KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Thursday May 14 Housing and Economic stories

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Greece Sparks Meltdown in Euro-Area Bonds as Italy, Spain Tumble - (www.bloomberg.com) A slump in euro-area government bonds gathered force on concern Greece’s talks with creditors will fail to clinch a deal in time to prevent a default. As Greek bonds tumbled, the repercussions spread across the region, with Spain’s 10-year yield rising the most since June 2013 to the highest this year. German bunds, the region’s benchmark sovereign securities, were swept up in the selloff with Treasuries after an unexpected jump in growth for U.S. service industries. Greece’s debt standoff is exacerbating tension in euro-area bond markets, which already succumbed to their worst month since 2013 in April. The nation blamed international creditors for a failure to find an agreement in its bailout talks, saying a deal won’t be possible until they agree on a common set of demands. Portugal’s Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque said on Tuesday Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should take the offer on the table.

Its Official: Bank of America Is The Most Hated Bank In The US - (www.mfi-miami.com) Bank of America Tops the JD Power List of the Most Hated Banks. It may be 8 years since the onset of the worst financial crisis in American history since the Great Depression but Americans still haven’t forgiven the banks for the role they played in creating the crisis. In its latest survey of the U.S. banking industry, J.D. Power found that customer satisfaction with lenders is at a “record high as banks improve experiences for their customers, reduce problems, and create a better understanding of fees.” The performance of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) serves as a case in point. The nation’s biggest bank by assets scored better than the average bank across all nine of the regions in which it operates. It had a particularly strong showing in Florida, where customers gave it a score of 826 out of 1,000, making it the best-performing bank in the Sunshine State. But despite this general improvement, Jim Miller, director of banking services at J.D. Power says, “Some banks fall far short in meeting customer needs.”

America's trailer parks: the residents may be poor but the owners are getting rich - (www.theguardian.com) It’s an unusual but potentially lucrative investment: billionaire Warren Buffett is heavily invested, and his and others’ success is prompting ordinary people to attend Mobile Home University, a ‘boot camp’ in trailer park ownership. The number one rule is stated twice, once in the classroom and once on the bus: “Don’t make fun of the residents.” Welcome to Mobile Home University, a three-day, $2,000 “boot camp” that teaches people from across the US how to make a fortune by buying up trailer parks. Trailer parks are big and profitable business – particularly after hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the financial crisis created a huge demand for affordable housing. According to US Census figures, more than 20 million people, or 6% of the population, live in trailer parks.

'Texas Ranger' Chuck Norris warns of government plot to take over state – (www.theguardian.com) Actor, martial arts master and conservative questions US military training exercise and praises Ted Cruz for refusal to believe Jade Helm 15 is no threat. The actor, martial artist, and internet meme Chuck Norris has warned of a federal government plot to take over the state of Texas. Writing on the right-wing website WND, or WorldNetDaily, Norris discussed the potential for Jade Helm 15, a US military training exercise planned for July and August, to turn into a full-scale occupation of his home state. Exercises will be held in Texas and six other states during Jade Helm 15, across public and private land. The training has been the focus of rightwing conspiracy theories since a map published for the purpose of the simulation labelled Texas, Utah and California as “hostile”.

DEA agents get to keep their jobs after jailing a 23-year-old student in a holding cell for 5 days without food or water - (www.businessinsider.com) Federal agents responsible for detaining a California college student for five days without food or water back in 2012 will not receive any significant punishment, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing the Justice Department. Daniel Chong was held by Drug Enforcement Agency agents for five days following a raid on a friend’s house. He was not fed or provided water for the duration of his detention, according to the Justice Department. Chong, who was 23 at the time of his jailing, was never charged with a crime and has since been awarded a multimillion-dollar settlement from the US government.

DEA agents attended sex parties in Colombia – (www.businessinsider.com) Drug Enforcement Administration agents allegedly had "sex parties" with prostitutes hired by drug cartels, according to an inspector general report released Thursday by the Justice Department. "The foreign officer allegedly arranged 'sex parties' with prostitutes funded by the local drug cartels for these DEA agents at their government-leased quarters, over a period of several years," the report said. According to Politico, the alleged "sex parties" took place in Colombia between 2005 and 2008. The report didn't appear to name the agents involved, but seven of them admitted to attending the parties and were punished with short suspensions.

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