Thursday, October 23, 2014

Friday October 24 Housing and Economic stories


Agile Tumbles in Hong Kong as Chairman Placed Under Custody - (www.bloomberg.com) Agile Property Holdings Ltd. (3383) tumbled to the lowest in more than five years after its billionaire founder and chairman Chen Zhuolin was placed under the control of Chinese prosecutors amid a money laundering allegation which it denied. Shares plunged as much as 31 percent, the most on record, to HK$3.30 in Hong Kong after they resumed trading following a suspension since Oct. 3. They closed 17 percent lower at HK$3.95, the lowest since March 2009. The stock was downgraded by at least six brokerages, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Macquarie Group Ltd., according to Bloomberg data.

Oil price drop puts fracking to the test - (www.cnbc.com) A further slump in oil prices may dampen shale drilling's profitable run, according to a report from Goldman Sachs. In the past four weeks, global oil prices plunged eight percent. And a barrel in the U.S. is below $90, the first time in two years. On Thursday, shares of companies centered in North Dakota's Bakken Shale dropped more than 5 percent. If prices drop any further, the Wall Street Journal reports, drilling activity would slow down drastically. The key issue lies in the overabundance of oil, with sluggish global demand to match it. Texas, Colorado and North Dakota shale-drilling has increased U.S. production by nearly three million barrels a day since 2011.

Here's why shale oil stocks are tanking - (www.cnbc.com) Now, let's look at what happens when oil starts to drop fast, which is exactly our scenario. That secured creditor with the line of credit? He's getting nervous, because now instead of reserves worth $20 million for your project, those reserves are now worth only, say, $16 million. That's a problem. The line of credit you will be able to get will drop because as the price of oil drops banks don't want to lend as much. So, instead of $5 million, your secured creditor will only lend $4 million, and at a higher rate. Now you need $6 million more. Another problem: because the price of oil is down, you can't contribute as much from your cash flow, so instead of $2 million that you contribute, you can only contribute $1 million.

The new unemployed: Older, educated and broke - (www.cnbc.com) In the upside-down, topsy-turvy world of jobs these days, even an advanced degree can't protect some Americans from tumbling down the economic ladder. The conventional wisdom that more education bears fruit in the labor market gets turned on its head when it comes to unemployment. For people with masters and even doctoral degrees, long-term unemployment is especially insidious. At best, these formerly high-earning professionals face the prospect of a years-long climb back to their former level of income and stature, while they delay retirement to rebuild their decimated nest eggs. Others won't be that lucky. Debt, foreclosure and evaporated savings push them out of the middle class, and some just keep falling.

Oil Bear Market Strains OPEC as Venezuela Seeks Meeting - (www.bloomberg.com) OPEC is boosting production as its members fight for market share and seek to meet rising domestic demand. The group pumped 30.47 million barrels a day in September, the most since August 2013, it said Oct. 10 in its latest monthly Oil Market Report. Saudi Arabia, Iran and most recently Iraq all widened the discounts they’ll offer on their main grades sold to Asia next month to the most since at least 2009. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave instructions to ask for an extraordinary OPEC meeting, the country’s foreign ministry said in a post on its Twitter account on Oct. 10. “The price of oil is important for our country, and we’ll start actions to stop its fall,” the ministry cited former oil minister Rafael Ramirez as saying.

Exclusive: U.S. regulators press banks for more on auto loan exposure to assess risks - (www.reuters.com) U.S. regulators are asking banks for more detail on their autos financing exposure, as rapid growth in the lending has prompted officials to seek to better assess the risks, according to a person familiar with the matter. Balances remaining on auto loans have risen by about a third since April 2011, reaching an all-time high of $924.2 billion in August, according to credit reporting bureau Equifax. About a fifth of the loans are subprime. Banking regulators fear that reckless lending may be at least helping to fuel that growth, and there are early signs that delinquencies are increasing in the sector.





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