Must-Know News - Jan. 13
By Daniel at 13 January, 2010, 3:07 pm
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“Germany’s economy has shrunk by more than what economists forecasted last year. According to the Federal Statistics Office Destatis, Germany’s economy contracted by 5%, exceeding the forecasts of a 4.8% contraction from the 2008 levels.”
“The Portuguese and Greece economies may face a “slow death” as they dedicate a higher proportion of wealth to paying off debt and investors demand a premium to hold their bonds, Moody’s Investors Service said.
While the two countries can still avoid such a scenario, their window of opportunity ”will not be open indefinitely,” Moody’s said in a report today from London.”
“Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said today she will close up to three floors of the jail and release up to 500 inmates early to help her close a budget deficit. The changes would take effect Feb. 8.
Mims said a shortage of sales tax revenue has given her a $3.9 million budget gap for the fiscal year ending June 30. That figure is lower than what Mims reported last week. She said she has identified a variety of other revenue to offset anticipated deficits. Those include asset forfeiture funds and planned promotions and hires.”
“The percentage of wealthier homeowners who are delinquent two months or more on prime, jumbo mortgages tripled in 2009to nearly ten percent, according to the latest data from Fitch Ratings.
The report is yet another sign that the housing crisis and the negative equity it has caused is climbing upscale to some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America. Should the trend continue, foreclosure yard sales will become commonplace in the cul de sacs and gated neighborhoods of the nation’s most exclusive communities.”
U.S. residential mortgage originations will plunge 40 percent this year to the lowest level in a decade as home refinancing demand sinks with rising mortgage rates, the industry’s main trade group said. Lenders will underwrite $1.28 trillion in home loans this year, down from $2.11 trillion in 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its annual forecast on Tuesday. That would be the lowest since $1.14 trillion in 2000. The forecast was downgraded from December, when the MBA predicted originations would fall about 24 percent.
The Obama administration credits the $787-billion program with a substantial effect on employment. Still, the U.S. economy lost a net 4 million jobs last year even with the stimulus….. “This is truly a stunning effect” of the Recovery Act, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, said in a conference call with reporters.
The governor of New York and other big states are in talks to get the federal government to take over health care costs for the elderly poor who get benefits through Medicare and Medicaid. The savings to New York alone would total the projected deficit for the next fiscal year of about $8 billion.
The Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, on top of a record request for $708 billion for the Defense Department next year, The Associated Press has learned. The extra $33 billion would mostly go toward the expansion of the war in Afghanistan.
U.S. Judge Freezes Argentine Central Bank AccountsA U.S. judge has frozen accounts held in the United States by Argentina’s Central Bank, deepening a legal and political row over the Argentine government’s plan to use foreign reserves to repay debt.
The proposed cuts are “terrifying to all of us,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina in today’s board meeting. The proposed elimination of CalWORKS alone would end state support to 165,000 families with 318,000 children in the county, she stated. While the county has already made significant cuts and bridged some programs though a “rainy day” fund, “it’s a rainy day fund, but not one that can withstand a tsunami that is coming from Sacramento,” said Supervisor Michael Antonovich.
Greek stocks and bonds tumbled after the European Commission said “severe irregularities” in the nation’s statistical data leave the accuracy of the European Union’s largest budget deficit in doubt.
Fisher did not talk about current monetary policy in remarks prepared for delivery to the Waco, Texas Business League — instead focusing on future policy. He warned that if Congress takes away the Fed’s independence, it will inevitably lead to inflationary policies of the likes of Weimar Germany or Argentina. Contrary to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s recent assertions that past monetary policy had little to do with the financial crisis, Fisher said the Fed had contributed to the crisis by keeping interest rates “too low, too long.” But he said that does not justify subordinating policy to more congressional control.
U.S. consumers found smaller post-Christmas discounts in stores this year, which could weigh on January spending as many remain worried about their financial situation, a survey showed on Tuesday.
West Virginia’s Legislature may start its regular session without a proposed solution to the ongoing dispute over public retiree costs.
What does the new year and new decade have in store for the World? Is the financial crisis over? Will Afghanistan be won and terrorism be beaten at home? Are people fed up with America’s politics and media? To answer these questions and more, RT spoke to the renowned Trends Forecaster Gerald Celente.
A chance at 20 job openings at a Cedar Rapids cereal factory overwhelmed General Mills with about 2,400 applicants over the weekend. Job applicants waited in line for hours.
In another sign that the labor market is not out of the woods yet, the number of job openings fell again in November, according to a government report released Tuesday. With 15.3 million people out of work and employers hesitant to hire, job seekers still outnumber openings by more than six to one, the greatest differential since the Labor Department began tracking job openings in December 2000.
Some 37.9 million people — one in eight Americans — received food stamps to help buy food at latest count, the government said on Tuesday as enrollment set a record for the ninth month in a row. The Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group, said enrollment of one in eight Americans “is the highest share of the U.S. population” ever in the program, which was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in mid-2008.
As many homeowners find their property values underwater, some are finding relief by deliberately walking away from their mortgages and choosing to pay other debts first. A consulting company working for financial institutions, Oliver Wyman estimates that 16% of current foreclosures are of mortgage borrowers intentionally walking away, choosing to pay other debts first and stick it to the bank. Other financial firms estimate the rise in walkaways is as high as one in four. The walkaways are concentrated in five of the worst states impacted by the foreclosure crisis, California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.
Many prime and Alt-A mortgage borrowers that are currently making interest-only (IO) monthly payments are in for a rude awakening over the next year as these loans reset to full principal and interest payments, according to a new study from Fitch Ratings. “Sixty-day delinquency rates have risen over 250 percent in the 12 months following previous recasts for prime and Alt-A loans,” Slump explained. According to Fitch’s analysis, while only 3.3 percent of prime loans are 60 or more days delinquent prior to recast, delinquencies the year after recast increased to 9.3 percent.
On top of the estimated 672,000 who are already homeless on any given night in the U.S., the alliance expects the recession to push 1.5 million more people into the streets. Those predictions appear to be accurate because ever since the HPRP funds became available in the fall, local social service agencies that provide the cash have been overwhelmed by requests for help.
In 2009, 331 private-equity funds raised $95.8 billion, down 68 percent from $299.9 billion raised by 508 funds in 2008, according to Dow Jones LP Source. The market should rebound this year, “but 2010 will not see a return to levels seen before the economic downturn,” said Jennifer Rossa, managing editor of Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst.
The Obama administration credits the $787-billion program with a substantial effect on employment. Still, the U.S. economy lost a net 4 million jobs last year even with the stimulus….. “This is truly a stunning effect” of the Recovery Act, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, said in a conference call with reporters.
- Saxplayer00o1
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