Sunday, August 24, 2014

Monday August 25 Housing and Economic stories


Actor Robert Redford sues NY over $1.6 million tax bill - (www.lohud.com) Legendary actor Robert Redford is suing the state of New York over a $1.6 million tax bill related to the 2005 sale of a television channel. Redford, who starred in such films as "All the President's Men" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," sold a 20 percent stake in the Sundance Channel in 2005. Later, the state Department of Taxation and Finance audited the channel's filings and claimed Redford owed $845,000 in state taxes and $723,404 in interest. In the lawsuit filed last week, Redford's attorney claims the actor paid the proper taxes in his home state of Utah. The Sundance Channel is a limited liability company registered in New York, but Redford's stake in the company was through what is known as an "S corporation," which requires shareholders to claim losses or gains on their income-tax returns.

Donald Trump Sues To Have His Name Stripped From 2 Casinos, Says They're Not Fancy Enough To Bear His Name - (www.businessinsider.com) Donald Trump has a message for the two Atlantic City casinos that still bear his name, five years after he gave up anything to do with running them: You're fired. The real estate mogul and reality TV star, who presided over a casino empire in the glory days of Atlantic City, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday demanding that his name be stripped from the remaining two. He told The Associated Press he sued Trump Entertainment Resorts, a descendant of a corporate entity he once controlled, because it has allowed its two Atlantic City casinos, the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal, to fall into disrepair, tarnishing his personal brand and confusing customers.

What junk bonds are saying about the stock market - (www.cnbc.com) Junk bonds have fallen about 3 percent since their peak in late June, and some traders expect the broader stock market, which traded flat since then, to follow suit—perhaps imminently. "Equities are unlikely to rally in the midst of substantial a high-yield selloff," said one hedge-fund manager who focuses on the credit markets, referring to the junk bond market by its industry name. "There will be a correction at some point," he added, "whether it just started, or in the next six months." Indeed, certain hedge-fund managers have spent recent months decrying what they see as an overzealous stock market, fueled by misguided easy-money policies in the U.S. and beyond.

Italy’s Bonds Decline With Spain’s as Economic Recovery Falters - (www.bloomberg.com) Italy’s 10-year government bonds fell for a second day as signs that the euro-area’s economic recovery is losing momentum damped demand for the region’s higher-yielding assets. The Italian securities slumped to their first back-to-back drop in almost four weeks as a report showed the nation unexpectedly slipped into a recession. The yield on German 10-year bunds fell to a record after a report showed factory orders in Europe’s largest economy dropped the most in over 2 1/2 years, adding to evidence that tension with Russia over Ukraine is leaving its mark. Greek bonds had their longest stretch of declines since January.

Russia bans all U.S. food, EU fruit and veg in sanctions response; NATO fears invasion - (www.reuters.com) Russia will ban all imports of food from the United States and all fruit and vegetables from Europe, the state news agency reported on Wednesday, a sweeping response to Western sanctions imposed over its support for rebels in Ukraine. The measures will hit consumers at home who rely on cheap imports, and on farmers in the West for whom Russia is a big market. Moscow is by far the biggest buyer of European fruit and vegetables and the second biggest importer of U.S. poultry. RIA quoted the spokesman for Russia's food safety watchdog VPSS, Alexei Alexeenko, as saying all European fruit and vegetables and all produce from the United States would be included in a ban drawn up on the orders of President Vladimir Putin to punish countries that imposed sanctions on Russia.






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