Italy’s president fears violent insurrection in
2014 but offers no remedy - (www.telegraph.co.uk) Events
in Italy are turning serious. President Giorgio Napolitano has warned of
“widespread social tension and unrest” in 2014 as the Long Slump drags on. Those
living on the margins are being drawn into “indiscriminate and violent protest,
a sterile lurch towards total opposition”. His latest speech is a veritable
Jeremiad. Thousands of companies are on the “brink of collapse”. Great masses
of the working people are on the dole or at risk of losing their jobs. Very
high rates of youth unemployment (41pc) are leading to dangerous alienation. “The
recession is still biting hard, and there is a pervasive sense that it will be
difficult to escape, to find a way back to full growth,” he said.
Mortgage applications plummet
amid uncertainty - (www.cnbc.com) Mortgage
applications fell 5.5 percent in the past week, to the lowest level in more
than 12 years, according to a weekly report from the Mortgage Bankers
Association released Wednesday. The plunge follows a slight increase in
interest rates. Refinance and home purchase applications dropped 4 percent and
6 percent, respectively, as investors wait for word from the Federal Reserve on
whether it will reduce its bond-buying activity. "It is a discordant note
compared to the more positive data we are seeing in other parts of the economy,
including the job market reports and industrial production," said Michael
Fratantoni, the association's vice president of research and economics.
"Credit tightening could be part of it, rates another part." The
average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgages with conforming loan
balances ($417,000 or less) rose to 4.62 percent from 4.61 percent, a small
move but the highest level since September. The average rate for a five-year
adjustable rate mortgage jumped to 3.20 percent from 3.11 percent. More
borrowers have been heading to ARMs lately, seeking lower rates amid rising
housing prices.
France
fights back against German 'Sick Man of Europe' - (www.telegraph.co.uk) The overriding strategic story in Europe
today is the breakdown of Franco-German condominium. The two great nations have
together run the EU on a foundation of equality since the 1950s, always finding
some way to bridge the chasm between North and South. It was stretched a little
after France lost Algeria – a French Department, not a colony – and with it
lost population parity. But that hardly mattered as long as Germany wished to
tuck behind France, usually letting Paris take the lead. It was stretched a
great deal further with the Reunification of Germany, driven home a few years
later when a Brandeburg "Ossi" who spoke fluent Russian – but no
French – became Chancellor.
Realtors
Just Love Those Government Housing Market Subsidies - (www.chicagonow.com)
I guess it's just
the American way. Always have your hand out for the next government subsidy and
the politicians in Washington are always too willing to cooperate in response
to powerful lobbying organizations. The National Association of Realtors (NAR)
is no exception when it comes to begging for government housing market
subsidies. With around 1,000,000 members the NAR is the world's largest
professional organization and has approximately a $155
MM budget. And look how much of that budget goes towards
influencing the government to subsidize home ownership:
§ Approximately $40 MM to
"targeted state and local real estate and homeownership advocacy"
§ Approximately $28 MM to
"Government Affairs, Political Affairs, Economics & Research,
Regulatory Affairs, RPAC, Public Affairs"
§ And another $35 MM doesn't really
go directly to government lobbying but does go towards "advocating
for REALTORS® and homeownership" - mostly through advertising
Corn
Plummeting Spurs Talk of 80s U.S. Farmland Bust - (www.bloomberg.com) Din
Tai Fung, a restaurant in Shanghai’s Xintiandi district, is famous for its
steamed pork dumplings. The pigs that keep those dumplings on the table are
fattened with corn -- much of it imported from the U.S. American farmers have
prospered during a three-year boom in corn and cropland prices. As values have
soared since 2011, farmers bought more acres and upgraded their harvesters to
produce a record corn crop of almost 14 billion bushels in 2013. Nothing better
shows the fertile times than investment infarm
equipment.
Sales of self-propelled combines, including an $850,000 John Deere (DE) model
with iPod system, navigational equipment and heated seats and an attachment
that harvests the corn, jumped 40 percent in November. Now, as corn prices
start to decline, bankers and agricultural economists are predicting a slowdown
in farmland prices that could turn into a bust. “I can see the fear in farmers’
eyes when they think of all the moving pieces around the world gutting the
value of next year’s crop,” said David Kohl, an agricultural economist and president of
consulting firm AgriVisions, who last week spoke at several farming conferences
in northern Nebraska.
“Most of them know the boom in corn prices and farmland prices is coming to a screeching
halt.”
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