Bloomberg hints at curb on articles about China NYT - (www.cnbc.com) The
chairman of Bloomberg said in a speech on Thursday that the
company should have reconsidered articles that deviated from its core of
coverage of business news, because they jeopardized the huge sales potential
for its products in the Chinese market. The comments by the chairman, Peter T.
Grauer, represented the starkest acknowledgment yet by a senior Bloomberg
executive that the ambitions of the news division should be assessed in the
context of the business operation, which provides the bulk of the company's
revenue. They also signaled which of those considerations might get priority. Acknowledging
the vast size of the Chinese economy, the world's second-biggest after that of
the United States, Mr. Grauer, said, "We have to be there."
Fresh worries over China
prompt slew of downgrades - (www.cnbc.com) The
rapid deterioration in China's economic momentum has put focus squarely on the
world's number-two economy, with several banks sharply cutting their gross
domestic product (GDP) forecasts. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML),
Barclays and Nomura lowered their growth projections for the mainland economy
late Thursday, following a spate of disappointing economic data for the
January-February period. BofAML's downgrade was among the most aggressive; it
cut its first quarter GDP growth forecast to 7.3 percent from 8.0 percent, and
its annual growth forecast to 7.2 percent from 7.6 percent. Nomura revised down
its first quarter growth forecast to 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent, noting that
it sees downside risks to its full-year forecast of 7.4 percent. "Given
weaker-than-expected economic activity in January-February, we need to lower
our GDP growth forecast for the first quarter, although we maintain our view on
the trajectory growth: slowing in the first-half to a bottom in the second
quarter at 7.1 percent and rebounding in the second half to 7.5 percent as we
think policy will likely loosen significantly in the second quarter,"
Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Nomura wrote in a note.
Homebuilder
Confidence Misses Expectations Again, Plunges To 10-Month Lows - (www.zerohedge.com) Despite
last month's epic collapse in the NAHB Confidence index, the 'recovery' bounce
this month missed expectations significantly making the 6th miss in the
last 7 months (we assume that means its been winter-stormy for the last 7
months). Holding at levels seen in May 2013, future sales expectations
dropped once again to 10 month lows as hope fades (or they expect more bad
weather). The West (crushed by warm dry pleasant weather) continues to plummet
but the NorthEast dropped to levekls not seen since Auguest 2012.
Blood
and Stones: "landlords really cant extract much more rent" - (www.businessweek.com) Federal
Reserve efforts to nurture a more robust rate of inflation this year are likely
to fall short. The reason: the biggest gains in rents are probably over. The
costs to lease residential real estate, the second-biggest component of the
price measure tracked by U.S. central bankers, helped put a floor under
inflation over the past two years as most other components decelerated. Now,
with builders cranking out a record number of multifamily buildings and the job
market still far from tight, the outlook for rents is the bleakest it’s been in
four years. “Because the economy is still not in the strongest position and
certainly the labor market is not in the strongest position, landlords really
can’t extract much more in the way of rent growth,” said Ryan Severino, a
senior economist at real-estate data provider Reis Inc. in New York. Also,
rents are already high, which makes more increases difficult, he said.
Chance
to get in on money-destroying housing action again - (www.huffingtonpost.com) If you missed out on the housing bubble and the
chance to gamble away your financial future, fear not: Banks are giving you a
chance to get in on that kind of money-destroying action again. Remember
adjustable-rate mortgages, which helped pump up the U.S. housing bubble that
led to the financial crisis? Well, those things are back, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. To
help juice their profits, banks have recently been writing many more ARMs and
their slightly more-evil cousins, interest-only ARMS -- which allow borrowers
to pay only interest for a certain period, leading to more debt and higher
payments in the future -- according to the WSJ. "The tactics are
reminiscent of the period before the 2008 crisis, when ARMs exploded in
popularity as banks and mortgage brokers touted their low initial rates to
consumers," wrote AnnaMaria Andriotis and Shayndi Raice.
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