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.
On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 51.44 points, or 0.3%, to 17,776.80. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 14.12 points, or 0.7%, to close at 2,053.44. The NASDAQ composite fell 64.28 points, or 1.3%, to 4,727.35.
Benchmark U.S. crude jumped $2.85, or 4 per cent, to close at an even $69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude rose $2.39, or 3.4 per cent, to close at $72.54 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 5.34 cents to $1.881 a gallon. Heating oil added 5.12 cents to $2.212 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8.1 cents to $4.007 per 1,000 cubic feet.
CYBER MONDAY SHOPPERS GIVE RETAILERS SALES A BUMP
NEW YORK (AP) — Cyber Monday is turning into Cyber Month. Retailers rolled out discounts and free shipping deals on Cyber Monday, with millions of Americans expected to log on and shop on their work computers, laptops and tablets after the busy holiday shopping weekend. But with retailers extending their online deals into “Cyber Week” and even “Cyber Month,” early reports indicated shopping was less robust online on Monday compared with prior years. As of 3 p.m. ET, online sales rose just 8.7 per cent compared with last year, according to IBM Digital Analytics. The figures don’t take into account the many shoppers who plan to head online after work or in the evening. But a year ago, Cyber Monday sales jumped 20.6 per cent, according to IBM.
CHINA’S MANUFACTURING GROWTH AT 8 MONTH LOW IN NOVEMBER
China's manufacturing growth skidded to an eight-month low in November, an official survey showed Monday, fuelling speculation authorities will take further steps to stimulate the world's second-largest economy. China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics came in at 50.3 last month, lower than the 50.8 recorded in October and the weakest since a similar 50.3 reading in March. "The decline in the PMI was broad-based, led by output and new orders," Nomura economists said. "The weaker PMI data implies that growth momentum remained weak in November," they said, adding: "This helps explain the People’s Bank of China’s decision to cut benchmark interest rates" last month. China's central bank on November 21 surprised economists by cutting benchmark interest rates for the first time in more than two years, in a move interpreted as an attempt to shore up flagging growth. The PBoC lowered its one-year rate for deposits by 25 basis points to 2.75% and its one-year lending rate by 40 basis points to 5.6%.
INDUSTRY DECRIES EPA’S PROPOSED STIRCTER OZONE LIMITS
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it plans to strengthen regulations for emissions of ozone. The EPA said recent scientific studies show that current standards leave too much harmful smog in the air and that exposure at those levels "can pose serious threats to public health," including causing asthma and other lung diseases, and can even be linked to death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes. "Bringing ozone pollution standards in line with the latest science will clean up our air, improve access to crucial air quality information, and protect those most at risk," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a statement. The EPA is proposing to limit ozone emissions from sources including power plants and car and truck exhaust to within a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion (ppb), down from 75 ppb currently -- or around a 10% drop. It is also considering an even more stringent 60 ppb standard, depending on comments from the public during the review period. The agency said it based the new recommendations on a review of more than 1,000 new studies published since the last update in 2008. The new proposed standards drew quick criticism from several big industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council. "Manufacturing growth could slow or stop in states that find themselves unable to meet a lower ozone standard," the group warned. The ACC argued that the current standard "is the most stringent ever and has not been fully implemented across the United States." "We are very concerned that EPA appears to be lowering the ozone standard before finishing the job on the current standard," the ACC said. And the National Association of Manufacturers said the new ozone regulation "threatens to be the most expensive ever imposed on industry in America and could jeopardize recent progress in manufacturing." "If the standards are finalized, every dollar we invest to meet them will return up to three dollars in health benefit," the EPA said. Those benefits include fewer missed days at work and school and lower health costs from asthma and heart attacks. The new proposals will be open for public comment for 90 days, after which the agency will issue its final standards.
STRONG MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION PREDICTED FOR 2015 & 2016
The MAPI Foundation, the research affiliate of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, released its quarterly economic forecast, predicting that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will expand 2.8% in 2015 and 3.0% in 2016. Both are declines from the August report—of 3.0% and 3.3%, respectively. Manufacturing production is expected to outpace GDP, with anticipated growth of 3.5% in 2015 (a decrease from 4.0% in the previous forecast) and 3.9% in 2016 (an increase from 3.6% in the August report). The November 2014 report forecasts a five-year horizon in which GDP is expected to average 2.8% and manufacturing production to average 3.26% growth. Production in non-high-tech manufacturing is expected to increase 3.8% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016. High-tech manufacturing production, which accounts for approximately 5% of all manufacturing, is anticipated to grow 8.2% in 2015 and 10.0% in 2016. The forecast for inflation-adjusted investment in equipment is for growth of 6.9% in 2015 and 7.3% in 2016. Capital equipment spending in high-tech sectors will also rise. Inflation-adjusted expenditures for information processing equipment are anticipated to increase by double digits in each of the next two years—12.1% in 2015 and 12.3% in 2016. The MAPI Foundation expects industrial equipment expenditures to advance 7.6% in 2015 and 3.6% in 2016. Conversely, the outlook for spending on transportation equipment is for decreases of 0.8% in 2015 and 0.4% in 2016.
WEAK EURO BECOMING KEY TO EUROPE’S RECOVERY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — If that creme brulee in a Paris cafe seems a bit cheaper for U.S. tourists next summer, they may have the European Central Bank to thank for it.
Economists are lowering their forecasts for the value of the euro on expectations that the ECB will make good on its promises to provide more support to the eurozone economy if it needs it. Central bank stimulus tends to weigh on a currency. Ultimately, the euro’s drop itself could be the biggest boon to the economy as it helps exporters and encourages tourism.
JURORS TO HEAR STEVE JOBS TESTIMONY AT APPLE TRIAL
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After nearly a decade in legal wrangling, a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit over Apple’s iPod music players heads to trial on Tuesday in a California federal court. A key witness will be none other than the company’s legendary late founder Steve Jobs, who will be heard in a videotaped deposition. Attorneys for consumers and electronics retailers claim Apple Inc. used software in its iTunes store that forced would-be song buyers to use iPods instead of cheaper music players made by rivals. The software is no longer used, but the plaintiffs argue that it inflated the prices of millions of iPods sold between 2006 and 2009 — to the tune of $350 million. Under federal antitrust law, the tech giant could be ordered to pay three times that amount if the jury agrees with the estimate and finds the damages resulted from anti-competitive behavior.
FBI LOOKING INTO HACK OF SONY PICTURES’ COMPUTERS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The FBI has confirmed it is investigating a recent hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which reportedly caused major internal computer problems at the film studio last week. Sony’s corporate email and other internal systems were knocked offline, according to reports by Variety and other trade publications. Sony workers reportedly saw a message appear on their computer screens that said “Hacked by #GOP,” which may be the initials of a group calling itself Guardians of Peace. Copies of some unreleased Sony films such as “Still Alice,” ”Annie,” ”Mr. Turner,” and “To Write Love on Her Arms” are now being distributed on unauthorized file-sharing websites, although a direct connection to the hacking hasn’t been confirmed. The FBI said in a statement that “the targeting of public and private sector computer networks remains a significant threat.” Sony Pictures, based in Culver City, California, wasn’t immediately available for comment.
GIRL SCOUTS GOING DIGITAL FOR COOKIE SALES
NEW YORK (AP) — Watch out world, the Girl Scouts are going digital to sell you cookies. For the first time since sales began nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts of the USA will allow its young go-getters to push their wares using a mobile app or personalized websites. But only if their scout councils and guardians say OK. And the best news for these digital natives: They can have cookies shipped directly to your doorstep. More than 1 million scouts, from kindergarten-age Daisies to teens, were expected to opt in as cookie-selling season cranks up this month and the scouting organization gets digital sales underway. But the tactic is intended to enhance, not replace, the paper spreadsheets used to generate an estimated $800 million in cookie sales a year — at anywhere from $3.50 to $5 a box, depending on scout council.
US BUSINESSMAN JAILED IN RUSSIA OVER BROKEN WINDOW
MOSCOW (AP) — Last year, he tried to bring NFL star Tim Tebow to Moscow to play for his American football team on a $1 million-per-game contract. Now, accused of breaking a window, American businessman Mike Zaltsman shares a packed jail cell with drug dealers. Much has changed for the Boston entrepreneur since a dispute over an office he rented from a Russian billionaire escalated into a week long standoff in downtown Moscow and ended with his arrest in April. The case puts into relief the unpredictable business environment in Russia, where thousands of people have ended up in jail as the result of business disputes or raids by business rivals. Even seemingly petty crimes are routinely used to keep people in Russian prisons for months or even years.
LGBT BABY BOOMERS FACE TOUGH RETIREMENT HURDLES
NEW YORK (AP) — For Kathy Murphy, the difference between being gay or straight is $583 a month. Retirement should have been a “slam dunk,” the 62-year-old Texas widow says. She saved, bought a house with her spouse and has a pension through her employer. But Murphy’s golden years have not been as secure as they should have been. She is missing out on thousands of dollars a year in Social Security benefits simply because she was married to a woman, not a man. Murphy fell into a loophole in Social Security that denies survivor benefits to same-sex couples depending on what state they live in. Had Murphy and her wife, Sara Barker, lived next door in New Mexico, a state that does recognize same-sex marriage, this wouldn’t have been an issue.
US FACTORY GROWTH SLIPS IN NOV. BUT STILL HEALTHY
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories were slightly less busy in November, as production and hiring slowed, though the level of activity remained strong. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its manufacturing index slipped to 58.7 last month from 59 in October. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. October’s figure matched a three-year high reached in August. Manufacturing has been a key driver of growth this year in the U.S., even as it has fallen off overseas. Factories in China, the world’s second-largest economy, are barely growing, according to a survey released Sunday by the bank HSBC Corp. And a European manufacturing index fell to 50.1 in November, the lowest in 17 months and just barely in expansion territory. Brazil’s manufacturing sector has contracted for the seventh time in eight months.
HISPANICS TARGETED IN 2ND YEAR OF HEALTH OVERHAUL
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Between the avocado and grapefruit displays, Adolfo Briceno approaches customers in the bustling Hispanic supermarket to ask whether they have health insurance. Turn left at the bucket of flower bouquets, he tells dozens of shoppers on a recent Saturday, to spot the table covered with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina logo and its Spanish-speaking agent. A local Mexican music radio station is doing a live remote broadcast from outside the grocery and periodically mentioning Blue Cross, backing up a line of people curious about coverage in front of the harried agent. Such atypical approaches to selling health insurance policies are playing out across the country since the second round of enrolment under the federal Affordable Care Act opened in mid-November. Insurance companies and some states are focusing heavily on signing up eligible Hispanics, a group that accounts for a large share of the nation’s uninsured but largely avoided applying for coverage during the first full year the health care reform law was in effect.