Real Estate Daily News Buzz – November 14, 2013
Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 70.96 points, or 0.5%, to 15,821.63 on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 14.31 points, or 0.8%, to 1,782. The NASDAQ composite rose 45.66 points, or 1.2%, to 3,965.58. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery gained 84 cents to close $93.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
TWITTER IPO CREATED 1,600 OVERNIGHT MILLIONAIRES
Market research analyst PrivCo has uncovered an amazing stat about Twitter’s IPO: It created 1,600 new millionaires, mostly from rank-and-file employees, it said in a blog post. Just for fun, PrivCo calculated the tax bill this IPO created, too: $2.2 billion. Read more here.
BEYOND TWITTER: THE NEXT WAVE OF TECH IPOs IS BREWING
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Just as one high-tech breakthrough often paves the way for the next big thing, technology IPOs move in virtuous cycles, too. Twitter’s scintillating stock market debut punctuated a procession of highly anticipated coming-out parties over the past two-and-half years, providing a springboard for a new generation of rapidly growing startups to make the leap to Wall Street. The next wave of potentially hot IPOs includes trendy services such as AirBnB, Square, Spotify, Dropbox, Uber, Snapchat, Pinterest, Box, Scribd, Flipboard and King.com. Most of their services are tailor made for smartphones and tablets, a crucial characteristic that helped feed the rabid demand for Twitter’s stock in its initial public offering last week. Despite the short-messaging service’s unprofitable history, Twitter is now worth about $29 billion — a valuation that has enriched its founders, employees and early investors.
PHOENIX SPENDING $27 MILLION TO IMPROVE SKY HARBOR
Following the announcement of the antitrust lawsuit settlement between Tempe-based US Airways and Fort Worth-based American Airline and the US Department of Justice and six states. The Phoenix City Council has approved a $27 million measure for improvements to the international concourse at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s Terminal 4. The council move allocates airport funds at city run Sky Harbor for new elevators and others improvements, according to the Arizona Republic as concerns mount as to keeping the two carrier’s current hub cities. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a US Airways hub. The settlement promises to keep the two carriers in place for three years.
CBRE RECOGNIZED AS A 2014 MILITARY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER
Los Angeles – CBRE Group, Inc. announced on Veteran’s Day that it has earned the 2014 Military Friendly Employer® title by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse. This marks the third year in a row the company has been designated as a Military Friendly Employer. “This designation affirms our commitment to providing an attractive place for veterans to work. While we are extremely proud of our military-friendly policies and initiatives, we are even prouder to work alongside the more than 1,000 CBRE employees who are U.S. veterans, reservists and active duty military members,” said Jennifer Ashley, CBRE’s Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Marketing, the Americas. CBRE was chosen for the elite Military Friendly Employer title via a data-driven survey of over 5,000 companies.
TANGERINE LANDFILL TO CLOSE INDEFINITELY
MARANA – Pima County has announced that its Tangerine landfill, which is near its permitted capacity of 6.7 million cubic yards, will close December 1st. The landfill began operation in 1983, and was the first in Arizona to be fully lined. Additional waste disposal and recycling options include Ryan Field Transfer Station (residential only), Catalina Transfer Station, Waste Management’s Ina Road Transfer Station, Los Reales Landfill, and Sahuarita Landfill. In addition, several licensed private solid waste haulers are available to provide waste pickup service for a fee.
FINAL RESULTS: CITY OF TUCSON 2013 GENERAL ELECTION
TUCSON- Final results for the City of Tucson’s 2013 General Election have been posted by the City Clerk’s office. 68,427 of Tucson’s registered voters, or about 30.4%, cast ballots in the election. Final results: Click here
STAFFER IN TUCSON CITY CLERK’S OFFICE NAMED NEW PRESCOTT CITY CLERK
PRESCOTT- Yesterday the City Council of Prescott, AZ approved the appointment of Dana DeLong to the position of City Clerk. She will replace Lynn Mulhall, who is retiring January 3. A longtime employee of the Tucson City Clerk’s Office, DeLong has gained extensive experience in records, agenda, and elections management. She currently holds the position of City Records Manager. She holds a Certified Municipal Clerk designation and is a Certified Election Official. “We are delighted to welcome Dana to the City of Prescott,” said Mayor Marlin Kuykendall. “She brings a wealth of experience and she has a strong background managing the critical functions of city government.”
SPENDING CUTS, GOV’T SHOUTDOWN LOWERED US BUDGET DEFICIT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government started the first month of the 2014 budget year with a smaller budget deficit, signaling further improvement in the nation’s finances at a time when lawmakers are wrestling to reach a deal to keep the government open past January. The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the deficit in October was $91.6 billion. That’s 24% lower than the $120 billion imbalance recorded in October 2012. Across-the-board spending cuts and the partial government shutdown helped reduce expenditures last month, the first of the new budget year. Higher taxes and a better economy also boosted revenue.
NEXT GENERATION BIOFUELS STILL YEARS AWAY
NEW YORK (AP) — The first trickle of fuels made from agricultural waste is finally winding its way into the nation’s energy supply, after years of broken promises and hype promoting a next-generation fuel source cleaner than oil. But as refineries churn out this so-called cellulosic fuel, it has become clear, even to the industry’s allies, that the benefits remain, as ever, years away. The failure so far of cellulosic fuel is central to the debate over corn-based ethanol, a centerpiece of America’s green-energy strategy. Ethanol from corn has proven far more damaging to the environment than the government predicted, and cellulosic fuel hasn’t emerged as a replacement.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION POSTS 27,000 HEALTH CARE SIGNUPS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Putting a statistic on disappointment, the Obama administration revealed Wednesday that fewer than 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance last month in the 36 states relying on a problem-filled federal website. States running their own enrolment systems did better, signing up more than 79,000, for a total enrollment of over 106,000. Still, that was barely one-fifth of the nearly 500,000 people administration officials had projected would sign up the first month of Obama’s signature program, a numerical rebuke to the administration’s ability to deliver on its promise.
US PRODUCING MORE OIL THAN IMPORTED – 7.7 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first month in nearly two decades, the U.S. in October extracted more oil from the ground than it imported from abroad, marking an important milestone for a nation seeking to wean itself off foreign oil. A promising sign for a still-slugging economy, the shift could foreshadow future opportunities to boost jobs in the U.S., lower the trade deficit and insulate the economy from foreign crises that can send oil prices rising. But it also speaks to deeper, underlying changes in the way Americans use oil, as price-conscious consumers seek to limit what they pay at the pump. Not since 1995 has the U.S produced more crude oil than it imported. For several years now, domestic production has been on the rise while net imports have been declining. But data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical wing of the Energy Department, show the trend lines have finally crossed, with crude oil production topping 7.7 million barrels per day.
AIRLINES BOOST ON-TIME MARKS WITH FEWER PASSENGERS
Airlines are doing a better job of staying on schedule now that fewer people are flying.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday that 83.8 per cent of domestic flights arrived on time in September, slightly better than September 2012′s 83.3 per cent rate. It was a bigger improvement over July and August, when summer vacationers packed the nation’s airports and about one in four flights arrived late. Hawaiian Airlines held its usual top spot in the ratings, with 95 per cent of flights arriving within 14 minutes of schedule. Of the 16 reporting carriers, Southwest Airlines ranked last, with a 76 per cent on-time mark.
MACY’S FEELING UPBEAT ABOUT HOLIDAY SEASON
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s is seeing signs that a merry holiday shopping season could be in store. The department store chain on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit that handily beat Wall Street expectations, with the company citing rejiggered advertising and promotions for helping reverse a slip in sales in the previous quarter. In a conference call with analysts, chief financial officer Karen Hoguet noted that traditional gift categories such as fine jewelry, cashmere and housewares were trending well. She also noted positive trends for cold weather items such as coats, boots and sweaters.
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