“KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City was held up as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many kids were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and another with recording studios.
Now it’s on the brink of bankruptcy and considering another bold move: closing nearly half its schools to stay afloat.”
“MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – Bankrupty filings in New Hampshire are steadily rising.
In February, there were 505 filings – the highest number since bankruptcy laws were changed in 2005. The number rose from January’s 381 bankruptcy filings.
The Union Leader reports that the highest monthly total last year was 494 in July.
Bankruptcy lawyers say they are bracing for an even busier period over the next several months.
Sandra Kuhn of the FamilyLegal law firm in Concord says many people wait until they receive their federal tax refunds so that they can pay the filing and attorney fees in seeking bankruptcy protection.”
“PRICHARD, Ala. (AP) – Retired workers for the city of Prichard are hoping a bankruptcy judge will force the Mobile County city to give them their retirement checks. The retired workers have not been paid for six months.
The Mobile Press-Register reported that the about 150 city retirees received their last checks in September. A month later, Prichard filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy and halted payment to the retired workers.”
“Previously, investors believed that state regulators might order American Assurance to stop paying outinsurance claims but would balk at placing the company in receivership. Under that scenario, the holdco would survive on dividends from the opco until at least 2011 that would be cut off immediately in a receivership scenario.The bankruptcy filing in February of Las Vegas Monorail Corporation (LVMC) and the prospect of proliferating municipal defaults forced fund managers to revisit those assumptions.Two investors who said that they placed a low probability on receivership in November indicated in interviews this week that they believe the chance of receivership has increased. Both sources cited fear of a municipal default epidemic and the opacity of Ambac’s finances as contributing factors.
“The logic is that the holdco wouldn’t survive a receivership at the opco,†said a buysider. ”
“March 8 (Bloomberg) — Dubai World, the state-owned holding company in talks to renegotiate about $26 billion of debt, will ask banks for permission to delay loan repayments when it presents a plan this month, said three bankers familiar with the negotiations.”
“March 7 (Bloomberg) — A default by Greece may have an “infectious effect†on countries like Portugal, Spain and Italy, forcing European governments to come to the rescue of their banks, Deutsche Bank chief economist Thomas Mayer told Deutschlandfunk radio station.
Any indication that creditors will have to make writedowns on a total of more than 520 billion euros ($709 billion) in claims against Greece would be “a real problem,†Mayer said, according to a transcript of the interview dated yesterday. The situation would be similar to what followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., he was quoted as saying.”
“BEIJING — China’s banks might face risks if finance arms set up by local governments to invest in real estate and infrastructure projects cannot repay heavy borrowing, a deputy central bank governor said Monday.”
“Premier Wen Jiabao warned Friday that China’s banks and public finance system face growing risks after a record surge in lending last year, when state-owned banks were told to step up credit to support Beijing’s stimulus.
Chinese media say the financing arms of local governments have borrowed some 6 trillion yuan ($880 billion). An American researcher, Victor Shih of Northwestern University, estimates total local government borrowing in 2004-09 at 12 trillion ($1.6 trillion).”
“March 8 (Bloomberg) — Equity mutual funds are burning through cash at the fastest rate in 18 years, leaving them with the smallest reserves since 2007 in a sign that gains for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may slow.”
“March 8 (Bloomberg) — Banks operating in the United Arab Emirates may have non-performing loans of as high as 15 percent of total lending, more than triple the level reported, according to UBS AG.”
…………….9A) Gulf banks’ non-performing loan peak ‘still to come’
“The state’s financial crisis may force New Jersey to raise the retirement age for state workers again and scale back pension benefits even for current government employees, state officials said last week.
Those were two of several dramatic proposals aired as officials began to fathom how to deal with the state’s $11 billion deficit for the state budget that begins July 1.
The public discussions even included a moment when the state treasurer broached the idea of a bankruptcy filing for the state’s pension systems, an idea he later said was a “rhetorical question” that is not legally possible.”
- 11)Â Thousands of state and local government employees face layoffs (Virginia…up to 22,000)
“McDonnell proposal looks to remove about 500 service position employees
Thousands of state and local government employees face layoffs because of the severe budget cuts.
Just how many jobs will be lost should become clearer by Saturday when the General Assembly is scheduled to adopt a budget for the 2010-2012 biennium.
Since the recession began, the state’s general fund budget has been reduced by $7 billion. The assembly is wrestling with an additional $4 billion in cuts.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal to close the state’s funding shortfall referred to the elimination of about 500 jobs, including mostly direct-care and support positions at various state mental hospitals.
Those proposed cuts likely will be minimized. Both the House of Delegates and the state Senate propose keeping open the Commonwealth Center for Adolescents in Staunton, although an adolescent center in Marion would be closed.
But McDonnell’s proposal did not convey the larger job losses that will result from funding cuts to localities.
The direst layoff forecast comes from the Virginia Education Association, which represents teachers and other education employees. Robley Jones, lobbyist for the association, said 15,000 would lose their jobs under the Senate version of the budget, and 22,000 in the House version, which would cut public education more severely.”
“A little-noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
Social Security benefits are off-limits to creditors, such as credit-card companies and banks. But the U.S. can collect debts to federal agencies by “offsetting,” or withholding Social Security and disability payments.
The Treasury currently withholds benefits of 3.1 million Social Security recipients to recover defaulted student-, farm- and small-business loans, unpaid income taxes, amounts veterans owe for health care, and other debts to the government.
Previously, the U.S. hasn’t been able to withhold Social Security payments to recover most debts delinquent for more than ten years. ”
“Fargo and other North Dakota school districts are closely watching the fate of the state teachers’ retirement fund.
It may shape up to be the state Legislature’s top issue in 2011.
Like retirement funds across the country, the state-run Teachers’ Fund for Retirement, or TFFR, took a hit from the market meltdown and massive investment losses.
The fund has an unfunded liability of nearly $600 million, said Fay Kopp, deputy executive director of the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office. That means to fix it would require an infusion of $500 million to $600 million.”
- 14) Please don’t miss this one posted in the Daily Digest (above)
FDIC Said to Encourage Pension Funds to Invest in Failed Banks (Nickbert)
U.S. regulators are encouraging public pension funds that control more than $2 trillion to inject capital directly into the banking system by buying failed lenders, said people briefed on the matter.
“BLOOMBERG
Saturday, Mar 06, 2010, Page 10
Almost 39 million Americans received food stamps in December, the most ever, as the jobless rate hovered near a 26-year high, the government said.
Recipients of the subsidies for food purchases climbed 23 percent from a year earlier and rose 2.1 percent from November, the US Department of Agriculture said on Thursday in a statement on its Web site. The number getting the benefit has set records for 13 straight months.
Food aid climbed as the national unemployment rate reached 10.1 percent in October, the Âhighest since June 1983, and remained at 10 percent through December before easing to 9.7 percent in January.
An average of 40.5 million people will get food stamps each month in the year that began on Oct. 1, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week. The figure is projected to rise to 43.3 million next year.”
(Try this one if the link above doesn’t work)
- 16) Headlines and other stories
Repo Business Picks Up In Tough Times (Texas)
‘On the Edge’ Banks Facing Writedowns After FDIC Loan Auctions
Mich. faces growing home mortgage default woes
Strategic defaults on homes on the rise (SF)
China to Nullify Loan Guarantees by Local Governments
Nevada lawmakers’ reliance on temporary fixes creates $3 billion hole
Napa wines losing ground as loan defaults rise
Pension shortfall near $6000 for every Chicago resident or Public pension deficit soars in Illinois
Kuwait mulls $5.7 bln citizen debt bailout
Iran lawmakers attack govt budget plan, see soaring inflation
Homeowners to be paid to sell at a loss
Bank Failures on Pace This Year to Surpass 2009 Tally
Collision awaits as funds shrink for nursing homes (Oklahoma)
Social service agencies fear impact of state budget cuts (Missouri..after tax receipts dropped 14.6% from 2009)
$890 million in Washington state tax hikes get Senate OK
- Saxplayer00o1
