Real Estate Daily News Buzz October 30, 2014

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 Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 31.44 points, or 0.2%, to 16,974.31. The S&P 500 fell 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 1,982.30 The Nasdaq composite fell 15.07 points, or 0.3%, to 4,549.23.

Benchmark U.S. oil rose 78 cents to $82.20 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained $1.09 to $87.12 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 2.5 cents to $2.221 a gallon. Heating oil added 4.2 cents to $2.535 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 7.9 cents to $3.728 per 1,000 cubic feet.

LOWE’S INTRODUCES CUSTOMER SERVICE ROBOTICS
Mooresville, N.C. — Lowe’s Innovation Labs will introduce two autonomous retail service robots in an Orchard Supply Hardware store in midtown San Jose, Calif. during the upcoming holiday season to study how robotics technology can benefit customers and employees. Called OSHbot, the robots will assist customers to navigate stores by directing them to specific products and providing real-time information about product promotions and inventory. In the coming months, OSHbot will also be able to communicate with customers in multiple languages and remotely connect with expert employees at other Orchard stores to answer specific project questions. For store employees, OSHbot will provide an additional layer of support by helping customers with simple questions, enabling more time for them to focus on delivering project expertise. Applications designed to support employees also include real-time inventory management and connecting with employees in other locations to share know-how and answer customer questions. “Using science fiction prototyping, we explored solutions to improve customer experiences by helping customers quickly find the products and information they came in looking for,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “As a result we developed autonomous retail service robot technology to be an intuitive tool customers can use to ask for help, in their preferred language, and expect a consistent experience.”

ALIBABA LAUNCHES TAOBAO ONLINE TRAVEL
Beijing, China — Alibaba Group is rebranding its Taobao Travel online travel business as an independent business and brand named “Alitrip.” Alitrip will be another marketplace platform under Alibaba Group with a new independent web domain, www.alitrip.com. Alitrip currently has more than 10,000 merchants on its platform providing airplane tickets, vacation packages, hotel booking services, visa application services and tour guide services. Going forward, Alitrip will focus on four strategic areas, among which mobile and service offerings are its top priorities. The Alitrip mobile app will combine service functionalities including cancellation of previous bookings, booking taxis, and setting up flight seat preferences. In addition, Alitrip will continually develop product and service innovations such as pre-ordering and reserving travel products using interest-generating money market products and checking into hotels without using credit cards for payment guarantee. In order to provide customers with security and convenience, Alitrip will offer no-questions-asked refunds to consumers for tickets or hotel reservations within one hour. Alitrip will also operate a $16 million consumer protection fund through which refunds can be allocated back to its customers right away. Alitrip will be an integral part of Alibaba Group’s ecosystem, offering a wide range of vacation travel products and services from leading travel service providers.

ENTRIES BEING ACCEPTED NOW FOR 20th ANNUAL DOWNTOWN PARADE OF LIGHTS
TUCSON – The Downtown Tucson Partnership invites individual and community entries to join us for the Downtown Parade of Lights, presented by Carondelet St. Mary’s, as we celebrate its 20th year on Saturday, December 20th in the historic Armory Park neighborhood. Join your family, friends, and neighbors in giving the gift of holiday cheer to the over 20,000 smiling spectators that line the streets of Tucson each year. This is your opportunity to shine amongst other floats and merrily decorated vehicles that bring delight to Southern Arizonans of all ages. Neighborhood, youth and community organizations, families, dance and musical ensembles, local businesses, and individuals to demonstrate Tucson’s enthusiasm and community spirit over the coming holiday season are all welcome. Entries must be received no later than Friday, December 5th 2014—late entries will not be considered. Joining the Parade is easier than ever this year – with new online registration, you can become part of this tradition with just a few clicks. Entry fees start at $35, and each entry is eligible to win a cash prize of up to $500. A panel of guest judges will appoint the best entries before the parade begins, allowing each winning entry to display a banner for their award-winning float along the parade route. The award categories are: Grand Marshal’s Award (Best Entry Overall): $500 Award; Pioneer Award (Best Historical or Cultural Theme): $250 Award; Holiday Spirit Award (Best Use of Lights): $250 Award; Harmony Award (Best Musical Group): $250 Award; and Bright Horizon Award (Best Youth Group): $250 Award. The parade will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. on December 20, 2014, illuminating the amity and harmony of the season, while winding its way through the streets of Armory Park. For a photo gallery from the 2013 Parade of Lights or to enter the 2014 Parade of Lights, please visit https://www.downtowntucson.org/visit/parade-of-lights/. For more information, please contact Brandi Haga-Blackman at [email protected]. The Parade of Lights is made possible through the generous support of our community partners, Carondelet St. Mary’s, Mister Car Wash, Tierra Antigua Realty, and Wendy’s.

DURABLE GOODS ORDERS DROP UNEXPECTEDLY IN SEPTEMBER
WASHINGTON — New orders for manufactured durable goods dropped in September on a decline in volatile transportation orders, government data showed Tuesday. New orders fell 1.3% month-over-month to $241.6 billion, the Commerce Department said. Analysts had expected orders to rise a slight 0.6%. The decline followed a steep 18.3% decrease in August, also driven by a sharp fall in transportation orders. Excluding transportation equipment, orders slipped 0.2% in September. Transportation orders slid 3.7%, led by a 16.1% dive in civilian aircraft orders. “The weak September report on the demand for long-lasting (durable) goods suggests that the darkening world economic and geopolitical picture is having an impact on already fragile business and consumer confidence. ” said Cliff Waldman, director of economic studies at the MAPI Foundation, the research affiliate of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. “While year-over-year, year-to-date gains remain moderate, short-term weakening is the key concern in the context of a slipping world economy whose negative impact is augmented by an unusual burden of global political and military instability,” Waldman added. However there is some optimism. “The longer-term trend remains a positive one, much as it was for retail spending, ” said Chad Moutray, chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers. ” Over the course of the past 12 months, durable goods orders have risen 3.3%, which is a decent pace. And spending is moving in the right direction as well.

FED ENDS BOND BUYING AND CITES BRIGHTER JOB MARKET
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cited an improving economy Wednesday as it ended its landmark bond-buying program and pointed to gains in the job market — a key condition for an eventual interest rate hike. The Fed did reiterate its plan to maintain its benchmark short-term rate near zero “for a considerable time.” Most economists predict it won’t raise that rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, before mid-2015.

WHAT IS ORBITAL SCIENCES?
NEW YORK (AP) — NASA pays it billions. Its rockets sport mythical names like Minotaur and Pegasus. And its $2 billion deal to resupply the International Space Station had gone well — until this week. Aerospace company Orbital Sciences Corp. suffered a big failure late Tuesday when one of its unmanned rocket bound for the station exploded moments after liftoff. That rocket was Orbital’s newest model, Antares, which had its first mission in 2013. The launch pad failure is a setback for a company with a 30-year history in private spaceflight, including 42 successful missions on its Pegasus small-payload rockets since 1990. The explosion also comes at a delicate time for the company, which is closing a $5 billion merger with defense contractor ATK.

SMALL BUSINESS DIVIDED OVER MINIMUM WAGE VOTES
NEW YORK (AP) — Workers in five states could get a raise after Election Day. Some small business owners say raising the minimum wage will pressure their companies, forcing them to cut employees’ hours or jobs. Others say it’s the right thing to do for workers and the economy. Minimum wage referendums are on Tuesday’s ballots in Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, where minimums range from $6.25 to $8.25 an hour. Some small business owners say raising the minimum wage will force them to cut employees’ hours or jobs. Higher minimums were already approved this year in 10 states, the District of Columbia and Seattle.

AP IMPACT: US HEALTH CARE UNPREPARED FOR EBOLA
The U.S. health care apparatus is so unprepared and short on resources to deal with the deadly Ebola virus that even small clusters of cases could overwhelm parts of the system, according to an Associated Press review of readiness at hospitals and other components of the emergency medical network. Experts broadly agree that a widespread outbreak across the country is extremely unlikely, but they also concur that it is impossible to predict with certainty, since previous Ebola epidemics have been confined to remote areas of Africa. And Ebola is not the only possible danger that causes concern; experts say other deadly infectious diseases — ranging from airborne viruses such as SARS, to an unforeseen new strain of the flu, to more exotic plagues like Lassa fever — could crash the health care system.

HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL DOUBTS EASE FOR INSURERS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — What a difference a year makes. The nation’s biggest health insurers entered last fall cautious about a major coverage expansion initiated by the health care overhaul, the federal law that aims to cover millions of uninsured people. Investors and company executives were worried because they didn’t know how expensive new customers from the overhaul would be for insurers. They also were concerned about added costs from the law and funding cuts to government-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans, a key growth area. But a year later, these challenges are starting to appear manageable, and investors see much less uncertainty ahead for the sector. Insurers have cut costs and raised prices to help mitigate added expenses from the law. They’ve also added new business.

WORLD BANK: CHINA NEEDS REFORM, NOT GROWTH TARGETS
BEIJING (AP) — China’s growth could decline to close to 7% next year but Beijing should focus on overhauling its economy instead of trying to stick to official growth targets, the World Bank said Wednesday. To avoid a sharper slowdown, Beijing needs to promote competition and efficiency by reforming its labor and real estate markets and its state-run financial system, the Washington-based lender said in a report. Trying to stick to short-term official targets might set that back by prompting officials to pump credit into the economy and disrupt the development of markets, said the report’s chief author, economist Karlis Smits.