KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Thursday October 6 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

The 2 Billion UBS Incident: 'Rogue Trader' My Arse - (www.rollingstone.com) The news that a "rogue trader" (I hate that term – more on that in a moment) has soaked the Swiss banking giant UBS for $2 billion has rocked the international financial community and threatened to drive a stake through any chance Europe had of averting economic disaster. There is much hand-wringing in the financial press today as the UBS incident has reminded the whole world that all of the banks were almost certainly lying their asses off over the last three years, when they all pledged to pull back from risky prop trading. Here’s how the WSJ put it: The Swiss banking giant has been struggling to rebuild trust after running up vast losses in the original financial crisis. Under Chief Executive Oswald Grubel, the bank claimed to have put in place new risk management practices, pulled back from proprietary trading and focused on a low-risk client-driven model.

What The Fed Announcement Means: Here Comes The MEGA REFI For Homeowners - (www.businessinsider.com) I wrote about the possibility of a mega mortgage ReFi by Fannie and Freddie (here and here). I (and many readers) pointed to an obvious flaw in the ReFi story. If a Trillion or so of mortgages were rapidly prepaid, then who would buy all of the new (much lower coupon) mortgage paper? Now we have the answer. The Fed will put the new MBS paper back on its Balance Sheet, $ for $. There will still be many bondholders outside of the Fed who will get prepaid much faster than they had assumed. Most of that is in pension/bond funds. No one cares about them. I think that Treasury will announce the plans for a Mega Refi in the not too distant future. It could come this weekend or next week. Obama will wait just enough time after the complex Fed decision so that 99% of all people don’t connect these two dots.

Greek Lawmakers Urged to Back Deeper Budget Cuts to Ensure Emergency Aid - (www.bloomberg.com) Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos prodded lawmakers to endorse deeper budget cuts to keep emergency loans flowing and avoid default. “The risk is that the system, the financial sector and the real economy stop functioning,” Venizelos told Parliament in Athens today before Prime Minister George Papandreou convenes his Cabinet to press for accelerating austerity measures. The finance minister yesterday completed two rounds of discussions with representatives from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which made “good progress,” the EU said. The talks were intended to damp concerns that Greece may miss deficit-reduction targets required to receive rescue loans. The EU comments suggest the next payment for Greece is likely to be released next month as Papandreou counters investor doubts that he can avoid default. Greek unions today are considering a 24-hour strike on Oct. 5. European leaders are squabbling over the terms of a July 21 agreement for a second Greek rescue and the prospect that they will be forced to channel more money to keep Greece in the currency union.

Europe Banks Have $410 Billion Credit Risk:IMF - (www.bloomberg.com) The European debt crisis has generated as much as 300 billion euros ($410 billion) in credit risk for European banks, the International Monetary Fund said, calling for capital injections to reassure investors and support lending. Political squabbling in Europe over ways to fight contagion and delays in implementing agreed measures are raising concern about the risk of government defaults, the IMF said. Banks, in turn face “funding challenges” because investors are concerned financial institutions will potentially show losses on government bonds holdings, and reliance by some on the European Central Bank for liquidity, it said. “A number of banks must raise capital to help ensure the confidence of their creditors and depositors,” the IMF wrote in its Global Financial Stability Report released today. “Without additional capital buffers, problems in accessing funding are likely to create deleveraging pressures at banks, which will force them to cut credit to the real economy.”

Banks Shun Financing of Riskier Buyouts - (online.wsj.com) Wall Street banks are turning cautious about the normally lucrative business of financing buyouts and mergers, as less-hospitable credit markets are making deals harder to pull off. Bank of America Corp., for example, has decided not to provide financing to potential private-equity suitors for Regions Financial Corp.'s Morgan Keegan & Co. brokerage and investment-banking operations, which bankers say could fetch around $1.5 billion. Part of the worry is over Morgan Keegan's liabilities, people familiar with the matter said. The changing stance by lenders is one of several factors clouding the prospects for deals. Others include volatile stock prices that make it harder for two sides to agree on value, as well as a decline in optimism among some chief executives, bankers say. Some investment banks are worried they will get caught holding the bag if market conditions worsen and yields on corporate bonds and loans rise sharply. Banks arranging deal financing typically commit to come through with funds if companies are unable to sell bonds or loans to investors at rates the banks promised.

OTHER STORIES:

Debt Crisis Infects Companies via Bank Costs - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bullion Vaults Run Out of Space on Gold Rally - (www.bloomberg.com)

China Faces Surge in ‘Hot Money’ Inflows on Market Turmoil, PBOC Data Show - (www.bloomberg.com)

Regulators take aim at exchange-traded funds - (www.ft.com)

Debate rages over source of euro rescue funds - (www.ft.com)

China Growth Forecasts Trimmed by IMF as Worldwide Export Demand Softens - (www.bloomberg.com)

BOE Officials See QE as Increasingly Probable - (www.bloomberg.com)

Australia’s Mortgage Stress Jumps as Costs Rise, Genworth Survey Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bernanke Has Few Tools to Heal Economy - (www.bloomberg.com)

Fed begins policy meeting, tiptoes toward easing - (www.reuters.com)

Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rise 7.7% - (www.bloomberg.com)

Getting ready for a ‘twist’ by the Federal Reserve - (www.marketwatch.com)

As Fed meets, Republicans warn against policy move- (www.reuters.com)

Fed looks set to ease policy as U.S. outlook dims - (www.reuters.com)

Fed contemplates ‘Operation Twist’, but will it work? - (www.ft.com)

HP Board Said to Weigh Ousting Apotheker as CEO - (www.bloomberg.com)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Wednesday October 5 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

IT FINALLY COMES OUT: Why The Original Obama Stimulus Was Such A Disaster - (www.businessinsider.com) The Recovery Act (the '09 Obama stimulus plan) arguably helped staunch the economic bleeding, but unfortunately we now know that it failed to create a lasting recovery. The mainstream thinking now is that it was too small, at less than $1 trillion. This isn't just some after-the-fact point: Economists like Paul Krugman were making this point from the very beginning. But the question is: Why was the original stimulus so feeble? We've had hints before (The administration assumed that the recession was like any other, Geithner was always worried about the deficit, etc.) but a new book from Ron Suskind sheds totally brand new light on what was going on in the administration during those early days. Now what's funny is that this book is "controversial" because it has anecdotes about Obama supposedly encouraging Geithner to draft a plan for the liquidation of Citigroup, and Geithner supposedly disobeying (something that everyone's denying him). There's also a line (supposedly taken out of context) about the Obama White House being hostile towards women.

Siemens shelters up to €6bn at ECB - (www.ft.com) Siemens withdrew more than half-a-billion euros in cash deposits from a large French bank two weeks ago and transferred it to the European Central Bank, in a sign of how companies are seeking havens amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. The German industrial group withdrew the money partly because of concerns about the future financial health of the bank and partly to benefit from higher interest rates paid by the ECB, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times. In total, Siemens has parked between €4bn ($5.4bn) and €6bn at the ECB’s facilities, mostly through one-week deposits, this person said. Only a handful of large companies have the banking licences that allow them to deposit cash directly with the ECB. Siemens’ move demonstrates the impact of the eurozone’s deepening sovereign debt crisis

on confidence in European banks. It was not clear from which bank Siemens withdrew its deposits. A person familiar with BNP Paribas said, however, that it was not the bank involved.

Bank of China halts FX swaps with some European banks - (www.reuters.com) Bank of China, a big market-maker in China's onshore foreign exchange market, has stopped foreign exchange forwards and swaps trading with several European banks due to the unfolding debt crisis in Europe, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Another Chinese bank has also halted interest rate swaps trading with some European banks, a source at the bank said, indicating Chinese lenders have joined the growing ranks of institutions cutting exposure to the crisis-hit euro zone. This source requested that he nor his bank be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. While the sources said Bank of China had stopped trading the forwards and swaps with several European banks, they only identified French lenders Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA).

Worry About a New Wave of Layoffs - (www.nytimes.com) Not again. That is the plea of many Americans fearful about their jobs as the economy falters. “I don’t have any more savings or anything like that,” said Terrance Myricks, 21, who was dismissed for the second time in less than three years on Sept. 1. “I’ll probably have to rely on unemployment, which I’d really rather not do. And that’s assuming I can even get it.” Job growth halted entirely in the nation last month. And asEurope’s debt crisis acts as a drag on global growth and Washington debates another jobs bill, the possibility of asecond recession is increasing in the United States along with the prospects of corresponding layoffs. Mr. Myricks’s tale of pain the second time around, economists fear, could become all too familiar. With headlines like the 30,000 layoffs planned at Bank of America and the United States Postal Service asking Congress to cut 120,000 workers, it is perhaps not surprising that workers’ concerns about job security are near the peak they reached during the last recession, according to a recent Gallup survey. At least one anecdotal study found that layoff announcements were greater in August than a year earlier.

Greek Default Specter Leaves Germans Facing Bad-Bank Bill - (www.bloomberg.com) Germany’s bad banks, backed by the state to prevent the collapse of Hypo Real Estate Holding AG and WestLB AG during the credit crisis, would be the hardest hit in the event of a Greek default, leaving taxpayers to shoulder the bill a second time. Hypo’s FMS Wertmanagement, with 8.76 billion euros ($12 billion) in Greek sovereign investments and loans, and WestLB’s Erste Abwicklungsanstalt, with 1.21 billion euros, bear more than half of German banks’ Greek debt, according to data compiled from company reports and statements. By contrast, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) andCommerzbank AG (CBK), Germany’s two biggest lenders, hold a combined 3.35 billion euros. The specter of a Greek insolvency was raised this month by members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition, when Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said there can be no “taboos” when considering action “to stabilize the euro in the short term.” The German government is considering a “Plan B” to help shield banks and insurers from losses if Greece defaults, three coalition officials said on Sept. 9. “A Greek haircut or default will especially hit both state-owned bad banks,” said Klaus Fleischer, a professor for banking and finance at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. “Their bills are ultimately being paid by the German taxpayer. Private lenders have an advantage because their exposure is comparatively small.”

OTHER STORIES:

S&P Cuts Italy Rating as Government Debt Mounts - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bond Woes to Worsen as Austerity Smothers Outlook for Growth: Euro Credit - (www.bloomberg.com)

Japan Ready to Take ‘Appropriate and Bold’ Action on Yen, Government Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Cattle Seen at Record $1.36 a Pound as Drought Reduces Herd: Commodities - (www.bloomberg.com)

Rise of emerging markets currencies falters - (www.ft.com)

Lenders press Greece to shrink state and avoid default - (www.reuters.com)

Greece Talks to Continue After ‘Productive’ Call - (www.bloomberg.com)

China’s Wealthy People Are Youngest in Asia Excluding Japan, HSBC Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Spanish Strike May Provide Taste of 2012 Protests to Come After Election - (www.bloomberg.com)

Greece Nears the Precipice, Raising Fear - (www.nytimes.com)

Markets watch as Fed opens meeting - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Tuesday October 4 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Aid Losses Amid ‘Fragile’ Recovery Keeps Muni Outlook Negative at Moody’s - (www.bloomberg.com) State and local governments may have their credit ratings cut by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited revenue risks as federal economic-stimulus funding ends amid a “fragile” recovery from the recession. State economies have been slow to recover jobs lost to the recession and face costly U.S. health-care mandates, so even with “strong budgetary management” their finances remain strained, Moody’s said today in a report. Municipal governments are still grappling with the effects of the real estate slump and may face state aid cuts, the firm said in a separate report. “Despite modest economic growth and a boost in sales tax, a robust recovery has failed to materialize, and revenues for local governments have declined,” Geordie Thompson, a New York- based analyst, said in the report reaffirming a negative outlook for municipal credit ratings first adopted in 2009. States won’t receive $66 billion in fiscal 2012 as federal stimulus spending ends, Moody’s analysts including Nicholas Samuels said, citing data from the National Association of State Budget Officers. A negative outlook for a credit rating means the company may cut it in the next 12 to 18 months.

Fund Withdrawals Top Lehman as $75B Pulled - (www.bloomberg.com) Investors have pulled more money from U.S. equity funds since the end of April than in the five months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., adding to the $2.1 trillion rout in American stocks. About $75 billion was withdrawn from funds that focus on shares during the past four months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Investment Company Institute, a Washington-based trade group, and EPFR Global, a research firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Outflows totaled $72.8 billion from October 2008 through February 2009, following Lehman’s bankruptcy, the data show. Bears say investors are abandoning stock managers because there’s no end in sight to the decline that pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index within 2.1 percentage points of a bear market in August. Bulls say the retreat by individuals has been a reason to buy since the bull market began in March 2009 and withdrawals mean money is available to buy stocks in the future.

Euribor-OIS Spread Widens as Greece Concerns Boost Lending Costs - (www.bloomberg.com) A gauge of banks’ reluctance to lend to each other in Europe rose for the first time in a week amid renewed concern Greece is headed for a default. The Euribor-OIS spread, the difference between the three- month euro interbank offered rate and overnight index swaps, was at 79.1 basis points as of 4:18 p.m. in London, from 75.3 at the end of last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s within six basis points of the highest level since March 2009, reached Sept. 12. The International Monetary Fund and European Union are reviewing whether Greece can meet the conditions of its international bailout after a two-day meeting of finance ministers failed to result in new measures to support the region. Greece’s economy will shrink 5.5 percent this year and then “notably” in 2012, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said in Athens today.

Massive Riot Outside Shanghai Causes China To Shut Down Solar Plant - (www.businessinsider.com) A solar-panel manufacturing plant in the eastern Chinese city of Haining has been forced to close after hundreds of residents attacked the facility in a 4-day protest over accusations the factory contaminated a nearby river, according to the BBC. The riots began on Thursday and lasted until Sunday, at times turning violent. About 500 villagers unleashed their anger by overturning eight vehicles, damaging four police cars, and destroying offices, reports The New York Times. At least 20 people have been arrested on charges of destruction of property, robbery and disturbing public order, according to The Los Angeles Times. The plant, which is owned by New York Stock Exchange-listed company JinkoSolar, is accused by demonstrators of dumping toxic levels of flouride into local waters, killing large numbers of fish and some pigs.

AYN RAND DISCIPLE: Our Entitlement Programs Are 'Morally Bankrupt' And 'Theft' - (www.businessinsider.com) The U.S. entitlement programs, namely Social Security and Medicare, aren't just financially bankrupt, they're "morally bankrupt." They're also funded by money stolen from hard-working, responsible Americans. That's the conclusion of Yaron Brook, the president of the Ayn Rand Institute. The author of Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and other books, Ayn Rand is famous for espousing free markets and self-reliance. Yaron Brook, a former finance professor, shares these beliefs. Brook believes that our society should eliminate social programs so we encourage citizens to stand up and take responsibility for themselves. He also argues that Social Security and Medicare are "theft" because the money to pay for them is stolen from those who don't believe in or need the programs. The entitlement programs were created by elected representatives, of course—representatives who could presumably eliminate them if citizens decided they no longer wanted them. So I asked Brook whether the money to pay for the military, police, and other government programs is also stolen. Brook said no. There is a role for government in our society, he says—protecting the people from crooks and outside attacks—so the money is being put to proper use. But if the money for Social Security is being stolen from citizens who don't believe in it, why isn't the money to pay for the military also being stolen from pacifists who don't believe in war?

OTHER STORIES:

Greece Under Scrutiny for Next Aid Payment - (www.bloomberg.com)

Finance Chiefs Fail to Bolster Euro on Greece - (www.bloomberg.com)

Hedge Fund Heavyweight Says Gold Bet Not Over - (www.bloomberg.com)

German banks need 127 billion euros of more capital: report - (www.reuters.com)

Bond Dealers Add $90 Billion of Treasuries in Fastest Expansion Since 2007 - (www.bloomberg.com)

London Home Prices Surge as Investors Seek Safety in Property - (www.bloomberg.com)

Greece Nears a Tipping Point in Its Debt Crisis - (www.nytimes.com)

Central banks return as gold buyers - (www.ft.com)

Fears over exemptions to Volcker rule - (www.ft.com)

China Home Prices Rise, Challenge Curbs - (www.bloomberg.com)

Analysis: Bank woes could stymie France's recovery - (www.reuters.com)

Bernanke Joins King Tolerating Inflation - (www.bloomberg.com)

Obama to Propose $1.5 Trillion in Taxes - (www.bloomberg.com)

Fed Ponders Jobs, Inflation Targets - (online.wsj.com)

U.S. Struggles for Traction on Europe Crisis - (online.wsj.com)

Question over how far Fed will ‘twist’ - (www.ft.com)

Airlines continue to cut flights, keep airfares up - (www.usatoday.com)

EFSF Upgrade Approval Progress by Euro-Region Countries - (www.bloomberg.com)

A Little Inflation Can Be a Dangerous Thing - (www.nytimes.com)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Monday October 3 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Solyndra's Whorehouse Lender - (www.businessinsider.com) If you want to find out what happened with Solyndra you have to follow the money. I did. The half billion dollars of taxpayer dough that is probably lost in Sol came from the Federal Financing Bank (“FFB”). It’s worth a look at this bank to see what else is going on. FFB is a bank that is owned and controlled by the US Treasury. The chairman of the Board is the TSec. (Tim Geithner). With the (big) exception of the Post Office all of the loans at FFB are guaranteed by government agencies. Technically speaking, FFB has no risks on loans guaranteed by an agency like the DOE. But I don’t think that should absolve Tim Geithner of any responsibility regarding the losses the country faces with Solyndra. If he, (or anyone else at Treasury) puts their pen to a ½ billion loan, they better well know where the taxpayers money is going. That didn’t happen. FFB has been around for 40+ years. I believe it has always been a bank that has been used and abused by whoever happened to be running the show at Treasury. For example; from 9/30/2008 (Pre - Tim and O) to 9/30/3009 (Post - Tim and O) the FFB lent out $17.1 billion to the nice folks at the National Credit Union Administration’s “Liquidity Fund”. NCU is the guarantor of the deposits in the country’s Credit Unions (similar to FDIC). They were up against it in 2009. They had no money left in the till to insure that those deposits would be safe. A bailout was needed to avoid a crisis. But rather than have a public debate about this, the FFB just borrowed some money and wrote a check to NCU. Problem solved.

Advice on Debt? Europe Suggests U.S. Can Keep It - (www.nytimes.com) The United States has long been considered a financial adviser to the rest of the world. But these days, American officials come carrying baggage. Financial officials from the United States, once called “the committee to save the world” after the Asian crisis in the 1990s, now find themselves uttering apologies for the harm caused to the world by the 2008 financial crisis and coating their advice to European nations with the knowing nod of the battle-hardened. The change in tone was on display here on Friday when Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner made an unusual appearance at a meeting of euro zone finance ministries. Mr. Geithner had been invited to offer some advice on fixing Europe’s sovereign debt and banking problems. European leaders, who have been slow to react to the root causes of the problem, emerged from the meeting dismissive of Mr. Geithner’s ideas and, in some cases, even of the idea that the United States was in a position to give out such pointers.

Greece Nears a Tipping Point in Its Debt Crisis - (www.nytimes.com) Greek leaders struggled through the weekend to agree to a set of radical budget reductions that would satisfy foreign lenders’ demands even as they tried to stave off mounting resistance to those cuts at home. Reflecting the urgency of the situation, the prime minister of Greece, George A. Papandreou, canceled a planned trip to Washington this week and held talks with his cabinet on Sunday. The Greeks face an October deadline to qualify for 8 billion euros, or $11 billion, in aid, without which Greece will certainly default on its growing debt. Over the weekend, European finance ministers issued stern warnings at a meeting in Poland that failure to meet financial targets would imperil the release of the payment. The payment is just one installment in a larger package of 110 billion euros, or $152.6 billion, in aid agreed to by euro zone members in spring 2010; a second bailout fund, for 109 billion euros, or $150.2 billion, was agreed to in July, though that has yet to be ratified.

UBS Rushes To Make Changes After The UBS Trader's $2.3 Billion Loss Shows $10 Billion Wagered On Positions - (www.businessinsider.com) The fallout from the UBS trader who lost $2.3 billion of the firm's money betting on index futures is grim. Turns out, he wagered $10 billion on positions on S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months, and he allegedly falsely accounted for the hedges off-setting the potetial risk of those trades. Before Kweku Adoboli's ficitious hedges were discovered, the firm had plans to layoff over 3,500 people in order to save $2 billion. Abodoli's loss more than reverses the savings effect of those layoffs.

Obama Proposes $4 Trillion in Spending Cuts "Over 120 Years" - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) The theater of the absurd regarding spending cuts hit a new high today. We are now counting budget cuts not over a year, or even ten years, but rather 120 years. Please consider Obama to propose $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue:

The president on Monday will announce a proposal that includes the new taxes, nearly $250 billion in reductions in Medicare spending, $330 billion in cuts in other mandatory benefit programs, and savings of $1 trillion from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The $1.5 trillion in tax revenue would include about $800 billion realized over 10 years from repealing the Bush-era tax rates for couples making more than $250,000. It also would place limits on deductions for wealthy filers and end certain corporate loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas companies. By adding the tax revenue, about $580 billion in proposed mandatory spending cuts, the savings from troop withdrawals and $1 trillion in spending cuts already in place, the combined deficit reduction would total about $4 trillion over 120 years.

OTHER STORIES:

Germany Rejects Using ECB Leverage to Increase European Rescue Fund’s Size - (www.bloomberg.com)

Finance Chiefs Fail to Bolster Euro on Greece - (www.bloomberg.com)

Hedge Fund Heavyweight Says Gold Bet Not Over - (www.bloomberg.com)

ECB'S Weidmann says wrong to ditch monetary policy principles - (www.reuters.com)

EU ministers see need for stronger bank sector - (www.reuters.com)

Volcker Rule May Extend to Overseas Banks - (www.bloomberg.com)

Italy’s Debt Remains Under Review for Moody’s Downgrade on Growth Concern - (www.bloomberg.com)

London Home Prices Surge as Investors Seek Safety in Property - (www.bloomberg.com)

EU officials seek to dispel fears of credit crunch - (www.reuters.com)

Central banks return as gold buyers - (www.ft.com)

Fears over exemptions to Volcker rule - (www.ft.com)

Meetings on European Debt Crisis End in Debate, but Little Progress - (www.nytimes.com)

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Sunday October 2 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

BofA keeping Countrywide bankruptcy as option: report - (www.reuters.com) Countrywide Financial's lawsuit losses could compel parent Bank of America Corp (BofA) (BAC.N) to put up the unit on the bankruptcy block, Bloomberg reported citing four people with knowledge of the firm's strategy. The bankruptcy option exists because the bank maintained a separate legal identity for the subprime lender after buying it in 2008, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private. However, a filing is not imminent and the executives are aware that the move could backfire and cast doubt on the largest U.S. bank's financial strength, Bloomberg cited the people as saying. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has lost more than $22 billion from its consumer mortgage division in the last four quarters, in large part because of loan losses and legal settlements linked to Countrywide.

States struggle for financing to meet road needs - (finance.yahoo.com) The Hoover Dam, one of the world's great engineering feats, is marred by roads with traffic so jammed along the Nevada-Arizona border that it tells a different story about the political will to maintain 21st century infrastructure. The road leading to the dam cannot accommodate the torrent of tourists and spills them into the overwhelmed little town of Boulder City. Nevada lawmakers are trying to find a private company to build a $400 million bypass because the state can't afford it. The phrase "you can't get there from here" is increasingly apt nearly everywhere one turns. America's roads, highways, bridges and transit systems are falling apart. Even those not in disrepair are often so crowded that a horse and buggy might seem faster. Cities and suburbs are outgrowing their infrastructure far faster than local governments can find the money to fix them. While the problem is plain to all, the money and the political will to fix it isn't there. Two congressionally mandated commissions and a slew of experts and committees have said the nation needs to double, even quadruple, what it spends each year to maintain and repair its aging transportation infrastructure and expand to accommodate population growth. So there's the rub. No one likes traffic jams and potholes. No one wants people to die because an unsafe bridge has collapsed. But raising federal gas and diesel taxes or boosting tolls and fees isn't popular, either.

Greek PM cancels U.S. trip as debt crisis deepens - (www.reuters.com) Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou canceled a planned visit to the United States on Saturday to deal with a deepening crisis at home, days before European Union and IMF inspectors decide on further funding for the debt-ridden country. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos rushed to allay fears the canceled trip signaled imminent default, saying such talk was "ridiculous," but the conservative opposition seized the opportunity to demand snap elections, fanning fears Greece lacks the will needed for tough measures ahead. "The comments and analyses about an imminent default or bankruptcy are not only irresponsible but also ridiculous," Venizelos said in a statement. "Every weekend Greece ... is subject to this organised attack by speculators in international markets." Papandreou was in London, en-route to United Nations and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings, when he decided to turn back after discussing developments with Venizelos, government officials said.

Time to refinance — again? - (www.washingtonpost.com) With mortgage rates at record lows, even people who refinanced just last year are looking to take out a new mortgage, mostly because they are the lucky few who can qualify for one. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has recently dropped closer to 4 percent, hitting 4.09 percent this week — the lowest level since Freddie Mac started tracking the data in 1971. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular refinancing tool, fell to an all-time low of 3.3 percent on average, Freddie Mac reported. Still, refinance activity has been constrained by tough lending standards, a weak job market and eroding home values — all of which have kept millions of homeowners on the sideline. That leaves lenders chasing after a limited number of good credit quality borrowers who have enough equity in their homes to qualify for a new loan. The effect is a more polarized refinancing market that has been particularly unforgiving to those who have watched their neighborhood home prices tumble through no fault of their own, even if they have good credit and a steady income. Meanwhile, the group of homeowners whose home values have held up are able to take advantage of lowered rates again.

U.S. Struggles for Traction on Europe Crisis - (online.wsj.com) U.S. officials, heading into another round of discussions this week on Europe's debt crisis, are meeting resistance to their efforts to help contain the turmoil. Greece is facing urgent pressure to get its affairs in order to prevent a debt default that could light a financial fire across the euro zone. Later this week, U.S. and European finance ministers will gather with others from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in Washington to discuss ways to ensure European government-debt woes don't escalate into a wider crisis for banks and financial markets on the Continent and beyond. European officials, struggling to pass unpopular bailout measures at home, are increasingly sensitive to being seen as swayed by outside influence. And U.S. officials, facing resistance at home to supporting a European bailout, have little leverage to force tougher action as the euro-zone crisis weighs increasingly on U.S. markets and business confidence. "We don't have much in the way of either carrots or sticks," said Edwin Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former Treasury and Federal Reserve official.