Thursday March 10 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

China Stocks Tumble Toward 15-Month Low as Stimulus Bets Unwind - (www.bloomberg.com) Chinese stocks fell, with the benchmark index approaching the lowest level since November 2014, as some investors were disappointed by a lack of specific measures to boost growth during the Group of 20 meetings in Shanghai. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped as much as 4.6 percent. The measure has declined 24 percent this year, the worst performer among 93 global equity indexes, on concern capital outflows will accelerate and earnings deteriorate as the economic slowdown deepens. The yuan capped its longest losing streak this year.

Valeant's $31 Billion of Debt May Be Cut From Ba3 by Moody's - (www.bloomberg.com) Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. may have its credit rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service amid concern the company will struggle to reduce debt because its operating performance may be weaker than forecast. The Quebec-based drugmaker was scheduled to conduct a fourth-quarter preliminary earnings call Monday but withdrew its financial forecast and said it would delay releasing the results after the company’s chief executive officer returned to his post Sunday. Separately, Valeant reported on Monday that it’s under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s debt plummeted.

Former BoE chief King predicts collapse of the eurozone - (www.ft.com) Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, predicts the collapse of the eurozone in a book published this week, going further than his well-known private scepticism for the European single currency. In extracts from The end of alchemy: banking, the global economy and the future of money,  he says the burden of debts between nations in the eurozone “may become too great to remain consistent with political stability”. Highlighting the need for the eurozone to integrate more fully, including significant debt write-offs, he says the process will probably exceed the willingness of the European people to bailout other countries.

China's Mass Unemployment Wave Begins: Six Million Workers To Get Pink Slips - (www.zerohedge.com) Today, Reuters finally peels away the first layer of just how bad China's mass layoff wave will be when it reports that China aims to lay off 5-6 million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution. As Reuters adds, "China's leadership, obsessed with maintaining stability and making sure redundancies do not lead to unrest, will spend nearly 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) to cover layoffs in just the coal and steel sectors in the next 2-3 years." That number, coming from the government, is laughably lower that what our own estimate of how much it would cost China to preserve the peace, a number which will likely be in the CNY11+ trillion range.

'Brexit' could deal major economic, political blow to EU - (www.cnbc.com)  The European Union could lose its second-largest economy if the UK decides to leave, taking a potentially major economic and political blow at a time when the EU already faces slowing economic growth and an ongoing refugee crisis. The UK is scheduled to hold a referendum on June 23 asking voters whether they want Britain to remain a part of the to the 28-nation economic bloc. If there is a vote in favor of the so-called Brexit, the EU would lose about $3 trillion in GDP. The move would also be unprecedented, since no country has left the EU.

OTHER STORIES:

China's PMI Reports Show Slowdown Deepening as Services Slip - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Reserve-Ratio Cut Signals Growth Is Priority Over Yuan - (www.bloomberg.com)
Markets face $1tn Asian EM debt worries - (www.ft.com)

Citi: There's Been a Worrisome Change in the Market for New Corporate Debt - (www.bloomberg.com)
Lula Under Investigation in Brazil Carwash Case, Prosecutor Says - (www.bloomberg.com)