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.
Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.37 points, or 0.7%, to close at 17,100.18. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 20.10 points, or 1%, to 1,978.22. The NASDAQ composite index climbed 68.70 points, or 1.6%, to 4,432.15.
Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery fell 6 cents to close at $103.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery, a benchmark for international oils, fell 65 cents to close at $107.24 on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 2.1 cents to close at $2.860 a gallon. Natural gas fell 0.3 cent to close at $3.951 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil fell 1.4 cents to close at $2.845 a gallon.
WHY AIRLINES DIDN’T AVOID RISKY UKRAINE AIRSPACE
The possibility that the civilian jetliner downed over war-torn eastern Ukraine with nearly 300 people onboard was hit by a missile could have profound consequences for the world’s airlines. Airlines might have to be more vigilant about avoiding trouble spots, making flights longer and causing them to burn more costly fuel, an extra expense that is often passed onto passengers through higher fares. They may even be forced to reconsider many international routes. In the hours after Thursday’s disaster involving a Malaysia Airlines jet, carriers around the globe began rerouting flights to avoid Ukraine. Some had been circumventing the country for weeks. Experts questioned the airline’s decision to fly near the fighting, even as Malaysia’s prime minister said that the plane’s route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was declared safe by international aviation authorities.
DOUBLE DISASTERS TAINT MALAYSIA AIRLINES
HONG KONG (AP) — Hit by two astonishing tragedies in quick succession, the Malaysia Airlines brand may become the airline industry’s equivalent of asbestos or News of the World: toxic to the public and, experts say, impossible to redeem. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed over eastern Ukraine on Thursday with 298 people aboard by what American intelligence authorities believe was a surface-to-air missile. Just four months earlier, a Malaysia Airlines jetliner carrying 239 people disappeared about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The jet has still not been found, a source of profound unease for travelers and the aviation industry. Even before the Flight 370 mystery, state-owned Malaysia Airlines was in serious financial trouble. In an industry infamous for impoverishing shareholders and irking customers, Malaysia Airlines had long stood out for its years of restructurings and losses.
US-EU TRADE TALKS SOUR AMID CHLORINE CHICKEN FEARS
BRUSSELS (AP) — Visions of chlorine-drenched chickens and the prospect of genetically modified “Monsanto Frankenfood” invading dinner tables across the European Union are proving serious impediments to the signing of a sweeping free trade agreement between the United States and the 28-country bloc. Optimism that negotiations, which marked their first-year anniversary this week, would lead to a deal to create a trading bloc of 800 million people representing around half the world’s economic output have faltered amid growing public opposition. Suspicions toward the U.S. following a spying scandal and electoral considerations on both sides of the Atlantic have also not helped to foster progress. A year ago, U.S. President Barack Obama and his European peers sought an agreement to create the trading bloc by the end of 2014.
ALL STATES REPORTING UNEMPLOYMENT AT OR BELOW 8% IN JUNE
WASHINGTON — For the first time since mid-2008, The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that unemployment rates in all states had dropped from at 8% or below. Unemployment rose in 14 states from May to June. Unemployment rates dropped in 22 U.S. states last month and stayed the same in 14 states. Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in June. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from May, Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and one state had an increase. Mississippi and Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rates among the states in June, 7.9% each. North Dakota again had the lowest jobless rate, 2.7%. The biggest drop in the unemployment rate occurred in Illinois, where it fell to 7.1% from 7.5%. The state’s rate has fallen by 0.8 percentage points in the past two months, partly because more people have given up searching for work. As we reported Friday, Arizona’s unemployment rate ticked up to 6.9% in June while the national average remained at 6.1% . Read more at https://realestatedaily-news.com/uptick-arizona-unemployment-rate-6-9-june/
ABB VIE, SHIRE AGREE ON $55 BILLION COMBINATION
The drugmaker AbbVie has reached a deal worth roughly $55 billion to combine with British counterpart Shire and become the latest U.S. company to seek an overseas haven from tax rates back home. The companies said Friday they will create a new company that is incorporated on the British island of Jersey, where Shire currently is incorporated. But the new company will be controlled by shareholders of North Chicago, Illinois-based AbbVie, who will own about 75 per cent of the new company’s stock. Shire shareholders will receive cash and stock valued at about 53.19 pounds ($91.07) for each of their shares. They will then hold the remaining 25 per cent stake in the new company.
AXED NOKIA X-PHONES SUFFRED FROM LACK OF IDENTITY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Nokia X phones that Microsoft discontinued this week blend two rival operating systems, but leave out the best of each. As a result, the devices didn’t become a runaway hit as Nokia’s low-cost answer to serving emerging markets. Nokia X phones were devised to be a gateway to the company’s pricier Lumia phones. The operating system that runs the phones was to blend the core technology found in Google’s Android system with services and designs found in Microsoft’s own Windows Phone system. Nokia looked to Android as a way to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavailable on Windows. But Microsoft completed its deal to buy Nokia’s phone business in April, and Nokia X is gone less than three months later.
AMAZON ROLLS OUT ‘NETFLIX-FOR-BOOKS’ STYLE SERVICE
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is rolling out a new subscription service that will allow unlimited access to thousands of electronic books and audiobooks for $9.99 a month in the online giant’s latest effort to attract more users. The largest U.S. e-commerce site said Friday that the Kindle Unlimited service will give users the ability to read as much as they want from more than 600,000 Kindle titles such as “The Hunger Games” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” They can also listen as much as they like to thousands of Audible audiobooks, including “Water for Elephants.” The service will offer about 2,000 audiobooks from Audible with Whispersync for Voice, which lets users switch between reading and listening to books. Subscribers will get a free three-month membership to the broader Audible service, which has 150,000 titles.
MARIJUANA EDIBLES BURGEONING INTO AN INDUSTRY
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Move over, pot brownies. The proliferation of marijuana edibles for both medical and recreational purposes is giving rise to a cottage industry of baked goods, candies, infused oils, cookbooks and classes that promises a slow burn as more states legalize the practice and awareness spreads about the best ways to deliver the drug. Edibles and infused products such as snack bars, olive oils and tinctures popular with medical marijuana users have flourished into a gourmet market of chocolate truffles, whoopie pies and hard candies as Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the past year.
OBAMA OPENS EASTERN SEABOARD TO OIL EXPLORATION
ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Obama administration is reopening the Eastern Seaboard to offshore oil and gas exploration, approving seismic surveys using sonic cannons that can pinpoint energy deposits deep beneath the ocean floor. Friday’s announcement is the first real step toward what could be a transformation in coastal states, creating thousands of jobs to support a new energy infrastructure. But it dismayed environmentalists and people who owe their livelihoods to fisheries and tourism. The cannons create noise pollution in waters shared by whales, dolphins and turtles, sending sound waves 100 times louder than a jet engine reverberating through the deep every ten seconds for weeks at a time. Arguing that endangered species could be harmed was the environmental groups’ best hope for extending a decades-old ban against drilling off the U.S. Atlantic coast.
EPA PROPOSAL COULD BLOCK HUGE ALASKA MINE
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed restrictions Friday that would essentially block development of a planned massive gold-and-copper mine near the headwaters of a world premier salmon fishery in Alaska. The announcement came as the EPA was being sued by Pebble Limited Partnership, the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine, and the state of Alaska for allegedly exceeding its authority. The state and Pebble Partnership, which was created to design, permit and run the mine, argue the EPA should not be able to veto the project before a mine plan is finalized and evaluated through the permitting process. Pebble has asked that a judge block the EPA from taking any additional steps, but no ruling has been made.
HOW TO BICYCLE IN THE STREETCAR ZONE
TUCSON - With Sun Link Tucson Streetcar service starting a week from today (July 25), bicyclists will need to be extra attentive when riding near the tracks. New markings - including green bike boxes, bike dots, and shared-lane markings - will help guide cyclists where they need to be to stay safe and more visible. The City of Tucson produced a video (linked below) that describes the safest ways to ride. Watch the video: https://bit.ly/1wEBmCF
WEBSITE LISTS ITS TOP TEN ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS IN TUCSON
TUCSON - TheCultureTrip.com says Tucson is home to history and culture, but its contemporary art scene is not lagging behind. The website - which covers many countries and cites around the world - names ten galleries, such as Etherton Gallery, Madaras Gallery, Solar Culture, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and others. Read the article from TheCultureTrip.com: https://bit.ly/1n1nBMI
CITY OF TUCSON HOLDS WORKSHOPS ON SALES TAX REPORTING
TUCSON - Learn your rights and responsibilities for Transaction Privilege (sales) Taxation by attending a Tax and License Workshop sponsored by the City of Tucson Finance Department. Questions will be answered, and written materials will be available. Samples of sales tax records, worksheets, and monthly returns will be explained. You should bring a calculator and a pencil. A workshop for contracting questions will be held next Tuesday (July 22), from 10:30 a.m. until noon, at the Wilmot Branch Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road. A retail workshop will be held July 29 at the same time and place. Read the news release: https://1.usa.gov/UfVL4p