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 U.S. stock market finished slightly lower on Wednesday, adding to its losses so far this year. A survey on hiring did little to ease uncertainty about the health of the economy.
Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average climbed 89 points, or 0.6%, to 16,336. The NASDAQ composite climbed 53 points, or 1.3%, to 4,333. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 13 points, or 0.7%, to close at 1,872. Benchmark U.S. crude for April delivery gained $1.62 to $99.70 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was oil’s biggest gain since March 3.
IT’S OFFICIAL ARIZONA IS NOW A PURPLE STATE
Independents have surpassed Republicans as the largest voter bloc in traditionally red Arizona for the first time after years of growth, confirming what many have known for years: A growing number of voters don't want to be associated with either major political party. Of the 3.25 million registered voters in Arizona, nearly 35% are now independent. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced the numbers in a registration report released Monday, based on March 1 data from 15 county recorders. Republicans were a close second, and Democrats saw the largest decrease that of about 29% of registered voters.
GILA BEND NEW SOLAR CAPITAL OF WORLD
Gila Bend officials have embraced solar in their small desert town, turning its 71 square miles into the solar capital of the state, the nation and possibly even the world. This isn’t completely unexpected. A White House energy blog back in 2011 cited Gila Bend’s solar proclivities. The 2,000-resident town will soon have 347 megawatts of solar-generated electricity after a new 32-megawatt utility project is up and running, said Town Manager Fredrick “Rick” Buss. To compare, an average rooftop system is 7 kilowatts. To read full story go here Click Here
BARRA APOLOGIZES FOR DEATH TIED TO RECALLED CARS
DETROIT (AP) — The top executive of General Motors apologized for deaths linked to the delayed recall of 1.6 million small cars, saying the company took too long to tell owners to bring the cars in for repairs. Faced with a crisis just months into the job, CEO Mary Barra has put herself front and center in the company’s efforts to take responsibility for mishandling a defect with ignition switches in small cars, and to ward off a threat to its sales and reputation. She named a new head of global safety, one day after telling employees that GM is pushing to resolve safety issues more quickly.
STOCKS GAIN AFTER REPORTS ON HOUSING, UKRAINE
NEW YORK (AP) — Encouraging news on the economy gave the stock market a boost on Tuesday. Stocks also rose on expectations that the conflict between Russia and the West wouldn’t escalate further. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is preparing to complete the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, but he said Tuesday that he won’t take over other areas of Ukraine. The stock market is recovering this week after logging its biggest weekly drop in almost two months. The S&P 500 has gained 1.7 per cent this week after dropping almost 2 per cent last week on concerns about slowing growth in China and tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
WHAT IF MISSING MALAYSIA PLANE IS NEVER FOUND?
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The plane must be somewhere. But the same can be said for Amelia Earhart’s. Ten days after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people aboard, an exhaustive international search has produced no sign of the Boeing 777, raising an unsettling question: What if the airplane is never found? Such an outcome, while considered unlikely by many experts, would certainly torment the families of those missing. It would also flummox the airline industry, which will struggle to learn lessons from the incident if it doesn’t know what happened. While rare nowadays, history is not short of such mysteries — from the most famous of all, American aviator Earhart, to planes and ships disappearing in the so-called Bermuda Triangle.
WALMART TAKES AIM AT $2B USED VIDEO GAME MARKET
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart plans to start buying used video games from shoppers at stores in a move that goes after the bread-and-butter business of GameStop. Walmart Stores Inc. plans to expand its current online trade-in program by allowing customers to trade their used video games at 3,100 Wal-Mart stores in exchange for credit toward the purchase of other items. The world’s largest retailer is taking aim at the $2 billion used video-game market. It’s a business that’s dominated by GameStop Corp., the world’s biggest dedicated seller of video games with the largest and most-established video game trade-in program.
US CONSUMER PRICES TICK UP JUST 0.1 %
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cheaper energy kept U.S. consumer prices in check last month, despite a big rise in the cost of food, the latest sign that inflation is tame. The consumer price index rose 0.1% in February, matching January’s increase, the Labor Department said Tuesday. In the past 12 months, prices have risen just 1.1%, down from 1.6% in January and the smallest yearly gain in five months. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.1% last month and 1.6% in the past year.
CONCERNS ABOUT CANCER CENTERS UNDER NEW HEALTHCARE LAW
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of America’s best cancer hospitals are off-limits to many of the people now signing up for coverage under the nation’s new health care program. Doctors and administrators say they’re concerned. So are some state insurance regulators. An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington’s insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it’s in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-of-network agreements with two more.
US CEOs’ OPTIMISM ON ECONOMY REACHES 2-YEAR HIGH
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. chief executives have grown more optimistic about economic growth this year, and more of them plan to boost spending and hiring within the next six months. The Business Roundtable said Tuesday that its CEO outlook index rose to 92.1 in the first quarter of this year, the highest level in two years. The index measures chief executives’ expectations for sales, investment spending and hiring. The biggest improvement occurred in investment spending. Nearly half the CEOs surveyed said they plan to invest more in the next six months, up from 39 per cent last quarter. Such spending is typically followed by more hiring as companies expand. The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executives of the 200 largest U.S. companies.
GREECE REACHES LONG DELAYES DEAL ON BAILOUT LOANS
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece concluded seven months of tortuous negotiations with its international debt inspectors Tuesday, reaching a deal that will allow it to access a long-delayed rescue loan installment. The deal does not require Greece to impose any new austerity policies, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras insisted, as he outlined a series of relief measures for the most needy. Greece has depended on its bailout from other European countries and the International Monetary Fund since mid-2010. Payment of the rescue loans depend on the country meeting criteria in spending cuts, tax increases and reforms. Greece’s progress in meeting the targets is reviewed regularly by the debt inspectors, collectively known as the ‘troika’.