Oil Supply Climbing to One-Month High in Bloomberg Survey: Energy Markets. U.S. crude oil inventories probably increased to a one-month high last week amid signs that U.S. economic growth is slowing, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Supplies rose 1.55 million barrels, or 0.4 percent, in the seven days ended Aug. 27 from 358.3 million a week earlier, according to the median of 12 analyst estimates before an Energy Department report tomorrow. The gain would leave stockpiles at the highest level since July 23. “These inventory numbers are getting too big to ignore, particularly because this is the case across the board,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “At the very least they will present the market with a strong headwind.” Prices may drop as stockpiles approach the 2010 high of 365 million reached on May 21. Demand is set to decline during the next two months as refineries idle units to perform seasonal maintenance.Inventories of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably climbed 1 million barrels, or 0.6 percent, from 176 million, the survey showed. Stockpiles in the week ended Aug. 20 were the highest since 1983. “We’re looking at the highest inventory levels in a generation,” said Stephen Schork, president of consultant Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “You have to go back at the early years of Ronald Reagan’s administration to find distillate supplies this high.” U.S. stockpiles of oil and fuel climbed 8.9 million barrels to 1.14 billion in the week ended Aug. 20, the highest level since at least 1990, when the Energy Department began to collect weekly data. On a monthly basis, supplies are at the highest level since October 1983. Inventories have climbed for eleven weeks, the longest stretch since July 2007.
IMF Changes, Expands Crisis-Prevention Credit Lines. The International Monetary Fund, which has shored up economies from Romania to Greece over the past 18 months, approved changes to its credit line program to encourage countries to turn to the fund before crises develop. Its flexible credit line, reserved for countries that pre- qualify based on sound fundamentals, will be extended for up to two years and have no set limits. A new credit line with additional policy requirements for economies with “moderate vulnerabilities” also was created, the IMF said in a statement.
ACLU Sues U.S. Over Targeted Killing of Citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. government over an alleged policy of killing American citizens who are suspected of terrorism. The lawsuit, filed today in federal court in Washington, argued that such targeted assassinations by the government are unconstitutional. “A program that authorizes killing U.S. citizens, without judicial oversight, due process or disclosed standards is unconstitutional, unlawful and un-American,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement announcing the filing of the case against U.S. President Barack Obama, the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Toyota Prius May Lead Japan Car Sale Collapse as Subsidies End. The Prius hybrid has spearheaded sales growth for Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan for more than a year, helped by government subsidies. The model will likely bear the brunt of plunging demand as the support ends. “A collapse in sales is unavoidable,” said Hiromi Inoue, the new-car sales chief for Tokyo Toyopet Motor Sales Co. “The daily pace of orders for the Prius is already dropping. We are bracing ourselves for the coming crisis.”
Buy Stocks as Municipal Yields Reach 43-Year Lows: Commentary by Joe Mysak. Don’t worry about too much red ink in state and local budgets and not enough money in public pension plans. Forget about the prospect of inflation. That’s what the municipal market is telling investors. The last time yields were this low, Jacqueline Susann had been on the bestseller list with “Valley of the Dolls” for 62 weeks. The oldest gauge of yields in the market, the Bond Buyer 20-General Obligation Bond Index, fell to 3.88 percent last week, below the recent record low of 3.94 percent it reached in October 2009. Yields were last this low on May 11, 1967.
Hon Hai, Foxconn International Shares Tumble After Earnings Miss Estimates. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the largest contract manufacturer of electronics, and handset unit Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. fell in Asian trading after they reported earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. Hon Hai lost 6.6 percent to NT$113 as of 10:27 a.m. in Taipei, set for its biggest decline since May 2009. Foxconn International, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of mobile phones, dropped 9 percent to HK$5.06 in Hong Kong, widening its lead as the worst performer on the benchmark Hang Seng Index this year.
Wall Street Journal:
With Cash on Hand and Shares Falling, Companies Look to Spend. With a big drop in the major stock indexes this month, corporations are increasingly looking for opportunities to buy battered shares--both their own and those belonging to other companies. Investors remain skittish, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 3.8% in August and opening the door for U.S. companies sitting on some $2.03 trillion in cash to grab undervalued stocks caught in the selloff. And with another $20 billion or so in proposed deals occurring since Friday's close, the merger-and-acquisition market remains a big area of spending.
The Surge and Afghanistan by John McCain. Unless he understands the reason for success in Iraq, the president is unlikely to lead a successful strategy against the Taliban. Today President Obama will deliver a major speech to mark the draw down of U.S. forces in Iraq to 50,000 troops. He will likely point out, as his administration has rightly argued, that Iraq still faces major challenges—foremost its inability to form a government—and that neither American sacrifice nor our commitment to Iraq's success is ending today. Yet our troops are returning with honor, which makes this a fitting time to reflect on the causes of their victory and on what lessons from Iraq can help us win the war in Afghanistan.
House Travel Stipends Probed. Congressional investigators are questioning a half-dozen lawmakers for possibly misspending government funds meant to pay for overseas travel, according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation follows a Wall Street Journal article in March that said lawmakers had used daily cash stipends, meant to cover certain costs of official government travel overseas, to cover expenses that appeared to be unauthorized by House rules. An independent ethics board has referred the matter to the House ethics committee.
U.S. Wants Report Card for Cars. System Would Rate Fuel Economy, Emissions; Industry Says Government Veers Into Issuing Opinions. The government proposed labeling each new passenger vehicle with a letter grade from A to D based on its fuel efficiency and emissions, part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to promote electric cars and other advanced-technology vehicles. The proposed new rules, released jointly Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department, would be the most substantial change in 30 years to the familiar price-and-mileage labels affixed to the windows of new cars at dealerships. The proposed changes —which come as the Obama administration enforces stringent new rules to boost overall fuel economy—were criticized by the car industry, which said the government would be crossing the line between requiring responsible advertising and making value judgments about vehicles. "The proposed letter grade falls short because it is imbued with school-yard memories of passing and failing," said Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry's largest trade group. A spokeswoman for the alliance added that "grades may inadvertently suggest a government label of approval."
The Jewelry Prescription. Medical Bracelets Go High-Tech. Style Aside, More People Find They Should Wear Them.
Small-Business Hiring Shows Net Gain, But Pace Slows. Owners of small businesses sour on economy, ease back on hiring, surveys find. Small businesses in the U.S. saw net employment gains in August, but their hiring pace slowed from earlier this year, and small-business owners' outlook for the economy worsened significantly from July to August, according to two surveys released Monday.
Why Wall St. Is Deserting Obama. Daniel S. Loeb, the hedge fund manager, was one of Barack Obama’s biggest backers in the 2008 presidential campaign. A registered Democrat, Mr. Loeb has given and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democrats. Less than a year ago, he was considered to be among the Wall Street elite still close enough to the White House to be invited to a speech in Lower Manhattan, where President Obama outlined the need for a financial regulatory overhaul. So it came as quite a surprise on Friday, when Mr. Loeb sent a letter to his investors that sounded as if he were preparing to join Glenn Beck in Washington over the weekend. “As every student of American history knows, this country’s core founding principles included nonpunitive taxation, constitutionally guaranteed protections against persecution of the minority and an inexorable right of self-determination,” he wrote. “Washington has taken actions over the past months, like the Goldman suit that seem designed to fracture the populace by pulling capital and power from the hands of some and putting it in the hands of others.” Over the weekend, the letter, with quotations from Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan and President Obama, was forwarded around the circles of the moneyed elite, from the Hamptons to Silicon Valley. Mr. Loeb’s jeremiad illustrates how some of the president’s former friends on Wall Street and in business now feel about Washington. Mr. Loeb isn’t the first Wall Streeter to turn on the president.
More Observations on High Frequency Trading's Tyranny of Stock Markets. Anywhere one turns these days, bashing HFT is the new market normal. Having written 150 articles on the topic, beginning in April 2009, we are happy to have brought the world's attention to this most dangerous of market aberrations. Yet until the SEC finally bans the practices of micro churning, quote stuffing, positive feedback loop chasing, flash trading, subpennying, DMA accessing, and all other aspects conceived merely to provide some market participants with an unfair advantage over everyone else, the fight against HFT must continue.
Seeking Alpha:
State Default Risk. Below is a chart highlighting default risk for sixteen states that we have credit default swap (CDS) pricing for.
Politico:
Tidal Wave? 10-Point Poll Edge for GOP. Democrats thought things couldn't get much worse on the electoral front — and then they went home to campaign. A new Gallup poll released Monday shows Republicans with a record 10-point edge over Democrats on the "generic ballot" test — the question of whether voters prefer a Democratic or Republican congressional candidate. It’s the largest GOP polling edge at this stage in the 68 years of the generic ballot poll. The Gallup poll, coming at the end of a brutal August for Democrats and President Barack Obama, reinforces the rapidly forming prevailing view that the horizon is as bleak for Democrats as it ever has been.
Homebuyer's Tax Break Isn't 'High' on President's List. President Obama will be exploring a number of new options to jump-start the flagging economy – but reinstating the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit to prop up housing sales isn’t likely to be one of them, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says.
USA Today:
Survey: Mortgage Closing Costs 37% Higher. A recent survey by Bankrate.com found that, on average, origination and third-party fees on a $200,000 purchase mortgage added up to $3,741 — a 37% jump over last year's average of $2,739. The fees can include appraisals, credit reports, a closing or settlement attorney and surveys. Some housing experts say costs are rising because lenders have had to hire more staff to comply with the requirements of the Jan. 1 rule. That includes auditors, inspection experts and others who make sure estimates are accurate. "Lenders have had to hire compliance people," David Leoncavallo, president of GFEazy, a Salt Lake City provider of compliance and other data for lenders. "To go up from $2,700 to $3,700 overnight is insane. Consumers should be upset."
Reuters:
Iran to Make Medical Reactor Fuel in Year - Report. Iran said it would produce in a year the nuclear fuel needed for a medical reactor in Tehran, a news agency reported on Monday, days after the Islamic state began loading fuel into its first atomic power plant. Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran so far had produced 25 kg (55 lb) of uranium to a level of 20 percent purity for the Tehran reactor, the official Irna news agency quoted Salehi as saying in an interview with the country's Arabic-language TV station, Al-Alam.
Hedge Fund Managers More Bearish on US Stocks - Report. Almost half of all hedge fund managers are bearish about the U.S. stock market, up from 33 percent a month earlier, according to a new report released on Monday. Forty-seven percent of 104 hedge fund managers polled by TrimTabs and BarclayHedge in the last week said they were bearish on the Standard & Poor's 500 index, the research groups said. Only about 17 percent respondents said they were bullish on the S&P 500, down from 34 percent a month ago, they noted.
Financial Times:
US Housing Woes Compound Labor Concerns. Concerns that the depressed US housing sector will remain a drag on the US labor market have mounted following the loss of nearly 120,000 jobs in construction and related businesses in the last three months for which statistics were available. According to Financial Times analysis, the decline in housing-related employment was the biggest weight on private sector job creation as it slowed to an average of 51,000 jobs a month during the May-July period from 153,000 a month in February-April. US Labor Department data show that some 61,000 construction jobs were lost between May and July, with another 56,000 positions shed in ancillary areas, such as furniture, building products and financial services related to property.
China Business News:
China and Iran will sign a $2 billion contract to build railway networks in western Iran on Sept. 12, citing Iran's Roads and Transportation Minister Hamid Behbahani.
Evening Recommendations
None of note
Night Trading
Asian equity indices are -2.0% to -.50% on average.
Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 133.50 +3.0 basis points.
Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 121.25 -4.25 basis points.
S&P/CaseShiller 20 City Home Price Index for June is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.47% gain in May.
9:45 am EST
The Chicago Purchasing Manager for August is estimated to fall to 57.0 versus a reading of 62.3 in July.
10:00 am EST
Consumer Confidence for August is estimated to rise to 50.7 versus a reading of 50.4 in July.
2:00 pm EST
FOMC Minutes
Upcoming Splits
(TSCO) 2-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
The NAPM-Milwaukee for August, Bloomberg FCI for August, weekly ABC Consumer Confidence reading, weekly retail sales reports, Morgan Stanley Global Industrials Conference and the (GES) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by technology and automaker shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.
North American Investment Grade CDS Index 112.25 bps -.58%
European Financial Sector CDS Index 131.08 bps +.56%
Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 154.33 bps -.21%
Emerging Market CDS Index 260.81 bps +.74%
2-Year Swap Spread 17.0 unch.
TED Spread 17.0 +1 bp
Economic Gauges:
3-Month T-Bill Yield .13% -1 bp
Yield Curve 205.0 -4 bps
China Import Iron Ore Spot $142.90/Metric Tonne n/a
Citi US Economic Surprise Index -59.60 unch.
10-Year TIPS Spread 1.57% -7 bps
Overseas Futures:
Nikkei Futures: Indicating -119 open in Japan
DAX Futures: Indicating -5 open in Germany
Portfolio:
Lower: On losses in my Tech, Medical, Retail and Biotech long positions
Disclosed Trades: Added (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges added to my (EEM) short
Market Exposure: Moved to 75% Net Long
BOTTOM LINE: Today's overall market action is very bearish as the S&P 500 reverses lower on light volume despite strength in Asian shares and Friday's US stock reversal higher. On the positive side, Disk Drive and Education stocks are especially strong, rising .75%+. Copper is rising +1.03%, Lumber is gaining +1.66% and the S&P GSCI Ag Spot Index is gaining +.69%. On the negative side, HMO, Bank, Gaming, Homebuilding, I-Banking, Semi, Paper, Oil Tanker and Coal shares are especially weak, falling more than 2%. Small-caps and cyclicals are underperforming. The US sovereign cds is rising +2.67% today to 48.9 bps and is up +4.13% over the last 5 days. The Portugal sovereign cds is rising +1.96% to 338.81 bps and the Greece sovereign cds is gaining another +1.60% to 948.71 bps. Overall, key cds indices continue their recent worrisome trend higher. The euro continues to trade very poorly. I still believe the currency has much further downside over the long-term term. I am surprised at the extent of today's weakness after Friday's reversal higher. Broad market action is even worse than the major averages suggest. However, volume is very light. I will add further downside protection on any convincing break below S&P 500 1,040. I expect US stocks to trade modestly lower into the close from current levels on rising economic fear, more shorting, technical selling, china worries and rising sovereign debt angst.
Consumer Spending in U.S. Tops Forecast, Incomes Lag. Consumer spending in the U.S. rose more than forecast in July, exceeding gains in incomes and indicating the economy may avoid slipping back into a recession. Purchases rose 0.4 percent, the most since March, after little change the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, less than projected, and the savings rate dropped. Disposable incomes, or the money left over after taxes, dropped for the first time since January after adjusting for inflation, showing how the lack of jobs may prevent spending from strengthening. “It’ll be a real slog,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “We’ll see very slow growth, but it’s a far cry from a double dip,” he said, referring to the economy lapsing into another economic slump.
Treasuries Advance After BOJ Says U.S. Economic Uncertainty Is Increasing. Treasuries rose, erasing their losses from last week, after the Bank of Japan said “uncertainty” regarding the American economy is growing, reviving demand for safety. U.S. government notes headed for a fifth monthly gain as the BOJ’s expansion of a bank-loan program fell short of traders’ expectations. The Federal Reserve bought $360 million of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, the least amount since it resumed buying government debt this month. “The market was looking for a broader expansion of the package from the Bank of Japan and stronger steps to shore up their market,” said Christian Cooper, senior rates trader in New York at Jefferies Group Inc., one of the 18 primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed. “The increasing uncertainty that was mentioned also set the tone for the bid this morning. It’s positive for fixed income.” The 10-year yield fell 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 2.54 percent at 12:29 p.m. in New York, according to BGCantor Market Data.
Intel(INTC) Buys Infineon Wireless Radio Chip Unit for $1.4 Billion. Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, agreed to buy Infineon Technologies AG’s wireless unit for about $1.4 billion, gaining a foothold in the mobile- phone business it has struggled to crack for more than a decade. The all-cash transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011, Infineon, Europe’s second-largest semiconductor maker, said in a statement today.
HP(HPQ) Board Authorizes $10 Billion for Share Buybacks. Hewlett-Packard Co.(HPQ), the personal- computer maker in a $2 billion bidding war for data-storage provider 3Par Inc., said its board approved an additional $10 billion for share repurchases. The move, which adds to the $4.9 billion already available, will help offset dilution from employee stock purchases, the Palo Alto, California-based company said today in a statement. HP will repurchase at least $3 billion in shares in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in October, Cathie Lesjak, interim chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Corn Advances to 14-Month High on U.S. Crop Demand; Wheat, Soybeans Climb. Corn futures climbed to a 14-month high on speculation the U.S., the top producer and exporter, may miss a record harvest and as growing areas in China face floods. Corn in Dalian gained to the highest level since at least 2004. December-delivery corn rallied as much as 2 percent to $4.4475 a bushel, the highest price for the most-active contract in Chicago since June 15, 2009.
UN Climate Panel Should Change Management, Study Says. The UN climate-science agency that was criticized for errors in forecasting when Himalayan glaciers may melt should “fundamentally change its management structure,” a review of the Nobel Prize-winning body said. The United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should appoint an executive director and name an executive committee with members who are outside of the IPCC or even are not part of the climate-science community, the Amsterdam-based InterAcademy Council said today on its website. The review by economists and scientists at the InterAcademy Council was called for in March by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon after errors on glacier melt rates and flooding were flagged in 2010 by readers, more than two years after the IPCC published an assessment report that said scientists were more than 90 percent certain that humans are causing global warming. Climate-change skeptics including U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, have pointed to the errors by the IPCC as proof that the earth is not being warmed by human-caused carbon emissions.
3M(MMM) Agrees to Acquire Cogent Inc.(CGNT) for $943 Million. agreed to buy 3M Co.Cogent Inc., a manufacturer of fingerprint-identification systems for governments and companies, for $943 million to expand its security-services products. The offer is for $10.50 a share, 3M said today in a statement, or 18 percent more than Pasadena, California-based Cogent’s closing price on Aug. 27.
Wall Street Journal:
The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment. My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn't been extended to 99 weeks.
Another Home Buyer Tax Credit? Just when I thought the housing market was finally being left to correct on its own, I'm starting to hear talk regarding yet another home buyer tax credit. From HUD to the hedge funds, it sounds as if it is gaining steam yet again. This one could involve not just first time/move-up buyers, but a credit for buyers purchasing foreclosed properties or short sale.
Michael Wines has an excellent report in today’s New York Times, about the rising dominance of China’s state-owned enterprises, at the expense of the once-vibrant private sector. Although partly an unanticipated consequence of China’s big stimulus push, he notes, the trend may — to some degree — reflect a more profound shift in philosophy:
Dallas Fed: Manufacturing Is a Mess. The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index declined by 13.5%, worse than the forecast -10%. Texas activity declined for the third month in a row. New orders, shipments, and other indices for Texas were also negative or flat:
Zero Hedge:
Greeks "In Over Their Heads in Debt" Means Non Performing Loans Poised to Surge. A Bloomberg TV report looks at a troubling and all too expected trend developing currently in Greece: namely the overabundance of easy credit provided to Greek consumers to fund unprofitable business, and which loans the recipients have no intention of every paying back.
Moody's Issues Stern Warning on China's Pyramid Bank Recapitalization Scheme; Has CIC Entered a Funding Crisis? Moody's is out with a surprisingly frank appraisal of the Chinese banking system's precarious capitalization trend, by looking at the recent RMB 54 billion capital raise in the interbank market by the domestic arm of the Chinese Sovereign Wealth fund (CIC), which was "the first part of an RMB 187.5 billion overall fund-raising program mainly to provide additional capital to the three largest state-owned banks, a policy lender, and a policy insurance company." As Moody's oh so correctly concludes: "Recapitalizing banks with bond proceeds from banks is credit negative because it increases the effective leverage of the banking system.
58% Favor Repeal of the Health Care Law, 36% Are Opposed. Just over half of U.S. voters continue to believe that the new health care law will increase the cost of care and believe the law will be bad for the country. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% favor repeal of the new national health care law while 36% are opposed. These figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 28% who are Strongly Opposed.
USA Today:
Record Number in Government Anti-Poverty Programs.Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand. More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That's up at least 17% since the recession began in December 2007. "Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record," says Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates, which surveys states for Kaiser Family Foundation. The program has grown even before the new health care law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained doctors. "Private physicians are already indicating that they're at their limit," says Dan Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers. More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years. Caseloads have risen as more people become eligible. The economic stimulus law signed by President Obama last year also boosted benefits.
AP:
China has gone on a global management recruiting campaign as part of a plan to build 30 to 50 state companies that will become national champions in oil, banking, airlines and other businesses, citing an announcement by the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission.
Financial Times:
Oil Exploration in Cuba Expected to Go Ahead. Preparations for full-scale oil exploration are gaining momentum in Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico waters just 50 miles from the US, testing the limits of the trade embargo on the Caribbean nation. Cubapetroleo, the state oil monopoly, says seven exploration wells are scheduled for the Cuban waters up to the end of 2012. A new Chinese deep-water rig, owned by Saipem, a unit of Italian oil company Eni SpA, is scheduled to leave its shipyard by the end of 2010 for the two-month trek to Cuba. The rig was built to get around the 10 per cent limit on US technology demanded under the US trade embargo of Cuba. Preparatory work is moving ahead at Mariel, a port west of Havana, the staging area for drilling operations, diplomatic and industry sources said, and some companies have opened bidding for well casing. “It is ridiculous that Repsol, a Spanish oil company, is paying an Italian firm to build an oil rig in China that will be used next year to explore for oil 50 miles from Florida,” Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, said.
Telegraph:
Backlash Over China Curb on Metal Exports. China's draconian export curbs on rare earth minerals needed by the rest of the world for frontier technologies is escalating into a serious diplomatic and trade clash with the United States and other leading powers. Japan's foreign minister Katsuya Okada issued what amounted to a formal protest at top-level meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing over the weekend, saying the sudden cut-off was "affecting the global production chain". It is the latest sign of rising pressure after angry complaints by companies outside China that rely on this family of 17 metals for hybrid cars, mobile phones, superconductors, navigation, and a host of high-tech industries.
Economic Times:
Some banks in the Chinese municipality of Chongqing raised loan rates for first-home purchases by reducing discounts, citing people from two banks' Chongqing branches. Buyers can only get a 10% to 15% discount for interest rates paid on loans to buy first homes, compared with an earlier 25% to 30% off.
WAM:
Ground Zero Mosque Leader: Radicalism Common Threat to Muslims and Non-Muslims. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a central figure in plans to build a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan, New York, near the site of attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, urged followers of all faiths to join hands against radicalism which he says exists in all religions. "We are all in this together.. there is a common threat: radicalism which exists in all religions," Abdul Rauf told WAM in an interview in Abu Dhabi. "The real battle front is not between Muslims and non-Muslims. The real battle front is between moderates and extremists." He is in the UAE as part of a mission from the United States government to promote religious tolerance in the Arab world. The Imam's trip also took in Bahrain and Qatar. While in the UAE, Feisal Abdul Rauf is holding meetings with senior officials, Muslim scholars and university students.
