KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday March 8 Housing and Economic stories

Monday, March 7, 2011

Tuesday March 8 Housing and Economic stories

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New York Mets Get An Emergency Loan From Major League Baseball – (www.businessinsider.com) The New York Times reports that Major League Baseball has loaned the New York Mets $20 million to shore up their franchise's troubled finances. The extra assistance was needed because the team already exhausted the league $75M line of credit for teams in need of temporary cash. The unusual move underscores how perilous the team's financial situation is. They already have $400M in debt and are desperately seeking minority owners to help fight off lawsuits surrounding from the owners' involvement Bernie Madoff scheme.

Counting the cost of US muni bond opacity - (www.ft.com) US investors and local governments lose as much as $30bn a year because of poor transparency and liquidity in the $3,000bn US municipal bond market. Dealing with the huge cost of illiquidity could help to address the fiscal crisis that is engulfing US states and municipalities, according to a new analysis due for release on Friday by the Hamilton Project, part of Washington-based think tank Brookings. Muni bonds are mainly bought by private investors because of their tax advantages but they trade over the counter, not on an exchange, and they do not need to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There is little transparency on prices, less systematic disclosure of financial information by issuers than corporations, and the market is fragmented into more than 50,000 issuers that issue multiple series of bonds.

Fannie, Freddie narrow losses but seek more aid - (finance.yahoo.com) Government-controlled mortgage buyers Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac narrowed their losses in the final three months of last year. But they are asking for more money from taxpayers as the real estate market braces for what could be a new wave of mortgage defaults. Fannie Mae on Thursday posted a loss of $2.1 billion for the October-December quarter, after payment of $2.15 billion in dividends to preferred stock that is mostly owned by the federal government. It has requested an additional $2.6 billion in federal aid, slightly more than the $2.5 billion it sought in the previous quarter. Freddie Mac managed a $1.7 billion loss for the final quarter of last year, after the payment of $1.6 billion in preferred dividends. It has asked for an additional $500 million in federal aid — up from the $100 million it sought in the July-September quarter of 2010. Both companies narrowed their losses from 2009's final quarter, when Fannie Mae reported a shortfall of $16.3 billion and Freddie Mac lost $7.8 billion.

Christie Warns of Union Sway - (online.wsj.com) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday morning he believes in a “responsible” and “adversarial” collective-bargaining process, but warned it might not be enough to counter the influence of unions in state politics. Setting up a fight for political control of the state Legislature in an election year, Christie alleged that unions did not believe in collective bargaining and would turn to political allies to legislate increases in pay and benefits if necessary. “You can’t say, ‘Everything should be done at the table, but if we don’t get what we want we’ll go buy the legislature and get them to give it to us by law,’” Christie said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Either it should all happen at the table or we should all run to the legislature and make laws.”

Dollar's Fall Rocks Far-Flung Families - (online.wsj.com) The world's currencies are gyrating, but the strains are being felt beyond financial capitals and corporate boardrooms. Millions of families in developing countries rely on relatives sending dollars, euros and other weakened currencies from abroad to prop up spending at home. Lorena Baquillos's husband, Jimmy, is one of nearly 10 million Filipinos working around the world. She's managed to open a small grocery here on the money Jimmy sends home as a merchant seaman, but his dollar-based pay is translating into fewer pesos at home than it did a few years ago. "I used to get 43,000 pesos every two months, but now that's down to 33,000," says Ms. Baquillos, 37, who uses her husband's earnings to feed and school their three children.