Comments »NEW YORK (Reuters) – A few dozen Occupy Wall Street protestors marched on the world headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Wednesday, a lukewarm kick off to a nationwide day of revival for the movement loosely organized around denouncing economic inequality.
Police on motorcycles escorted the peaceful but loud group of about 50 protestors marching from the park outside the New York Public Library to nearby Pfizer, close to Grand Central Terminal.
“Shame on Pfizer! You’re a bunch of liars!” chanted the protestors as they milled around barricades in front of Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker, and were watched by about 50 police officers.
Pfizer officials were not immediately available for comment.
Coast to coast demonstrations were slated for Wednesday to decry corporations that lobby for legislation to create tax breaks and other benefits for large businesses.
The actions were aimed at revving up the movement known as “Occupy,” which has been relatively quiet in the months since police cleared encampments in New York, Oakland and other major cities.
A rallying cry of the movement has been that 1 percent of the population has too much of the nation’s wealth and the remaining 99 percent is disadvantaged.
Pfizer was awarded a mock prize for “Excellence in Profiteering” by the group before it marched back in the rain to Bryant Park outside the library, carrying signs reading “People over profit” and “Healthcare is a human right” as well as “I’m a doctor for the 99 percent.”
Hoisting a sign reading “I can’t afford to get sick” was Jennifer Roberts, 44, a painter who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“I’ve lived the bulk of my adult working life without insurance,” said Roberts, who is single and therefore not covered by a spouse’s health insurance either. “I feel it’s very important to pursue a single payer system for this country.”
Protestor Paul Layton, 59, a lawyer who lives in New York City, wore a yellow button reading “Healthcare for the 99 percent.”
“I have to make a choice between keeping my office open and keeping my health insurance,” said Layton who is also single and uninsured.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Charlie Meatballs: The Feds Wiretapped The Phone Of Hedge Fund Legend Steve Cohen
Fannie Mae Only Needs $4.6 Billion After Their Stunning Q4 Loss
Bernanke: Monetary Stance Meets Fed Goals…Really ?
High Volume/ High Hybrid Movers
Here are today’s high volume/high hybrid movers, click here for charts.
Comments »Market Update
Comments »Stocks are trying to rebound after the broad market’s recent retreat to a session low. The Nasdaq is now nearing the neutral line. The dollar has modestly extended its advance so that it now leads a collection of competing currencies by about 0.4%. The move comes as market participants show a preference for less risky assets.
Watch Ron Paul Grill Bernanke About Trust and Inflation
A View Into the Future: A Day Made of Glass
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38&vq=medium 450 300]
Comments »FLASH: GOLD IS HAVING ITS DICK CUT OFF TODAY
Flash: Ted Turner is a Basket Case
Ted Turner
The “Mouth of the South” is no longer as he devotes his time (and $1 billion) to the U.N., jets between 28 homes and four girlfriends, misses Jane Fonda and opens up to THR about Rupert, Jerry and his abuse as a child. Says a friend: “He’s definitely changed.”
“Isn’t that the thinnest billionaire’s wallet you ever saw?” Ted Turner gloats on a drizzling day in New York. “I’m really proud of it.”
He holds out the wallet, a slender, black, rather unpretentious affair, as this reporter cranes for a closer look, neglecting to mention I’ve never seen a billionaire’s wallet before. It contains Turner’s driver’s license, two credit cards, lists of his appointments for the next couple of days (he doesn’t use e-mail), a few phone numbers and about $1,000 in cash — though what on earth for, he doesn’t say, since he never shops.
The tycoon-turned-philanthropist has removed the wallet from his blazer to show me a printed card with his “11 Voluntary Initiatives,” an oddly naive reinvention of the Ten Commandments that he concocted some 15 years ago, including such vows as “I promise to care for Planet Earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow beings.”
PHOTOS: Ted Turner’s Life and Loves in Photos
He leans forward, adamant about reading each one. “Listen, these are important,” he insists. “I worked on them for a long time.”
It’s a rare burst of energy from this man who once epitomized it. At age 73, there’s almost no trace of the frenetic, hyper-kinetic mogul once known as the “Mouth of the South” and “Captain Outrageous.” His antics (from keeping a pet alligator as a student to almost losing his life in a 1968 sailing race) and innovative empire-building (turning a tiny TV station into a nation-spanning “superstation” and launching the first global TV news network, CNN) have made him the stuff of legend, putting his present absence from the media scene in stark relief.
Without him, we wouldn’t have an all-cartoon channel or an all-movie channel — maybe not even cable television itself, with all its glorious target programming, its 24-hour sports, passionate punditry and unreal reality.
“He’s a genius,” says former CNN president Tom Johnson. “He was exceptionally important in the media landscape. We shall not look upon Ted Turner’s kind again.”
Even his onetime friend, former Time Warner chief Gerald Levin, who ousted him in a putsch that severed their relationship, acknowledges: “Some people have transcendent notions about changing the world. Ted believed, in his unstoppable fashion, that he could — and did. He was and is maddeningly gifted with a spark of genius.”
PHOTOS: 9 Highest Paid Entertainment CEOs
Many pundits expected that spark would help him outlast his older rivals (Viacom and CBS Corp. chairman Sumner Redstone, 88, and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, 80) at the summit of the media. But unlike them, he has moved on, giving up the executive life to “save the world,” as he puts it, an endeavor that began with his unprecedented $1 billion gift in support of the United Nations in 1997. This, along with other philanthropies he’s launched, has been his mandate for much of the past decade — more than a mandate, a mission. That he made the best choice for the world seems certain; whether he made the best choice for himself is less clear.
“He really misses it a lot,” says his daughter, Laura Turner Seydel, 50, chairman of the board of the Captain Planet Foundation, referring to his role at Time Warner. “It was his baby. I think he’d still be there if he’d not totally gotten screwed.”
♦♦♦♦♦
Turner goes to bed right after dinner most nights, switching off the light around 9, following an hour of reading.
This onetime social gadfly, who hobnobbed with President Carter and Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev (whom he still cites as his hero), has a relatively quiet social life. “I have several good friends but not one [in particular],” he says. “I never think about who are my best friends; they’re all my best friends. I confide on certain things with my family, my close girlfriends, Phil [Phillip Evans, vp and chief communications officer of Turner Enterprises]. I have good relationships with a lot of people. In fact, I don’t have very many enemies, [though] I’ve lost a lot of good friends who passed away.”
Turner doesn’t pay attention to TV anymore, other than CNN. “I don’t watch entertainment,” he says. As for CNN’s sister network, HLN, “the News and Views Network” featuring Nancy Grace: “I haven’t watched in years. I want to see serious news.”
Box Office Politics: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate)
Instead, he spends an average of an hour and a half each day reading nonfiction — The Economistfrom cover to cover, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal whenever he can, along with substantive tomes including environmentalist Lester R. Brown’s World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse and Catherine Crier’s Patriot Acts: What Americans Must Do to Save the Republic.
As one might expect from this, he’s hardly devoid of political opinion: “I like Obama. I don’t know who could do a better job. He’s got an incredibly tough situation, and a good heart and mind. I’d like to see him rally support a little better. He’s alienated a lot of people — not deliberately or anything.” By contrast, “Certainly the Tea Party people are mean-spirited. It’s so heartbreaking to have [them] say that global warming is a hoax.”
After reading, Turner retires. In addition to taking medication for an irregular heartbeat, in mid-2011 he learned he had sleep apnea, a disorder involving abnormal interruptions in breathing. “I’ve had it for years, a rare form; I’m using the [positive airway pressure, or PAP] machine at night, and that’s helped some,” he says.
He wakes around 4 a.m., “takes several pills, like most of us,” then gets up at 6 and does a light workout. He drives a Prius and adds, “I haven’t been in a store to buy anything for five years” — even clothes.
He says all this with little of the flamboyance that was once his mark. His depleted energy troubles some of the 300 former staffers and executives who remain intensely loyal and who reunited with him for a cocktail reception at Atlanta’s Hilton in November. Several acknowledge the man they found was quite different from the human tornado of the past. “I don’t know if it’s because of what happened at Time Warner or if it’s just getting older,” says one. “But he’s definitely changed.”
***WATCH BERNANKE’S TESTIMONY LIVE HERE***
PERSONAL BRANDING GENIUS RICK ROSS BACK IN THE NEWS UNDER THE MURDER FILE
via TMZ–Cops Investigating Murder at Rapper’s Florida Pad
Cops are looking to speak with rapper Rick Ross … after a 40-year-old man was shot to death in front of his Miami Gardens home this morning … TMZ has learned.
Law enforcement sources tell us … Ross was NOT home at the time of the shootingand at this point in the investigation, he’s not considered a suspect.
We’re told cops found the victim laying inside a gate at the home.
Sources tell us … investigators don’t know if the victim has any connection to Ross, but since he is listed as the owner of the property, cops want to ask him a few questionsabout the situation.
So far, no comment from Rick’s camp.
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 544.25 +100.5 1.08
Google GOOG NASD 624.18 +29.6 1.26
Pfizer PFE NYSE 21.35 +13.2 3.95
Merck MRK NYSE 38.46 +12.9 5.30
Intel INTC NASD 27.22 +12.3 2.53
Amazoncom AMZN NASD 183.16 +11.8 1.35
First Republic Bank FRC NYSE 30.25 +9.9 2.04
Baidu BIDU NASD 139.12 +9.9 1.36
ONEOK Partners OKS NYSE 58.02 +9.8 3.18
Las Vegas Sands LVS NYSE 55.75 +8.9 1.35
Oracle ORCL NASD 29.31 +8.5 1.88
First Tr Cnsmr Staples FXG ARCA 24.70 +8.1 2.87
Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 20.12 +7.9 2.05
Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 65.20 +7.3 1.56
Philip Morris Intl PM NYSE 84.08 +7.1 2.16
Salesforcecom CRM NYSE 144.66 +7.0 1.43
Goldman Sachs GS NYSE 117.61 +7.0 1.27
iShr FTSE China 25 FXI ARCA 40.71 +6.8 1.15
Micron Tech MU NASD 8.95 +6.8 2.12
Sempra Energy SRE NYSE 58.56 +6.7 2.24
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Vanguard MSCI Emerg Mkts VWO ARCA 45.25 -47.3 0.16
Procter & Gamble PG NYSE 67.69 -22.3 0.38
Kayne Andrsn MLP Inv KYN NYSE 31.33 -20.4 0.25
iShrs MSCI Emerg Mkts EEM ARCA 44.85 -15.8 0.60
DirecTV Group Inc DTV NASD 46.50 -15.4 0.17
Expeditors Intl of Wash EXPD NASD 42.97 -14.8 0.15
ExxonMobil XOM NYSE 87.36 -14.2 0.54
Chevron CVX NYSE 110.71 -13.4 0.57
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 8.22 -12.0 0.76
CBS Corp B CBS NYSE 30.11 -11.7 0.23
Colfax CFX NYSE 34.83 -11.3 0.38
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 39.78 -10.5 0.71
First Tr Util AlphaDEX FXU ARCA 17.61 -9.6 0.20
Exterran Partners un EXLP NASD 23.71 -8.8 0.28
Coca-Cola KO NYSE 69.21 -7.9 0.43
American Express AXP NYSE 53.76 -7.8 0.38
Starwood Hotels HOT NYSE 54.68 -7.5 0.33
ITT Corp. ITT NYSE 23.73 -7.4 0.22
Citigroup C NYSE 33.97 -7.3 0.79
Biogen Idec BIIB NASD 116.39 -7.0 0.40
Comments »
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
The NASDAQ Tops 3000 For the First Time Since 2000
52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 107 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Abbott Labs ABT 57.20 587,497 Airgas Inc ARG 82.73 39,465 Anheuser Busch BUD 68.15 471,791 Ashford Hsptlty Tr Pfd E AHTpE 26.30 1,957 Atlas Energy L.P.WI ATLSw 25.75 200 Banco De Chile BCH 96.48 1,126 Bank of America Dep pfd L BMLpL 20.95 25,385 Bank of America Dep pfd G BMLpG 19.09 3,209 Bank of America Dep pfd 2 BMLpH 19.16 21,105 Bank of America Dep pfd E BACpE 21.29 19,618 Bank of Am Dep ser 4 BMLpJ 20.86 4,473 Big Lots Inc BIG 44.57 120,343 BlRk Cr Alloc Inco Tr IV BTZ 13.26 13,964 BlkRk IncoTr BNA 10.81 14,559 Blackrock Income Trust BKT 7.58 45,056 BlkRk MuniYld NJ Fd MYJ 16.39 10,831 BlRk Muyld NJ Qlty MJI 16.96 4,809 BlkRk Cr Alloc Tr I PSW 10.08 914 BorgWarner BWA 83.97 129,288 CPFL Energia ADS CPL 32.81 25,230 Carters CRI 49.75 613,742 Cervecerias Compania CCU 74.16 2,599 China Mobile CHL 53.33 107,573 Citigroup Cap IX 6% TruPs CpS 24.06 30,966 CommonWealth REIT Pfd E CWHpE 25.79 6,725 Energ Gerais-Cemig CIG 23.49 137,152 Cosan Ltd A CZZ 15.05 117,524 Cytec Indus CYT 60.24 91,881 Drdgold Limited ADS DRD 8.16 55,459 DSW Cl A DSW 57.06 45,406 Diageo PLC DEO 95.92 230,895 Digital Realty Trust DLR 73.73 235,972 Dillard's DDS 61.96 170,152 Discover Fnl Svcs DFS 30.66 358,760 Dominos Pizza DPZ 39.37 447,971 DTF Tax-Free DTF 17.12 2,800 Ecopetrol EC 57.88 144,485 Foot Locker FL 29.41 129,006 Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 7.67 73,487 GP Strategies GPX 16.74 27,248 WR Grace GRA 57.40 16,698 John Hancock Pfd II HPF 22.60 6,599 John Hancock Pfd Inc III HPS 18.86 31,139 Hels Advantage Inco Fd HAV 8.82 35,496 Herbalife HLF 67.50 220,527 ITT Corp. ITT 23.74 901,205 Imperva IMPV 37.89 15,900 InterCont Hotels Grp IHG 23.06 22,041 IntercontlExchange ICE 140.50 54,535 Intl Paper IP 36.00 1,483,072 Invesco Qlty Mun Inco IQI 14.10 11,803 Jabil Circuit JBL 26.50 142,350 KKRFinlHldgsLLC8.375% KFH 26.99 3,765 KapStone Paper & Pkg KS 20.78 20,798 Kinder Morgan KMI 35.96 317,955 LSI Corp LSI 8.74 2,155,520 Las Vegas Sands LVS 55.88 2,222,852 Luxottica Grp LUX 35.95 41,313 MFS Charter MCR 9.73 18,706 Mangd Durtn InvGr Mun Fd MZF 15.69 3,401 MarriottVacations VAC 24.98 78,497 Mastercard MA 427.48 115,165 Matador Resources MTDR 12.33 44,484 Movado Group MOV 21.82 6,386 Nelnet A NNI 27.20 28,288 Nordstrom Inc JWN 54.68 271,605 Nu Skin Enterprises NUS 57.28 74,983 Nuveen CA Div Fnd NAC 15.12 16,407 Nuveen CA Performance NCP 16.03 4,348 Nuveen Mich Premium Inc NMP 14.96 2,905 Nuv Tax-Adv Div Gr JTD 13.74 10,547 PS Bus Parks Pfd S PSBpS 25.56 49,811 PVH Corp. PVH 84.85 125,275 Packaging Corp Amer PKG 30.06 264,662 Philip Morris Intl PM 84.24 470,572 Pier 1 Imports PIR 17.44 128,602 Plains All Amer Pipeline PAA 83.02 66,736 Pretium Resources PVG 17.77 14,748 Proto Labs PRLB 31.70 39,456 Public Str Dep. pfd. W PSApW 25.62 1,620 Public Storage Pfd P PSApP 27.85 2,163 Rlty Incm Monthly Pfd OpF 25.86 30,147 Rex American Resources REX 31.76 5,018 Rose Rock Midstream RRMS 24.00 18,284 SAP AG SAP 68.45 107,259 SeaDrill SDRL 42.20 635,733 Sempra Energy SRE 59.74 476,640 Stepan Co SCL 92.00 14,462 Sun Communities SUI 41.72 9,797 Sunstone Hotel Inv Pfd D SHOpD 24.81 2,350 Taiwan Semi Mfg TSM 14.80 1,261,807 Target Corp TGT 56.20 624,017 Telus Corp TU 57.73 21,771 Terra Nitrogen TNH 242.00 43,722 Thai Fund Inc TTF 14.98 4,748 Tim Hortons THI 53.99 41,385 Transatlantic Hldgs TRH 61.19 143,787 Tri-Continental TY 15.95 7,830 US Bncp Dep Pfd Perp F USBpM 27.00 12,251 Under Armour A UA 89.36 200,888 VISA (Cl A) V 119.36 409,555 Vornado Rlty Tr 6.625% I VNOpI 25.55 863 Western Asset Income Fd PAI 14.67 4,909 Western Gas Partners LP WES 46.27 24,921 Williams Cos WMB 29.81 1,200,796 Yamana Gld AUY 18.16 993,499 YUM! Brands YUM 66.00 189,513 New Lows 3 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Oxford Resource Ptrs OXF 10.62 194,034 Standard Register SR 1.61 51,419 YPF SA YPF 26.77 1,130,505
NASDAQ
New Highs 44 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Air Methods AIRM 92.97 6,833 Akorn AKRX 13.00 106,210 Ameris Bancorp ABCB 11.77 28,281 Anika Therapeutics ANIK 11.70 11,712 Apple AAPL 547.61 7,926,409 Bank of the James Finl BOTJ 5.49 200 BioCryst Pharm BCRX 4.69 64,602 Boston Priv Fincl Hldgs BPFH 9.60 105,802 Ceres CERE 15.59 3,502 Cerus CERS 4.09 1,450,736 Charles & Colvard CTHR 4.44 22,786 Cray CRAY 8.39 71,194 Cynosure (Cl A) CYNO 18.28 11,908 Datawatch Corp DWCH 14.35 19,592 Delta Natural Gas Co DGAS 38.99 2,274 Discovery Comm C DISCK 43.03 33,484 ExlService Hldgs EXLS 27.67 155,245 HomeStreet HMST 53.24 100 InfoSonics IFON 1.04 664 IntegraMed America INMD 11.48 800 iPass IPAS 2.32 13,700 Jazz Pharm Inc JAZZ 52.22 81,332 Key Tronic KTCC 11.49 14,938 lululemon athletica LULU 68.06 175,622 Microsoft MSFT 31.94 6,255,544 NewsCorp A NWSA 20.24 3,523,496 NewsCorp B NWS 20.72 412,676 PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ 64.95 7,657,078 ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ 106.25 249,733 Rockville Fincl RCKB 11.99 531 Russ Small-Cap Contrarian SCTR 68.56 200 Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP 50.75 90,213 Synageva BioPharma GEVA 39.32 137,524 Synopsys SNPS 30.85 76,727 Texas Capital Bancshares TCBI 34.45 34,833 US Home Systems USHS 13.44 53,949 Ultimate Software Group ULTI 72.42 6,697 Utd Bankshares UBSI 29.73 21,049 United-Guardian UG 16.18 123 Vanguard Russell 1000 VONE 63.19 200 Vanguard Russ 1000 Growth VONG 66.23 206 Verisk Analytics Inc VRSK 44.58 614,519 ViroPharma VPHM 32.71 116,440 vitacost com Inc VITC 8.37 4,000 New Lows 6 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Amyris AMRS 5.54 69,087 Balchem BCPC 28.25 72,147 Ceres CERE 14.00 3,502 Deswell Industries DSWL 1.97 10,063 ProShr Ul Sh QQQ SQQQ 12.33 346,381 Vocus VOCS 13.10 1,895,935Comments »
Most Active Options Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AAPL 3/2/12 550.0000 4937 4.3000 up 3.4700 AAPL 3/2/12 545.0000 4311 6.4500 up 4.9100 AAPL 3/2/12 540.0000 2769 9.0000 up 6.0900 AAPL 3/17/12 550.0000 2488 12.5000 up 6.0000 AAPL 3/17/12 530.0000 2358 23.0500 up 7.7000 AAPL 3/2/12 535.0000 2291 12.6000 up 7.4000 ABC 3/17/12 38.0000 2122 0.4900 dn 0.0600 BAC 3/17/12 8.0000 2011 0.3800 up 0.0700 AA 3/17/12 11.0000 1960 0.0900 up 0.0200 AAPL 3/17/12 540.0000 1782 17.6000 up 7.5000 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE MSFT 7/21/12 26.0000 3000 0.3600 dn 0.0100 C 3/17/12 33.0000 2468 0.5500 dn 0.2200 NWSA 3/17/12 19.0000 1951 0.1500 dn 0.1000 BAC 3/17/12 8.0000 1793 0.1600 dn 0.0500 AAPL 3/2/12 535.0000 1554 2.7600 dn 2.1900 NUE 7/21/12 38.0000 1500 1.2300 dn 0.0500 AAPL 3/2/12 540.0000 1323 4.4500 dn 3.3000 NEM 4/21/12 60.0000 1218 1.7800 up 0.0400 AAPL 3/2/12 545.0000 1177 6.9500 dn 4.4000 AAPL 3/2/12 530.0000 1114 1.6600 dn 1.3600 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 326830 275488 602318
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 3/2/12 8.0000 253 0.2400 up 0.0800 AAPL 3/2/12 540.0000 243 9.2500 up 6.2700 TZA 3/17/12 20.0000 241 0.5400 dn 0.0200 AAPL 3/2/12 550.0000 240 4.4000 up 3.5900 AAPL 3/2/12 545.0000 193 6.4000 up 4.8100 AAPL 3/2/12 530.0000 174 15.8700 up 7.7200 GLD 3/17/12 176.0000 166 1.5300 dn 0.2100 GLD 3/17/12 180.0000 161 0.7200 dn 0.0800 GLD 3/2/12 174.0000 153 0.8500 dn 0.2300 AAPL 3/2/12 535.0000 142 12.8000 up 7.5500 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE FSLR 3/17/12 30.0000 198 1.0200 up 0.4200 SHLD 6/16/12 70.0000 139 17.4500 up 1.6000 BAC 3/2/12 8.0000 108 0.0300 dn 0.0300 FSLR 3/17/12 27.0000 97 0.4000 up 0.1700 BAC 3/17/12 8.0000 90 0.1600 dn 0.0500 FSLR 3/2/12 33.0000 89 0.8800 up 0.0700 AAPL 3/2/12 545.0000 86 6.5500 dn 6.0800 VVUS 3/17/12 21.0000 73 0.9000 dn 0.0200 AAPL 3/17/12 520.0000 71 5.4700 dn 1.0800 AAPL 3/2/12 540.0000 70 4.2000 dn 3.6000 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 17347 16232 33579Comments »
ATA: TRUCKING INDEX DECLINED -4% IN JANUARY
A Closer Look at China’s Growing Property Bubble
“China’s “property bubble” is alive and well. Even as new home prices in Shanghai declined 5.7% last week, home sales have spiked. Property developers’ margins are certainly high enough so that they can offer discounts in order to increase volumes.
Shanghai Daily: Over the last seven days the sales of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, surged 68.3 percent from the previous week to 140,400 square meters, according to a report by Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co.
A rumor has been widely circulated recently that the authorities will permit people who do not have a permanent residence but have lived in the city for three years to purchase a second property. Many non-residents went shopping.
Property Wire: China’s financial centre Shanghai has eased home purchase restrictions to allow a broader pool of buyers to purchase a second property.
The city has decided to allow residence permit holders who have lived in the city for at least three years to buy a second home, according to a source at the city’s housing regulator.
It previously limited the second home option to locals, or those born in the city or who worked for an extended period of time and were officially recognised as locals, without specifying guidelines for non locals.
But today it seems the authorities have either denied or backed away from this policy. This is quite telling, as it may indicate the central government’s concern about a renewal of the property bubble. With signs of property markets heating up again, the policy my now be shifting away from easing existing curbs on home purchases. Liquidity remains high, while investment opportunities outside of the property markets are quite limited, particularly given current inflation levels. Many who “missed the bottom” in 2008 are now looking to buy in fear of missing the “bottom” again. Even the Beijing market is picking up.
Comments »China Daily: According to industry watchers, the property market has been warming up. Property sales in Beijing and Shanghai, for instance, both rebounded last week.In Beijing, 2,186 new and second-hand apartments were sold last week, up 30.2 percent week-on-week, according to the municipal government.”
Dan Wantrobski: “DOW 14,000 is Doable,”
“NEW YORK – For the first time since May 2008, investors on Tuesday bid the closing price of the Dow Jones industrial average up above 13,000. Do I hear Dow 14,000?
Comments »
