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 Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slid 116.81 points, or 0.7%, to 17,055.87. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 11.52 points, or 0.6%, to 1,982.77 and the NASDAQ composite fell 19 points, or 0.4%, to 4,508.69.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 69 cents to close at $91.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 12 cents to close at $96.85 on the ICE Futures exchange in London, reaching its lowest level since June of 2012. Wholesale gasoline rose 4.4 cents to close at $2.629 a gallon. Heating oil fell 0.4 cent to close at $2.683 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3.4 cents to close at $3.816 per 1,000 cubic feet.
ARIZONA GETS 3 NEW SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATES FOR CHARITIES
PHOENIX – Three new specialty license plates to help personalize and customize your vehicle are now available from the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division. The new plates include a Girls Youth Organization plate to support the Girl Scouts; an Arizona Motorsports Commemorative plate for Phoenix International Raceway; and a redesigned Phoenix Suns plate. Like many of Arizona’s specialty license plates, these three support specific charities. Funds raised by the Girls Youth Organization license plate will provide enriching experiences in Arizona’s Girl Scouts program. Funds raised by the Phoenix International Raceway license plate will go to Motorsports Charities to provide resources and charitable support for children through education, medical treatment, dream experiences and volunteerism. The redesigned Phoenix Suns plate will continue to support Phoenix Suns Charities for youth education and development, college scholarship programs and community development. The license plates have an annual fee of $25 for a non-personalized plate and $50 for a personalized plate, with $17 going to support the charities. Vehicle owners can purchase the new plates at any MVD or Authorized Third Party office location or online at ServiceArizona.com.
CADILLAC TO DITCH DETROIT FOR TRENDY NYC ADDRESS
DETROIT (AP) — Cadillac wants a jolt from the city that never sleeps. General Motors’ 112-year-old luxury car division, founded in Detroit and named for the city’s founder, is moving its headquarters to New York. Cadillac, which has been steadily losing sales to its German rivals, wants to get closer to its ideal buyers. Executives and marketing staffers will set up shop in a loft office in Manhattan’s trendy SoHo neighbourhood starting next year. Cadillac will become a separate business unit, giving it more freedom to chase global growth. Most product engineering and design will remain in Detroit. Cadillacs will continue to be built at plants in Michigan, Texas, Canada, Mexico and China.
FDA WARNS DOCTORS TO BEWARE FAKE DRUG DISTRIBUTORS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators are trying to help doctors spot counterfeit and unapproved drugs by raising awareness of illegal operations that peddle bogus drugs to health professionals. Federal prosecutors have recently uncovered rogue companies distributing foreign versions of Botox, fake cancer drugs and other unapproved or contaminated medicines in the U.S. Often those operations will entice physicians by faxing “too good to be true” flyers that offer 75 per cent or more off pricey injectable drugs. Beginning Tuesday the FDA will push back with its own educational campaign, faxing flyers to physicians across the country on how to recognize bogus offers and counterfeit drugs.
MESSAGING APP SEEKS TO BRING VOICES BACK TO PHONES
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Longtime technology guru Ray Ozzie wants to bring back the emotions of the human voice to phones. His mission began more than two years ago as Ozzie noticed people were increasingly communicating through texts, emails and social media posts instead of calling each other. Ozzie, 58, Microsoft’s former chief software architect, hopes to orchestrate voice’s comeback through Talko, a mobile application being released Tuesday for the iPhone. A version for Android phones is expected in a few months. Talko sends the equivalent of text messages in the form of a spoken word. Talko users can record a voice message and send it over the Internet to anyone else with the app. Recipients listen to the recording when it’s convenient, rather than being interrupted by a traditional phone call.
EUROZONE SURVEY SIGNALS WARNING GROWTH
LONDON (AP) — Further evidence emerged Tuesday to show that the 18-country eurozone economy is failing to find any renewed momentum despite a raft of stimulus measures from the European Central Bank. In its monthly survey, financial information company Markit said its purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone — a closely watched gauge of business activity — fell to a nine-month low of 52.3 in September from the previous month’s 52.5. It blamed the crisis in Ukraine, the related tit-for-tat sanctions between the West and Russia and a general sense of pessimism about the eurozone economy’s plight. Though anything above 50 indicates expansion, that’s largely due to an improvement in Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Germany, according to Markit, appears to have recovered at least some of the ground it lost in the spring and early summer.
WIND POWER PROPOSED TO SUPPLY LOS ANGELES AREA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An $8 billion project to supply the Los Angeles area with large amounts of electricity from a wind farm in Wyoming via an energy storage facility in Utah was proposed Tuesday by four companies. The Wyoming and Utah sites would be linked by a $2.6 billion, 525-mile transmission line that would traverse Colorado, and the power would be sent on to California through an existing, 490-mile transmission line, the group said in a statement. The electricity would be enough to serve 1.2 million homes, the statement said. Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy, Magnum Energy, Dresser-Rand and Duke-American Transmission Co. said they plan to formally submit the proposal to the Southern California Public Power Authority by early 2015.
US, CALIFORNIA RELEASE ROADMAP FOR SOLAR PROJECTS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — State and federal officials sought Tuesday to bring order to California’s boom for renewable-energy plants in the Mojave and other southern California deserts, releasing a roadmap covering 22.5 million acres that designates some areas for large-scale solar, wind and geothermal plants and others for conservation of desert habitat and animals. By taking a look at the desert as a whole, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said, the plan’s designers are ensuring “the areas that should be protected are set aside. The areas that should be developed are streamlined” for building utility-scale renewable energy plants.
CF INDUSTRIES, YARA IN TALKS ON POSSIBLE MERGER
DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — CF Industries is in preliminary talks with Norway’s Yara International about a possible merger that would create a mammoth player in the fertilizer industry. The combined company would have a market capitalization of more than $26 billion, second only to Potash Corp. of Canada. However, it would have annual sales of about $20 billion, almost three times that of Potash. Yara International ASA confirmed the talks Tuesday, but both companies say there is no guarantee that a deal will be completed. Producing fertilizer is an extremely energy-intensive process and natural gas is a huge feedstock in the industry. A tie-up with CF Industries Holdings Inc., based in Deerfield, Illinois, could give Yara easier access to cheap U.S. natural gas supplies. And merger talks between the two are occurring in the midst of a global agricultural boom.
COKE, PEPSI PLEDGE TO REDUCE CALORIE CONSUMPTION
NEW YORK (AP) — Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper said Tuesday that they’ll work to reduce the calories Americans get from beverages by 20 per cent over the next decade by more aggressively marketing smaller sizes, bottled water and diet drinks. The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative and comes as the country’s three biggest soda makers face pressure over the role of sugary drinks in fueling obesity rates. In many ways, the commitment follows the way customers’ tastes are already changing: People have been moving away from soda on their own for several years. In response, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. have been pushing smaller cans and bottles, which tend to be more profitable and are positioned as a way to control portions. They’ve also rolled out flavored versions of Dasani and Aquafina, respectively, as demand for bottled water has grown.
US CLAMPDOWN ON TAX MANOUEVER LEAVES ITS MARK
NEW YORK (AP) — A handful of big companies pursuing overseas mergers to lower their tax bills came under pressure Tuesday after the U.S. unveiled rules to discourage them. The Treasury Department announced new regulations on Monday aimed at making these so-called inversion deals less lucrative. In a typical deal, an American company buys a foreign firm based in a country with a lower tax rate, then moves its headquarters overseas. Drug companies in Ireland and the U.K. have been popular targets. The pharmaceutical company AbbVie, based in Chicago, reached an agreement to buy Dublin-based Shire in July for $54 billion. Shares of both companies sank in Tuesday trading. AbbVie Inc. lost 2 per cent in New York trading, while Shire sank 2 per cent in London.
TUCSON POLICE WARNING OF MULTIPLE PHONE SCAMS
TUCSON - The Tucson Police Department (TPD) Financial Crimes Unit is urging people to be skeptical about unsolicited phone calls regarding alleged past due payments. There are various scams in which the caller claims to be from the IRS, Tucson Electric Power, the courts, and other public and private entities. The consistent link is that the scammers will claim to need payment quickly or consequences will occur, such as tax liens, shutting off power, or an arrest warrant. The callers will usually request payment through prepaid cash cards which can be obtained at various local merchants. They request the numbers on the front and back, at which point the money becomes extremely difficult to recover. If you get a call demanding payment, TPD asks you to confirm your account status by calling the business or agency directly at any of the publicly available numbers. Do not use a number provided by the caller. Read the warning on TPD Facebook page: https://on.fb.me/1CbhYBF
BABY ELEPHANT PUTS ON MUD SHOW FOR ZOO VISITORS
TUCSON - She's only been on the main exhibit since Friday, but Reid Park Zoo's baby elephant calf is already a crowd pleaser. Yesterday, the month-old baby decided to have some fun playing in the mud, and Tucson 12 caught it on video (link below). It's already a big week for the baby, as the public voting on a name for her ended at noon today. The winning name - "Imvula (Immie)" or "Nandi" - will be announced Thursday in the Arizona Daily Star. Online polling at the Arizona Daily Star (link below) offers two name choices for the calf: “Imvula (Immie)” and “Nandi.” The winning name will be announced next Thursday.
Vote online here before Thursday: https://bit.ly/1uKvkS2
Watch Tucson 12 video of the elephant playing in mud: https://bit.ly/1uebSPU
COX EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP TO HELP LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS TUCSON - Cox Communications says it will continue its partnership with Connect2Compete to provide discount high-speed Internet service to low-income families who meet eligibility requirements. Some of those requirements include having a child eligible for free lunches through the National School Lunch Program, and not having been a Cox customer for 90 days (with no outstanding bills or equipment). The national discount program was launched in Tucson earlier this year. Cox is promoting the program to certain agencies and school districts in Southern Arizona. A public information session will be available Oct. 25 at Hope Fest, at Kino Stadium.
Connect2Compete: https://bit.ly/1oe3YPp
Cox Communications: https://bit.ly/1hgRusl