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.
Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 9.82 points, less than 0.1%, to 16,937.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.26 of a point, less than 0.1%, to close at 1,962.61. The NASDAQ composite index rose 0.64 of a point to 4,368.68.
Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery dropped 66 cents to $106.17 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 69 cents to $114.12 a barrel in London.
REFUND OF ILLEGAL TAX COLLECTION FOR SOUTH TUCSON TAXPAYERS UNCERTAIN
SOUTH TUCSON - The City of South Tucson collected about $1.8 million from its residents over the past three years, even though it has been determined that the secondary property tax collection was illegal, because it wasn't submitted to voters for approval. Although the Pima County Treasurer’s Office collected South Tucson’s secondary property tax and the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved the tax valuations and assessments, neither had the legal responsibility to check that the City received the required approval from voters. The budget the South Tucson City Council approved Wednesday ended the tax, but elected officials and administrators stopped short of calling for refunds to taxpayers. The $10.2 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes several tax and fee increases to compensate for the approximately $600,000 hole created by eliminating the secondary property tax.
HOME SALES STRONG ON TUCSON'S SOUTHSIDE
TUCSON - Three southside ZIP codes registered the highest percentage of homes sold in May that were on the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (TARMLS). The Association reports home sales were highest in the ZIP Codes of 85706, with 48.8 percent of listings sold, 85756 at 47.3 percent, and 85746 at 34.6 percent. A contributing factor could be price, TARMLS President Kim Clifton said, pointing to declining May sales in higher-priced Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita. From Arizona Public Media: https://bit.ly/1jJvCkX TARMLS: https://bit.ly/1qF1ZbT
NI HAO, Y’ALL. US HINTERLANDS WOO CHINESE FIRMS
PINE HILL, Ala. (AP) — Burdened with Alabama’s highest unemployment rate, long abandoned by textile mills and furniture plants, Wilcox County desperately needs jobs. They’re coming, and from a most unlikely place: Henan Province, China, 7,600 miles away. Henan’s Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group opened a plant here last month. It will employ more than 300 in a county known less for job opportunities than for lakes filled with bass, pine forests rich with wild turkey and boar and muddy roads best negotiated in four-wheel-drive trucks. What’s happening in Pine Hill is starting to happen across America. After decades of siphoning jobs from the United States, China is creating some. Chinese companies invested a record $14 billion in the United States last year, according to the Rhodium Group research firm. Collectively, they employ more than 70,000 Americans, up from virtually none a decade ago.
IRAQ UPHEAVAL THREATENS OIL DEVELOPMENT PLANS
BAGHDAD (AP) — The turmoil in Iraq has thrown the OPEC member’s ambitious plans to boost oil production into doubt, threatening to crimp its most vital economic lifeline. Northern oil fields imperiled by the militants’ advance have been shut down, and companies have begun evacuating workers elsewhere in the country. Iraq’s Kurdish minority has moved to solidify control over the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk and other disputed areas, weakening Baghdad’s claims to the energy riches buried beneath while bolstering the Kurds’ aspirations of greater autonomy. The heart of Iraq’s oil industry is in the mainly Shiite south, which so far has been spared this month’s advance by militants led by the al-Qaida spin-off group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
US JUSTICES RAP AGENCY, BU UPHOLD WARMING RULES
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court largely left intact Monday the Obama administration’s only existing program to limit power plant and factory emissions of the gases blamed for global warming. But a divided court also rebuked environmental regulators for taking too much authority into their own hands without congressional approval. The justices said in a 5-4 vote along ideological lines that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot apply a permitting provision of the Clean Air Act to new and expanded power plants, refineries and factories solely because they emit greenhouse gases. The decision underscores the limits of using the Clean Air Act to deal with greenhouse gases and the administration’s inability to get climate change legislation through Congress.
SPECIAL MASTER APPOINTED FOR ARGENTINA DEBT TALKS
NEW YORK (AP) — A special master was appointed Monday to preside over negotiations between Argentina representatives and U.S. bondholders aimed at ending a long battle over $1.5 billion in debts. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan appointed Daniel A. Pollack to conduct and preside over the talks. Pollack is a Harvard Law School-trained litigator with decades of experience in financial cases. The appointment came after a lawyer for Argentina, Carmine Boccuzzi Jr., said in a letter to the judge that Argentina “wants to emerge from the litigation that has burdened both it and the courts.”
AUTOMAKERS TO RECALL AIR BAGS IN HUMID PARTS OF US
DETROIT (AP) — Faulty air bags — which have already led to the recall of millions of cars worldwide — are blamed for a new round of recalls in the U.S. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the government’s auto safety agency, said Monday that BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota will recall cars sold in places where hot, humid weather can potentially affect the air bags. The older-model cars have air bag inflators that can rupture. If that happens, the air bags might not work properly in a crash, and shards from the broken system could fly out and cause injury. The automakers all have air bag systems made by Takata Corp., a Tokyo-based supplier of seat belts, air bags, steering wheels and other auto parts.
STOCKS SLIP BELOW RECORDS, FMC FALLS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell for the first time in seven days, ending a run that had pushed the indexes to all-time highs, as investors assessed corporate news. Chemical company FMC fell the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after cutting its earnings forecast for the second quarter due because its Agricultural Solutions unit performed worse than expected in the period. General Electric and Wisconsin Energy both dropped after announcing acquisitions. The stock market has climbed steadily in the last two months amid signs that the economy has recovered its momentum after being disrupted by an unusually harsh winter. Stronger growth should translate into higher corporate profits.
WHITE HOUSE BACKS EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and an influential pair of business organizations called for renewal of the Export-Import Bank on Monday, one day after newly elected House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said the agency should be phased out. The bank’s existence is fast emerging as a flashpoint in the internal Republican struggle between the business-backed establishment and tea party groups. Asked about McCarthy’s comments, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the bank “helps American companies create and support jobs here at home at no cost to taxpayers” and traditionally has enjoyed bipartisan support as a result. The bank also returned $1 billion to the Treasury in the last budget year.
ALLERGAN TELLS SHAREHOLDERS TO REJECT VALEANT DEAL
NEW YORK (AP) — Allergan, the maker of Botox, said Monday that Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ hostile takeover bid for the company is “grossly inadequate” and that shareholders should reject it. Allergan said the $53 billion bid from Valeant undervalues the company and is not in the best interest of Allergan’s shareholders. Valeant, a Canadian drugmaker, first offered to buy Irvine, California-based Allergan Inc. in April, and has increased its original bid of about $45.6 billion several times, only to be rejected. Valeant teamed up with activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management for the bid.
OBAMA ENCOURAGING FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORK POLICIES
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns. The president is talking about paid maternity in the midst of a midterm election campaign focused on women voters, raising questions about how he would fund such a system. “If France can figure this out, we can figure this out,” Obama said. While some companies offer paid family leave to attract workers, the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act only requires that employers provide unpaid leave for medical and family reasons.
WISCONSIN ENERGY BUYING INTEGRYS FOR $5.8 BILLION
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Wisconsin Energy Corp. is buying Integrys Energy Group Inc. for about $5.8 billion in cash and stock to form a more diverse Midwest electric and natural gas delivery company. The combined company will be called WEC Energy Group Inc. and serve more than 4.3 million total gas and electric customers across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. The transaction will combine Wisconsin Energy’s electric and gas utility, We Energies, with Integrys’ electric and gas utilities, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Minnesota Energy Resources and Michigan Gas Utilities. WEC Energy will hold a 60 per cent stake in American Transmission Co.
EL TOUR RECRUITING CHILDREN TO BICYCLE FOR HEALTH
TUCSON - The Jr. El Tour Youth Cycling program is putting together a coed team of children between the ages of 10 - 12 who are interested in cycling to improve their health. Priority will be given to children who are in need, overweight, not very active, or at risk for health problems. The kids will learn cycling techniques, safety, sports nutrition, and exercise. Training sessions are three times per week for the first 12 weeks, culminating in a 40-mile ride in the El Tour de Tucson bicycle event in November. Jr. El Tour is a nonprofit program of the Perimeter Bicycling Association and is supported by grants and donations. Participation is free for those accepted into the program. Registration details are at the Jr. El Tour link below. Perimeter Bicycling: https://bit.ly/1uXPrKn Jr. El Tour: https://bit.ly/1ny8iHW