Home prices decline for 8th straight month

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. single-family home prices fell for an eighth straight month in February, inching closer to an April 2009 trough, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.2 percent in February from January on a seasonally adjusted basis, slightly better than economists’ median forecast for a drop of 0.3 percent.

The 20-city composite index was at 139.27, holding just a hair above its 2009 low of 139.26. Average home prices across the United States are back to levels where they were in the summer of 2003.

The Supreme Court announced today that ObamaCare will procede through the normal processes, and not be expedited for viewing by the justices.

This is the second time an expedited review has been refused. By this precedent, any review of the law by the Supreme Court will not take place for some time, probably a few years. The law needs to wind its way through the appellate courts.

The EPA board voted to withold air permits from shell, effectively deadlocking the companies efforts to drill.

Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”

In an obvious move, automakers are taking heat here. Toyota basically self affirmed this over the last week and a half. Look for domestics to follow as U.S. companies start running out of components.

Ratings:

Columbia, MO Utility System Outlook Revised To Positive On Projected Strong Performance 25-Apr-2011
10:12 EST

Johnston Re Ltd.’s Series 2011-1 Class A And B Notes Assigned Preliminary ‘BB-‘ Ratings 25-Apr-2011
09:59 EST

Outlooks On Three Japanese Electric Power Companies With Nuclear Power Plants Revised To Negative; Ratings Affirmed 25-Apr-2011
06:56 EST

Outlooks Revised To Negative On Six Japanese Automakers And Suppliers; Ratings Affirmed 25-Apr-2011
06:00 EST

President Obama experienced push back on his visit to the West Coast, as citizens voiced disappointment with the economic recovery and lack of jobs. While plenty understood that deficit reduction is imperative to the long term stability of the country, many also wanted to know what was being done to help spur the economy on to job growth.

An audience member at Obama’s town hall meeting Wednesday at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., summarized how the increased attention on red ink looks to the public.

“At the beginning of your term you spent a lot of time talking about job creation and the road to economic recovery,” the questioner told the president. “Since then, we’ve seen the conversation shift from that of job creation and economic recovery to that of spending cuts and the deficit.”

Malcontent was also voiced on the state of the housing market and its persistence.

The extra $50 billion (4 trillion yen) the Cabinet approved is expected to be only the first installment of reconstruction funding. About $15 billion (1.2 trillion yen) will go to fixing roads and ports and more than $8.5 billion (700 billion yen) will go to build temporary homes and clearing rubble.

Read more here.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. said it is suing Apple Inc. for patent rights violations, only days after Apple sued Samsung for the same reason.

Samsung is accusing Apple of violating its rights to 10 smartphone and computer patents. The company filed lawsuits Thursday in Seoul, Tokyo and Mannheim, Germany.

The lawsuits come only days after Apple sued Samsung in a California court. Apple alleges Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones and tablet computers copy Apple’s popular iPad and iPhone.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s global car production, disrupted by parts shortages from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, won’t return to normal until November or December — imperiling its spot as the world’s top-selling automaker.

President Akio Toyoda apologized to customers for the delays due to the March 11 disasters that damaged suppliers in northeastern Japan, affecting automakers around the world.

By Bloomberg
=============================================================================
March Feb. Jan. Dec. Nov. Oct. Year-to
2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 Date
=============================================================================
————————– YoY% —————————
Total 8.9% 5.2% 1.4% 11.6% 6.5% 7.5% 5.2%
Asia 9.2% 5.3% 1.7% 12.0% 6.6% 7.6% 5.4%
China 18.6% 5.1% 7.9% 18.8% 7.9% 6.7% 10.3%
Hong Kong 4.0% 7.3% -2.8% 10.9% 10.8% 14.0% 3.0%
Taiwan -15.1% -13.8% -20.4% -7.4% -16.5% -6.8% -16.6%
India -3.6% 21.3% -6.5% 20.3% 69.0% 25.5% 1.4%
Indonesia -10.1% 10.0% -17.0% -10.8% 0.6% 4.8% -7.9%
Japan -18.4% 13.3% 1.4% -5.8% 4.6% 0.0% -3.2%
Malaysia -8.3% 5.4% -30.7% -10.2% -8.2% 5.9% -11.9%
Philippines -4.6% 10.5% -11.0% -13.0% -4.7% -3.7% -1.9%
South Korea -1.1% 42.5% 39.0% 49.0% 77.2% 59.8% 28.0%
=============================================================================
March Feb. Jan. Dec. Nov. Oct. Year-to
2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 Date
=============================================================================
————————– YoY% —————————
Singapore 9.3% 11.4% -20.7% -11.9% -8.3% -6.9% -1.0%
Thailand -10.9% 0.5% -21.9% 5.9% -24.1% -18.0% -12.1%
Vietnam -92.2% -89.7% -89.8% -90.5% -88.6% -85.6% -90.7%
Others -17.4% 8.1% -12.2% -14.1% 2.7% -2.7% -8.8%
Americas 5.2% 1.9% 1.5% 2.8% 8.5% 13.0% 3.0%
Europe 4.7% 2.5% -4.5% 3.9% 4.9% 3.2% 0.8%
Oceania -14.9% -13.0% -23.0% -19.4% -5.7% -10.1% -18.2%
Africa/Others 5.6% 4.4% -1.8% 3.5% 23.9% 24.9% 2.5%
————————– MoM% —————————
Total 1.2% 4.2% -8.6% 12.8% -3.8% 13.8% n/a
Asia 0.7% 4.9% -8.7% 13.5% -3.8% 13.2% n/a
China 4.1% -1.3% 1.7% 9.4% -2.4% 25.6% n/a
Hong Kong -9.9% 24.1% -20.7% 18.9% -10.8% 5.2% n/a
Taiwan 12.6% -6.3% -12.9% 9.7% -2.3% -3.0% n/a
India 23.3% -16.6% -30.5% -1.2% -4.5% 19.4% n/a
Indonesia 10.8% -19.1% -40.4% 81.3% -2.6% -57.2% n/a
=============================================================================
March Feb. Jan. Dec. Nov. Oct. Year-to
2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 Date
=============================================================================
————————– MoM% —————————
Japan 6.4% -11.3% 0.3% 0.4% 21.1% -26.9% n/a
Malaysia 51.6% 21.6% -55.1% 18.4% 27.0% 0.7% n/a
Philippines 4.3% 23.7% -24.0% 5.2% 8.6% 28.0% n/a
South Korea -36.5% -6.6% 24.7% 25.9% 22.3% -25.6% n/a
Singapore 65.9% -7.3% -52.6% 39.4% 32.4% 11.2% n/a
Thailand 41.8% -13.8% -33.4% 66.1% -23.6% 66.8% n/a
Vietnam -3.0% 16.2% -9.3% 5.2% -20.3% 26.0% n/a
Others 15.5% 5.1% -13.6% -20.5% 6.3% 22.7% n/a
Americas 30.2% -15.7% -8.4% -7.7% -5.5% 34.4% n/a
Europe 20.5% -7.5% -6.2% -21.3% 2.1% 32.8% n/a
Oceania 18.2% -40.1% 10.4% 20.1% -12.4% 20.2% n/a
Africa/Others 10.6% -13.7% -13.5% 4.9% -8.1% 27.3% n/a
———————— Thousands ————————
Total 2,191 2,164 2,076 2,271 2,013 2,092 6,431
Asia 2,132 2,117 2,018 2,211 1,947 2,024 6,268
China 1,254 1,204 1,221 1,200 1,097 1,124 3,679
=============================================================================
March Feb. Jan. Dec. Nov. Oct. Year-to
2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 Date
=============================================================================
———————— Thousands ————————
Hong Kong 592 657 530 668 561 629 1,779
Taiwan 97 86 92 106 96 99 276
India 10 8 10 14 14 15 27
Indonesia 14 12 15 26 14 15 42
Japan 34 32 36 36 36 30 102
Malaysia 34 23 19 41 35 27 75
Philippines 21 21 17 22 21 19 59
South Korea 25 39 42 34 27 22 106
Singapore 25 15 17 35 25 19 57
Thailand 20 14 16 25 15 20 51
Vietnam 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Others 5 4 4 4 6 5 12
Americas 26 20 24 26 28 30 70
Europe 21 17 19 20 26 25 57
Oceania 10 8 14 12 10 12 32
Africa/Others 2 2 2 2 2 2 5
=============================================================================
Note 1: Month-on-month percentage changes calculated by Bloomberg.
Note 2: From Jan. 2010, more countries’ breakdown were published.

Official Washington congratulated itself for reaching a deal to cut $38 billion from the deficit of the current fiscal year. But some observers aren’t impressed. “Flimflam & swindle,” is how David Stockman characterized the deal in a recent Fiscal Times column.

“I’ve seen a lot of accounting smoke and mirrors in my day in government, but this was beyond the pale,” said Stockman, my guest on Daily Ticker. “There was nothing real and substantive that actually cuts something and saves a dollar in the whole thing. I calculated, the cash reduction might be a couple of billion dollars.”

Read the rest here.

Numerous websites crashed Thursday thanks to technical problems at Amazon.

Unreliable data on oil production—starting with the world’s largest exporter, Saudi Arabia—are adding to the price volatility triggered by unrest in the Mideast, despite efforts to improve transparency.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that its production had been at least 700,000 barrels a day lower in March than existing estimates, including those published by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The surprise news pushed the price of oil down by more than $1 per barrel Monday morning.

Since 2001, defense spending has just about doubled, rising to almost $700 billion in 2010. That is more than half of the discretionary budget and about 20% of the entire federal budget.

A few months ago, budget experts stood alone, clamoring for steep reductions in military spending to help put the nation back on a sustainable path.

MSN article found here.

Apparently April is “Financial Literacy Month.” Who knew?

The recent crisis demonstrated the critical importance of financial literacy and good financial decisionmaking, both for the economic welfare of households and for the soundness and stability of the system as a whole. Good financial choices depend on reliable and useful information, presented in an understandable way. Essential components of personal financial management include an understanding of how to budget strategically, use credit, save to build personal wealth, and shop for and choose suitable financial products.

Wynn Resorts Ratings Placed On Watch Positive On Continued Strong Performance 20-Apr-2011
14:00 EST

Hedge funds reached a milestone in the first quarter, amassing over $2 trillion in capital for the first time ever, an industry tracker said Tuesday.

The global hedge fund industry now controls total assets worth $2.02 trillion, according to Hedge Fund Research. That’s up $102 billion from the first quarter of 2010 and is more than the industry had in the second quarter of 2008, when assets peaked at $1.93 trillion.

CEO Akman says that those rebates increased revenues for the company.

GM surprised the industry — and Wall Street — when it raised discounts by $400 per vehicle in January and February. Most automakers didn’t raise them because demand for new vehicles has been rising in line with supply.

As for the comments on U.S. Treasuries, Dow sees S&P’s outlook change as “overdue” — and a function of the ratings agencies being seen as late to the party.

Speaking of late to the party, he’s steering well clear of the gold and silver frenzy. Dow says there’s still time to reduce risk in general — not entirely different advice than a lot of what we’ve seen of late. What’s unusual is his stance on the dollar, which he sees as a buy relative to European and BRIC currencies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The unemployment rate fell in two-thirds of the nation’s states last month, the latest evidence that the strengthening economy is encouraging many employers to boost hiring.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the unemployment rate dropped in 34 states in March. That’s the largest number of states to record a decline since June. The rate rose in seven states and was unchanged in nine and Washington, D.C.