flew out the window with Turbo Tax Timmy, Tom Daschle and some woman who didn't stick around long enough for anyone to remember her name as a nominee for some made up office. George Bush may have made up words, but President Obama is making up 6 figure jobs, one at a time. In truth, President Obama should be in charge of collections at the IRS. Nobody gets people to pay their delinquent taxes any better than he does with his nominations. Later it would be a $1.1 trillion dollar stimulus package that had something for everyone. And the best part was that Congressional Democrats would take the rap for all that pork. Senator Max Baucus got $26 billion for private equity firms. Senator Robert Byrd got 4.6 billion for his constituents and clean coal, which Obama contends is a fallacy. Even under the guise of green education, there was $100 million for children to learn green construction. Seriously? Children can learn green construction on the job after they drop out of high school, they don't need $100 million for it in elementary school. Don't forget, this is a do as I say, not a do as I do White House. However, while Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the Dems on the Hill loaded up the stimulus with pork barrel spending, the President was still watching out for his friends. There was $4 billion, give or take, for community action groups like ACORN.

Kanjorski Details Shocking Fed & Treasury TARP Threats - (www.dailybail.com) In the above video starting at the 2:20 mark, House Democrat Paul Kanjorski details a chilling scenario communicated to select members of Congress during emergency discussions with Treasury and Fed officials on Thursday September 18th. As readers know, several Congressional members have alluded to a private meeting with Paulson and Bernanke in which vague economic armageddon was threatened if Congress did not immediately hand Hank $700 billion, with no oversight. As the political debate raged over the next 15 days, several members expressed a sense of shock over the severity of the secret warnings, while refusing to divulge the details to a concerned public. Representative Sherman of California later accidentally revealed that members were warned that Martial Law would follow if the $700 bailout plan were not approved quickly. Days later it was confirmed that the warning was delivered by Treasury Secretary Paulson. Listen while Kanjorski relates the fear about an electronic run on the banks that was apparently part of the Congressional scare tactics employed by Paulson and staff. You will notice that he says members were told that within 24 hours, the entire political structure of the United States would collapse. Talk about hitting a Congressman where it hurts, Paulson went straight for their political testes.


OTHER STORIES:

January Army Suicides Outnumbered Combat Deaths - (www.alternet.org) Good for Some! Fed to Add Primary Dealers as Treasury Sales Surge (www.bloomberg.com) Celente Video: The Worst Economic Collapse Ever - (bullnotbull.blogspot.com) UK Minister: Worst Recession in 100 Years; Worse than Great Depression - (www.independent.co.uk) Popular Rage Grows as Global Crisis Worsens - (www.spiegel.de) As the global economic crisis deepens, tempers around the world are getting shorter. French and British trade unions are organizing strikes, Putin is sending troops into the streets and Beijing is trying to buy itself calm. A rally against car import duties in Krasnoyarsk, Russia: Citizens around the world are protesting against their governments' handling of the economic crisis. In the cabinet of French President's Nicolas Sarkozy, there was talk of a "Black Thursday," and from Sarkozy's perspective, that was exactly what Jan. 29, 2009 turned out to be. Schools were closed, and so were railroads, banks and stock markets. Theaters, radio stations and even ski lifts were shut down temporarily. Trash receptacles were set on fire in Paris once again, and a crowd gathered on the city's famed Place de l'Opéra to sing the "Internationale," the anthem of revolution. The global financial crisis has already reached France, bringing business failures, mass layoffs for some workers and reduced working hours for others. On that infamous Thursday, it drove up to 2.5 million people into the streets, in cities from Marseilles to Brest and Bordeaux. The situation was not like in May 1968, when France was in a state of emergency. Nevertheless, the country's unions called the demonstrations "historic," characterizing them as the most important protest movement to date against the current French president. Paris is not the only place plagued by unrest. Across the English Channel in Britain, workers protested at a refinery near Immingham in Lincolnshire, triggering solidarity strikes in 19 other locations in the United Kingdom. The demonstrations became a symbol for the fears of the British lower classes, because the country -- according to the International Monetary Fund -- faces the worst downturn among all highly developed economies. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's approval rating is following the decline of the British pound. In Russia, dismal labor statistics have driven Communists and anti-government protestors into the streets from Pskov to Volgograd in recent days, and in Moscow members of the left-wing opposition even ventured onto Red Square. They ripped up pictures of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, until police arrested and removed them. In China, workers returned from festivities marking the spring festival to hear shocking news from their own government. Beijing announced that about 20 million migrant workers -- more than the combined populations of Denmark, Sweden and Norway -- would likely become unemployed in the coming months. The fast pace of economic growth that has lent legitimacy to the Communist Party's hold on power until now has slowed considerably. According to a government spokesman, 2009 will be the "most difficult" year since the turn of the millennium.


Gold Rises Near Six-Month High in London on Demand for Haven - (www.bloomberg.com)
World stocks down amid pessimism over US plans - (finance.yahoo.com)
Yen Gains as Stocks Fall on Concern Bank-Bailout Plan Will Fail - (www.bloomberg.com)
Crude Oil Falls to Three-Week Low After U.S. Inventory Increase - (www.bloomberg.com)
Moody’s shakes up its triple A ratings - (www.ft.com)
Bank Test May Expand U.S. Regulators’ Role - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. January foreclosures fall: RealtyTrac - (www.reuters.com)
Oil demand to fall at fastest rate since 1982 - (www.ft.com)
China’s New Loans Rise by Record on Stimulus Efforts - (www.bloomberg.com)
In China, appetite slows for Western fast food - (www.latimes.com)
The Dangers Of Superficial Knowledge - (www.scoop.co.nz)
$15,000 tax credit is superficial thinking - (www.progress.org)
It's a $15,000 bonus to affluent flippers - (www.nytimes.com)
Graph of job losses in recent recessions - (www.speaker.gov)
Bank of Korea Cuts Rate to 2% and Sees Room for More - (www.bloomberg.com)
China to stick with US bonds - (www.ft.com)
Japanese retail investors go long of yen - (www.ft.com)
U.S. Lawmakers Agree on $789 Billion Stimulus Plan - (www.bloomberg.com)
Deal Reached in Congress on $789 Billion Stimulus Plan - (www.nytimes.com)
Obama’s Stimulus Not Enough to Stop Biggest GDP Drop Since 1946 - (www.bloomberg.com)
You Try to Live on $500K in NYC - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailout Programs - (www.bloomberg.com)
Geithner Seeks Fools To Buy Toxic Assets - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dr. Doom & Black Swan: You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - (www.cnbc.com)
Geithner Defends Slow Rollout of Rescue Details - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Fed in Talks to Add Primary Dealers as Sales Rise to Record - (www.bloomberg.com)
The rise and - (almost) fall of America's banks - (news.yahoo.com)
Obama's Dangerous Bank Bailout - (online.wsj.com)
Bank Nationalization? An Argument for Quick Action - (www.newsweek.com)
This Perp Walk Needs Handcuffs - (www.newgeography.com)
Toll Brothers 1st-quarter home building revenue falls 51 percent as downturn continues - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Lawmakers Question Bankers on Bailout - (www.nytimes.com)
Caterpillar offering buyouts to cut 2,000 more jobs - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Bankers Vow to build trust with increased lending - (www.google.com/hostednews/ap)
Geithner Fails First Test, Managing Expectations: John M. Berry - (www.bloomberg.com)

GM, Chrysler May Face Bankruptcy to Protect U.S. Debt - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bond market calls Fed's bluff - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Wanda Sykes Explaining the Bailouts - (www.dailybail.com)