Tag: Bonds

October 13 – October 19, 2017

The corporate drug industry has had many friends in Washington D.C. until now… Amazon is taking over the package room of your apartment building. China’s property boom unlikely to end anytime soon.

Headlines

Economist – The Philippine army recaptures a city seized by Muslim insurgents 10/17. After 5 months, the Philippine forces of President Rodrigo Duterte took back the city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao.

FT – Wanda golf courses closed in China austerity push 10/15. The two courses are in the $3bn Changbaishan resort in Fusong. The why – because new courses were banned in 2004; however, many developers were able to work their way around the rules…until now.

NYT – Kobe Steel Problems May Be More Widespread, Raising Fears on High-Speed Rail 10/12. So about that falsified data…we…didn’t…quite…tell…you…about…all…of…it…sorry.

WSJ – Nordstrom Family Suspends Effort to Take Retailer Private 10/16. That’s how strong the narrative is right now against the retail industry, even the Nordstrom family is having difficulty finding investors to fund the debt of the acquisition (despite the world being awash in cash and the tight spreads on high yield products).

WSJ – Hedge Fund Maverick Capital Debuts 0% Performance Fees 10/19. After losing 10% in 2016 and being down 2% so far this year (mind you that the market is up over the same time period), Maverick is offering some investors a 0% performance fee and 1% management fee on new money for its “recovery shares”.

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

A Teachable Moment – Generation Kill – Anthony Isola 10/16

  • “Young people are killing their chances of building wealth.”

A Wealth of Common Sense – How to Invest At All-Time Highs – Ben Carlson 10/18

  • “The S&P 500 Index has recorded more than 150 new all-time highs since eclipsing its previous peak in late March of 2013. In 2017 alone, there have been 30 new record highs through the end of last week. To put this into perspective, there were only 13 new highs for the entire decade of the 2000s.”

BuzzFeed – Watching Harvey Weinstein Fall, Trump’s Accusers Feel Frustrated – Kendall Taggart & Jessica Garrison 10/14

Economist – Crafty app developers are ripping off big-name brands 10/12

  • Be careful which apps you load onto your phones.

FT – Under Xi Jinping, China is turning back to dictatorship – Jamil Anderlini 10/10

  • “The rejection of ‘western’ political systems has been made easier recently by what the Chinese see as the ludicrous buffoonery of Donald Trump and, to a lesser extent, the self-inflicted damage of Brexit and EU infighting.”
  • “As a top foreign policy adviser recently told one of my colleagues: ‘Trump never talks about democracy or American leadership or liberty — we should not be so stupid to worship things that in the western world are now in doubt.’”
  • Be cautious in your use of ‘private’ messaging services such as WeChat. Big brother is watching.

FT – Hollywood’s masculinity problem – the full picture – Kate Muir 10/12

FT – The implications of shelving the Aramco IPO – Nick Butler 10/14

FT – The disruptive power of renewables – Nick Butler 10/15

NYT – Stranded by Maria, Puerto Ricans Get Creative to Survive – Caitlin Dickerson 10/16

NYT – Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded – Barry Meier 10/17

  • Another example of the power of peer pressure and social learning.

Project Syndicate – The Psychology of Superstar Sex Predators – Raj Persaud & Peter Bruggen 10/19

The Guardian – Meet the new class traitors who are coming out as rich – Alissa Quart 10/16

The New Yorker – Carl Ichan’s Failed Raid on Washington – Patrick Radden Keefe 8/28

Perspective

How Much – The Largest Industry In Each State by GDP – Raul 10/9

WEF – Tech Insider: World Forecasted Population Growth – Gerald Chirinda 10/11

How Much – Can you Retire on $1 Million? Here is How Long You Can Survive in Every State… – Raul 10/12

Top 5 Friendly States for Retirement

  1. Mississippi  – $1 million lasts 25 yrs 6 months
  2. Arkansas – $1 million lasts 25 yrs
  3. Tennessee – $1 million lasts 24 yrs 5 months
  4. Kansas – $1million lasts 24 yrs 5 months
  5. Oklahoma – $1million lasts 24 yrs 4 months

Top 5 least Friendly States for Retirement

  1. Hawaii – $1 million lasts 13 yrs 1 months
  2. District of Columbia – $1 million lasts 14 yrs 2 months
  3. California – $ 1million lasts 15 yrs
  4. Oregon – $1 million lasts 16 yrs 7 months
  5. New York – $1 million lasts 16 yrs 7 months

VC – The Global Leaders in R&D Spending, by Country and Company – Jeff Desjardins 10/13

Pew – Share of counties where whites are a minority has doubled since 1980 – Drew Desilver 7/1/15

How Much – Best US Cities for Families to Save Money – Raul 10/16

The Best Places for Families to Save Money

  1. Spokane, WA; +$83,400
  2. Henderson, NV; +$59,100
  3. North Las Vegas, NV; +$56,600
  4. Las Vegas, NV; +$55,900
  5. Reno, NV; +$48,800

The Worst Places for Families to Save Money

  1. San Francisco, CA; -$62,300
  2. New York, NY; -$54,100
  3. Boston, MA; -$34,000
  4. Washington DC; -$22,200
  5. Philadelphia, PA; -$9,100

VC – How Many Hours Americans Need to Work to Pay Their Mortgage – Jeff Desjardins 10/17

The Republic – Phoenix is getting hotter – and so is the danger – Brandon Loomis 10/18

Pew – Amid decline in international adoptions to U.S., boys outnumber girls for the first time – Abby Budiman and Mark Hugo Lopez 10/17

Bloomberg – Smartphones Are Killing Americans, But Nobody’s Counting – Kyle Stock, Lance Lambert, and David Ingold 10/17

Markets / Economy

Bloomberg Businessweek- Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America 10/11

Bloomberg – The Glut of Private Jets Means ‘Insane’ Bargains for Buyers 10/8

Bloomberg – One of the Biggest ICOs Yet Crashes Before It Even Launched 10/19

WSJ – This Market’s Running on Hope, Not Profits 10/12

WSJ – Daily Shot: Bitcoin 10/17

Bloomberg – JPMorgan, Citigroup Expect More Credit-Card Users to Default – Hugh Son, Dakin Campbell and Jennifer Surane 10/12

Real Estate

Bloomberg Businessweek – Distressed Investors Are Already Buying Houston Homes for 40 Cents on the Dollar 10/12

WSJ – Global Investors Pour Billions Into Hudson Yards in Major Bull Market Bet 10/17

WSJ – How Some Malls Manage to Stay Alive Years After Losing Their Mojo 10/17

WSJ – In London, Some Home Buyers Can Only Stay a Few Years 10/19

WSJ – Daily Shot: John Burns RE Consulting – US Housing Supply Overview 10/17

WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED – Multifamily Housing Units Under Construction 10/19

Finance

Economist – Buttonwood: The finance industry ten years after the crisis 10/14

WSJ – Daily Shot: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico GO Bond 10/15

  • “Puerto Rico’s general obligations (GO) debt keeps tumbling. The 8%-coupon bond ‘maturing’ in 2035 is trading at 33 cents on the dollar.”

WSJ – As Edward Jones Tops $1 Trillion in Assets, It Seeks Street Cred – Lisa Beilfuss 10/16

WSJ – Daily Shot: Corporate High-Yield Bond Spreads 10/18

Environment / Science

Economist – Offshore wind farms will change life in the sea 10/12

Bloomberg – There’s a Climate Bomb Under Your Feet 10/6

NYT – LIGO Detects Fierce Collision of Neutron Stars for the First Time – Dennis Overbye 10/16

Project Syndicate – Hurricanes’ Unnatural Toll 10/13

WSJ – Your Next Home Could Run on Batteries 10/15

Economist – Why the North American west is on fire 10/13

  • “The west of the United States has endured some 50,000 wildfires this year, and over 8.5m acres (3.4m hectares) have burned. Northern California has suffered in particular recently as flames have swept through parts of the landscape, killing at least 23 people and devastating wineries. In Canada, as of August 30th (the latest available figure), 7.4m acres had burned.”
  • “Ernesto Alvarado of the University of Washington, who specializes in large fires, says that historically portions of the forests of America’s north-west would burn every five to 20 years. In many areas, however, these fires have been suppressed for over a century by the needs of loggers and residents. Over time, undergrowth, saplings and dead trees accumulate, creating conditions in which a fire can spread very rapidly. Furthermore, a recent reduction in logging has led to an even closer packing together of trees. ‘To maintain good forest health in many of these forests, you need fire,’ says Dr. Alvarado. While some burns are prescribed, they are a fraction of what is required. In Washington, for instance, between 2001 and 2014 the Forest Service burned just 2% of the state’s 9.3m acres of forest.”
  • “In terms of scale, 2017 is not actually an outlier. In the past decade, wildfires have burned an average of 6.6m acres each year in the United States and 6.2m acres in Canada. The particular problem this year is the dispersed nature of the blazes.”
  • “The current state of the north-western forests, combined with the effects of climate change, increase the likelihood that wildfires will be worse in future… Little can be done to reduce the danger without a dramatic increase in prescribed burns, and these are unlikely as people continue to move into forested areas. One further consequence: the smoke and ash that drift across densely inhabited areas affect human health, too. A study by the universities of Harvard and Columbia of slash-and-burn fires in Indonesia in 2015 blamed the fires for 100,000 additional deaths and 500,000 injuries in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: this year’s haze presages years of potentially more ferocious burns.”

Asia – excluding China and Japan

NYT – U.S. Stood By as Indonesia Killed a Half-Million People, Papers Show 10/18

WSJ Video – Inside the Philippines’ Bloody War Against Islamist Militants 10/18

Canada

WSJ – Canada Imposes Tougher Mortgage Rules Effective 2018 – Paul Vieira and Vipal Monga 10/17

  • “Canada’s banking watchdog unveiled tougher mortgage-financing rules that take effect on Jan. 1 that real estate watchers and economists say could dramatically slow house buying and borrowing.”
  • “The most notable measure is a provision that would require all prospective buyers—even those with a down payment of over 20%—to undergo a so-called stress test before a bank can issue a loan. Previously, only buyers with a down payment of less than 20% had to undergo a stress test. Under the stress test, prospective buyers would have to qualify for a mortgage at a rate at whichever is greater: either 2 percentage points above the negotiated rate, or the Bank of Canada’s five-year benchmark rate. The central bank’s five-year rate stands at 4.89%. The regulator originally proposed the test just cover two percentages point above the negotiated mortgage.”
  • “Robert McLister, founder of the Canadian mortgage-rate comparison site RateSpy.com, said the new rules target the fastest-growing part of the mortgage market—uninsured mortgages—and could affect one out of every six prospective home buyers. In Canada, mortgage insurance is mandatory unless the buyer has a down payment of 20% and over.”
  • “’This is easily the most groundshaking mortgage rule of all time, and that’s not an understatement,’ Mr. McLister said in an interview.”
  • “Economists said the tougher mortgage regulations will further hit a softening housing market. Recent data from the Canadian Real Estate Association indicated unadjusted sales in September were 11% below year-ago levels, and price growth has slowed considerably, especially in the Toronto market after the introduction of a foreign-buyer’s tax in southern Ontario.”
  • “TD Bank’s economics team said it anticipates the measures will depress housing demand by 5% to 10% once fully implemented.”

China

FT – China’s $150bn debt-for-equity swap shows signs of fizzling 10/18

WEF – Deloitte: China will grow old before it gets rich – Alex Gray 10/6

WSJ – China’s Greatest Challenge – Anjani Trivedi 10/16

  • Debt…

  • NBFI = Nonbank Financial Institutions

FT – China residential property sales see first fall in 21/2 years – Hudson Lockett 10/18

  • Okay, but look at the volatility. Geez.

Japan

WSJ – Corporate Scandals Say More About Japan Than the Nikkei 10/12

WSJ – Daily Shot: Moody’s Investor Service – Decline of Japan’s Working Age Population 10/18

Middle East

Reuters – Saudi needs Aramco billions as recession slows austerity drive 10/19

FT – Qatar’s wealth fund brings $20bn home to ease impact of embargo – Andrew England and Simeon Kerr 10/18

  • “Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has brought more than $20bn back onshore to cushion the impact of a regional embargo imposed on the Gulf state.”
  • “Ali Shareef al-Emadi, Qatar’s finance minister, told the Financial Times that Qatar Investment Authority deposits were being used to create a ‘buffer’ and provide liquidity in the banking system after the gas-rich state suffered capital outflows of more than $30bn.”
  • “That followed the decision by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to cut diplomatic and transport links with the nation in June. The move has triggered the Gulf’s worst crisis in years.”
  • “Moody’s, the rating agency, said last month that Qatar had injected $38.5bn into its economy since the crisis erupted.”

WSJ – Daily Shot: BMI Research  – Saudi Arabia GDP Change Year-over-Year 10/17

South America

FT – IMF crunches the numbers for possible Venezuela rescue 10/15

Featured

WP – The drug industry’s triumph over the DEA – Scott Higham and Lenny Bernstein 10/15

  • Let it be noted the power of this reporting resulted in Rep. Tom Marino withdrawing from consideration to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy and it appears that the public is more aware of this problem…
  • “In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation’s streets.”
  • “By then, the opioid war had claimed 200,000 lives, more than three times the number of U.S. military deaths in the Vietnam War. Overdose deaths continue to rise. There is no end in sight.”
  • “A handful of members of Congress, allied with the nation’s major drug distributors, prevailed upon the DEA and the Justice Department to agree to a more industry-friendly law, undermining efforts to stanch the flow of pain pills, according to an investigation by The Washington Post and ’60 Minutes.’ The DEA had opposed the effort for years.”
  • “The law was the crowning achievement of a multifaceted campaign by the drug industry to weaken aggressive DEA enforcement efforts against drug distribution companies that were supplying corrupt doctors and pharmacists who peddled narcotics to the black market. The industry worked behind the scenes with lobbyists and key members of Congress, pouring more than a million dollars into their election campaigns.”
  • “The chief advocate of the law that hobbled the DEA was Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican who is now President Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s next drug czar. Marino spent years trying to move the law through Congress. It passed after Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) negotiated a final version with the DEA.”
  • “For years, some drug distributors were fined for repeatedly ignoring warnings from the DEA to shut down suspicious sales of hundreds of millions of pills, while they racked up billions of dollars in sales.”
  • “The new law makes it virtually impossible for the DEA to freeze suspicious narcotic shipments from the companies, according to internal agency and Justice Department documents and an independent assessment by the DEA’s chief administrative law judge in a soon-to-be-published law review article. That powerful tool had allowed the agency to immediately prevent drugs from reaching the street.”
  • “Political action committees representing the industry contributed at least $1.5 million to the 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored four versions of the bill, including nearly $100,000 to Marino and $177,000 to Hatch. Overall, the drug industry spent $106 million lobbying Congress on the bill and other legislation between 2014 and 2016, according to lobbying reports.”

WSJ – Amazon and Big Apartment Landlords Strike Deals on Package Delivery – Laura Kusisto 10/17

  • “Amazon.com Inc. is taking over the package rooms of some of the country’s largest apartment landlords, in a move that could help consolidate its control over how goods make it from the warehouse floor to the front door.”
  • “Amazon has signed contracts with apartment owners and managers representing more than 850,000 units across the U.S. to begin installing Amazon locker systems in their buildings, according to the landlords. Amazon has commitments to install the lockers in thousands of properties, many before the peak holiday shopping season, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
  • “Several of the nation’s largest operators, AvalonBay Communities Inc., Equity Residential , Greystar and Bozzuto Group, have signed up, company executives said.
  • For several years, landlords have struggled with how to manage the mountains of packages they receive each day. Staff at larger buildings end up devoting several hours a day sorting mail, while boxes are piled in every spare cranny. Most say it is the single largest problem they face.”
  • “The locker program, dubbed Hub by Amazon, will accept packages from all carriers and not just for purchases made on Amazon. They will be open only to residents, not the wider community. Residents will receive a notification when they have a package and a code allowing them to open one of the slots.”
  • “Apartment owners pay about $10,000 to $20,000 to purchase the lockers initially and don’t pay a monthly fee. Most landlords said they don’t plan to charge residents initially but to offer it as an amenity. They could also make back some of that cost in savings on staff labor.”
  • “Karen Hollinger, vice president of corporate initiatives at AvalonBay, which has an ownership interest in about 80,000 apartments, said the average apartment community in the company’s portfolio receives some 1,000 packages a month, up from 650 a year ago. She said AvalonBay has seen a 20% to 30% annual increase in the volume of packages it receives for the past four years.”
  • “Amazon has been searching for ways to make deliveries cheaper. It has recruited a fleet of citizen drivers via its Flex program, which allows people to drop off packages from their cars. It has developed its own air and cargo networks, too.”
  • “The most expensive leg of any delivery is known as the last mile: getting a package to the doorstep. Amazon already has added lockers throughout the U.S., including an announcement that it is rolling them out at its newly acquired Whole Foods stores.”

FT – Chinese property boom props up Xi’s hopes for the economy – Tom Hancock & Gabriel Wildau 10/18

  • “As China’s Communist party elite gather in Beijing this week to select its top leaders, President Xi Jinping has benefited from the strong recent performance of the economy, which is poised for its first year-on-year acceleration in growth since 2010. On Thursday China reported that gross domestic product grew 6.8% in the third quarter, ahead of Beijing’s full-year target.”
  • “That rebound owes much to the confidence of homebuyers. Housing prices and construction starts rebounded from a slump in 2014-15, boosting overall business investment and driving demand for output from China’s huge manufacturing sector.”
  • “The property sector has been given a helping hand. Urged on by Beijing, 38% of all bank loans issued in the 12 months to August were home mortgages, according to official data, and local governments purchased 18% of all residential floor space sold last year as part of a drive to provide affordable housing, according to estimates by E-House China Research Institute.”
  • “The result has been another heady boom in construction. Rome was not built in a day, but based on residential floor area completed last year, China built the equivalent of a new Rome about every six weeks.”
  • “With the surge in housing investment has come a round of questions about a potential bubble in the market and the implications for the long-term health of China’s economy.”
  • “Some economists and investors warn that short-term growth from the latest housing boom has come at a cost: inflating a property bubble whose eventual bursting will inflict great pain. A senior Chinese legislator recently warned in unusually blunt terms that the economy has been ‘kidnapped’ by property.” 
  • “But others insist that fears of a bubble are overstated. On this view, economic fundamentals justify substantial investment in housing, especially in inland cities where development still lags far behind wealthy coastal areas. These more sanguine observers also note that outrageous price levels for Chinese apartments are mainly restricted to the megacities like Beijing and Shanghai.” 
  • “The stakes in this debate are high. Chinese residential property is arguably the world’s most important asset market. The sector drives global commodity prices, making the difference between growth and stagnation for resource exporters like Australia and Brazil.” 
  • “’It’s never wrong to express worry over China’s housing market,’ says Larry Hu, China economist for Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. ‘But it’s interesting to consider why the housing sector has become the Bermuda Triangle for economic forecasters. So many smart people have made wrong predictions about it.’”
  • “The leading claim of the housing bears is that after a 15-year construction boom, China has built most of the housing it needs to meet fundamental demand. On this view, investors speculating on price gains, not families seeking shelter, now drive the market.”
  • “’People buy property not because they like the property, but because the price is rising,’ says Ning Zhu, professor at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance and author of China’s Guaranteed Bubble. ‘It’s this panic that if they don’t buy now they will never be able to afford it.’” 
  • “Central to this narrative is the notion of ‘ghost cities’ — huge blocks of empty apartments where expected demand never materialized.” 
  • “In Mr. Xi’s speech at the opening of the congress on Wednesday, he repeated his mantra that ‘houses are for living in, not for speculation’.”
  • “Yet even in major cities, evidence suggests that there are a substantial number of empty flats held for investment purposes. A survey by FT Confidential Research, an independent research service owned by the Financial Times, found that 32% of families own at least one home that is vacant.” 
  • “An estimated 50m homes, or 22% of the total urban housing stock, were vacant in 2013, according to the most recent data from the China Household Finance Survey led by Li Gan, economics professor at Texas A&M University.” 
  • “Further underpinning the bearish outlook is the belief that fundamental demand for new housing is drying up.” 
  • “The extraordinary transformation of China’s economy over the past 40 years was driven by the migration of farmers into cities. That urbanization process is now slowing, however, as relatively few young people remain in rural China.” 
  • “The number of migrant workers living outside their home province rose by 12m in the five years through to June this year, compared with an increase of 26m in the five years ending June 2012, according to official data.” 
  • Says Mr. Xie (Andy Xie, an independent economist and former Morgan Stanley chief Asia-Pacific economist): ‘If you go into villages, there are no young and middle-aged people any more. Where is this next wave of urbanization supposed to come from?’”
  • “To longtime observers of China’s economy, the current hand-wringing over the property market feels familiar.”
  • “After two years of falling prices and sluggish sales, analysts were warning in early 2016 that some smaller cities had enough unsold inventory to last for years.” 
  • “Yet by August this year, inventories in the 80 cities tracked by E-House China Research Institute stood at their lowest level in almost five years.” 
  • “Perceptions of unreasonably high housing prices appear to be disproportionately influenced by trends in first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. All three rank among the world’s most expensive in terms of price-to-income ratio.” 
  • “Of the 70 cities in the official price survey, however, 12 have seen outright price falls in the three years through to August this year. In a further 29 cities, prices rose by less than 10% in the same period. Meanwhile, median per capital disposable income has grown 28% in roughly the same period.”
  • “Despite major concerns about Chinese corporate debt, household borrowing remains low by international standards at 37% of GDP, compared with 79% in the US and 59% in the euro area, according to the Bank for International Settlements. And Chinese homebuyers use less debt and more equity than counterparts in the US. The average down payment on Chinese home mortgages extended in 2016 was 40%.” 
  • “Despite their differences, both sides in the debate mostly agree that an outright crash of the housing market is unlikely. Chinese savers have few options for investing their money. The stock market is volatile, returns on bank deposits are meagre and foreign exchange controls largely prevent households from buying foreign assets. Housing is the least bad option for many investors.” 
  • “The combination of capital controls with years of monetary stimulus virtually ensures that ‘trapped cash’ will slosh through different asset classes, creating bubble-like conditions that the government either encourages or struggles to contain.” 
  • “Still, given the pain that would result from an abrupt policy shift, analysts widely expect that Beijing will continue the current approach, tightening controls when the market gets too hot, while priming it with cash when it slows too sharply.” 
  • “’The government is really losing its credibility,’ says Mr. Ning. ‘At this point everyone realizes they don’t really intend to crack down on the housing market.’”

October 13, 2017

Perspective

NYT – Rohingya Recount Atrocities: ‘They Threw My Baby Into a Fire’ – Jeffrey Gettleman 10/11

  • Deeply disturbing.

WSJ – Daily Shot: OECD – Global Obesity Rates (2015) 10/12

FT – The 30-second ad has had its 15 minutes of fame – Shannon Bond 10/11

  • “The 30-second television ad has been dethroned. As US television networks face growing digital competition for marketing dollars and viewers’ attention, they are selling shorter ads. The result? Thirty-second spots, long the industry standard, now make up fewer than half of all US TV commercials.”

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

WSJ – Say Goodbye to the China Bid – Aaron Back 10/12

  • “China’s seemingly insatiable demand for foreign assets has driven up prices for everything from U.S. Treasury bonds to global companies to luxury real estate. Now, a combination of market forces and capital controls are choking off the flow of Chinese cash. Asset markets around the world will have to adjust.”
  • “As Chinese exports boomed starting in the early 2000s and foreign investment flooded into the country, the central bank recycled these inflows into foreign government bonds, mostly Treasurys, to keep the yuan from rising. The buying persisted for over a decade, driving bond prices up and driving yields down globally.”
  • “The form of China’s foreign buying shifted in 2014, when the U.S. began exiting quantitative easing and China’s growth slowed. Ordinary Chinese feared that the yuan, which had steadily risen for years, would fall as growth slowed. Both individuals and companies rushed to get money out of China, snapping up trophy assets and luxury real estate around the world.”
  • “The China bid, or at least the expectation of one, sent prices of luxury properties soaring, fueled real estate bubbles from Vancouver to Sydney and pushed up prices of companies seen as desirable for Chinese buyers.”
  • “Alarmed by the outflow, Beijing began to tighten capital controls in 2015 and 2016, but the deal-making persisted until this year when the government cracked down on money transfers by individuals and discouraged companies from pursuing ‘irrational’ deals abroad. So far this year, outbound mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies are down 27% from the same period a year earlier, according to Dealogic.”
  • “Now, pretty much the only thing the Chinese government encourages its companies to buy abroad are high-tech companies such as computer chip makers. But these strategic assets are precisely the kind that Western governments increasingly don’t want to fall into Chinese hands.”
  • “In real estate there is no way to say for sure how much Chinese buying drove up prices, but governments from Canada to Australia have moved to control foreign buying to rein in property bubbles.”
  • “Nor is China set to return as a big buyer of U.S. Treasurys. Indeed, if the Federal Reserve keeps tightening, China could be a seller of bonds as it fends off depreciation pressure on the yuan.”
  • “In the years ahead, financial markets around the world will have to live without the ever-present China bid. Whether China was a savvy investor or the dumb money, asset prices will likely be lower.”

WSJ – China’s Next Five Years – Squeezing the People to Feed the State – Nathaniel Taplin 10/11

  • “China achieved its economic miracle by unleashing the entrepreneurial private sector. With President Xi Jinping poised to further consolidate power at the Communist Party’s twice-a-decade leadership shuffle kicking off Oct. 18, the narrative of the next five years is becoming clear.”
  • “The state is pushing back.”
  • “The logic is straightforward. Nominally communist China relies on its vibrant private sector for growth, but state-owned companies are indispensable tools for political patronage, social control and economic policy. Any financial rot in the state sector could weigh on the economy and weaken the Communist Party’s grip.”
  • “With private business already commanding around 70% of the economy, Mr. Xi and his allies have decided to strengthen key state-controlled companies by boosting their market power and easing their debt burdens.”
  • “For investors, the implications are significant: higher global goods prices because state-owned companies are notoriously inefficient, and a smaller chance of the long-feared Chinese debt crisis. Corporate debt, which is largely in the state-owned sector, ticked down as a percentage of GDP in the second quarter, according to J.P. Morgan—the first decline since 2011. The trade-off is slower Chinese growth. Chinese banks, whose shares are currently on a tear, will need to keep subsidizing bloated state enterprises. And those enterprises’ need for a deep pool of capital inside China means a free-floating yuan will remain a distant dream.”
  • “For investors, the tilt back toward the state means that innovative privately owned tech and consumer companies may continue to outperform—but probably less so than in the past. Hulking state-owned titans, enjoying newly privileged market positions, may reward investors more reliably: The state-dominated Shanghai stock market has roundly outperformed the technology-and-consumer-focused Shenzhen market this year.”
  • “Deng Xiaoping, the grandfather of China’s economic reforms, famously said that it was acceptable to let ‘some people get rich first.’ The people are far richer than they were three decades ago. Now it’s the state’s turn once again.”

Forbes – How Blockchain Can Stamp Out China’s Fake Diplomas 10/8

NYT – We’re About to Fall Behind the Great Depression – David Leonhardt 10/12

Markets / Economy

WSJ – Daily Shot: Moody’s – U.S. States General Obligation Debt Ratings 10/12

Real Estate

FT – Airbnb teams up with developer to launch branded apartments – Leslie Hook 10/12

  • “Airbnb is stepping up its challenge to traditional hotel operators, launching branded, purpose-built apartments in Florida in a tie-up with a US real estate developer.”
  • “The partnership with Newgard Development Group marks the first time the San Francisco-based home-sharing group has worked with a property developer. It underscores how Airbnb is expanding beyond simply booking accommodation, its core service that has already hit hotel operators in cities across the world.”
  • “The 300-unit rental complex in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, will be built and owned by Newgard but carry a new brand: ‘Niido powered by Airbnb’.”
  • “Harvey Hernandez, chief executive of Miami-based Newgard, said the company planned to build 2,000 Airbnb-branded units in the next two years. Tenants who rent the apartments can choose to sublet them through Airbnb for up to 180 days a year.”
  • “The Kissimmee apartment building, due to open early next year, includes features such as keyless doors and secure storage that will make it easier for long-term tenants to rent out their rooms when they are away. Through an app, tenant hosts can manage their Airbnb guests’ stay and even co-ordinate services such as changing bedsheets.”
  • “It will have human touches as well. A ‘master host’ will be on site, and all apartments will have a mandatory cleaning service, in the style of a serviced apartment.”
  • “’The demographic that we are targeting are travelling more than ever before,’ said Mr Hernandez. ‘So when that property is empty, they can be making money with it.’”
  • “Newgard, Airbnb and the tenant will all derive revenue from the short-term rentals, with Newgard taking 25% of the nightly room rate, Airbnb taking 3% (the same commission it charges hosts anywhere), and the tenant receiving the remainder.”
  • “Marriott operates serviced apartments whereby it does not own the property but the building carries its branding and Marriott provides hospitality services. Unlike Marriott, Airbnb will not operate the hospitality services and nor is it charging Newgard for the use of its brand.”

Bloomberg – Kushners’ Manhattan Tower on Track for Its Worst Year Since 2011 – Caleb Melby 10/12

Energy

FT – Why the US east coast imports oil despite shale boom – Gregory Meyer 10/11

  • “The US has been shipping its shale oil riches to different parts of the world, including Canada and India, inspiring White House officials to muse about American ‘energy dominance’. But one place that is buying very little of this crude is the officials’ backyard.”
  • “Last week as the US reported a record 2m barrels a day in crude oil exports, refineries located up the highway from Washington on the east coast imported about 900,000 b/d, mainly from Africa.”
  • “A big reason is the Jones Act, a 97-year-old US law that requires all ships starting and ending their voyages on US coasts to be American-flagged, built and crewed.”
  • “What animates critics in the oil market about the Jones Act is that it increases the cost of shipping crude from the Gulf coast to the east coast above the rate charged by foreign-flagged carriers. That helps incentivize exports from Texas oilfields and imports by refiners in the east. The reliance on shipping reflects the fact that no crude oil pipelines link the oilfields of the central US to the east coast.”
  • “’It’s basically a constraint on the efficient operation of the oil market,’ says Sandy Fielden, director of research for commodities and energy at Morningstar.”
  • “US lawmakers liberalized trade in crude oil in December 2015, allowing unfettered exports after years of tight restrictions for every destination but Canada. They let the Jones Act stand, though they gave some refiners temporary tax relief related to oil transport costs.”
  • “The effects are plain to see. In 2015, tankers laden with crude oil from the US gulf coast delivered an average of 50,000 b/d to ports on the US east coast, according to ClipperData, a vessel tracking service. The volumes nearly halved in 2016 and have halved again this year, the data show.”
  • “Ending the export ban has caused shipments to soar to countries previously blocked from buying US oil, including long hauls to Asia. Crude oil exports to countries other than Canada are averaging about 325,000 b/d this year, ClipperData’s records show, more than treble the levels of 2015.”
  • “Meanwhile, US east coast refineries near Philadelphia and New York have been importing nearly 1m b/d from countries such as Nigeria and Angola, about 50% higher than two years ago.”
  • “The increased imports to the east coast come despite falling rates to hire a Jones Act tanker as the industry struggles with a surplus of ships built before the export ban was lifted. The US fleet of Jones Act tankers and tugboat-barge units totals 94 vessels, according to Overseas Shipholding Group, one of the biggest operators in the sector.”
  • “Sam Norton, chief executive of OSG, estimates the cost of hiring one for crude service is about three to four times higher than using a foreign-flagged vessel. Some shipping consultants say it is even higher.”
  • “The Jones Act is unlikely to abolished, despite the longstanding efforts of politicians such as Senator John McCain of Arizona.”
  • “’Since people have been living with it for so long, it’s difficult to say what it would be like if they changed it or if it were repealed,’ says Mr Fielden of Morningstar.”

Environment / Science

NYT – 10 Hurricanes in 10 Weeks: With Ophelia, a 124-Year-Old Record is Matched – Maggie Astor 10/11

  • “With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Wednesday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength.”

China

FT – Wanda’s Wang Jianlin dethroned from top of China rich list – Tom Hancock 10/11

WSJ – Six Reasons Why China Matters – Justin Lahart 10/11

NYT – China to Debtors: Pay Up or Be Shamed – Keith Bradsher and Ailin Tang 10/11

  • “Troubled by huge debts run up by big state companies and politically connected local governments, China is taking steps instead to go after the little guys.”
  • “Chinese officials have ordered provincial governments to establish online platforms naming those who do not pay their obligations, official media reported this week. The lists should be maintained by local news organizations as well as courts and regulators, the report said, with an aim of exposing deadbeats and pressuring them to pay up.”
  • “The new effort is unlikely to affect big borrowers, like major state-owned companies and other big firms, whose debts are almost never called in. But it could intensify and centralize officials’ broader moves to assign ratings to individuals based on creditworthiness and other criteria; practices like credit scoring are only just now taking off in the country.”

Japan

WSJ – Daily Shot: BOJ asset purchases and pace of purchase 10/12

  • “The BoJ is quietly slowing its securities purchases (as part of ‘yield targeting’).”

October 5, 2017

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

A Wealth of Common Sense – Financial News Doesn’t Rhyme But It Does Repeat Itself – Ben Carlson 10/3

  • “It’s important for investors to remember that investing based on the headlines is a bad idea. The fact that we have access to more information than ever these days is a great thing, assuming you have the correct filters in place. Most people don’t, so they become consumed by every little snippet or viral headline they glance at.”
  • “One of these days one of these warnings will seem prescient. More likely than not, the next person or firm to ‘call’ the next bubble or crash will be more lucky than good.”

Project Syndicate – Deja Voodoo – Joseph Stiglitz 10/4

FT – Uber: The uncomfortable view from the driving seat – Leslie Hook 10/4

  • “The ride-sharing group faces its biggest challenge: keeping its drivers, some of whom sleep in their cars to make ends meet.”

Markets / Economy

BlackRock – Economic Cycles in Context 10/4

Real Estate

WSJ – Retail Real Estate Holds Steady Despite Store Closures – Esther Fung 10/3

  • “Overall, the retail vacancy rate across different types of malls and retail centers stayed flat at 10% in the third quarter from the second quarter, with asking rents rising 0.4% to $20.74 a square foot from the previous quarter and up 1.8% year-over-year.”
  • “Lower construction activity helped to rein in supply and support occupancy levels. The volume of property completions, or properties that are developed and ready to be leased out, stood at 1.6 million square feet in the third quarter, which was the lowest level since 2014. The change in occupied retail space, or so-called net absorption, stood at 578,000 square feet, the lowest level since 2010.”
  • “While the retail industry is facing headwinds from e-commerce, an oversupply of stores and fast-changing consumer tastes, the restaurant sector as well as grocery stores and fitness centers are continuing to expand, helping to cushion the blow, landlords say.”
  • “In an August report, research and advisory firm IHL Group estimated there will be roughly 4,080 net store openings this year after taking into account 10,168 store closures. Apart from fast-food restaurants and beauty retailers, discount stores such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are opening almost 2,000 new stores this year, the report added. Many of these dollar stores, however, will be in new build-to-suit locations rather than taking up existing retail space.”

Finance

Bloomberg – Trump Speaks and a $3.8 Trillion Market Hears an Existential Threat – Brian Chappatta 10/4

  • You can imagine that every holder and seller of municipal debt heard it when President Trump indicated that Puerto Rico’s $74 billion in debt would be wiped out.
  • The administration has since walked back from that ledge.

China

FT – Bond investors start to ask questions about Chinese takeovers – Robert Smith 10/3

  • “More than 18 months after ChemChina’s $44bn agreement to purchase Swiss agribusiness Syngenta capped a buying spree by Chinese companies across Europe, debt investors and rating agencies are starting to ask tough questions.”
  • “Their heightened scrutiny has left Syngenta’s investment grade rating in jeopardy, after Standard & Poor’s late on Monday put the company on review for a potential downgrade because of confusion over its support from the Chinese state.”
  • “The Swiss seeds company was last week forced to postpone a $7bn bond deal, intended to refinance bridge loans backing ChemChina’s takeover, as investors questioned its ability to settle class-action litigation in the US while maintaining an investment grade rating.”
  • Essentially, do they have State support or do they not? Who has priority to cash flows? And how much debt do they really have?
  • “Before ChemChina’s acquisition, Syngenta carried strong single-A credit ratings, but Standard & Poor’s now pegs the company at the lowest rung of investment grade.”
  • “Investors’ willingness to subject ChemChina’s financing to a more rigorous examination comes after China’s bank regulator earlier this year ordered domestic lenders to check the ‘systemic risk’ presented by ‘some large enterprises’ that have been acquiring companies overseas.”
  • “That has caused tension for bondholders in European companies owned by private Chinese groups such as HNA and Anbang.”
  • “’If you have implied support from the Chinese government, the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ are very important,’ Andrew Brady, an analyst at credit research firm CreditSights, says of state-owned ChemChina.”
  • “’In Syngenta’s case, we have to now assume it won’t come to protect an investment grade rating. And if support comes in the form of a loan, weak protections in the bond’s documentation mean that they could get layered with secured debt, meaning the exact mechanism of support could damage bondholders.’”
  • “As recently as August, S&P said in a report that ChemChina indicated that both it and China’s state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) ‘remain committed’ to maintaining Syngenta’s investment grade rating ‘under all scenarios’.”
  • “Crucially, the rating agency said that Sasac would need to provide support to mitigate litigation liabilities with equity, to ensure there is ‘no additional debt imposed on Syngenta or ChemChina’.”
  • “A bond investor who looked at Syngenta’s proposed deal says that one of his biggest concerns was that it placed ‘absolutely no restrictions’ on the company’s ability to pay dividends to the heavily indebted ChemChina. S&P has projected that ChemChina will have a 10 to 13 times debt-to-ebitda ratio in 2017 and 2018.”
  • “’Let’s not kid ourselves, you wouldn’t freely put money into any other 13 times levered chemicals company,’ the investor says.”
  • “Lenders to European companies owned by large Chinese conglomerates have become increasingly focused on their ability to take cash out of the groups, with Swissport bondholders recently raising concerns after the airline services group started providing short-term loans to owner HNA.”
  • “A second bond investor says that he is increasingly wary of having exposure to European businesses owned by highly levered Chinese companies, describing them as ‘black boxes’.”
  • “’Nobody can be sure how much debt they have, or who really runs these businesses,’ he says.”

June 8, 2017

Perspective

Pew Research Center – The rise of multiracial and multiethnic babies in the U.S. – Gretchen Livingston 6/6

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

A Wealth of Common Sense – Greatest Hits From Michael Mauboussin & Meir Statman 6/6

  • Mauboussin: “Perhaps the single greatest error in the investment business is a failure to distinguish between the knowledge of a company’s fundamentals and the expectations implied by the market price.”
  • Statman: “Risk is not measured by standard deviation but rather by the probability of not getting to your goal.”

Real Estate

WSJ – Millions of Young People Shut Out of the Housing Market – Laura Kusisto 6/7

  • “Roughly three million potential first-time home buyers have been shut out of the market over the last decade, according to a new study, suggesting the market’s recovery of the past few years could have been stronger.”
  • “Tight lending standards and acute shortages of affordable housing in many markets have reduced the pool of potential buyers, particularly among young people, reducing a key component of housing demand.”
  • “In all, the number of first-time U.S. home buyers averaged 1.5 million a year over the last decade, compared with the historical average of 1.8 million, according to a new study to be released Thursday by Genworth Mortgage Insurance that examines mortgage data from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs and other sources. The study looked at data going back to 1994 and defined first-time buyers as anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years.”
  • “Lackluster demand for homeownership among younger people has been one of the main factors holding back the housing recovery. Many young people have been delaying buying homes due to tight credit, student loans and rising rents that have made it difficult to save for down payments.”
  • “’What’s been missing is confidence,’ said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic Inc.”
  • “But that is starting to change. So far this year, first-time buyers represented about 38% of the market, greater than the historical average of 35%, according to Genworth. Some two million first-timers purchased homes last year, or 37% of the market.”
  • “’We’ve had a very strong surge in first-time home buyers,’ said Tian Liu, chief economist at Genworth.”
  • “Credit also appears to be loosening. According to Genworth, about 78% of first-time buyers are using low-down-payment loans, compared with the historical average of 73%.”
  • “Economists said a wave of first-time buyers is likely coming over the next decade, as a large cohort in their mid-20s begin to buy homes.”
  • “’As we’re seeing millennials age into homeownership, there’s a huge tailwind coming,’ said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin.”

Energy

WSJ – An Energy Shock from the High Seas – Spencer Jakab 6/6

  • “Circle January 2020 on your calendar for what could be a major disruption to the energy market and a jolt to the global economy.”
  • “The origin of the problem isn’t some oil cartel’s machinations, a looming war or even a technological shift—it is a bureaucratic body that few people have heard of: the International Maritime Organization. Just 30 months from now the cargo vessels that are the lifeblood of global trade will be required to cut the sulfur content in their fuel from 3.5% to 0.5%.”
  • “Ships move more than 10 billion tons of cargo a year and do it far more efficiently than road or rail, but it comes at a high cost in terms of overall pollution because ships use fuel oil, which is just about the cheapest, dirtiest stuff to come out of refineries. About 9% of all sulfur dioxide emitted globally comes from ships, contributing to acid rain and many premature deaths annually. Even the new cap is 500 times the sulfur content of most road diesel.”
  • “While standards have changed for many fuels, the rapid nature of the switch means that, if shippers fully comply, there could be price spikes. Ships that currently use cheap high sulfur fuel oil will have to switch to some other source higher up in the product slate that comes out of refineries. Even with significant investment, refiners may not be ready and ships may have to burn more expensive marine diesel.”
  • “Is the threat real? While energy traders mainly focus on the next several months, derivative prices indicate it is. For example, crude futures expiring in July 2020 are just 1% more expensive than those expiring in July 2017. By contrast, Rotterdam high sulfur fuel oil is 16% cheaper and New York ultralow sulfur diesel is 10% more expensive.”

Finance

FT – Global investors develop taste for US high-yield corporate bonds – Eric Platt 6/6

China

FT – China’s next ‘city from scratch’ called into question – Jamil Anderlini 6/6

  • “When the Chinese government announced its plan to create a new city from scratch in a rural northern backwater of the country on April 1, the effect was immediate.”
  • “Housing prices in the area tripled almost overnight as property speculators rushed to the area — about 100km south-west of Beijing — in the hopes of cashing in on the new project, described by state media as a ‘grand strategy crucial for a millennium to come’.”
  • “Share prices for listed companies with even tenuous connections to the ‘Xiongan New Area’ soared as analysts estimated that up to $580bn — roughly the annual gross domestic product of Argentina — would be spent in the next few years on building up the new city, which will eventually cover an area twice the size of Hong Kong and nearly three times the size of New York City. The government is aiming for a population of 2.5m people as soon as 2030.”
  • “The Xiongan plan draws on a blueprint that has been tried and tested in China before. As it was unveiled at the start of April, China’s state-controlled media hailed it as President Xi’s answer to the ‘special economic zones’ of Shenzhen and Pudong, both of which were launched under the auspices of China’s former paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping.”
  • “However, critics of Xiongan point out that for every Shenzhen and Pudong there are scores of half-empty or failed ‘special economic zones’ now dotted across China.”
  • “They argue that Xiongan shares none of the natural advantages of those earlier experimental cities, such as proximity to booming financial centers, world-class ports or enormous depots of international capital. They also worry about Beijing’s stated plan to exclude foreign investment, at least at the earliest stages, in favor of state investment and planning.”

March 3 – March 9, 2017

In the UK the economy has grown but wages have declined. Does your bond index have Chinese bonds – it will soon. The Puerto Rican teacher’s pension ponzi scheme (really several US states and cities aren’t far away from a similar situation).

Headlines

WSJ – Macau Casinos Face Impending Shuffling of Decks 3/2. Two of the six casino operators will see their gambling concessions expire in 2020 and the other four in 2022. At that time expect the cost-of-doing business to increase enormously, the public tender to go to mainland Chinese companies (as opposed to foreigners), or the number of concessions to increase – either way, competition will be fierce.

NYT – Sweden Reinstates Conscription, With an Eye on Russia 3/2. Abolished in 2010, Sweden is reinstating the draft starting next year.

FT – Wealth of China’s richest 200 lawmakers tops $500bn 3/2. “According to Hurun data, the 200 richest members of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress, an advisory body, have combined fortunes worth nearly Rmb3.5tn ($507bn). The wealth of the 100 richest lawmakers soared over the past four years to Rmb3tn, up from Rmb1.64tn in 2013.”

FT – US and North Korea on collision course, says China 3/7. The U.S. has sent its THAAD missile defense system to South Korea in light of increasing aggression from North Korea – despite concern from China.

Bloomberg – L.A. Voters Reject Measure AIDS Group Backed, Developers Opposed 3/8. LA voters rejected ballot Measure S that sought to put a two-year moratorium on development in LA.

Economist – The Iraqi army is on the brink of defeating Islamic State 3/8. “But the government must move fast if it is not to squander its victory.”

Bloomberg – Manhattan Rents Fall for Every Apartment Size, Even Studios 3/9. “Apartments available for rent at the end of February totaled 6,872, a jump of almost 12% from a year earlier. The number of new leases fell 28% last month to 3,634, while the median monthly rent for units of all sizes slipped 0.9% to $3,350.”

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

Briefs

  • Cat Rutter Pooley and Attracta Mooney of the Financial Times highlighted that US pension funds have halved their private equity allocations.
    • “Big US investors have halved their allocations to private equity this year. It is the first sign that pension funds are concerned investment returns will suffer as buyout houses struggle to deploy record levels of cash.”
    • “Pension funds and other institutional investors gave $3.2bn to private equity funds in January and February compared with $8.9bn announced during the same period last year, according to data from MandateWire, the FT news service that collected the figures.”
    • Why… “investors are now worried about lower returns and difficulties exiting their investment in the future, as the number of initial public offerings decreases.” Further, “there are also concerns that the private equity market has become overcrowded, with buyout companies struggling to find suitable businesses to back.”
    • “According to a report from Pitchbook, the data provider, the level of cash, so-called dry powder, that private equity companies have to invest hit a record high of $754bn in 2016.”
    • “More than 80% of the capital raised by private equity companies in 2015 has yet to be deployed, said Pitchbook.”
  • Gabriel Wildau of the Financial Times covered the milestone that China has overtaken the eurozone as the world’s biggest banking system.
    • “China’s banking system has surpassed that of the eurozone to become the world’s largest by assets, a sign both of the country’s increased influence in world finance and its reliance on debt to drive growth since the global financial crisis.”
    • “While China’s gross domestic product surpassed the EU’s economic bloc in 2011 at market exchange rates, its banking system did not take over the top spot until the end of 2016, Financial Times analysis shows.”
    • “Chinese bank assets hit $33bn at the end of 2016, versus $31tn for the eurozone, $16tn for the US and $7tn for Japan. The value of China’s banking system is more than 3.1 times the size of the country’s annual economic output, compared with 2.8 times for the eurozone and its banks.”
    • As Esward Prasad, former China head at the International Monetary Fund and an economist at Cornell University, “the massive size of China’s banking system is less a cause for celebration than a sign of an economy overly dependent on bank-financed investment, beset by inefficient resource allocation, and subject to enormous credit risks.”
  • Bloomberg News illustrated that capital controls have triggered a backlash amongst China’s corporate titans resulting from scrapped deals.
    • “Chinese corporate chiefs are turning vocal critics of the nation’s capital controls as the pile of scrapped deals grows.”
    • “The complaints reflect a tumble in foreign deals, with the $19 billion of acquisitions abroad announced by Chinese companies so far this year amounting to a 74% drop from a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”
    • “China’s leadership faces a balancing act in trying to stoke domestic companies’ influence on the international stage while avoiding the kind of bad investments that Japanese firms became famous for in the 1980s. The more immediate concern has been record outflows of capital that have only diminished in recent months after a steady tightening in oversight of and limits on cross-border transactions.”
  • Justin Lahart of The Wall Street Journal discussed a taxing problem for investors…
    • “A corporate tax cut could provide a big boost to companies’ profits. The boost might not be quite as big, or come as soon, as investors think, though.”
    • “Yes, the U.S. corporate tax rate, at 35%, is among the world’s highest. President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress aim to change that. Mr. Trump has proposed dropping it to 15%, while the plan that House Republicans drew up last June would lower it to 20%.”
    • “So by how much would a tax cut juice corporate profits? The first thing to recognize is that few large public companies pay the statutory rate. By Goldman Sach’s reckoning, the effective tax rate for companies in the S&P 500 – which includes not just federal, but also state and local taxes – is 28%. Under the House plan, Goldman figures it would drop to 24%, boosting after-tax earnings by about 10%.”
    • “That could make the stock market look significantly less rich. The S&P 500 now trades at about 18 times analysts’ expected earnings for 2016, according to FactSet. Raise earnings by 10% and that price / earnings ratio slips to a more reasonable but still expensive 16.4.”
    • However, “a lower corporate tax rate also might convince some companies to reassess their use of tax havens, notes Tax Policy Center co-director Eric Toder. Any profits they direct toward the U.S. would then be subjected to a higher tax rate (20% is low, but Bermuda’s 0% is lower), raising their tax rate. Thus, the effective rate might not fall as much as advertised.”
    • Bottom line, “stock prices are supposed to be a reflection of expected future earnings. If investors are expecting too much from a corporate tax cut, and expect it to come too early, then prices will have to come down.”
  • Ben McLannahan and Barney Jopson of the Financial Times highlighted that over the past election cycle Wall Street spent a record $2bn on US election influence.
    • “Wall Street spent a record $2bn on lobbying and campaign contributions during the last US election cycle, according to a new survey, as big banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions stepped up efforts to reshape rules to their advantage.”
    • “Contributions of $1.1bn in the two years ended December 2016, combined with payments to lobbyists of $898m, meant that spending by Wall Street topped $2bn, about 25% higher than the previous high in 2007-2008.”
    • “The election contributions went to both presidential campaigns and congressional races, with donors sticking to the common practice of spreading their largesse across both parties.”
    • “The sums do not include so-called ‘dark money,’ or support to non-profits which do not have to disclose their donors. Nor do they include spending on research or policy staff who are not registered as lobbyists.”
    • “The financial sector is by far the largest source of campaign contributions to federal candidates and parties and ranks as the third-largest spender on lobbying, according to the survey [done by Americans for Financial Reform, a left-leaning coalition of consumer, labor and community groups], which was based on data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. Insurers (excluding health insurers) were the biggest spenders during the last cycle, with $224m, followed by securities and investment ($192m) and real estate ($183m).”
    • Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, “noted that there were few outright victories for Wall Street in recent years, as lobbyists sought to roll back Dodd-Frank reforms. One example was a battle in December 2014 which allowed the big banks to continue to fund derivatives trades using federally-insured deposits.”
    • “But she said that much of the lobbying had succeeded in ‘slowing or weakening’ proposed reforms. Rules on curbing incentive pay, for example, have yet to see the light of day, even though such measures appear to have broad support among voters.”
    • “‘That is really what the money story is about; we end up with outcomes that are not what people voted for,’ said Ms. Donner.”

Graphics

WSJ – Daily Shot: Statista – Tech IPO performance 3/2

WSJ – Daily Shot: Reliance on Undocumented Labor 3/2

WSJ – Daily Shot: Migrant Hosting and Sending Countries 3/2

WSJ – China Shifts Stance, Letting Dying Firms Go Bankrupt – Chuin-Wei Yap 3/3

WSJ – Daily Shot: Goldman Sachs – US Auto Inventory 3/5

Bloomberg – Saudi Arabia Still Bears Brunt of Oil Cuts as OPEC Output Drops – Angelina Rascouet and Julian Lee 3/2

NYT – ‘Superstar Firms’ May Have Shrunk Workers’ Share of Income – Patricia Cohen 3/8

WSJ – Americans Are Richer Than Ever, But They Don’t Feel That Way – Steven Russolillo 3/8

Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

How wages fell in the UK while the economy grew. Valentina Romei. Financial Times. 2 Mar. 2017.

“Between 2007 and 2015, the UK was the only big advanced economy in which wages contracted while the economy expanded. In most other countries, including France and Germany, both the economy and wages have grown.”

“Britain’s GDP went back to pre-crisis levels in the third quarter of 2013 and it is now nearly 10% larger than in the second quarter of 2008. Yet in 2014 wages were almost 10% lower than seven years before. During the same period, salaries in France and Germany grew 7%.”

“Only the US and Canada have greater flexibility in labor market regulation than the UK, according to the OECD. Thanks to a more flexible job market, people were able to find jobs quicker than in other countries. Employment expanded by 2.4% in the six years to 2013, while in France there was no job expansion and the EU as a whole experienced job losses.”

What gives…

“After the crisis, labor supply increased, but these ‘unusual increases in labor supply’ were absorbed by the market, writes the OECD in its latest country survey. Pension reform and other policies contributed to the increase in supply with a rising number of older workers and incentives to work rather than live off benefits. Meanwhile ‘sustained inflows of well-educated immigrants have boosted the working-age population,’ says the OECD.”

“Such employment expansion coincided with the loss of labor bargaining power due to the risk of unemployment and ‘slack’ remaining higher than pre-crisis levels. Unemployment, underemployment and involuntary part-time working, for example, were far above their levels in 2008. Coupled with low and falling levels of unionization, employment growth came at the expense of a fall in real wages.”

While the economy is close to full employment, instead of tight labor conditions pushing up wages, there is enough slack and labor demand that wages are soft.

Unfortunately, “inflation is likely to squeeze real wages in the next couple of years just as it did after the crisis.” Rather than higher prices for goods and services feeding into higher profits and higher wages, productivity growth has languished, so people are dealing with lower living standards.

“Between 2007 and 2015 the UK had one of the highest inflation rates among big advanced economies, largely because of high energy prices and the depreciation of the pound. Consumer prices expanded at an annual rate of over 5% at their peak in September 2011, well above the rate of expansion of nominal earnings.”

Further “employment growth was driven largely by self-employment and part-timers, while the number of full-time jobs shrank. ‘The rapid rises in employment over the past few years have been made up by a larger than usual share of low-skilled jobs which tend to be lower paid,’ say Capital Economics.”

China’s Massive Bond Market Coming to Index Near You. Anjani Trivedi. The Wall Street Journal. 7 Mar. 2017.

“China’s bond-market dreams could finally be coming true. But global investors should tread with care.”

“Citigroup announced Tuesday that mainland Chinese bonds were eligible for inclusion in its widely followed indexes of investment-grade bonds. Once included, most passive investors could end up holding Chinese bonds in some way in their portfolios. Citi says the entry will be staggered over three months given the overall Chinese market’s $9 trillion size.”

“Index inclusion is big business – and isn’t a sleep subject. Opening the world up to China, also opens the world up to a host of risks that investors haven’t quite figured out how to price.”

“Even though Beijing is seemingly freeing up its bond markets, repatriating funds remains an issue. A recently introduced currency-hedging tool helps, but details are still fuzzy. And the risk of sudden capital controls perpetually looms.”

“For China, this could mean much needed inflows into its financial markets to counter the billions of monthly outflows. Around $2 trillion of assets under management track Citi’s World Government Bond Index. That could mean inflows of up to $120 billion if China has a 5% to 6% weight, according to Goldman Sachs. ETF’s like Tokyo-listed Listed Index Fund also track the Citi World Government Gond Index as do some BlackRock government bond funds.”

To be fair, it’s hard not to include bonds from the world’s second largest economy.

“There are fundamental issues to contend with especially the market’s lack of discernment between safe and risky bonds as reflected in narrow credit spreads. Foreign presence is unlikely to instill such discipline anytime soon.”

“Concerns around a host of trading technicalities abound…. Along with adding China to its main indexes, Citi has created two new ones that cap exposure, perhaps a hint that for many, China’s inclusion is too soon.”

“Ready or not, China’s bond market is joining an important club.”

The Chinese government, but more importantly, Chinese corporates will be able to pass on their debt risks to foreign investors and the sheer mechanics of indexes create a relatively indiscriminate buyer… the proverbial can continues to be kicked down the road.

In Puerto Rico, Teachers’ Pension Fund Works Like a Ponzi Scheme. Mary Williams Walsh. The New York Times. 8 Mar. 2017.

“Puerto Rico, where the money to pay teachers’ pensions is expected to run out next year, has become a particularly extreme example of a problem facing states including Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania: As teachers’ pension costs keep rising, young teachers are being squeezed – sometimes hard. One study found that more than three-fourths of all American teachers hired at age 25 will end up paying more into pension plans than they ever get back.”

“‘I think they’re really being taken advantage of,’ said Richard W. Johnson of the Urban Institute, a co-author of the research. ‘What’s so tragic about this is, often the new hires aren’t aware that they’re getting such a bad deal.'”

“The problem is magnified by the fact that the Puerto Rico teachers union – like many teachers and police unions around the country – opted out of Social Security long ago, hoping it could save both workers and the government money by not paying Social Security taxes.”

Conceptually, “pension funds are supposed to be giant, largely self-sustaining pools of money, contributed by taxpayers and often workers, that earn investment income. Over time, the money is supposed to grow enough to pay retirees. Knowing this, teachers might reasonably expect to get a pension worth more than what they invested.”

However, in Puerto Rico “the pension funds are so short of cash that money contributed by working teachers basically flows straight out to retirees. None of Puerto Rico’s current teachers can expect to get their money back, because the fund is due to run out of money in 2018, long before they retire.”

“That is, essentially, a Ponzi scheme. But this structure is legal in Puerto Rico because of a complicated series of changes in the law brought about in recent years by the island’s financial crisis.”

Back to pension programs in general, “benefits are typically backloaded. This means that teachers build up their benefits very slowly in their early years – even as they make big contributions – then speed up in middle age and earn the biggest part just before they retire.”

“But because of high turnover and other factors, relatively few teachers reach the sweet spot where they earn a pension larger than their contributions. Most change jobs or move away first, leaving behind money that subsidizes the pensions of the relative few who teach for decades.”

Regardless, pension stress resulting from largess promised in good times and a lower investment return world have led to major cuts to younger teachers in the system. “In Illinois, for example, Mr. Johnson of the Urban Institute found that a teacher hired at age 25 who worked for 35 years could earn a pension worth $1.3 million – as long as that teacher had been hired before 2011. If hired after 2011, the same teacher would earn a pension worth only $609,000, even though both groups contribute 8.4% of every paycheck.”

“‘Overall, 84% of all newly hired teachers lose money’ in Illinois, Mr. Johnson said.”

Further, eight states (Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) recently doubled their vesting periods (“the time a teacher must work before vesting, or earning a nonforfeitable right to a pension”) to 10 years. “That is more than three times the maximum allowed for companies.” On top of that, “three of every 10 new teachers will quit in five years or less.” Basically free money for these pension programs.

“Martin F. Lueken of EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, looked at the largest school districts in each state and found three where, because of cost-cutting, newer teachers might work their whole careers without ever earning a pension worth the value of their contributions: Boston, Chicago and the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.”

For more see: NYT – The State of State Teachers’ Pension Plans – Karl Russell and Mary Williams Walsh 3/6

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

 

Bloomberg – These Economies Are Getting More Miserable This Year 3/2

Bloomberg – Shale Billionaire Hamm Says Industry Binge Can ‘Kill’ Oil Market 3/8

FT – India optimistic of being coal-free by 2050 2/12

FT – Investors place derivate bet against US shopping centers 3/2

FT – Japan returns to inflation for first time since 2015 3/3

FT – Jack Bogle: ETFs have beaten hedge funds 3/4

FT – China warns on hidden local government debt risks 3/5

FT – China defense budget tops Rmb1tn for first time 3/5

FT – Macau’s regional challengers up their casino game 3/5

FT – European businesses attack China high-tech push 3/6

FT – Germany’s trade surplus sparks concern at home and abroad 3/6

FT – Norway’s $905bn oil fund flexes its shareholder muscles 3/7

FT – Global investors return to China’s bad debt market 3/7

GlobeSt – Wave of Apt. Deliveries Will Crest In 2017 3/2

NYT – Here’s the Reality About Illegal Immigrants in the United States 3/6

WSJ – Disturbing New Facts About American Capitalism – Jason Zweig 3/3

WSJ – What GM Is Paying for European Exit 3/6

WSJ – Charity Officials Are Increasingly Receiving Million-Dollar Paydays 3/6

WSJ – Short Sellers Target Mall REITs 3/7

WSJ – Miami Condo Market Cools, but a Big Project Gets Financings 3/7

WSJ – Renovate America, One of America’s Fastest-Growing Lenders, Didn’t Disclose It Made Payments to Some Borrowers 3/8

WSJ – New Force on Wall Street: The ‘Family Office’ 3/8

 

February 10 – February 16, 2017

Venezuela having difficulties meeting its oil delivery commitments. REITs backing away from apartments. Chinese companies lending to the tune of $2tn where bankers have pulled back.

Headlines

FT – Alphabet opts to spell out its stock options 2/9. Google recently let slip that it will be treating stock based pay as a cost in its financials (normally relegated to the GAAP footnotes).

FT – Oil and gas discoveries dry up to lowest total for 60 years 2/12. As oil and gas companies have been pulling back on exploration it’s no surprise that new discoveries are down; however, they are yielding more from existing fields.

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

Briefs

  • Jon Sindreu of The Wall Street Journal illustrated foreigner’s recent dumping of US debt, putting up a test for rates.
    • “Foreign buyers, led by China, are taking a smaller slice of debt issued by the U.S. and other major economies, a change that may test the long-held belief that overseas money has kept interest rates low in the developed world.”
    • “Foreigners are steadily pulling back: As of November, for the first time since 2009, less than 30% of the $20 trillion market for U.S. government debt was held overseas, according to the latest official data, released in January, from the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve. In the U.K., it is now 27%, compared with a record of 36% in 2008. In Germany, it is 49%, down from a peak of 57% in 2014.”
    • wsj_government-debt-held-by-foreigners_2-9-17
    • “In the longer term, the decline in foreign buyers might not matter so much. For countries that print their own currency, bond yields – and thus the price of bonds – are strongly determined by where investors believe central banks will set interest rates in the future. In theory, at least, bonds whose prices are pushed up or down excessively by supply-and-demand forces will eventually correct to correspond to interest-rate expectations.”
    • “In Japan, the central bank now directly fixes 10-year borrowing costs for the government at 0%. There, foreigners own just 9.2% of the government debt market; yet bond yields have stayed at record lows for decades, despite a government debt load amounting to 229% of Japan’s economy that has elicited repeated warnings from ratings companies.”
  • Adding on to Sindreu’s article, Brian Chappatta of Bloomberg discussed how America’s biggest creditors dump treasuries in warning to Trump.
    • “From Tokyo to Beijing and London, the consensus is clear: few overseas investors want to step into the $13.9 trillion U.S. Treasury market right now. Whether it’s the prospect of bigger deficits and more inflation under President Donald Trump or higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, the world’s safest debt market seems less of a sure thing – particularly after the upswing in yields since November. And then there is Trump’s penchant for saber rattling, which has made staying home that much easier.”
    • bloomberg_selling-of-us-treasuries_2-12-17
    • “Nobody is saying that foreigners will abandon Treasuries altogether. After all, they still hold $5.4 trillion, or roughly 43% of the U.S. government debt market. (Though that’s down from 56% in 2008.) A significant drawdown can harm major holders like Japan and China as much as it does the U.S.”
    • “In December, Japanese investors reduced their investments in U.S. debt by 2.39 trillion yen ($21.3 billion) after a smaller pullback in November. While only a fraction of Japan’s $1.1 trillion of holdings, they were the first back-to-back declines since the start of 2014. China, which owns just over $1 trillion of Treasuries, has been selling since May. Its holdings are at a seven-year low.”
    • Bottom line there is too much unpredictability for many foreign investors right now, despite there being clear advantages in the rate spread between foreign and domestic markets.
  • Anjli Raval of the Financial Times highlighted that recently Opec beat oil output cut expectations.
    • “Opec countries drastically curbed their output in the first month of their new production agreement, in the clearest sign to date that the world’s biggest oil producers are committed to living up to the November pact to cut global supplies.”
    • “The limits adopted by the oil cartel in January have been ‘one of the deepest in the history of Opec output cut initiatives’, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.”
    • “The IEA said Opec crude production fell by 1m b/d to 32.06m b/d in January, surpassing expectations at the start of the six-month supply agreement…”
    • The Opec target cut is 1.2m barrels per day.
    • “‘Opec and Saudi get plaudits for month one but there are still five months of the  deal to run,’ said Bill Farren-Price, head of Petroleum Policy Intelligence. ‘It’s unlikely cuts are going to get deeper from here.'”
    • “Opec’s cuts drove a big drop in world oil supplies of 1.5m barrels a day in January. If the cartel maintains its level of compliance, excess inventories should fall by about 600,000b/d during the first half of 2017.”
    • “Even though stockpiles are falling, higher prices have driven an increase in drilling in the US as well as Brazil and Canada, where the IEA expects ‘significant increases in production.’ Non-Opec production, led by US shale oil supply, is forecast to grow by 400,000b/d in 2017 from last year.”
  • Sarah Krouse of The Wall Street Journal covered the milestone that Vanguard just passed $4 trillion in assets under management.
    • “Indexing pioneer Vanguard Group has climbed to $4 Trillion ($4.048tn) in assets for the first time, accentuating a loss of faith among investors in traditional money managers who handpick stocks.”
    • “Of the $533 billion of net flows into all mutual funds and exchange-traded funds last year, 54%, or $289 billion, went to funds managed by Vanguard, according to research firm Morningstar Inc. The fund company’s own tally for the year was even higher, at $322.8 billion.”
    • Similarly, “BlackRock topped $5 trillion in assets late last year for the first time. It has a larger international business than Vanguard.”
    • “Rival firms who have long been synonymous with their star pickers of stocks and bonds have been hurt by years of subpar performance and relatively high fees. Investors pulled a net $340.1 billion from U.S.-based actively managed funds last year, according to Morningstar, while pouring a record $504.8 billion into U.S.-based passively managed funds.”
    • For reference, “Vanguard crossed the $3 trillion threshold in August 2014.”
  • The Data Team over at the Economist illustrated the migration and labor shortages in Asian countries.
    • “Although Asia is home to half the world’s population, it provides only 34% of the total number of emigrants and host a mere 17% of immigrants. Just one-third of Asians who move abroad remain on the continent, and of those, most stick to neighboring countries. This makes it hard to fill jobs in many countries where they are needed, despite a surplus of labor elsewhere.”
    • “The imbalance of workers will only grow more dire as populations get greyer. For now, China is still a net exporter of labor. But during the next 30 years its working-age population is set to shrink by 180m, and it will need 20m more domestic workers. Overall, East Asia would have to import 275m people between the ages of 15 and 64 by 2030 to keep the share of its population at working age steady. Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and especially Thailand need workers, while Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines have too many. South Asia, meanwhile, could afford to lose 134m  laborers – India alone could send more than 80m abroad – without worsening its dependency ratio. China’s projected shortfall in 2030 is equivalent to 24% of its current working-age population; in Bangladesh the likely surplus is 18%.”
    • economist_asian-migration-and-labor-shortages_2-10-17
  • Kiran Stacey of the Financial Times covered how the number of deaths by air pollution in India is set to surpass those in China.
    • “India is on the verge of overtaking China as the country with the most deaths caused by air pollution, the world’s biggest environmental killer, according to research published on Tuesday.”
    • “In 2015 both countries suffered about 1.1m premature deaths as a result of polluted air, with India just 18,000 behind China, the US-based research organization Health Effects Institute found, making air pollution the fifth-highest cause of death among all health risks.”
    • ft_indias-air-pollution-deaths-to-exceed-chinas_2-14-17
    • “Worldwide, air pollution caused 4.2m deaths in 2015, a 7.5% jump from a decade earlier. Toxic air now kills almost as many people as high cholesterol and even more than excessive sale or being overweight, according to the study.”
  • Laura Kusisto of The Wall Street Journal highlighted a current measure being put forth in Los Angeles that would seek to ban major real-estate developments – at least for a few years.
    • “The second-largest U.S. city is considering a measure that would effectively halt major real-estate projects, the most extreme example yet of a revolt against development breaking out across the country.”
    • “The moves threaten to further constrict a tight supply of housing. Housing starts dropped 2.6% in January, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The number of single-family and multifamily starts per 1,000 households last month was about 36% below the 50-year average, according to Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at Trulia.”
    • “In Los Angeles, residents in early March are set to vote on a ballot initiative that, if passed, would suspend for two years any development that requires a modification to the city’s existing planning rules.”
    • “‘People feel the system is rigged,’ said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has poured some $3.7 million into promoting the measure. ‘It’s all about billionaires getting what they want.'”
    • If you’re wondering why the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is spending donation money on this initiative, it’s because “many of the patients served by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation are struggling with rising housing prices.”
    • “San Francisco in June passed a ballot initiative that puts a 25% on-site affordable-housing requirement on most new residential buildings…”
    • “In Oregon, the Portland City Council in December unanimously passed a similar ordinance requiring buildings with 20 units or more to set aside 20% of units for affordable housing…”
    • “Despite complaints in Los Angeles about a deluge of development, housing construction now is at only a fraction of the rate of the mid-20th century, before strict zoning rules were put in place. From 1950 through 1959, about 250,000 units of new housing were added in the city of Los Angeles, according to an analysis of the census data by advocacy group Abundant Housing LA. From 2010 to 2015, the figure was 25,000, though the city issued permits for about 50,000 units in roughly the same period.”
    • “In the middle of the last century, zoning regulations were such that there was enough capacity in the city to build housing for 10 million residents, according to David Waite, a local planning lawyer.”
    • “The adoption of ‘community plans’ in the 1970s and a ballot initiative in the mid-1980s knocked that down to 4.5 million people, meaning Los Angeles is now almost at full capacity.”
    • “The proposed rule up for vote in March, called the ‘Neighborhood Integrity Initiative’ and referred to as Measure S, would require the city to update all community plans.” Essentially, if passed, development would be put on hold while the neighborhood plans are updated with input from the community.

Graphics

Business Insider – Here’s how many people in every state don’t have health insurance – Bob Bryan 2/9

wsj_daily-shot_us-uninsured-by-state_2-9-17

Bloomberg – Demand for Treasuries Is Now a ‘Made in the U.S.A’ Phenomenon – Luke Kawa, Liz McCormick, and Tracy Alloway 2/7

bloomberg_demand-for-us-treasuries_2-7-17

Economist – The world’s biggest gamblers – The Data Team 2/9

economist_worlds-largest-gamblers_2-9-17

NYT – Why Falling Home Prices Could Be a Good Thing – Conor Dougherty 2/10nyt_where-housing-costs-too-much_2-10-17

Bloomberg – China’s Zombie Province Shows Trouble With Its Bond Market – Bloomberg News 2/12

bloomberg_china-municipal-bonds-uneven-playing-field_2-12-17

Visual Capitalist – Visualizing the Tallest Building in Each State – Jeff Desjardins 2/13

vc_tallest-building-in-each-state_2-13-17

WSJ – Daily Shot: Moody’s Investors Service – Chinese Wealth Management Products – 2/13

  • “China’s WMPs (Wealth Management Products) continue to grow, with the asset-liability mismatch remaining elevated. Imagine a product that ‘guarantees’ a certain rate, gives you a 1-3 month liquidity, and invests in 5-year corporate bonds.”

wsj_daily-shot_moodys-china-wmps_2-13-17

WSJ – Bond Buying Surges, Tightening U.S. Corporate Spreads – Chris Dieterich 2/13

wsj_us-corporates-to-treasuries-spread_2-13-17

Business Insider – An ‘investment mania’ is propelling Canada’s home prices to their biggest gain since 2007 2/14
business-insider_toronto-house-price-index_2-14-17

FT – China Inc hits brakes on foreign property investment – Gabriel Wildau 2/16

ft_china-outbound-investment_2-16-17

Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

Venezuela falls behind on oil-for-loan deals with China, Russia. Marianna Parraga and Brian Ellsworth. Reuters. 10 Feb. 2017.

“Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, has fallen months behind on shipments of crude and fuel under oil-for-loan deals with China and Russia, according to internal company documents reviewed by Reuters.”

“The delayed shipments to such crucial political allies and trading partners – which together have extended Venezuela at least $55 billion in credit (about $50bn from China and $5bn from Russia’s Rosneft)- provide new insight into PDVSA’s operational failures and their crippling impact on the country’s unraveling socialist economy.”

“Because oil accounts for almost all of Venezuela’s export revenue, PDVSA’s crisis extends to a citizenry suffering through triple-digit inflation and food shortages reminiscent of the waning days of the Soviet Union.”

“The total worth of the late cargoes to state-run Chinese and Russian firms is about $750 million, according to a Reuters analysis of the PDVSA documents.”


“At the end of January, PDVSA was late on nearly 10 million barrels of refined products that the company owes the firms – with shipments delayed by as much as 10 months, according to the documents. It also failed to make timely deliveries of another 3.2 million barrels of crude shipments to China’s state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).”

“A total of 45 cargoes bound for Russian and Chinese companies are late for a variety of reasons, according to internal operational reports about shipments of crude and refined products.”

“The problems include operational mishaps, such as refining outages and delayed cleaning of tanker hulls, and financial disputes with service providers owed money by PDVSA.”

For example, “… a company official said PDVSA was unable to deliver a 1.8 million-barrel cargo of fuel oil to PetroChina because Bahamas terminal Borco, where PDVSA rents storage space, has intermittently prevented the firm from using the tanks since 2016 due to lack of payment.”

“Another 2 million-barrel cargo of fuel oil bound for China in November was postponed because of stained crude tankers, which cannot navigate international waters due to environmental regulations.”

Adding salt to the wound… “the fall in crude prices has made the oil-for-loan agreements more onerous. Because loan payments were negotiated when crude prices were higher, the agreements require PDVSA to ship more oil in order to continue servicing the debts at the same rate.”

Which all of course “saps its ability to ship to other customers – such as India, or customers in the United States – who would pay in cash, which PDVSA desperately needs.”

As an anonymous trader that regularly buys Venezuelan oil so aptly put it “at this point, everybody is trying to collect pending debts from PDVSA by receiving cargoes, but production is not enough.”

In Echo Of ’07, REITs Back Away From Multifamily. Andrew Barnes, Jake Mooney, and Zach Fox. S&P Global Market Intelligence. 7 Feb. 2017.

“Amid concerns of a peaking multifamily market, publicly traded U.S. real estate investment trusts in 2016 were net sellers of multifamily properties for the first time since 2009.”

“In total, REITs sold $13.0 billion more multifamily properties than they bought. In the past 10 years, the only previous time REITs off-loaded more multifamily assets than they bought by such a large amount was in 2007, when sales dwarfed purchases by $21.11 billion.”

“REITs’ caution around making new property investments follows a long and steady escalation in apartment values, which have more than doubled since 2010, according to a national index from Moody’s/Real Capital Analytics. In recent months, a flood of new construction has depressed rents in coastal markets. New York and San Francisco, both key markets for the largest multifamily REITs, Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities Inc., saw rent growth flatline in 2016.

sp-market-intelligence_us-multifamily-net-acquisitions-by-reits_2-7-17

“‘Multifamily has just been overbuilt throughout the United States,’ said Jay Rollins, co-founder and managing principal at JCR Capital Investment Corp., which invests in properties valued at $50 million or less. ‘Everywhere. And it will decline everywhere.'”

sp_top-5-us-multifamily-portfolio-dispositions-since-2012_2-7-17

Despite rising interest rates and expectations of further rises “…sales data does not show property prices declining in response. According to data firm Real Capital Analytics, cap rates dipped to 3.9% for mid- and high-rise apartments nationwide in 2016 third quarter. In San Francisco, the average cap rate stood at just 2.7%, barely above the 10-year Treasury rate, but with considerably more risk.”

“Broadly, observers say, property buyers seeking near-term yield are avoiding coastal cities, leaving them to long-term investors like sovereign wealth funds and high-net-worth individuals. But whereas REITs have cooled on acquisitions nationwide, some prominent private equity firms have still pursued deals in the middle of the country, where ‘the math can still work,'” according to Drew Babin, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.

“Most notably, Starwood Capital Group kicked off 2016 by buying 72 properties from Equity Residential for $5.37 billion, and said Jan. 19 that it will acquire Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust, a Canadian REIT that owns U.S. Sun Belt properties, for $2.85 billion.”

“Historically, apartments have been a relatively safe bet. Apartment buildings are one of the more stable real estate asset classes over time, Babin said – in part because they have the backstop of funding from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Even for top-of-the market buyers, patience can be valuable. Apartment prices rose 62% over the decade beginning in November 2006, despite two years of sharp price declines that began in 2008, according to the Moody’s/RCA index.”

sp-market-intelligence_us-apartment-index_2-7-17

Chinese Companies Rush In With Nearly $2 Trillion Where Bankers Fear to Lend. Rachel Rosenthal and Anjie Zheng. The Wall Street Journal. 9 Feb. 2017.

“Chinese companies are increasingly stepping in as lenders, as banks reduce their funding to struggling industries and the country’s mammoth bond market comes under strain.”

“Company-to-company loans in China jumped by 20% last year to 13.2 trillion yuan ($1.92 trillion), according to research firm CEIC. That is roughly double the size of the loan book at Wells Fargo & Co., the U.S.’s biggest lender. This entrusted lending, so named because banks serve as middlemen, is now the fastest-growing major component of the country’s elaborate system of informal, or shadow, banking.”

“The most recent surge came during the selloff in China’s $9.3 trillion bond market late last year. Big, cash-rich companies – mostly state-owned enterprises and some private companies – stepped in: New entrusted loans rose to 405.7 billion yuan ($59.02 billion) in December, more than double the month prior, according to data tracker Wind Information, and the highest monthly issuance in two years.”

“Instead of investing in their core business, companies can earn interest rates of up to 20% making entrusted loans, often with only cursory checks on borrowers’ creditworthiness. Such lending often props up companies in sectors like mining and property where Beijing wants to reduce excess capacity. It also adds to China’s $18 trillion corporate debt pile, already equal to 168% of gross domestic product, according to the Bank for International Settlements.”

“Some entrusted loans are between a company and its own subsidiaries, similar to how many big companies globally loan cash to different parts of their business. Still, between 2007 and 2013 more than 60% of entrusted loans were channeled to companies in industries with overcapacity, according to a study by the U.S.-based National Bureau of Economic Research.”

“‘It’s not a sustainable business model’ for the lending companies, said  Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics. ‘Their main operations are only staying afloat by acting like a shadow bank.'”

“Company-to-company lending took off in China in the 1990s when, after a period of rapid growth, many state-owned firms started generating large amounts of cash. With no private shareholders pushing for dividend payouts, many put that cash to work by lending it out.”

wsj_chinese-entrusted-loans_2-9-17

“But entrusted lending is unusual. Banks are involved, but only as a middleman: Direct company-to-company lending is still legally prohibited. Banks can charge fees of up to 5% of the loan, according to BMI Research, but leave credit checks to the lending company.”

“In some cases, lending companies aren’t pulling back even when loans sour.”  Why, because they’re usually to subsidiaries…

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

 

A Wealth of Common Sense – Where You Live & the 50/30/20 Rule 2/14

Bloomberg – Yellen Sets High Hurdle for Reducing Fed’s Massive Bond Holdings 2/14

Business Insider – Paul Singer’s Elliott: ‘There is a deep underlying complacency which we think permeates global financial markets’ 2/1

FT – Take a deep breath: we must all help clean up London’s toxic air 2/3

FT – The importance of bubbles that did not burst 2/10

FT – Major Chinese bitcoin exchanges halt withdrawals after crackdown 2/10

FT – China’s Wanda circles Postbank in search of European bank assets 2/13

FT – Swiss signals that cash may no longer be king 2/13

FT – US labels Venezuelan vice-president a drug kingpin 2/13

FT – Down on China? Not Morgan Stanley (Alphaville) 2/14

FT – China’s top football team vows to phase out foreign players 2/15

FT – China returns as net buyer of US Treasuries 2/15

FT – What Chinese monetary tightening? 2/15

Investment News – Changing direction, FS Investments launching a nontraded REIT 2/14

NYT – Japan Limited Immigration; Now It’s Short of Workers 2/10

NYT – Amazon’s Living Lab: Reimagining Retail on Seattle Streets 2/12

NYT – India’s Air Pollution Rivals China’s as World’s Deadliest 2/14

Reuters – U.S. investors brace for mounting political risks as they decode Trump 2/14

ValueWalk – BCG: Hedge Funds Face Potential Doomsday Scenario 2/10

WSJ – Race to Revamp Shopping Malls Takes a Nasty Turn 2/14

WSJ – Bonds Tied to Dying Malls Could Be the Next ‘Big Short’ 2/14

WSJ – Retail Zombies Haunt Industry 2/15

WSJ – A Harsh Reality Is Hitting the Housing Market 2/15

 

 

January 26 – February 2, 2017

There is a lot of money sloshing around between football (soccer) teams to trade players.  Chinese football club worth more than AC Milan?  Bad credit – no problem.

Headlines

FT – Rock-bottom rates squeeze German lenders 2/1. Interest rate sensitive German lenders continue to be squeezed by low-to-negative interest rates, if this keeps up, many are going to have a hard time making a profit.

NYT – Tesla Gives the California Power Grid a Battery Boost 1/30. Utility level electricity battery storage coming to a town near you.

FT – Microsoft issues biggest bond of the year in debt market boom 1/30. Microsoft just borrowed another $17bn on Monday as they and others seek to tap debt markets before pending rate increases – already $600bn has been issued in 2017.

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

Briefs

  • Eric Platt of the Financial Times illustrated the drop in negative-yielding debt, now below $10tn.
    • “Roughly $9.6tn of bonds trade in negative territory, down from nearly $14tn four months ago and $10.7tn near the end of December, as rising inflation expectations and hopes of a rebound in economic activity propels yields higher.”
    • ft_negative-yielding-debt_1-27-17
    • “European and Japanese sovereign debt comprise the vast majority of negative-yielding securities, while some $514m of euro-denominated corporate bonds also trade with a yield below zero. That figure is down from $916m in September.”
    • “The declining value of debt trading with a negative yield also reflects a stronger US dollar, which makes foreign obligations appear smaller when converted back to the greenback.”
  • Don Weinland of the Financial Times covered the risks to Chinese banks from the One Belt, One Road initiative as reported by Fitch Ratings.
    • Fitch Ratings recently issued a report pointing to the risks that Chinese lenders are facing in funding the One Belt, One Road (Obor) initiative.  Indicating that “the investments have been driven more by China’s desire to exert global influence than focusing on real demand for infrastructure.”
    • “‘The lack of commercial imperatives behind Obor projects means that it is highly uncertain whether future project returns will be sufficient to fully cover repayments to Chinese creditors,’ Fitch said on Thursday.”
    • Why… “credit ratings for countries where China has big infrastructure plans provide a gauge for the projects’ underlying creditworthiness, Fitch said. Most of the countries are of speculative sovereign-rating grade but several, such as Laos, are not rated at all.”
    • However, to be clear it appears that only Fitch is humbugging the Obor initiative whereas the other ratings agencies are praising it, especially as the U.S. appears to be getting out of global infrastructure investment business.
  • Tom Mitchell of the Financial Times illustrated the renminbi’s retreat as an international payment currency.
    • “The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) said the value of international renminbi payments fell 29.5% compared with 2015.”
    • “The renminbi was only the sixth most used currency in 2016 despite its formal recognition in October by the International Monetary Fund as a global reserve currency, alongside the dollar, euro, yen and sterling.”
    • “The Swift rankings are the latest sign that Beijing’s global ambitions for the renminbi have been put on hold as the People’s Bank of China focuses instead on stemming both the redbacks’s fall against the dollar and steady erosion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which have declined 25% to $3tn since 2014.”
    • ft_currencies-used-for-international-payments_1-26-17
  • Emily Cadman, Sharon Smyth, Dingman Zhang, Prashant Gopal, and Emma Dong of Bloomberg News highlighted how China’s army of global homebuyers is suddenly short on cash.
    • “China’s escalating crackdown on capital outflows is sending shudders through property markets around the world.”
    • “Less than a month after China announced fresh curbs on overseas payments, anecdotal reports from realtors, homeowners and developers suggest the restrictions are already weighing on the world’s biggest real estate buying spree. While no one expects Chinese demand to disappear anytime soon, the clampdown is deterring first-time buyers who lack offshore assets and the expertise to skirt tighter capital controls.”
    • “Among other requirements, SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) said all buyers of foreign exchange must now sign a pledge that they won’t use their $50,000 quotas for offshore property investment. Violators will be added to a government watch list, denied access to foreign currency for three years and subject to money-laundering investigations, SAFE said.”
    • “At The Spire in London, a 67-story tower with sweeping views of the River Thames and flats starting at 595,000 pounds ($751,901), prospective buyers were caught off guard by the new rules. Less than 70% of clients who signed purchase contracts last year have made their initial payments, with the rest now facing ‘problems,’ a press official at Greenland Holdings Corp., the project’s Shanghai-based developer, said on Jan. 12.”
  • Gabriel Wildau of the Financial Times pointed to the record $33bn of foreign real estate acquisitions by Chinese in 2016.
    • Prior to the new restrictions from SAFE, “overseas investment from China in residential, commercial and industrial property totaled $33bn in 2016, up 53% from a year earlier, according to global real estate group JLL, as Chinese buyers snapped up office buildings, hotels and residential land.”
    • ft_china-outbound-re-investment_1-28-17
    • “The biggest deal of the year was Anbang Insurance Group’s $6.5bn purchase of Strategic Hotels and Resorts from private equity group Blackstone.”
    • “A survey by the Hurun Report found that property is the most popular form of overseas investment for Chinese with $1.5m or more. Of this group, 60% plan to invest in property over the next three years, implying 800,000 prospective buyers.”
    • “‘Prices in major Chinese cities have risen so fast in the past year that an overseas house seems to offer good bang for your buck,’ Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Report, said in October.”
  • Kim Slowey of ConstructionDIVE reported on another record year for the construction delivery of global skyscrapers.
    • “The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s annual review of the world’s tall buildings – 656 feet (200 meters) or higher – found that 128 were completed in 2016, the third straight year that the number of completed skyscrapers has broken the record.”
    • “In a country-by-country breakdown, China was home to the most tall-building projects (84) in 2016, followed by the United States (7), South Korea (6), Indonesia (5), the Philippines (4) and Qatar (4).”
    • “The tallest building completed in 2016 was the 1,739-foot-high Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre in Guangzhou, China, while the tallest towers built in the U.S. were both in New York City – 30 Park Place (926 feet) and 10 Hudson Yards (879 feet).”

Graphics

WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED Average Sales Price for New Homes Sold in US 01/26

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WSJ – Trump Orders Wall at Mexican Border – Laura Meckler 1/25

wsj_apprehensions-of-illegal-immigrants-along-us-sw-border_1-24-17

FT – HK renminbi deposits fall at record pace in December – Hudson Lockett 1/27

ft_hong-kong-renminbi-deposits_1-27-17

WSJ – Daily Shot: Cost of Borrowing – Pan Europe 01/29

wsj_daily-shot_cost-of-borrowing-in-europe_1-29-17

MarketWatch – The most corrupt countries in the world – Shawn Langlois 1/28

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FT – US universities’ endowments shrink as investments lose money – Stephen Foley 1/30

ft_us-university-endowment-returns_1-30-17

WSJ – Daily Shot: Japan 10yr Government Bond Yield 02/01

wsj_daily-shot_japan-10yr-govt-bond-yield_2-1-17

It’s a mad, mad, mad, Maduro world – Venezuela’s leaders ignore reality – 1/26

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Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

China spree pushes football transfer spending to record $4.8bn. Murad Ahmed. Financial Times. 26 Jan. 2017.

What happens when Xi Jinping decrees that he wants China to become a great football nation… entrepreneurs and politicians do their best to oblige.

“Chinese football clubs splashed out more than $450m in transfer fees (the fee one club pays to another club to poach talent) last year, a spree that helped global spending on the acquisition of players reach a record high.”

“According to Fifa’s Transfer Matching System, an arm of the sport’s world governing body, the total spent on transfer fees worldwide hit $4.8bn in 2016, a 14.3% increase compared with the year before.”

“Among the recent deals, Shanghai SIPG bought Brazilian midfielder Oscar from Chelsea for $63m.”

Granted, Chinese authorities have caught on to the reality that a lot of cash is leaving China in pursuit of football clubs, talent and media rights.  Hence, “Chinese sporting authorities have sought to crack down on spending on players,… with efforts such as cutting the number of foreign footballers allowed to play in each match from four to three per team.”

Regardless, the transfer fees paid by China are still behind that of England, Germany, Spain, and Italy – especially the English clubs that “spent $1.37bn on transfer fees in 2016, an 8.7% increase on the year. This included the world-record signing of Paul Pogba worth up to €110m, by Manchester United from Italy’s Juventus last August.”

Still it seems that the Spaniards have the best farming system (or acquirers of talent from an investment standpoint) in that they “were the largest seller of players, receiving $554.5m in transfer fees last year, more than the $508.7m they spent on players.”

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Chinese football club is worth more than AC Milan. Ben Bland and Murad Ahmed. Financial Times. 26 Jan. 2017.

More to the story about football in China.

“A football club in the Chinese Super League has been sold to a local property developer at an equity valuation of more than $800m, suggesting it is worth more than European giants such as AC Milan and Atletico Madrid.”

“The high price put on Beijing Guoan, the top team in the capital, underlines the investment surge in football in China, despite recent efforts by the government to crack down on what it called ‘irrational’ spending on foreign players.”

“Sinobo Land, a little-known property developer, is buying 64% of the club for Rmb3.6bn from current owner Citic, a state-owned investment group, giving it a valuation of Rmb5.6bn ($807m).”

“Football industry analysts said that the premium paid for the club, which finished fifth in last season’s CSL, could not be justified based on its sporting performance or immediate commercial prospects.”

However, the team is in Beijing, regularly attracts 40,000 attendees to each match, and President Xi Jinping has aspirations for China to host a World Cup and win.  So maybe it’s not too far of a stretch.

I suppose it’s less ostentatious than paying $400m for a 13% stake in Manchester City (Li Ruigang in 2015).

Risky corporate borrowers make hay as yields slide. Eric Platt and Joe Rennison. Financial Times. 26 Jan. 2017.

“The combination of rebounding commodity prices and hopes for faster US economic growth under Donald Trump is helping some of the riskiest corporate borrowers secure cheaper financing and underlines investors’ growing stomach for risk.”

“An expanding list of companies with a triple-C rating – deep within speculative territory – have been able to lock in borrowing costs below 7%, as yields have fallen over the past 10 months.”

“Investors’ appetite for the lowest rated segments of the corporate debt market touched a fresh peak on Wednesday, when a triple-C rated company came close to selling bonds with a yield of just 6%. Last February, triple-C paper traded with a yield of 18.57%, according to Bloomberg Barclays Indices. That figure has nearly halved to 9.36% today.”

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“‘It seems there is insatiable demand for yield,’ said Kevin Lorenz, a high-yield portfolio manager with TIAA CREF. ‘Triple-Cs are routinely pricing at 7% or less. The compensation you get paid to take risk is getting narrower and narrower, much like in 1997-98 and 2004-2006.'”

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“High-yield groups have raised $25bn in the US so far this year – up more than fivefold from 2016 – including $3.4bn from triple-C rated issuers, according to Dealogic. It marks the greatest haul from triple-C groups at the start of a year since 2011.”

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

Bisnow – How Stadium Development is Killing Loyalty in American Sports 2/1

Economist – India flirts with a UBI 2/2

Economist – How to get rich in America 2/2

FT – Shark antibodies join battle against Alzheimer’s 1/25

FT – German bond yields hit year-high in broad sell-off 1/26

FT – China spells out curbs on capital outflows 1/27

FT – Sleepy Saudi sovereign wealth fund wakes and shakes global finance 1/28

FT – Asia borrowing binge hits record high in January 1/29

FT – Bonds start year at breakneck pace, but higher rates loom 1/29

FT – Fitbit: huffing and puffing 1/30

FT – Renminbi internationalization remains elusive 1/30

FT – Are tougher times for Wall Street’s ‘Flash Boys’ here to stay? 1/30

FT – Chinese billionaire abducted from Hong Kong 1/31

FT – Xiao Jianhua, student leader who became an abducted tycoon 1/31

FT – Derivatives ‘Big Bang’ catches market off guard 2/1

FT – US university endowment woes put spotlight on hedge funds 2/1

FT – Chinese defaults: failing better 2/1

NYT – A Costly Drug, Missing a Dose of Disclosure 1/27

NYT – In America’s Heartland, Discussing Climate Change Without Saying ‘Climate Change’ 1/28

NYT – For Couriers, China’s E-Commerce Boom Can Be a Tough Road 1/31

WSJ – India’s Growth Doesn’t Have a Story 1/26

WSJ – Accused Ponzi Schemer Not Sleeping Easy 1/27

WSJ – Here’s What Can Drive the Economy Higher 1/27

WSJ – Suburban Offices Woo Millennials With Food, Fitness and Fun 1/29

WSJ – The Coming Squeeze on Profit Margins 1/30
WSJ – Young People Lose Confidence In Their Prospects as Homeowners 2/1

 

 

December 23 – December 29, 2016

A review – how India and Indonesia have gone about chasing tax revenue. Global bond sales hit a record in 2016 led by corporations. US housing gains highlight the growing economic divide.

First, Happy New Year! 

Headlines

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

Briefs

  • Yuan Yang and Sherry Fei Ju of the Financial Times highlighted how China city governments have collided with Didi over migrant drivers.
    • “China’s ride-sharing platforms face their biggest regulatory test so far after city governments in Beijing and Shanghai approved a policy of ‘local cars, local drivers’ on Wednesday.”
    • “Migrants from rural China constitute the core of the workforce for not only car-hailing apps but some of the country’s largest internet groups including Alibaba and Meituan-Dianping, all of which rely on low-paid drivers and couriers.”
    • “The regulations say you can be fined Rmb10,000 ($1,440) if you are discovered. But 99% of passengers don’t want us to be checked, or they wouldn’t be able to take taxis, so they won’t report us.” – Mr. Huang, a driver in Shanghai originally from Jiangsu
    • “About 40% of Beijing’s and Shanghai’s combined 43m residents are from outside the city, according to the cities’ statistics bureaus.”
    • “China has over 270m rural migrants who have moved to cities to seek a better livelihood. But they are kept under firm restrictions by China’s internal passport rules, the hukou system, under which people receive different benefits depending on whether they have an urban or rural registration and where they are registered.”
    • So two things: 1) you have a huge section on the economy that operates at an equilibrium that requires subsidized labor and investor losses in order to provide products at a price point where consumers will pay for them, and 2) there are millions of people that are forced into a “second-class” citizenship (with rights similar to those of illegal immigrants in the US) by a registration system that seeks to control migration patterns.  Think about it.
  • Tom Mitchell of the Financial Times covered how the lease renewals in Wenzhou have eased homeowner fears.
    • “In an announcement at the weekend, the land ministry said that 20-year residential property leases in the eastern city of Wenzhou would be automatically extended without charge, ending speculations that homeowners would face steep renewal fees equivalent to one-third of their property’s value.”
    • “Ever since Deng Xiaoping’s landmark economic reforms were introduced in the early 1980s, allowing people to buy land and property for the first time since the 1949 communist revolution, titles in the world’s most populous country have been limited by fixed-term leases.”
    • Wenzhou was the first to the fixed-term leases to expire – clearly garnering national and global interest.  Granted, the city is unusual with its 20-year leases versus the norm of 70-years; “the shorter leases were introduced in Wenzhou in the 1990s to make properties more affordable.”
    • The bigger issue at hand is the moral hazard that it represents. Presumably buyers believed that the government would come to their rescue at the end of their lease terms – probably the punters selling the units assured the buyers of the same – and low and behold, they did.  While the lease rollovers represent a huge revenue source for municipalities, actually letting market forces take hold would put many homeowners in dire straits when their leases expire.  Further such a course of action would send shivers across the country when all property owners suddenly realize how precarious their land tenures are… which of course would limit property appreciation – likely to send it down meaningfully, and so on and so forth.
    • To be sure the special case of Wenzhou “does not signal a final resolution of the issue.” The government is “studying a new law that would regulate lease renewals nationwide.”
  • Bruce Einhorn, Peter Pae, Jungah Lee, Kanga Kong, and Abhishek Vishnoi of Bloomberg Businessweek featured the current unrest in South Korea as the country seeks to rein in its corporate elite.
    • The recent impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and the scandal surrounding it has brought to the surface the anger and frustration “of a population struggling with the transition to a slow-growth era.”
    • “Economists expect South Korean gross domestic product this year to expand 2.7%, marking the first five-year period with growth below 3.5% since the 1950s. Manufacturers are suffering from the slowdown in China, South Korea’s top export market, and soft demand elsewhere. Export growth has declined in 21 of the past 23 months. Youth unemployment is 9.3%, in part because rigid labor laws discourage employers from hiring young graduates. ‘ Without some serious restructuring,’ says Emily Dabbs, an economist for Moody’s Analytics in Sydney, the outlook ‘is going to be quite weak.'”
    • “Monthly household incomes for urban salary and wage earners grew 1.7% in the third quarter from a year earlier. As recently as 2012, income growth regularly topped 5%.”
    • Worse, “many jobs are low-paying temporary positions without the insurance, pensions, and other benefits regular workers enjoy. Temporary employees, who make up one-third of the workforce, earn on average about 41% of what a full-fledged employee does.“
    • “Since the end of military rule in the late 1980s, an unwritten social compact has allowed corruption among the political and corporate elite as long as ordinary Koreans enjoyed solid economic growth.”
    • This story line is being played out all around the globe…

 Graphics

WSJ – Paying to Lend: The Negative-Yield Story of 2016 – Richard Barley 12/27

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WSJ – The Mystery of Japan’s Stagnant Wages – Anjani Trivedi 12/27

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WSJ – As Home Prices Rise, Flippers Make a Comeback – Kirsten Grind and Peter Rudegeair 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED Declining US Homeownership Rate 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED US Home price growth vs. Wage growth 12/28

Doesn’t help that rents and home prices are outpacing wage growth

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WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED US Housing Cost Inflation 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: Prescription Drug Price Inflation 12/28

Another place inflation has been taking off

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WSJ – Daily Shot: US Food Deflation 12/28

And a place where it is not

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WSJ – Daily Shot: Declining Cost of Chinese Imports 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: Value of US Manufacturing Shipments 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: China Central Government Stimulus 12/28

As things are slowing down in China, the government has been stepping up its stimulus

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WSJ – Daily Shot: China Private investment growth 12/28

While the private sector has been hitting the breaks

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WSJ – Daily Shot: China 20yr Government Bond Yield 12/28

Doesn’t help that the cost of funds is jumping

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WSJ – Daily Shot: China AA+ Corporate Bond Yield (Index) 12/28

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WSJ – Daily Shot: Family Incomes spent on childcare 12/28

I can relate to this.

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Comstock’s – California to Pay Billions More After CalPERS Cuts Assumed Rate – Romy Varghese 12/29

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Bloomberg Businessweek – Mapping the Growth of Disability Claims in America – Brendan Greeley 12/16

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Visual Capitalist – These 5 Big Companies Control the World’s Beer – Jeff Desjardins 8/4

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Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

How India and Indonesia are chasing tax revenue. Erwida Maulia and Kiran Sharma. Financial Times – Nikkei Asian Review. 25 Dec. 2016.

The Financial Times put together an interesting article on Indonesia’s and India’s efforts to increase their tax revenue base.

In Indonesia, they have “calculated that political stability and a dramatic drop in the tax rate could help to bring home an estimated 11,400tn rupiah ($851bn) parked overseas.”

To help repatriate this wealth, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has launched a massive tax amnesty campaign. “More than 10,000 people a day answered the president’s pitch in September: declare assets now and take advantage of a discounted tax rate – as little as 2% compared with 25% – and, in turn, be part of Indonesia’s future.”

The good news for some of this money is that “beyond the new low rates, the amnesty doesn’t require tax officials to trace the origins of the assets and it prohibits the disclosure of information, even to law enforcement.”

Granted, not everyone is happy about the repatriation. “The efforts to corral big assets unsettled Singapore, one of Asia’s leading financial centers, which is estimated to hold more than $200bn in assets for Indonesians. Account holders who notified financial institutions in Singapore that they would apply for the amnesty suddenly found the financial police involved. Singapore policy and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the financial industry watchdog, had informed banks there to file suspicious transaction reports whenever anyone sought to participate in the amnesty.”

“According to financial sources, Singapore banks offered some of the wealthiest Indonesians better interest rates if they would declare but not repatriate their money.”

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“As of December 19, 141tn rupiah had been committed for repatriation, just 14% of the target. The number of participants declaring assets, though, has been far more encouraging. From July to mid-December, there were 508,000 participants and a total of 4,035tn rupiah of assets declared, equal to 30% of the country’s gross domestic product.”

“While Indonesia has pursued a single, clear and well-publicized program to find hidden assets, India has launched a multi-faceted assault to find revenue in a country where only 1% of the 1.25bn population pays income tax.”

“It has made for a tumultuous year for nearly every Indian household.”

“From June to September, the government embarked on a much-publicized program for people to self-declare secret assets. The first such tax amnesty in nearly 20 years drew in a disappointing 673bn rupees ($9.93bn) from 71,726 people. Soon after, Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) authorized raids of high-net-worth individual’s homes and offices.”

And then “November 8 was the game-changer. From midnight, the government declared a withdrawal of high-denomination notes, sucking out 86% of the currency in circulation by value from a predominantly cash economy. People were given until December 30 to deposit the banned notes into their bank accounts.”

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The affects are still being felt, especially as new notes have been slow in their roll out. “Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist, said the national income could decline by 2%.”

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Hopefully it was worth it.

Bottom line, “sophisticated investors and wealthy families will always be searching for privacy and confidence in how their money is secured and governments will be hard pressed to keep pace. ‘Thinking of Indonesia in 1998 or India’s latest currency reforms gives you a good idea as to why people in these two countries want a safe place for their money,’ said Jason Sharman, professor of governance and public policy at Griffith University in Australia. ‘Offshore is often told as a story of greed, which it often is, but it’s even more a story of fear. Often justified fear.'”

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Corporates lead surge to record $6.6tn debt issuance. Eric Platt. Financial Times. 27 Dec. 2016.

“The bond rally that dominated the first half of the year helped entice borrowers that issued debt via banks to take on just over $6.6tn, according to data provider Dealogic, breaking the previous annual record set in 2006.”

“Companies accounted for more than half of the $6.62tn of debt issued, underlining the extent to which negative interest-rate policies adopted by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, as well as a cautious Federal Reserve, encouraged the corporate world to increase its leverage.”

“While US government bond yields touched their low in July, the prospect of Mr Trump cutting taxes and injecting fiscal stimulus has accelerated a move higher in interest rates that some investors fear will make debt burdens harder to bear in 2017.”

“After touching a record low of 1.32% in July, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury – an important benchmark for corporate borrowing costs – has surged more than a percentage point to 2.57%.”

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“With the universe of negative-yielding bonds touching almost $14tn at one point, money managers were willing to stomach lower returns. The year’s debt sales were buoyed by China and Japan-based issuers, up 23% and 30% respectively, from a year earlier.”

“Investors say they expect 2016 is likely to prove a high-water mark for debt issuance in this cycle, with the Fed forecast to raise rates further and question marks growing over the future of bond-buying programs from the BoJ and the ECB.”

Housing Gains Highlight Economic Divide. Laura Kusisto. Wall Street Journal. 27 Dec. 2016.

“The volatile housing market of the past 15 years is widening the divide between pricey urban and coastal areas and more affordable inland regions, creating large swaths of winners and losers based largely on geography.”

While the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index is up 5.6% in the last twelve months through October, however, “adjusted for inflation, prices are still roughly 15% below the peak.”

“Much of the spoils have been concentrated on the high end. A study by Weiss Analytics, a housing-data firm, found homes in ZIP Codes where the median value is $500,000 to $1 million are now worth 103% more than they were 16 years ago, before a boom in the mid-2000s was followed by the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. Home prices in those areas have shot up 39% since the bust.”

“In ZIP Codes where the median home was worth $100,000 to $150,000, prices have risen 16% since the trough of the market and are now worth 24% more than they were in 2000.”

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Adding a political lens to this, “in counties that voted for Mr. Trump, home prices have been largely flat for the past 15 years, according to a county-by-county analysis of home values and voting patterns by real-estate tracker Zillow.”

“In January 2000, just before the housing market’s boom-bust cycle began, homes in counties that voted for Mrs. Clinton in 2016 were worth $36,000 more than those in the counties that voted for Mr. Trump, according to the Zillow analysis. Today, the gap stands at almost $97,000.”

“The difference is even starker in counties that changed how they voted in this election. In counties that swung for Mrs. Clinton, homes are worth about $147,000 more than homes in counties that swung for Trump.”

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

Bloomberg – Forget Rogue One, Disney Is Rebuilding the Entire Star Wars Universe 12/15

Bloomberg – It Was Going to Be the Year of the REIT 12/27

FT – Five industries under threat from technology 12/25

FT – Cristina Fernandez charged in Argentina corruption case 12/27
FT – Toshiba writedown warning revives financial stability fears 12/27

FT – China debt: long time coming 12/27

FT – Bond investors must accept low-for-long era is over 12/27

FT – US hits Russia with tough sanctions over election hacking 12/29

Investment News – Coming off a disastrous 2016, sales of nontraded REITs could bounce back in 2017 12/27

Naked capitalism – A Tale of Two Retirements: The Great Divide Between CEOs and Everyone Else 12/28

NYT – Growth of U.S. Population Is at Slowest Pace Since 1937 12/22

NYT – Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking 12/29

WP – The Arctic is showing stunning winter warmth, and these scientists think they know why 12/23

WSJ – Italy’s Bank Rescue Is a Precarious Balancing Act 12/23

WSJ – Xi’s Power Play Foreshadows Historic Transformation of How China is Ruled 12/26

WSJ – The Real Story About Rising Home Prices 12/26

WSJ – Plain-Vanilla Real Estate Gains Clout With Chinese 12/27

WSJ – Aluminum Billionaire Planning Escape From China: Lawyer 12/28

WSJ – China’s Currency Drops But Pressure Still Builds 12/28

 

November 11 – November 17, 2016

Folks this Pension issue is a BIG PROBLEM. Speaking of problems, pollution in Delhi is a doozy. Supply side subsidies loom large in corporate China.

Headlines

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

  • GMO Quarterly Letter – Not With a Bang But A Whimper – Jeremy Grantham – Q3 2016
    • “Well, the US market today is not a classic bubble, not even close. The market is unlikely to go “bang” in the way those (Japanese land and Japanese equities in 1989, US tech in 2000, and more or less everything in 2007) bubbles did. It is far more likely that the mean reversion will be slow and incomplete. The consequences are dismal for investors: we are likely to limp into the setting sun with very low returns. For bubble historians, though, it is heartbreaking for there will be no histrionics, no chance of being a real hero. Not this time.”

Briefs

    • While not the crux of the article, Anjani provides a succinct description of the rationale for Prime Minister Modi’s recent invalidation of 500 and 1,000-rupee notes (with just a few hours’ notice).
    • “The shock reform is aimed at rubbing out India’s pervasive black money – or unaccounted-for cash, some counterfeit, some legitimate but evading taxes. It is a bold move for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who should get credit for bringing a larger part of the shadow economy into the formal economy.”
    • “But it is a dangerous move in the near term. The shadow economy accounts for more than 20% of gross domestic product and cash is equal to 12% of the GDP, triple the level in emerging markets generally, according to Nomura. The move has the potential to stifle commerce until the new notes are widely available.”
  • Pilita Clark of the Financial Times discussed an interesting finding by Scientists that there is progress in the fight against growing CO2 emissions.
    • “Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have stayed almost flat for the third year in a row in what scientists say is a “clear and unpredicted break” that could mark a turning point in the world’s efforts to curb climate change.”
    • “Emissions are only expected to rise by 0.2% in 2016, having failed to increase in 2015 and growing by just 0.7% in 2014.”
    • “That is a sharp turnaround from the decade up to 2013 when carbon pollution growth averaged 2.3% a year.”
    • “A fall in the use of coal in China, by far the world’s largest carbon emitter, is the main reason for the slowdown.”
    • However, “researchers also cautioned that the job of curbing dangerous temperature rises had been made harder by the record growth of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.”
    • “Atmospheric CO2 levels surged to 400 parts per million in 2015, the highest level seen in at least the last 800,000 years.”
    • “Concentrations are expected to climb to new records in 2016 on the back of a strong El Nino weather system that produced hot and dry conditions in many parts of the world, sapping the ability of trees and other vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide.”
  • Lucy Hornby and Christian Shepherd of the Financial Times featured the lengths that Chinese shopping mall landlords are going through to attract visitors to their centers, steps that include housing a polar bear named ‘Pizza.’
    • “The use of animals and other attractions comes as malls combat overcapacity, a problem immediately apparent to anyone who has turned up at a dusty, half-vacant shopping center in China’s provincial cities. The country has an estimated 4,000 malls, more than the US, and plans to reach 7,000 by 2025, according to Mall China, an industry organization.”
    • “Malls are starting to bring in a lot more entertainment and a lot more food. There is also a big focus on children – playgrounds, learning centers, even museums.” – Shaun Rein, founder of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group
    • “Last year 83 shopping malls gave up the fight and closed, according to a blue book on the commercial sector by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They will be joined this year by Marks and Spencer, which announced last week it would close several stores in China in an effort to boost its flagging fortunes.”
  • Landon Thomas Jr. of the New York Times highlighted a recent interview with Blackstone’s Hamilton E. James and his plans to help with the retirement crisis.
    • The billionaire, Hamilton E. James, president of Blackstone, the private equity group. The plan, mandatory retirement contributions. It works in Singapore…
    • Why… “the average retirement savings for Americans from the age of 40 to 55 is $14,500… Sixty-eight percent of working-age Americans do not have an employer-sponsored retirement plan. And by 2050, 25 million Americans are projected to face lives of poverty when they stop working.”
  • Peter Grant of the Wall Street Journal pointed to the trouble brewing in commercial real estate.
    • “Defaults are rising in a key corner of the commercial real-estate debt market just as borrowing costs are set to jump, raising the likelihood of a slowdown of the $11 trillion U.S. commercial property sector in 2017.”
    • “Commercial property sales volume was down 8.6% in the first nine months of 2016 to $345.4 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics.”
    • “Now defaults are on the rise as well. More than 5.6% of some $390 billion worth of commercial property mortgages that have been packaged into securities was more than 60 days late in payment in September, according to Moody’s Investors Service. That was up from a 4.6% delinquency rate earlier this year.”
    • “In all, Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC predicts borrowers won’t be able to pay off roughly 40% of the commercial mortgage-backed securities loans coming due next year.”
    • “Adding to the market’s worries are new rules that go into effect on Christmas Eve under the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul requiring issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities to keep at least 5% of the securities they create.”
    • “The so-called risk-retention rules likely will make borrowing more costly and complicated, raising the chances that some property owners won’t be able to refinance loans from the boom years.”
  • Chris Kirkham of the Wall Street Journal illustrated how a worker shortage has led more home builders to turn to prefab construction.
    • “A persistent shortage of construction workers across the U.S. is prompting some of the nation’s largest home builders to experiment with a model they once derided: factory production.”
    • “In the U.S., only about 2% to 3% of homes built in recent years are classified as modular, according to the Census. In other parts of the world, that share is significantly higher. More than a third of all homes in Austria and Sweden are built using off-site methods, and in Japan more than three-quarters of all detached homes are pre-assembled, according to industry research.”
    • wsj-modular-home-building_11-14-16
    • “But throughout the U.S. housing recovery, builders have suffered from a shortage of skilled labor, making it tough for them to keep up with demand. The number of workers employed in the industry this year is nearly 30% below the peak in 2006 and more than 15% below the average during the 2000s, according to the Labor Department.”
  • Chris Kirkham of the Wall Street Journal featured a recent affordable-housing initiative that was passed in Los Angeles that builders say will stifle construction.
    • “Nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles voters last week approved a citywide affordable-housing requirement for developers seeking to build projects of 10 or more units that need a zoning or height change.”
    • “The rule requires that up to 25% of units in rental properties and up to 40% in for-sale projects meet affordability guidelines. Alternatively, developers can pay a fee to the city.”
    • On top of that, the Los Angeles initiative “sets wage standards for the projects.”
    • “Developers must pay construction wages on par with those required for public-works projects, hire 30% of the workforce from within city limits, set aside 10% of jobs for certain disadvantaged workers living within 5 miles of the project and ensure 60% of workers have experience on par with graduates of a union apprenticeship program.”
    • Yeah, so that shortage in labor mentioned above is only going to get better when the qualifications and attributes of which labor you can use are made specific.
    • “Research is mixed on whether affordable housing mandates restrict the overall supply of housing in an area. A San Jose University study of California cities adopting such requirements in the mid-2000s found a notable decline in building permits after the rules were put in place, whereas other studies have found little or no effect on overall construction.”

Graphics

Bloomberg – World’s Biggest Real Estate Binge Is Coming to a City Near You 11/14

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FT – India’s cash clampdown is not radical enough – Martin Sandbu 11/14

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FT – 10-yr Bund yields at 9-month high as bond sell-off continues – Nicholas Megaw 11/13

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WSJ – Daily Shot Charts – 11/15

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daily-shot_5yr-us-treasury-yield_11-15-16

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A Wealth of Common Sense – The Bright Side of Rising Interest Rates – Ben Carlson 11/13

Charts from the Wall Street Journal. Effect of a 1 percentage point increase:

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Effect of a 1 percentage point decrease:

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Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

Era of Low Interest Rates Hammers Millions of Pensions Around World. Timothy W. Martin, Georgi Kantchev, and Kosaku Narioka. Wall Street Journal. 13 Nov. 2016.

“As low interest rates suppress investment gains in the pension plans, it generally means one thing: Standards of living for workers and retirees are decreasing, not increasing.”

“The low rates exacerbate cash problems already bedeviling the world’s pension funds. Decades of underfunding, benefit overpromises, government austerity measures and two recessions have left many retirement systems with deep funding holes. A wave of retirees world-wide is leaving fewer active workers left to contribute. The 60-and-older demographic is expected to roughly double between now and 2050, according to the United Nations.”

“Pension funds around the world pay benefits through a combination of investment gains and contributions from employers and workers. To ensure enough is saved, plans adopt long-term annual return assumptions to project how much of their costs will be paid from earnings. They range from as low as government bond yield in much of Europe and Asia to 8% or more in the U.S.”

“The problem is that investment-grade bonds that once churned out 7.5% a year are now barely yielding anything. Global pensions on average have roughly 30% of their money in bonds.”

“Funding gaps for the two biggest funds in Europe and the U.S. have ballooned by $300 billion since 2008, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.”

“Japan is wrestling with the same question of generational inequality. Roughly one-quarter of its 127 million residents are now old enough to collect a pension. More than one-third will be by 2035.”

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“A typical Japanese couple who are both 65 would collect today a monthly pensions of ¥218,000 ($2,048). If they live to their early 90s, those payouts, adjusted for inflation, would drop 12% to ¥192,000.”

“In the U.S., the country’s largest public-pension plan is struggling with the same bleak outlook. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which handles benefits for 1.8 million members, recently posted a 0.6% return for its 2016 fiscal year, its worst annual result since the financial crisis. Its investment consultant recently estimated that annual returns will be closer to 6% over the next decade, shy of its 7.5% annual target.”

“Yet the Sacramento-based plan still has just 68% of the money needed to meet future retirement obligations. That means cash-strapped cities and counties that make annual payments to Calpers could be forced to pay more.”

As an example, the affluent city of Costa Mesa in Orange County, “has outsourced government services such as park maintenance, street sweeping and the jail, as a way to absorb higher payments to Calpers. Pension payments currently consumer about $20 million of the $100 million annual budget, but are expected to rise to $40 million in five years.”

“The outsourcing and other moves eliminated one-quarter of the city’s workers. The cost of benefits for those remaining will surge to 81 cents of every salary dollar by 2023, from 37 cents in 2013, according to city officials.“

Pollution in India: Worse than Beijing. Economist. 10 Nov. 2016.

“Delhi’s annual average measure of PM2.5, a fine dust that is the most toxic component of its pollution, stands at 122 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3), about double Beijing’s annual average. On Diwali and ten succeeding days this year, Delhi’s air was clogged with averages of well over 500μg/m3, with peaks of up to 1,000μg/m3. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the ‘safe’ PM2.5 level is a mere 25μg/m3 over hours.”

“Edward Avol, an American scientist who has studied the effects of vehicle exhaust on children, says that Delhi’s pollution is at ‘an occupational level of exposure,’ meaning that it is as bad as that experienced by, say, miners using power tools in a closed space.”

Why… a couple of reasons. 1) The burning of rice stubble after harvest in neighboring areas – politicians are loath to make life difficult for farmers and have provided subsidies to encourage rice cultivation over other crops. 2) The diesel fuel used in India – which has also been subsidized to make it cheaper for farmers and truck drivers whose rigs and machinery run on diesel. Side effect is that diesel has been cheaper than gasoline, hence most Indians drive vehicles that run on diesel. 3) There are simply a lot of people in Delhi and the country is going through an industrialization.

As to the price being paid by the citizens… “A study published in Delhi in 2008 estimated that 40% of residents had damaged lungs. Along with a range of other ill effects from pollution, they were five times more likely to suffer from chronic lung disease than other Indians, and four times more likely to have hypertension.”

“Frighteningly, notes Mr. Avol, those results were based on levels of pollution that are only one-fifth to one-tenth of what Delhi lives with.”

In Trump’s China, Industrial Subsidies Loom Large. Anjani Trivedi. Wall Street Journal. 16 Nov. 2016.

“Large government subsidies, which are no secret, are becoming a larger part of operating profits at China’s companies, both state-owned and private. Almost 14% of listed, nonfinancial companies’ profits are attributable to government support, according to an analysis by Wind Info. That’s up from just under 5% six years ago. Even among private firms, many of which have state shareholders, 11% of profits come from the state.”

“Driving the need for the hand outs: In China, when a company posts losses for four straight years, it gets delisted from the stock exchange. Almost 10% of listed provincial state-owned companies rely on government largess to be profitable.”

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“Thriving sectors benefit as well. In China’s car industry, the world’s largest, subsidies have grown 50% annually since 2010. For leading car maker Geely, government subsidies and grants have accounted for 19% of gross profits, on average, over the past five years.”

However, “government incentives are hardly confined to China. The U.S. has its own web of tax incentives and other inducements. Global multinationals rank among the largest recipients too. Many boost come through programs that incentivize consumers. China’s help tends to be more on the supply-side.”

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

Bloomberg – Manhattan Renters Score Record Incentives in Apartment Glut 11/10

Bloomberg – Oil, Earthquakes and the Rush to Save Oklahoma 11/14

Bloomberg – The Real Cost of an MBA 11/16

FT – India’s cash chaos sparks growing backlash 11/13

FT – Buy dollars is the sudden Trump-era consensus trade 11/13

FT – Oil demand will grow for decades, says IEA 11/15

FT – Inflating inflation expectations 11/16

FT – Italy’s 50-year bond burnt in global sell-off 11/16

FT – Bank of Japan tests new firepower 11/16

FT – China’s renminbi hits 8-year low 11/16

FT – US urged to ban acquisitions by Chinese state-owned companies 11/16

LinkedIn – Reflections on the Trump Presidency, One Week after the Election (Ray Dalio) 11/15

NYT – ‘We Couldn’t Believe Our Eyes’: A Lost World of Shipwrecks Is Found 11/11

NYT – Teslas in the Trailer Park: A California City Faces Its Housing Squeeze 11/13

WSJ – SolarCity Could Give Tesla Too Much Sun 11/13

WSJ – At Long Last: The Earnings Recession Is Finally Over 11/13

WSJ – China’s Jack of All Trades (Evergrande Group) Needs a New Strategy 11/15

WSJ – China’s Debt Plan Feels Like Bad Case of déjà vu 11/15

WSJ – Donald Trump: The Housing Market’s Latest Threat 11/15

WSJ – New Competition for ‘Co-Working’ Model 11/15

WSJ – Firms Flee Mortgage-Backed Bond Business 11/15

WSJ – Ritzy Rentals Flood the Market 11/16

WSJ – Bank of Japan Keeps Rates Ready for Something Bigger 11/17

 

October 28 – November 3, 2016

Declining global trade. Chinese bank loan loss provisions. Pending auto loan crisis?

Headlines

Special Reports / Opinion Pieces

Briefs

    • “Earlier this year, One Kings Lane, the online home goods retailer once worth almost $1 billion, sold itself to Bed Bath & Beyond, one of the companies it was supposed to displace, for just $12 million. Jawbone, the maker of sleek wearable fitness hardware once seen as a threat to Apple’s, has seen its value fall 50%. Since 2015, researcher CB Insights has counted 80 ‘down rounds,’ instances of a startup accepting a reduced valuation to raise more venture funding. ‘There was this fog hanging over Silicon Valley in 2001,’ says Botha (Roelof Botha, partner at VC firm Sequoia Capital) referring to the last big tech bust. ‘And there’s a fog hanging over it now. There’s no underlying wave of growth.'”
    • Yet at the same time VC funds are flush. “A few years ago, a big VC fund might have had about $500 million to play with. Today, ‘big’ means well over $1 billion. VCs raised $12 billion in the first quarter of 2016, which the industry’s trade group says marked a 10-year high. ‘The world has never seen an investment climate like this one,’ says Bill Gurley, a partner with Benchmark who led the firm’s investment in Uber. ‘It’s hard to express how much money is out there.'”
    • As Benchmark’s Gurley puts it “we’re in a slow correction. You might see a unicorn go down once a quarter.”
    • “Grocers are struggling to lure e-commerce-loving millennials into their aisles amid what experts say is a permanent shift in shopping patterns among consumers.”
    • “I don’t think we’ve seen shopping change so dramatically ever. Those things in the past that have been real drivers for grocery in terms of freshness and quality aren’t the key drivers for millennials.” – Marty Siewart, senior VP for consumer and shopper analytics at Nielsen
    • “Consumers between 25 and 34 years of age last year spent an average of $3,539 on groceries, about $1,000 less in inflation-adjusted dollars than people that age spent in 1990, federal data shows.”
    • Of course it doesn’t help that “the more than 75 million Americans born in the 1980s and 1990s are also delaying marriage and childbearing, milestones that traditionally lead people to start making big trips to the grocery store.”
    • wsj_grocery-slump_10-27-16
    • Austria just sold 70-year bonds at a yield of 1.5%. On the same day the country also sold 7-year bonds at a sub-zero yield.
    • ft_annual-sales-of-long-dated-debt_10-27-16
  • Peter Wells of the Financial Times pointed to the ‘real’ reason why AIA has a fall in insurance policies underwritten.
    • “UnionPay customers from the mainland (China) will only be allowed to use their credit and debit cards to buy accident, illness and tourism-related insurance policies in Hong Kong, the state-backed bank card provider said on Saturday through one of its subsidiaries.”
    • Why the sudden change…
    • “UnionPay said it ‘has observed a significant increase in overseas insurance transactions by cards issued from mainland China’ and is now preventing its mainland customers from buying insurance products that include ‘investment-related contents.'”
    • “The purchase of insurance products overseas, particularly in Hong Kong, had become a popular way to move money offshore, particularly after the devaluation of the renminbi in August 2015.”
  • Danny Hakim of the New York Times covered the new findings about genetically modified crops and how the results haven’t quite lived up to the promises.
    • The skinny: “genetic modification in the United States and Canada has not accelerated increases in crop yields or led to an overall reduction in the use of chemical pesticides.”
    • “An analysis by The Times using United Nations data showed that the United States and Canada have gained no discernible advantage in yields – food per acre – when measured against Western Europe, a region with comparable modernized agricultural producers like France and Germany. Also, a recent National Academy of Sciences report found that ‘there was little evidence’ that the introduction of genetically modified crops in the United States had led to yield gains beyond those seen in conventional crops.”
    • “At the same time, herbicide use has increased in the United States, even as major crops like corn, soybeans and cotton have been converted to modified varieties. And the United States has fallen behind Europe’s biggest producer, France, in reducing the overall use of pesticides, which includes both herbicides and insecticides.”
  • Mary Childs of the Financial Times discussed some of the changes afoot in the private equity business.
    • A new trend is taking place in the private equity world, one that is promising to hold investor money for longer periods in return for less returns.
    • Granted, “private equity has become a victim of its past success: its strong performance relative to other asset classes looks increasingly difficult to replicate as high valuations and stiff competition among private equity groups make new deals more expensive.”
    • Thus new funds are “offering investors vehicles that will run for 14 years or more, rather than the traditional 10 years, and offer 15% returns or less, lower than the 20% in a typical fund.”
    • “Already the industry’s average returns are slipping below the 20% mark: for 2015, buyout funds generated an average internal rate of return of 17.1%, according to data from Preqin.”
    • “Fund managers are deploying less money, sitting on a record $839bn of so-called dry powder at the end of the third quarter, according to Preqin. Many buyout chiefs say they are modelling potential investments with the expectation that they will be selling into a lower stock market.”
    • Speaking to the timelines of these new funds, the intent is to match investment returns to investor’s long-term liabilities and to avoid forced sales due to too-short investment time horizons.
  • Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times posted about a recent agreement between Dalian Wanda Group and the City of Beverly Hills on a real estate development that sets quite a precedent – good or bad depending on which side you’re on.
    • The benefits of being a city where entitled land is scarce and money flows abundantly… or a further sign that this real estate development cycle has been going on too long such that municipalities can continue to up the ante.
    • The City of Beverly Hills and the Dalian Wanda Group (large Chinese developer) just inked perhaps the most advantageous deal to a municipality – ever.  Granted, Dalian Wanda wouldn’t have done the deal if it didn’t make sense to them – at least on paper.
    • “The terms are still subject to approval by the Beverly Hills City Council, which will launch a three-day round of hearings on the development Monday. The terms include a doubling of the upfront payment from Wanda to the City from $30 million to $60 million; a quadrupling of environmental mitigation and sustainability fees to 1.25% from 0.45% of the sale of any portion of the development, including the condos, and an additional 2% of any subsequent sale; and hotel occupancy surcharge of 5%, on top of the city’s statutory transient occupancy tax of 14%.”
    • “The city says it expects the terms to yield $820 million in revenue over 30 years, an increase of $560 million over the previous terms.”

 Graphics

FT – Spanish unemployment rate below 20% for first time in 6 years – Tobias Buck 10/26

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Visual Capitalist – Prices Are Skyrocketing, But Only For Things You Actually Need – Jeff Desjardins 10/28

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FT – Solar industry rollercoaster offers a bumpy ride – Ed Crooks 10/30

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FT – US mobile advertising surges 89% – Anna Nicolaou 11/1

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Daily Shot – Nigeria’s FX Reserves 11/1

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Economist – Angling for the future of TV 10/29

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Bloomberg – What Rising Bond Yields Are Trying to Tell Us – Mark Gilbert 11/3

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FT – Millennials drive Chinese online consumer boom – James Kynge 11/2

ft_online-sales-of-fast-moving-consumer-goods_11-2-16

Featured

*Note: bold emphasis is mine, italic sections are from the articles.

A Little-Noticed Fact About Trade: It’s No Longer Rising. Binyamin Appelbaum. New York Times. 30 Oct. 2016.

“…Trade is no longer rising. The volume of global trade was flat in the first quarter of 2016, then fell by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to statisticians in the Netherlands, which happens to keep the best data.”

“It is the first time since World War II that trade with other nations has declined during a period of economic growth.”

Further, “the United States is no exception to the broader trend. The total value of American imports and exports fell by more than $200 billion last year. Through the first nine months of 2016, trade fell by an additional $470 billion.”

“In better times, prosperity increased trade and trade increased prosperity. Now that wheel is turning in the opposite direction.”

Worse, “there are also signs that the slowdown is becoming structural. Developed nations appear to be backing away from globalization.”

“The World Trade Organization said in July that its members had put in place more than 2,100 new restrictions on trade since 2008.”

“During the 1990s, global trade grew more than twice as fast as the global economy. Europe united. China became a factory town. Tariffs came down. Transportation costs plummeted.”

“But those changes have played out. Europe is fraying around the edges; low tariffs and transportation costs cannot get much lower. And China’s role in the global economy is changing. The country is making more of what it consumes, and consuming more of what it makes. In addition, China’s maturing industrial sector increasingly makes its own parts. The International Monetary Fund reported last year that the share of imported components in products “Made in China” has fallen to 35% from 60% in the 1990s.”

“The result: The I.M.F. study calculated that a 1% increase in global growth increased trade volumes by 2.5% in the 1990s, while in recent years, the same growth has increased trade by just 0.7%.”

Now, there is excess capacity in the world’s shipping lines. “In 2009, the world’s cargo lines had enough room to carry 12.1 million of the standardized shipping containers that have played a crucial, if quiet, role in the rise of global trade. By last year, they had room for 19.9 million – much of it unneeded.”

Further, automation is making it difficult, if not impossible, for developing nations to follow in China’s footsteps. “Dani Rodrik, a Harvard economist, calculates that manufacturing employment in India and other developing nations has already peaked, a phenomenon he calls premature deindustrialization.”

It doesn’t help that the benefits of globalization were oversold and that now nativists and protectionists are overstating the downsides.

China banks in stand-off with regulators on loan loss provisions. Yuan Yang. Financial Times. 30 Oct. 2016.

“China’s banks are in a deepening stand-off with regulators over the level of provisions they must make to protect against loan defaults as bad debts continue to climb.”

Current provisions call for a loan loss provision ratio target of 150%.  As it stands at least two of China’s largest four banks are below the coverage ratio. As of the third quarter Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has a coverage ratio of 136% (down from 143% in the second quarter). And that’s based on officially recognized non-performing loans.

“Officially, 1.8% of all Chinese loans are non-performing, although the credit rating agency Fitch puts the true figure at more than 15%. Following a huge credit boom, the outstanding amount of non-performing loans doubled in the two years before June 2016, reaching Rmb1.4tn.”

Hence, will the banks have to raise their loan loss reserves or will the regulators reduce the target ratio?

As Zhang Yingchao, a banking analyst at NSBO China – an investment bank, aptly puts it “setting standards is a tussle between the banks and the regulators. Who gets the upper hand depends on the state of the economy. If increasing the credit supply is necessary to meet the growth target of 6.5-7%, then the regulators will need to relax standards.”

Fears rise over auto loan crisis as repo men see sales’ dark side. Joe Rennison. Financial Times. 1 Nov. 2016.

“Repossessions in the US hit 1.6m in 2015, the third highest level on record for data going back 20 years, falling short of the 1.8m and 1.9m peaks seen in 2008 and 2009, respectively.”

“That number is predicted to rise to 1.7m this year, according to Tom Webb, chief economist at Cox’s Automotive.”

However, one of the key differences between this cycle and last is that whereas many of the repossessions in 2008 and 2009 were from fraudulent schemes “people renting cars under a fake name and not returning them, for example,” this time there has been a boom in subprime auto loans and people just not able to repay their loans.

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The auto market is booming and correspondingly or really as a result of the growth in the auto loan market. “The auto loan market has grown from $750bn in 2011 to $1.1tn at the end of June, according to data from the US Federal Reserve.”

According to Peter McNally, a senior analyst at Moody’s – the rating agency, “while we have seen a gradual loosening in underwriting in recent years it has gotten to a point now where it is becoming unstable.”

“The subprime auto ABS market has grown to $38.1bn, down slightly from its second quarter high of $41.2bn, according to data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Fitch Ratings defines subprime ABS as a deal with expected net losses above 7%. Net losses across subprime auto ABS hit 9.29% in September, according to Fitch – 23% higher than a year earlier.”

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“The fear is that if losses continue to climb, investors will stop buying bonds issued by less diversified companies. If their access to funding stops, it could impair the credit quality of the issuer itself, throwing doubt over the quality of existing bonds and ricocheting through the market, raising borrowing costs for other issuers as well.”

ft_top-10-subprime-auto-loan-issuers-2016_11-1-16

Other Interesting Articles

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Economist

FT – Apple’s profits in China down by almost a fifth 10/26

FT – China pension reform to send flood of cash into domestic equities 10/26

FT – China property developers feel chill as cooling measures bite 10/27

FT – Credit Suisse plans cost-sharing project with another bank 10/29

FT – Russia prepares for deep budget cuts that may even hit defense 10/30

FT – Japan insurers prepare for age of self-driving vehicles 10/30

FT – China’s strongman rule sets a test for the west 10/30

FT – Venezuela’s crisis comes to a head in the streets 10/30

FT – Shell and BP warn not to expect strong oil rebound in 2017 10/31

FT – Forget the IMF: global chemicals are your guide to future performance 11/1

FT – China’s corporate governance standards fall 11/2

FT – Egypt devalues currency and begins free float to secure IMF funds 11/3

NYT – China’s Communist Party Declares Xi Jinping ‘Core’ Leader 10/27

WSJ – The Worrying Weak Point for Super-Strong Bonds 10/28

WSJ – Why Everything Isn’t All Right With China’s Economy 11/1

WSJ – More Americans Leave Expensive Metro Areas for Affordable Ones 11/1