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 gained 41.55 points, or 0.3%, to 16,775.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 6.05 points, or 0.3%, to 1,936.16. The NASDAQ composite climbed 13.02 points, or 0.3%, to 4,310.65.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. oil, rose 38 cents to close at $106.91 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, gained 39 cents to close at $113.41 a barrel in London.
GM RECALLING CAMAROS FOR IGNITION SWITCH PROBLEM
DETROIT (AP) -- Ignition switches once again are causing problems for General Motors. This time the company is recalling nearly 512,000 Chevrolet Camaro muscle cars from the 2010 to 2014 model years because a driver's knee can bump the key and knock the switch out of the "run" position, causing an engine stall. That disables the power steering and brakes and could cause drivers to lose control. GM said Friday that it knows of three crashes and four minor injuries from the problem. A spokesman said the air bags did not go off in the crashes, but GM hasn't determined if the non-deployment was caused by the switches.
CHECK, PLEASE: PRICELINE BUYS OPEN TABLE FOR $2.6 BILLION
NEW YORK (AP) -- Priceline has negotiated a $2.6 billion entree into the restaurant business. The global travel booking king announced Friday it is acquiring the OpenTable Inc. in a deal that would put Priceline into a new business doing for restaurant reservations much what it does for hotel bookings. The deal should give Priceline a new way to cater to its increasingly mobile-savvy customers, while parlaying Priceline's global reach to expand OpenTable to other countries.
AMAYA BUYING POKER STARS, FULL TILT OWNER FOR $4.9 BILLION
NEW YORK (AP) -- The owner and operator of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands is selling itself to Amaya Gaming Group Inc. in a $4.9 billion deal that is part of its plan to hopefully return to the U.S. market after a dustup with federal authorities three years ago. PokerStars and Full Tilt ran into some trouble in April 2011 when the U.S government seized their websites and charged executives at the companies and people that move money for them with fraud and money laundering. In July 2012 PokerStars reached a settlement with the Justice Department in which it agreed to pay the government $547 million over three years. At the time the company said that the money was to be used in part to reimburse former U.S. customers of Full Tilt Poker, whose assets PokerStars had acquired.
FCC EXAMINES REASONS FOR INTERNET TRAFFIC JAMS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Federal Communications Commission is setting out to unravel the mystery behind the Internet traffic jams bogging down the delivery of Netflix videos and other online content. The inquiry announced Friday by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will dissect the routes that video and other data travel to reach Internet service providers such as Comcast and Verizon. This crucial handoff of content has gained more attention in recent months as Netflix Inc. and other critics have accused the two Internet service providers of deliberately slowing incoming traffic from websites unwilling to pay for a less congested entry point.
SPAIN PROPS UP SOCCER AMID CRUSHING AUSTERITY
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) -- At the height of Spain's crushing economic crisis, the Villarreal soccer club sported an eye-catching logo across its jerseys: Aeroport Castello. The local government paid the club 20 million euros ($27 million) to promote what was to become Spain's most notorious "ghost airport" — one that hasn't seen a single flight since it opened in 2011. The deal illustrates one of the peculiarities of Spain's meltdown: As austerity measures sap the life from health, education and welfare programs, Spain's soccer teams have been receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in government aid. An Associated Press review of official documents shows that Spain's highly autonomous regions are helping to keep some teams alive through massive direct cash injections. Some politicians and ordinary Spaniards are questioning the generous support amid hospital downsizing, teacher layoffs and chronic delays in payments for needy people.
CHINA HOUSING SLUMP SPARKS FEARS FOR ECONOMY
BEIJING (AP) -- Six months ago, China's housing market was so red-hot that Feng Xiaowei, a sales manager at a real estate agency in the eastern city of Hangzhou, rarely took a day off. Then lending and sales curbs imposed by the government to cool soaring housing costs started to bite and business evaporated. Now Feng and the seven salespeople he supervises spend the day playing cards. China's house prices have marched higher for 15 years, helping to drive an economic boom but making home ownership unaffordable for many families. Now a slump is dragging down economic growth that already was slowing. Some analysts worry banks might be shaken if developers default on loans. The slowdown should fit the Communist Party's ambition to nurture growth based on domestic consumption instead of trade and credit-fueled investment. But the timing is awkward, with demand for China's exports and growth in consumer spending both weaker than expected.
ENDANGERED DELICACY: JAPAN EEL ON SPECIES RED LIST
TOKYO (AP) -- The Japanese eel, a popular summertime delicacy that has become prohibitively expensive due to overfishing, has been put on the international conservation "red list" in a move that may speed up Japan's push for industrial farming of the species. Japan's agriculture minister urged that efforts to boost the eel population be stepped up after the International Union for Conservation of Nature this week designated the Japanese eel as "endangered," or facing a very high risk of extinction. Other species of eel are also facing various levels of threat due to habitat damage and overfishing.
CHEAPER GAS, FOOD PUSH DOWN US PRODUCER PRICES
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The prices U.S. companies receive for their goods and services fell in May, offering evidence that inflation is mild. The producer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services before they reach the consumer, dropped 0.2% last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The decline was driven lower by cheaper food and gas, and follows two months of strong gains that had suggested inflation might be perking up after being dormant for two years. In the past 12 months, producer prices have risen 2%, matching the Federal Reserve's inflation target. That's down from an annual gain of 2.1% in April.
P.F. CHANG’S CONFIRMS CREDIT AND DEBIT CARD BREACH
NEW YORK (AP) -- P.F. Chang's confirmed Friday that data from credit and debit cards used at its restaurants was stolen. The company learned about the security breach on Tuesday from the U.S. Secret Service and began investigating the breach with the agency and a team of forensics experts. While it knows that customers were exposed, it doesn't know how many, when it happened, or which restaurants were affected.
WIRELESS COMPANIES PUT UP MORE ‘STEALTH’ TOWERS
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- One might be hidden in a cross on a church lawn. Others are disguised as a cactus in the desert, a silo in farm country or a palm tree reaching into a sunny sky. Whatever the deception, the goal is the same: concealing the tall, slender cellphone towers that most Americans need but few want to see erected in their neighborhoods. As telecommunications companies fill gaps in their networks, many have sought to camouflage the ungainly outdoor equipment that carries the nation's daily supply of calls, texts and data. It's another indication of how the industry is evolving to meet the demands of consumers who insist on ever-increasing amounts of wireless information but won't tolerate large antennas looming over their homes, parks and other beloved sites.
S & P SEES BETTER TIMES AHEAD FOR UK
SAN FRANCISCO – Standard & Poor’s is brightening its outlook for the United Kingdom amid signs that the country’s economy will continue to grow at a healthy rate through next year. The reassessment issued late Friday recast S&P’s view on the U.K.’s credit rating to “stable” from “negative.” The influential agency also reaffirmed its top-notch “AAA” credit rating. But S&P warned that the rating could be imperiled if Britain leaves the European Union, a move the country’s Conservative Party has pledged to put to a referendum in 2017 if it wins the next general election. Defecting from the European Union would be a significant blow because the U.K. has considerable trade ties to the region and could lose inbound investments, S&P said. For now, S&P sees mostly positive signs. The report foresees the U.K. economy expanding by nearly 3% this year and 2.5% next year. S&P is optimistic about worker productivity and wages increasing. The agency is also encouraged with progress being made on the U.K.’s government budget deficits.
After adding it all up, S&P concluded there is only a one-in-three chance of a credit downgrade during the next two years.
IPOs SCHEDULED TO DEBUT THIS WEEK
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week. Sources include Renaissance Capital, Greenwich, CT (www.renaissancecapital.com) and SEC filings.
Week of June 16:
Ardelyx Inc. – Fremont, Calif., 3.6 million shares, priced $13 to $15, managed by Citigroup and Leerink Partners. Proposed NASDAQ symbol ARDX. Business: Biotech developing small molecule treatments for kidney and gastrointestinal diseases.
Century Communities Inc. – Greenwood Village, Colo., 4.5 million shares, priced $23 to $26, managed by FBR Capital Markets, J.P. Morgan, and Deutsche Bank. Proposed NYSE symbol CCS. Business: Single-family homebuilder primarily in Colorado, as well as Texas and Nevada.
Eclipse Resources Corp. – State College, Pa., 30.3 million shares, priced $27 to $30, managed by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Proposed NYSE symbol ECR. Business: Oil and natural gas E&P operating in the Appalachian Basin.
Foresight Energy LP – St. Louis, Mo., 17.5 million shares, priced $19 to $21, managed by Barclays, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. Proposed NYSE symbol FELP. Business: Spinoff of Foresight Reserves with 3 billion tons of coal reserves in the Illinois basin.
Kite Pharma Inc. – Santa Monica, Calif., 6 million shares, priced $12 to $14, managed by Jefferies, Credit Suisse, and Cowen & Co. Proposed NASDAQ symbol KITE. Business: Clinical stage biotech developing an immunotherapy cancer treatment.
Markit Ltd. – London, U.K., 45.7 million shares, priced 23 to $25, managed by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and Citigroup. Proposed NASDAQ symbol MRKT. Business: Largest provider of bond information and derivatives trade processing.
Microlin Bio Inc. – New York, 2.7 million shares, priced $10 to $12, managed by Brean Capital and Summer Street Research. Proposed NASDAQ symbol MCLB. Business: Development stage diagnostic and therapeutics company focusing on microRNA and its role in oncology. Issue was previously postponed.
Parnell Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd. – Alexandria, Australia, 3.6 million ordinary shares, priced $17 to $19, managed by Jefferies and Piper Jaffray. Proposed NASDAQ symbol PARN. Business: Provides drugs and health software for production and companion animals.
Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. – Waltham, Mass., 4.3 million shares, priced $13 to $15, managed by Deutsche Bank and Jefferies. Proposed Nasdaq symbol SNDX. Business: Late-stage biotech developing a novel therapy for treatment-resistant breast cancer.
Viper Energy Partners LP – Midland, Texas, 5 million common units, priced $19 to $21, managed by Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Wells Fargo. Proposed NASDAQ symbol VNOM. Business: Oil and gas E&P in the Permian Basin spun out of Diamondback Energy.
Zafgen Inc. – Cambridge, Mass., 5 million shares, priced $14 to $16, managed by Leerink Partners and Cowen & Co. Proposed NASDAQ symbol ZFGN. Business: Clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for severe obesity and hunger-related disorders.
ZS Pharma Inc. – Coppell, Texas, 5 million shares, priced $15 to $17, managed by J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse. Proposed NASDAQ symbol ZSPH. Business: Late-stage biotech developing a treatment for excess potassium (hyperkalemia).