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 Dow Jones Industrial average fell 5.01 points, or 0.03% to close at 15,440.23 Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 3.56 points, or 0.2% to 1,751.64. The NASDAQ slipped 19.97 points, or 0.5%, to 4,011.55. Benchmark oil for March delivery rose 19 cents to $97.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH STOCK MARKET?
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a skeptics’ market now. Just three weeks after stocks reached all-time highs, the market has turned volatile and investors have gone from cheerful to suspicious. They’re worried about reports of slowing growth in the world’s largest economies, disappointed by earnings that never seem good enough and concerned about the stock market’s frequent triple-digit swings. It isn’t a surprise to most money managers, who expected this year would be rougher after last year’s almost 30-per cent surge. No stock market can go straight up. But the fact that the volatility started so early caught some investors by surprise. Even with major indexes down 5 per cent or more, there is room for optimism. There’s no sign the economy will backtrack into a stock-killing recession and any big stock-market drop is unlikely to last long.
US STOCKS END DOWN SLIGHTLY, BUT CUT LOSSES
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street took a step backward Wednesday. Then a tiny step forward. Then back. The tentative dance amounted to little change for major U.S. stock indexes, which ended the day just below their prior day’s levels. For the week, stocks remained down, extending the sharp downturn for the year. Stocks were down in premarket trading and continued to slide for much of the day. A survey on U.S. hiring did little to ease uncertainty over the health of the American economy. Many investors remain leery, waiting to see if upcoming economic reports and company earnings will show that the U.S. economic recovery is on track.
RADIO SHACK TO CLOSE 500 STORES
Radio Shack Corp told us on Super Bowl Sunday that it knows it needs to change. And now comes news that the company will close about 500 of its stores nationwide. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company rolled out an entertaining and popular Super Bowl that showed favorite characters from the ’80s dismantling a Radio Shack store. The theme was “The 80s called and wants your store back”. The Wall Street Journal now reports that the company will plan a restructuring and close hundreds of its 4,300 locations. It’s not clear where the closures will happen or when they will take place.
CVS CAREMARK PLANS TO STOP TOBACCO PRODUCTS
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) — CVS, the nation’s second-largest drugstore chain, is kicking the habit of selling tobacco products as it continues to shift its focus toward being more of a health care provider. The company said Wednesday that it will phase out cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco by Oct. 1 in its 7,600 stores nationwide, in a move that will help grow its business that works with doctors, hospitals and others to improve customers’ health. The move is the latest evidence of a big push in the drugstore industry that has been taking place over several years. Major drugstore chains have been adding in-store clinics and expanding their health care offerings. Their pharmacists deliver flu shots and other immunizations, and their clinics now manage chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes and treat relatively minor problems like sinus infections.
WAS MICROSOFT SMART TO PLAY SAFE WITH CEO PICK?
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After compiling a list of more than 100 CEO candidates, Microsoft settled on Satya Nadella a home-grown leader who joined the software maker in the early 1990s. That’s back when Google’s founders were teenagers and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in elementary school. Tuesday’s hiring of Nadella as Microsoft’s CEO after a five-month search is a safe move that’s likely to be greeted with sighs of relief around the company’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters, industry analysts say. But the methodical, almost predictable decision is likely to reinforce perceptions that Microsoft Corp. is a plodding company reluctant to take risks as it competes against younger rivals who relish going out on a limb.
TWITTER STOCK DIPS ON USER GROWTH WORRIES
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations in its first quarter as a public company. But investors were looking for even more — including faster user growth — and the company’s stock dipped as much as 12 per cent in after-hours trading Wednesday. Twitter reported a loss of $511 million, or $1.41 per share, in the October-December quarter. That compares with a loss of $8.7 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 2 cents per share. Twitter’s revenue more than doubled to $243 million from $112 million. Analysts, on average, had expected an adjusted loss of 2 cents per share and revenue of $218.1 million, according to FactSet.
COCA-COLA TO LET PEOPLE MAKE ITS DRINKS AT HOME
NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola is looking to tap into a new market, with plans to let customers make its sodas and other drinks at home. The world’s biggest beverage maker said Wednesday that it’s buying a 10 per cent stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. for $1.25 billion as part of an agreement to bring its brands into the fast-growing at-home market. Green Mountain is known for its single-serve coffee makers, but is developing a machine for cold drinks as well. The deal comes as SodaStream makes an aggressive push to make its at-home carbonation machines a fixture in U.S. kitchens. The Israeli company has touted its machines as a cheaper, more environmentally friendly alternative to buying Coke and Pepsi drinks.
SURVEY: US COMPANIES ADD 175,000 JOBS IN JANUARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows that businesses added jobs at a modest pace in January, a sign that hiring may have rebounded after a disappointing figure in December. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 175,000 jobs last month. That’s down from 227,000 in December, which was revised lower. But it was much better than the government’s official figure of just 74,000 new jobs in December. The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and often diverge from the government’s more comprehensive report. In December its figure was much higher than the official count. The job gains in ADP’s report, while lower than in December, are in line with average monthly hiring for the past two years.
US SERVICE SECTOR EXPANDS ON GAIN IN NEW ORDERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service companies expanded at a slightly faster pace in January. New orders, sales and hiring showed strength in a sign that financial firms, retailers and information technology companies foresee stronger growth. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its service-sector index rose to 54 from 53 in December. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The improvement points to continued economic gains for the service industry, despite some challenges posed by freezing temperatures and winter storms last month.
PUERTO RICO TO CUT BUDGETS, RENEGOTIATE LOANS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican officials on Wednesday rushed to propose new measures aimed at boosting the island’s economy and appeasing bondholders a day after credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. territory’s debt to junk status. Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he is renegotiating loans for which payments are now due earlier because of the downgrade, and he has ordered all government agencies to reduce their current budgets 2 per cent, except for the island’s education department. He also submitted legislation to cut an additional $170 million from the current budget, hoping to reduce the deficit to $75 million.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL PRESENTED WITH BUDGET FORECAST FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR
TUCSON – Tucson City Manager Richard Miranda and his budget staff yesterday told Mayor and Council the City faces a $33.2 million dollar shortfall for Fiscal Year 2015, if current conditions and policies remain the same. Since it’s still early in the budget process, Miranda didn’t offer details on where cuts would need to be made, but he said City staff has evaluated 174 City programs and services to determine how critical they are and how much they can be cut. He said some City programs have become outdated or inefficient.
View the PowerPoint of the budget presentation: https://1.usa.gov/1namqay
GEM SHOW VENDORS SAY BUSINESS IS STEADY
TUCSON – Many vendors at the Tucson, Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase say they are happy with the pace of sales. The shows are being held at various locations, through Feb. 16. Visit Tucson estimates the shows pump about $100 million into Tucson’s economy. GemRide shuttles offer free rides between shows from 33 locations. Parking is available at six City of Tucson parking garages and surface lots in Downtown Tucson.
SILVER ALERT COULD COME TO ARIZONA
PHOENIX – In a variation of Amber Alerts for missing children, Arizona soon could join 15 other states in developing a system for missing vulnerable adults. The Arizona Senate passed a bill to create a Silver Alert system, sending the bill to the Arizona House. If the House approves the measure, it would go to Gov. Jan Brewer for her signature.
STUDY SHOWS LIFE EXPECTANCY IN UNITED STATES DEPENDS ON STATE
A mapping of state data shows a varying degree of life expectancy, depending on where you live. A report in The Atlantic shows the average age of death in Arizona is 79.6, matching statistics from Chile. The report breaks down each state and compares it to different countries. On average, American life expectancy is roughly 79.8 years. The United States ranks 35th in the world, nestled between Costa Rica and Chile. There’s profound variation by state, from a low of 75 years in Mississippi to a high of 81.3 in Hawaii. Possible factors cited in the disparity include diet, environment, medical care, education and access to doctors and healthy food.
From The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/Lw24fH
NEED HELP STARTING OR EXPANDING A BUSINESS IN TUCSON? JUST CALL..
TUCSON – The City of Tucson’s Small Business Assistance Line, (520) 837-4100, is available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Help is available in both English and Spanish. Staff from the City Manager’s Office of Economic Initiatives answer the calls. The Small Business Assistance Line is one of a number of City initiatives, along with 21 new business incentives, streamlined permit processes and more, to make the City of Tucson more business-friendly. Small Business Assistance Line: https://1.usa.gov/1lxR1kn
