Monday February 8 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Tim Cook: We're Seeing 'Extreme Conditions Unlike Anything We've Experienced Before' in the Global Economy - (www.bloomberg.com) What’s keeping the CEO of a company that just reported the most profitable quarter in history up at night? For Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook, it’s the “economic challenges all over the world.” “This is a huge accomplishment for our company especially given the turbulent world around us,” said Cook, immediately after running through the company’s quarterly financial highlights on a conference call. Ever since the surprise devaluation of the Chinese yuan in August, the potential for a hard landing in the world’s second-largest economy has been front-of-mind for investors.

DeVry Plunges As FTC Says School Lied About How Many Of Its Students Become Waiters And Bartenders - (www.zerohedge.com) You can add DeVry students to the list of those who will very shortly be sending the Education Department a mountain of discharge requests because the FTC has now accused the school of deceiving prospective students about the employment success of graduates. “In a suit filed in a California federal court, the FTC is asking a judge to provide monetary remedies to allegedly deceived students, including refunds and restitution," WSJ reports.

Brazil Said to Announce $12.3 Bln in Credit to Boost Economy - (www.bloomberg.com) Brazil’s Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa is expected to announce as much as 50 billion reais ($12.3 billion) in loans as the government seeks to revive growth amid the worst economic downturn in over a century. Barbosa will make the announcement Thursday with President Dilma Rousseff as she presides over a meeting of the Council for Economic Development, said a person familiar with the discussions. Even as he unveils the credit plan, Barbosa will also reaffirm a commitment to fiscal adjustment, the person added, asking not to be named because the speech is not public yet.

Kinder Defends $3 Billion Dividend Cut That `Shocked' Investors - (www.bloomberg.com) Almost two months after Kinder Morgan Inc. slashed investor payouts by 74 percent to avoid a credit downgrade to junk status, the pipeline operator’s chairman and biggest shareholder defended the move as beneficial in the long term. The $3.19 billion dividend cut coincided with an increase in the profit threshold new projects must meet before Kinder Morgan will greenlight them, Executive Chairman Rich Kinder told analysts and investors during a presentation in Houston on Wednesday. The company is also choosing investments that will pay off quickly over projects with longer timelines, he said.

A Whole New Level Of Moral Hazard: China Will Use Public Funds To Cover Venture Capital Losses - (www.zerohedge.com) It should surprise nobody that when it comes to perpetuating the global central bank "put", China - which is at daily danger of having its house of trillions in non-performing loan card collapse at any moment - has perfected moral hazard better than any western central banker. However, even the staunchest cynics will be stunned by the latest development out of the Shanghai government where starting next month, venture capital firms which invested in high-tech startups since the beginning of 2015 can apply for government compensation if their investment loses money.

OTHER STORIES:

Oil fuels 'schizophrenic' rebound on Wall Street - (www.reuters.com)
Puerto Rico to Present Broad Debt-Restructuring Plan Friday - (www.bloomberg.com)
Corporate credit shock beckons for China - (www.ft.com)

China’s capital flight shows up in over-invoicing of imports - (www.ft.com)
Inquiry in China Adds to Doubt Over Reliability of Its Economic Data - (www.nytimes.com)
Doubts Raised About Claim of Saudi 'Donation' to Malaysia Leader - (www.nasdaq.com)

Outlook Split as Nikkei Futures Rise, Oil Hits S&P 500 Contracts - (www.bloomberg.com)
Apple sees first sales dip in more than a decade as super-growth era falters - (www.reuters.com)