KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday August 23 2016 Housing and Economic stories

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Blue Shield Of California: Furlough over Obamacare Losses – (www.breitbart.com) Blue Shield of California (BSC) will be shutting down for four days following Labor Day weekend as a way to stop the financial bleeding resulting from losses in “Covered California,” the state’s Obamacare exchange program. The change will “affect most of [BSC’s] 6,000 employees in California,” the San Francisco Business Times reports, although the “exact number of workers involved hasn’t yet been tabulated.” But BSC hopes that the move could save “an estimated $4 million.” According to the Times, BSC spokesman Steve Shivinsky said, “This is certainly not normal for us. We’re definitely seeing some income challenges as of mid-year.” And BSC is not alone. Shivinsky indicated that “health plans nationally are facing challenges in the individual market and on the Obamacare exchanges, and some have said they plan to … cut back their participation” or exit altogether. “UnitedHealth Group said last month it planned to exit most Obamacare markets. Aetna said it’s reconsidering its presence in individual Affordable Care Act markets in 15 states, and Humana is pulling back as well.”

SUPERINTENDENT: WATER AT 7 BPS SCHOOLS TEST POSITIVE FOR UNSAFE LEAD LEVELS - (www.bostonherald.com) Drinking fountains at seven Boston public schools have been turned off after they tested positive for unsafe lead levels, school officials announced today. In a letter sent to the school community today, Superintendent Tommy Chang announced that as part of the school committee's recently enacted Water Policy, Boston public schools hired an engineering consulting firm to retest the drinking water in the 30 school buildings that have active water fountains. Although 24 school buildings were cleared, Chang said the testers found that seven schools in six school buildings had at least one water fountain with lead concentrations "that exceeded the federal action level of 15 parts per billion." Those schools include: the Patrick Lyndon K-8; Lee Academy; Josiah Quincy Elementary; Boston Latin School; F. Lyman Winship Elementary; and Jeremiah E. Burke High/Dearborn STEM Academy, according to the announcement.

Soros Doubles Down on Bet Against the S&P 500 - (www.wsj.com) Billionaire investor George Soros, who rose to fame and fortune by betting against the sterling in 1992, on Monday showed his latest hand: nearly doubling down on his bearish bet against the market. The 86-year-old’s fund disclosed in a regulatory filing it had increased its bet against the S&P 500, the main index used to measure big-stock performance in the U.S., reporting “put” options on roughly 4 million shares as of June 30 in an exchange-traded fund that tracks the index. That’s up from “puts” on 2.1 million shares as of March 31. Meanwhile, Mr. Soros’s fund also cut sharply its position in gold, selling off the bulk of the shares it had bought last quarter in Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, and cutting sharply its position in a gold-backed ETF set up by the World Gold Council. Mr. Soros’s fund had opened the position in the first quarter, disclosing “call” options in about 1 million shares. Mr. Soros also sold off the stake it opened last quarter in miner Silver Wheaton

Hedge Funds Are Losing Endowments After Exodus of Pensions - (www.bloomberg.com) Following the lead of pensions, some U.S. endowments and foundations are souring on hedge funds. Hedge fund fees and lagging performance are cause for concern for nonprofit investors, who are reducing their allocation, according to a survey published Monday by NEPC, a Boston-based consulting firm with 118 endowment and foundation clients with assets of $57 billion. Start your day with what’s moving markets. Get our markets daily newsletter. More than a quarter of 59 respondents said their investment committees reduced or were considering lowering their allocations to hedge funds. Of those that made changes, almost half said they put that money into public equities. NEPC conducted the survey in July, polling business officers of universities, foundations and other nonprofits on their market outlook and asset allocation. About one-third of the respondents were universities.

Gas Glut Upends Global Trade Flows as Buyers Find Leverage - (www.bloomberg.com) The market for liquefied natural gas is about to attract more players and more trading as new supply from the U.S. and Australia strengthens buyers’ bargaining power. Historically, LNG has been sold on long-term contracts that guaranteed buyers supply and helped producers finance liquefaction plants at a time when less of the product was shipped. Now, a gas glut is causing LNG importing countries to support renegotiating existing deals that can run 20 years or more while suppliers offer more flexible terms to lock up customers spoiled for choice. India already is encouraging importers to rework long-term accords to better align costs with spot market prices. Japan, the world’s largest LNG importer, may soon join them. That country’s Fair Trade Commission is in the process of probing resale restrictions in longer deals in an effort that could mean the renegotiation of more than $600 billion in contracts and boost the number of shorter-term agreements.

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