Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Welcome to the Crumbling Future of the Vegas Strip
March 29th, 2008Must see. Via: io9.com: Las Vegas’ Project CityCenter, the largest private development in the Unites States, was to be 8 acres of shops, casinos, hotels, condos, and theaters. But now it looks like big portions of the project may remain in a state of half-built rubble piles for years to come, due to the current […]
And Now… Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis
March 28th, 2008Via: New York Times: Little by little, millions of Americans surrendered equity in their homes in recent years. Lulled by good times, they borrowed — sometimes heavily — against the roofs over their heads. Now the bill is coming due. As the housing market spirals downward, home equity loans, which turn home sweet home into […]
Egypt Imposes Export Controls on Rice, Price Jumps to Record
March 28th, 2008Via: Financial Times: Rice prices jumped 30 per cent to an all-time high on Thursday, raising fears of fresh outbreaks of social unrest across Asia where the grain is a staple food for more than 2.5bn people. The increase came after Egypt, a leading exporter, imposed a formal ban on selling rice abroad to keep […]
Germans Fear Meltdown of Financial System
March 28th, 2008Via: Der Spiegel: Germany and other industrialized nations are desperately trying to brace themselves against the threat of a collapse of the global financial system. The crisis has now taken its toll on the German economy, where the weak dollar is putting jobs in jeopardy and the credit crunch is paralyzing many businesses.
Spain’s Property Market in Freefall
March 28th, 2008Via: Independent: Spain’s once-booming property market is in freefall, official statistics have revealed for the first time. The announcement that house sales had plunged has dashed government hopes for a “soft landing” in the sector that has driven the Spanish economy for more than a decade. The buying and selling of homes fell by 27 […]
California Freefall: Home Prices Down 26% in February
March 27th, 2008Gap and crap. Via: Los Angeles Times: Signs of distress are piling up in the California housing market, where prices are falling at three times the national rate of decline. –Statewide, median sales prices fell by a stunning 26% from year-ago levels in February, with home prices dropping at a rate of nearly $3,000 a […]
Sold DBA
March 27th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Out, $38.58. I’m really fickle when playing the falling knives. I don’t like seeing rising prices on declining volume, like we saw yesterday. On a move like this, it could mean that it’s a sucker bounce, and it’s sputtering. When it […]
Threat to Millions as Food Aid Scheme Runs Out of Money
March 26th, 2008Via: Independent: Faced with the dramatically spiralling costs of wheat, rice and corn, the World Food Programme has made an unprecedented appeal for at least $500m (£250m) to help it continue supplying food aid to 73 million needy people this year. Josette Sheeran, the organisation’s executive director, told journalists yesterday that this was the first […]
Wall Street Journal on Real Estate Collapse: “Demolish some of the least-wanted houses, with taxpayer money if necessary”
March 26th, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal: Let us step back. A great deal of housing debt was created in the last few years to give speculative buyers nominal title to homes that they no longer want. Any postmortem will also show that too much government subsidy for the creation of housing debt was an original sin at […]
Whitney Slashes Outlooks on Four Largest U.S. Banks
March 26th, 2008Via: Reuters: The earnings outlooks for the four largest U.S. banks have been slashed by Oppenheimer & Co analyst Meredith Whitney, who said there is “no clear end in sight” to downward pressure on the sector’s profits. In a report late Tuesday, Whitney said Citigroup Inc, the largest U.S. bank by assets, might lose $1.15 […]
