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.
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX INCREASED – SEPTEMBER 2013
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The energy index rose 0.8% in September and accounted for about half of the seasonally adjusted all items increase. All the major energy component indexes rose in September. The food index was unchanged, with declines in the indexes for fruits and vegetables and for nonalcoholic beverages offsetting increases in other indexes. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1% in September, the same increase as in August. The shelter and medical care indexes also advanced and accounted for most of this increase. The indexes for new vehicles and for airline fares rose as well, while the apparel and recreation indexes declined. Over the past 12 months, the all items index increased 1.2%.; this was the smallest 12-month increase since April. The index for all items less food and energy has risen 1.7% over the last year with the shelter and medical care indexes both up 2.4%. The food index has risen 1.4%, while the energy index has declined 3.1%.
BRIXMOR GAINS AFTER IPO RAISES $825 MILLION
Brixmor Property Group, Inc (NYSE: BRX), the second-largest U.S. shopping-center landlord, climbed 2% in its trading debut after raising $825 million in an increased initial public offering. Brixmor closed at $20.40 after selling 41.25 million shares yesterday for $20 each, the midpoint of its proposed range of $19 to $21. The property company increased the size of the sale from 37.5 million shares. The proceeds will be used to repay debt, according to a regulatory filing by the New York-based real estate investment trust. Brixmor has 521 shopping centers, which span the country from California to Maine. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities and Barclays are among the lead underwriters for the IPO.
NSA SPYING ON SEARCH ENGINES
WASHINGTON – The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centres around the world, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. A secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, indicates that NSA sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency’s Fort Meade, MD headquarters. In the last 30 days, field collectors had processed and sent back more than 180 million new records — ranging from “metadata,” which would indicate who sent or received emails and when, to content such as text, audio and video, the Post reported Wednesday on its website. The latest revelations were met with outrage from Google, and triggered legal questions, including whether the NSA may be violating federal wiretap laws.
TARGET STORES TO RECONDITION CANADIAN SHOPPERS
TORONTO – Executives at Target Corp. say they will spend next year trying to reshape the habits of Canadian shoppers who have soured to the company’s rollout north of the border. The head of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based retailer told analysts on Wednesday that Target stores in Canada will play a key role in its growth over the next five years, conceding that not everything has gone according to plan. “While initial sales in Canada have fallen well short of expectations, we remain very confident in the long-term potential of these assets,” chief executive Gregg Steinhafel said at an investor event in Toronto.
US DEFICIT FALLS TO $680.3B, FIRST TIME IN 5 YEASR IMBALANCE FALLS BELOW $1 TRILLION
WASHINGTON – Due to the controversial sequestration, for the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion. The government says the deficit for the 2013 budget year totaled a mere $680.3 billion, down from $1.09 trillion in 2012. Revenue jumped 13.3% to $2.77 trillion, reflecting a slightly better economy and higher tax rates. And government spending declined 2.4% to $3.45 trillion, because of the across-the-board spending cuts that took effect in March. That’s the smallest imbalance since 2008, when the government ran a $458.6 billion deficit.
PIMA COUNTY SHUTS DOWN WEB PAGE DISPLAYING WRONG POLLING LOCATIONS AFTER VAIL RESIDENT COMPLAINS
The Pima County Elections Department will take down a web page that displayed the wrong polling places for upcoming election, which will determine whether the community of Vail will become an incorporated town. Pima County consolidated the number of polling locations since the November 2012 election but failed to update their website, according to Pima County Elections Director Brad Nelson. Nelson said a recent mailing to thousands of voters, including more than 7,000 eligible voters in Vail, contains the correct polling information.
Thursday is still the deadline for mailing ballots.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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