Millionaire Corner Daily Financial Update February 21, 2012
http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/news-analysis-investor-february-21-2012
Opah! Finally a Greek Bailout
After months of skepticism by the euro nations and protests in Athens, the European finance ministers approved a 130 billion euro, $170 billion, bailout for Greece. In addition to the new loans, Greece has asked private bondholders to forgive $142 billion in debt and the ECB and other European banks will forego charging interest on loans. According to the Associated Press, Greece is required to pass a law that states that payment of the debt will supersede payment for government services. The hope is that the bailout will bring Greece’s debt down to 120.5 percent of GDP by 2020. Today the debt is at 160 percent of GDP.
Stocks mixed despite bailout
The Wall Street Journal reports that European stocks are down despite the news of the Greek bailout due primarily to a story posted earlier by the Financial Times, but since withdrawn, that Greece may need a third bailout because the force austerity could cause debt levels to rise. Asian markets were mostly up. US markets were closed on Monday but the Dow finished at 12,949 on Friday. Dow futures are up.
Lenders paying Borrowers to complete short sales
Lenders are allowing more short sales for those homes about to go into foreclosure and, according to USA Today, some lenders are even paying the borrowers cash to complete the sale. A short sale is when lenders allow borrowers to sell homes for less than the unpaid mortgage. Incentive offers from major banks range from $3,000 to $30,000. The reason is that it is less costly for banks to encourage the short sale than go through the lengthy foreclosure process. According to CoreLogic, short sales accounted for more than 9 percent of single family home sales in November, an increase of 32 percent from a year ago.
Increase in Chinese wages may spur inflation in US
The US imported $399 billion in Chinese goods last year, according to the Commerce Department and reported by the Wall Street Journal. This was quadruple the $100 billion imported in 2000 and ten times the $39 billion imported in 1994. Over the past 15 years, the core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, has risen at 2.1 percent, compared to the 4 percent experienced in the 1970s and 1980s. The import prices have increased 3.9 percent recently due to higher wages in China and an appreciating yuan, the currency in China. While rising prices in China will not directly increase prices in the US, it will not offer the ability to pull prices down. Therefore, ultimately prices for goods, and the associated inflation, will begin rise. While some companies may shift production out of China to avoid rising costs, the 1.3 billion people in China cannot be found in other countries, which have much smaller populations.
E-Commerce shoppers generally satisfied
According to an index founded by the University of Michigan, customer satisfaction with online websites increased 1percent in the past year to an index score of 80.1. USA Today reports that total e-commerce sales rose 16 percent to $194.3 billion in 2011, according to US Census Bureau data. While Amazon was the top online retailer, its overall score dipped slightly. Online travel agencies and online brokers both experienced a decrease in overall scores compared to prior years
Duration : 0:3:25
Virtual Tour: http://tour.circlepix.com/9H5VFN 
Virtual Tour: http://tour.circlepix.com/9H5VFN 
http://www.tourfactory.com/s569182/r_www.youtube.com 
http://www.tourfactory.com/s579739/r_www.youtube.com
Recent Comments