Sunday, December 1, 2013

Monday December 2 Housing and Economic stories


Emerging-Market Banks Threatened by End of Credit Boom - (www.bloomberg.com) The world’s largest emerging markets recovered quickly from the 2008 financial crisis because consumers and companies went on a borrowing binge. Now that credit spree is coming back to haunt banks in those countries. As economies cool, delinquent loans are rising from Turkey to South Africa. India is injecting money into state-run lenders facing a surge in soured debt, while Chinese banks have been told to increase provisions for the same reason. An outflow of funds from emerging markets earlier this year, sparked by speculation that the Federal Reserve would soon begin tapering its easy-credit policy, forced up interest rates in those countries and pushed down currencies. While the flight of capital halted after the Fed decided in September to continue its asset purchases, a reversal could threaten economies and banks in developing nations.

Back Injury Puts Football Player on I.P.O. Delayed List - (www.nytimes.com) Sign of a bubble? ;-)  Some companies cancel initial public offerings for lack of demand. Others are delayed because regulators require more disclosure. But never before has a company postponed an I.P.O. because of season-ending back surgery — until Tuesday. Fantex, the start-up promoting I.P.O.’s of National Football League stars, said that it was putting off its stock offering of Arian Foster, the running back for the Houston Texans. Mr. Foster was placed on injured reserve and is expected to have surgery to repair a ruptured disc. “After consideration, we have made the decision to postpone the offering,” Buck French, the chief executive and co-founder of Fantex, said in a statement. “We feel this is a prudent course of action under the current circumstances.”

Default ‘Wave’ of $1.6 Trillion Looming for Junk, Fridson Says - (www.bloomberg.com) Almost $1.6 trillion of junk bonds globally will default between 2016 and 2020, according to Martin Fridson, chief executive officer of New York-based FridsonVision LLC, a research firm specializing in speculative-grade debt. With historical evidence indicating default rates will surge between 2014 and 2016 and persist, implying a rate of more than 30 percent cumulative during four years, Fridson estimated in a report for Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary and Data that the face value of total defaults will be $1.576 trillion. That’s a market value of $752 billion, according to Fridson, who started his career as a corporate debt trader in 1976. “When the default tidal wave eventually hits, it will be very big,” Fridson said in an e-mail. “No one realizes how much distressed debt is going to be available for investment when it finally hits.”

Why Argentina Is In The Middle Of A Seemingly Inescapable Economic Demise - (www.businessinsider.com) Peronism today has evolved into something that looks like a class struggle that pits the poor against the rich without explaining why. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is viewed by supporters as a Robin Hood-esque character (and not just because they both wear tights to work.) She snatches wealth from the greedy hands of domestic and international fat cats in business and redistributes it into the hands of needy mothers with hungry children, and protects Argentines from destructive foreign interests.

Detroit Wants to Keep Banker's Fee Secret - (www.nytimes.com) The judge overseeing Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing has made clear he expects full disclosure of professional fees billed in the case. On Thursday the city will ask for an exception: fees paid to its banker. Detroit has argued that Barclays Capital, a unit of Britain's Barclays PLC, needs to keep the fee structure of a $350 million loan confidential because it is commercially sensitive information. The city also argued that if the fee arrangement were public, it might drive up the cost of the loan. Judges overseeing large bankruptcy cases demand detailed reports on the fees and expenses paid to lawyers, but they sometimes make an exception for Wall Street fees. That may change with Detroit, which is spending taxpayer money. "Since it's a public entity with so many diverse stakeholders, it's important for the general public to feel that the process was fair," said John Penn, a bankruptcy attorney with Perkins Coie in Dallas. "I would not be surprised if the judge required disclosure."





Two Fed officials say aggressive policy action still needed - (www.reuters.com)

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