Wednesday August 6 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

GM lawyers criticized for 'deceit' in switch recall USAToday - (www.cnbc.com) General Motors' legal chief came under immediate fire at a Senate subcommittee hearing today. "How in the world did Michael Millikin keep his job," exclaimed Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance. Millikin's lawyers were involved in "cover-up, concealment, deceit and even fraud," and probably will be accused of crimes by the Justice Department, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Millikin is one of the witnesses testifying at the hearing, along with GM CEO Mary Barra, and Rodney O'Neal, CEO of the supplier that made the faulty ignition switch linked to 13 deaths.

New emergency alert system will give Obama the power to flip switch to address entire nation - (www.dailymail.co.uk) The Obama administration quietly announced on Tuesday that it intends to change the way Americans learn about natural disasters and other major emergencies during radio and TV broadcasts, giving the president the ability to flip a switch and address the entire nation at once. The Emergency Alert System, the latest version of a program first established in 1951, blasts out  emergency messages in the event of local weather emergencies, but can also be used to warn Americans about terror attacks and major natural disasters. Every broadcaster in the country is required to participate in the EAS. Messages travel along a closed, private network, piggybacking from station to station. It can take up to 10 minutes for every radio, TV, cable and satellite provider to blare its alert.

AT&T Wireless Emergency Alerts Coming to iPhone 5, 4S That Includes Presidential Alerts that Cannot Be Turned Off - (blogs.att.net) Starting today, customers using iPhone 5 and 4S will begin receiving a software update that includes Wireless Emergency Alerts. These are government-issued safety messages that include AMBER Alerts, emergency alerts – such as man-made or natural disasters, and Presidential alerts. Wireless Emergency Alerts are part of the FCC’s CMAS program. You may turn off alerts (except for Presidential alerts) if you choose.  Go to Settings >Notifications>Turn On/Off. When the software update is delivered to your phone, you will see a message that states “Carrier Settings Update:  new settings required for your device have been installed”. After that, your iPhone 5 or 4S will receive all Wireless Emergency Alerts by default. 

CEO probe puts China firm at risk of landmark bond default - (www.reuters.com) A little-known construction firm is at risk of becoming the first borrower to default in China's largest bond market, highlighting how Beijing's anti-corruption drive could aggravate financial pressure on the struggling real estate sector. Huatong Road & Bridge Group Co Ltd said on Wednesday it was uncertain whether it would be able to pay interest or principal on an 400 million yuan ($64.48 million) one-year bond set to mature on July 23, which it blamed on an ongoing official investigation into its chief executive. That would be the first time China's interbank bond market - the primary platform for China's institutional fixed income investors, hosting 94 percent of the country's bond issues - has seen a public default, and the first time a Chinese company has openly defaulted on both interest and principal for a bond.

Global equity melt-up in full swing even if investors hate themselves - (www.telegraph.co.uk) Investors seem determined to keep dancing until the music actually stops, even though the largest majority since the height of the dotcom bubble think equities are overvalued. They are chasing momentum. It is irresistible to try to eke a little more out of the rally... You would never know that the CPB world trade index has been contracting for two consecutive months on a 3-month moving average, which is to say that we are still in a world trade depression.''

OTHER STORIES:

Putin Shrugs Off Sanctions as Allies Weigh Pariah Status - (www.bloomberg.com)

Obama Widens Sanctions Against Russia in Ukraine Face-Off - (www.nytimes.com)
More Ukrainian soldiers killed as fighting rages in east, peace move flops - (www.reuters.com)

[Arends] We’re in the third biggest stock bubble in U.S. history - (www.marketwatch.com)
China Rate Swap Jumps as Bond Sales Pulled Amid Risk of Default - (www.bloomberg.com)
New Russia sanctions rattle markets, ruble tumbles - (www.reuters.com)

Fed's Fisher sees rate hikes early next year, or sooner - (www.reuters.com)

Druckenmiller: Fed policy 'fraught with unappreciated risk' - (www.cnbc.com)