Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thursday November 12 Housing and Economic stories


US Threatens UK over Brexit Vote – (www.wolfstreet.comThe chosen messenger was U.S. Trade Rep Michael Froman. The message he delivered was unequivocal: the US is “not in the market” to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with “individual nations” like Britain. Once out of the EU, the UK would be a nobody nation, a friendless state shunned by its erstwhile allies. No more special relationships, no more five-eye meetings, no more invites to White House black-tie dinners. In a 2009 article for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi described Froman as one of the most egregious examples of the way the revolving door works between business and government. Like Larry Summers, Froman is a Bob Rubin protégé. Along with them, he helped lay the foundations for President Clinton’s deregulation of the U.S. financial system. And like them, he is just as comfortable in Wall Street C-suites as in Washington’s corridors of power. In his current role as U.S. Trade Representative, Froman is negotiating on behalf of the U.S. government (and corporate and banking sectors) some of the most far-reaching trade agreements (TPP, TTIP and TiSA) of modern history. And according to Froman, if the people of Britain aren’t careful, they will be excluded from them (an outcome that some might actually view quite favorably).

Ackman's fund lost 7.3 percent in October, off 19 percent for year - (www.reuters.com) Billionaire investor William Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings portfolio has lost 19 percent this year after his bet on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International soured, turning one of last year's biggest winners into one of this year's most prominent losers. Pershing Square Holdings lost 7.3 percent in October, the firm, which invests roughly $16 billion for state pension funds, endowments and wealthy investors said on a Web site. The trouble was largely related to a 47 percent tumble in the stock of Valeant, a drug company Ackman added to his concentrated portfolio earlier this year. But another one of Ackman's big bets on Platform Specialty Products also soured when it lost roughly 20 percent in the last month.

How Wall-Street Financial Engineering Vaporized Valeant - (www.wolfstreet.com)  If you need evidence that Wall Street is a financial time bomb waiting for ignition, look no further than the recent meltdown of Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX). In round terms, its market cap of $90 billion on August 5th has suddenly become the embodiment of that proverbial sucking sound to the south, having plunged by nearly two-thirds to only $34 billion by Friday’s close. No, Valeant was not caught selling poison or torturing cats during the last 90 days. What is was doing for the past six years is aggressively pursuing every one of the financial engineering strategies that are worshipped and rewarded in the Wall Street casino.

Merkel's coalition woes deepen with row over refugee transit zones - (www.reuters.com) Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel on Monday dismissed the idea of setting up transit zones on German borders to filter out migrants who have little chance of gaining asylum, deepening a rift within Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition. Germany has become a magnet for economic migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Berlin now expects between 800,000 and one million asylum seekers this year, twice as many as in any previous year. The unprecedented influx has opened up divisions within the ruling coalition, with the Bavarian sister party of Merkel's conservatives demanding tougher measures to reduce the number of new arrivals.

In This High-Yield Debt Revival, Only the Best Junk Need Apply - (www.bloomberg.com) Speculative-grade companies have finally found their window to return to the debt market. Just as long as they’re not too junky. After a tumultuous span that left the market largely shut during October, bankers have brought more high-yield debt the past three trading days than at any time during the previous month. T-Mobile US Inc. doubled a note and loan sale to $4 billion on Monday and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. raised $1 billion on the same day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Avago Technologies Ltd. will start marketing a $7.5 billion loan this week in what would be the second largest to be offered to investors in the past five years, the data show.





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