PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Primavera 2024

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://cincodias.elpais.com/opinion/2024-06-14/energia-y-automovil-entran-en-zona-movediza-en-la-ue.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://cincodias.elpais.com/opinion/2024-06-14/la-hora-del-poscrecimiento-no-es-vuestro-pib-es-nuestro-planeta.html

Saludos.

[sudden and sharp]

La resurrección de la abandonada estación ferroviaria de Detroit
https://www.traveler.es/viajes-urbanos/articulos/ford-compra-estacion-central-de-michigan-detroit/13424

[R.G.C.I.M.]

https://elpais.com/economia/2024-06-13/el-precio-de-los-alimentos-se-modera-tres-decimas-en-mayo-hasta-el-44.html

https://elpais.com/economia/2024-06-13/el-congreso-aprueba-la-suspension-de-desahucios-hipotecarios-de-familias-vulnerables-hasta-2028.html

Saludos.

Yo no sé si son subnormales, hijos d puta o ambas cosas.
Lo que se modera es el ALZA de los precios, que sigue subiendo, pero menos.
El precio NO se modera. El precio sigue SUBIENDO.


Sds.

[mpt]

Yo no sé si son subnormales, hijos d puta o ambas cosas.

bestial duda aplicable a mucha gente

23.400 metros cuadrados de edificabilidad de uso residencial ..... subasta tendrá un precio base de 24,5 millones de euros

unos 1000€/m2 pa arrancar
https://valenciaplaza.com/la-sociedad-parque-central-subasta-el-solar-proximo-a-joaquin-sorolla-por-24-5-millones

[asustadísimos]

[He añadido un último párrafo en...
https://www.transicionestructural.net/index.php?topic=2604.msg229871#msg229871
... para poner en su sitio al caos.

Aprovecho para decir que la demencia senil de Biden, a 19 semanas de las elecciones generales, sugiere que algo gordo pudiera pasar. Si añadimos los problemas de liquidez y solvencia de la banca de depósitos de segundo nivel, no es inverosímil un pseudocorralito bancario y la suspensión de las elecciones, en consonancia con el nuevo enfoque autoritario de las democracias formales americanas o americanoides (bukelización —Bukele es palestino—). Se adelantaría a 2024 la oficialización de lo que aquí llamamos Hostión. Este escenario de prospectiva es compatible con el actual amago de escalada en la guerra de Ucrania.]

[Derby]

El negocio real consiste en la compraventa y no en el arrendamiento e inmuebles. Esto es una anomalía.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-and-more-renters-are-staying-put-thats-not-going-to-change-anytime-soon-121734583.html

More and more renters are staying put. That's 'not going to change anytime soon.'

Bryan Tucker began looking for a starter home in the Washington, D.C., suburbs earlier this year. He soon decided it wasn't worth it.

In Arlington, Va., where he was looking, he found that most options he was interested in were priced over $1 million and way out of his budget. So he decided to renew his apartment lease another year.

“I have looked,” said Tucker, a 27-year-old project manager in the tech industry. “The only options that are really affordable for me for the next year are condos."

Would-be buyers like Tucker are staying in the rental market longer as the housing market remains out of reach for many. Apartment owners have noted on recent earnings calls that the share of renters moving out to buy homes is at record lows.


Multifamily and single-family rental REITs across the country have reported strong appetite for new and renewal leases as home ownership remains unaffordable for many. (John Tlumacki/The

"The monthly cost of owning a home today is 61% more than leasing an apartment," Richard Campo, CEO Camden Property Trust (CPT), a Houston-based owner of 58,000 apartment homes, said on the company's first quarter earnings call in early May. "This is not going to change anytime soon."

Mortgage rates are currently hovering around 7%, continuing to make borrowing expensive for potential buyers. Higher rates have also convinced many current homeowners to delay moving since they financed their homes at lower rates. That’s kept a lid on supply and helped drive home prices sky high.

Home prices hit fresh records in March, according to the latest data available from Case-Shiller. Economists at Bank of America expect home prices to grow 4% this year.



Camden said that just 9.4% of move-outs in the first quarter were due to its residents buying a home — the lowest in history.

Similarly, AvalonBay Communities (AVB), a REIT that owns nearly 80,000 apartment units, reported in its first quarter report that the share of people moving out to buy a home hit a record low, namely because of high costs of homeownership.

“Demand for [rentals] also continues to benefit from the differential in the cost of owning a home versus renting,” Ben Schall, CEO and president at AvalonBay, said in late April to investors and analysts.

“This is true across most of the country but particularly pronounced in our markets, given the level of home prices, resulting in it being more than $2,000 per month more expensive to own versus rent a home,” he added.

A recent report from Redfin suggests renters are more likely to stay put for the long run than they were a decade ago. According to the company's analysis of renter tenure data from the Census Bureau, almost 17% of renters stayed in their home for a decade or more in 2022, up from 14% 10 years ago. The trend was similar for those who lived in their homes for five to nine years — the percentage of renters doing so rose to 16% from 14%.



"The rate environment is not looking good. That's something that might keep the trend sticky, because mortgage rates are high and it's not looking like they're changing anytime soon," Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist, told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

At its June policy meeting, the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate — which affects the direction of mortgage rates — steady and projected just one rate cut this year, down from a previous forecast of three.

To be sure, renting an apartment has become less affordable too. The median asking rent has increased 23% over the past five years, according to Redfin data.

That has buyers like Tucker weighing their options. He found that he could reasonably afford a $1,600 to $2,000 mortgage payment, assuming he put 20% down — not too far off from what he spends in monthly payments for rent.

"I'm fine with [renting] for now, but for the long term, eventually I would like to get a house," Tucker said. "If that involves moving elsewhere, then I'm prepared to do that."

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv.

[Derby]

https://www.marketplace.org/2024/06/14/oer-rent-housing-shelter-bls-cpi-inflation/

How does the cost of housing figure into the consumer price index? It’s complicated.

The cost of housing — of shelter — has been the problem child, one might say, of the Federal Reserve’s effort to tame inflation.

Housing inflation has been “sticky”— we’ve been reporting on it pretty much since 2021. It was up a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in May for the fourth month in a row. And because housing costs represent more than one-third of the consumer price index, they have been a major factor in keeping inflation above the Fed’s target of 2% annually.

Figuring out how much Americans spend on housing is actually a pretty complicated proposition. During his news conference this week, Fed Chair Jay Powell called it “one of the hardest things to think about” when you think about measuring inflation.

About a third of households rent, so it’s relatively easy to survey them to figure out what they’re paying. But most Americans own their homes. That comes with all kinds of costs, little and large.

So the Bureau of Labor Statistics — which calculates the CPI — uses a measure called owners’ equivalent rent, or OER. It accounts for around a quarter of the CPI. Let’s break down how it’s calculated, how it’s useful and how it’s maybe a little limited

I’m one of those millennials who don’t own the roof over their head, so let’s use some guy named Bob as a hypothetical example. He owns a home, pays a mortgage, property taxes, insurance and upkeep. But the CPI doesn’t care how much that comes out to.

“What the economists of the government try to do is put everything on a level playing field by estimating what you would have to pay if you didn’t own your home and had to pay rent. Hence, owners’ equivalent rent,” said Connel Fullenkamp, an economics professor at Duke University.

In other words, what Bob would get if he rented out his home.

OER is such a big percentage of the CPI because the majority of people in this country own their homes. “It reflects the fact that, you know, housing is one of our main expenses in life,” Fullenkamp said.

I’m one of those millennials who don’t own the roof over their head, so let’s use some guy named Bob as a hypothetical example. He owns a home, pays a mortgage, property taxes, insurance and upkeep. But the CPI doesn’t care how much that comes out to.

“What the economists of the government try to do is put everything on a level playing field by estimating what you would have to pay if you didn’t own your home and had to pay rent. Hence, owners’ equivalent rent,” said Connel Fullenkamp, an economics professor at Duke University.

In other words, what Bob would get if he rented out his home.

OER is such a big percentage of the CPI because the majority of people in this country own their homes. “It reflects the fact that, you know, housing is one of our main expenses in life,” Fullenkamp said.

So that OER doesn’t represent his actual cost of living. It’s inflated.

“If rent goes up and you say that his shelter costs are higher because of rent going up, I get why that sort of seems off,” said Steve Reed, an economist with the BLS.

But OER is not actually off, he said. That’s because it measures the market cost of living in the home.

“And so that opportunity cost of living in his house is going up, even if he’s not directly making payments for it,” Reed said.

There are some downsides to that. Bob might be living in a neighborhood that’s gentrified so much, he wouldn’t be able to afford it today.

That’s not the point, said Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“They’re really just price indices,” he said. “So you can say, well, what’s the price of a hamburger, irrespective of, you know, can you afford the price? Can you afford to buy that hamburger?”

Chinn said OER might be imperfect, but measuring homeowners’ housing costs any other way would put you off-track.

“People can debate about what’s a better approach, but you don’t want to just change your methodology in midstream because then your numbers won’t be comparable to the previous numbers,” he said.

So you won’t be able to measure change. Since that’s the biggest goal, OER is what we’ll keep using.

[sargento.algodon]

Veo que alguién o ha leido a "The periphetal" de W. Gibson o por evolución o pensamiento convergente ha llegado a la misma definición de "Klept" rusa en Londres.
Recuerden que el "Jackpot" no tiene una sola explicación, sino que es una concanetación de cosas, una acumulación de causas...

[Derby]

https://www.barrons.com/articles/high-inflation-prices-taxes-fed-7d8eb226

Americans Pay a Hidden Tax. It’s Called Sticky Inflation.

Our tax system has lags in how it adjusts for inflation, and it treats nominal gains like real gains. The result is higher inflation means higher taxes.


Consumers prices rose 3.3% in May on an annual basis. Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg


If inflation doesn’t drop back to where it was before the pandemic, nearly every American—rich or poor—will see their spending power diminished, a new working paper finds.

“It’s like a permanent tax hike,” says Boston University economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff, who co-authored the paper.

For months, the prevailing economic view has been that high consumer prices were a temporary phenomenon, and that price increases would soon moderate. But while inflation has dropped sharply from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, it has defied predictions for further declines. In recent months, it has been bouncing in a range of 3.1% to 3.5%—well above its 2.3% annual rate in 2019.

Most economists still say inflation will subside in the coming months as slowing rent increases eventually show up in the numbers. Indeed, the May inflation rate eased to 3.3% on an annual basis from 3.4% in April, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this year.

But what if inflation were stuck at a higher rate—or, worse yet, rose from its current level—because of mounting federal debt, housing shortages, or others factors we don’t understand yet? While that might not be the most likely scenario, the paper’s analysis illustrates the erosive impact of persistent inflation on consumers’ wallets.

The National Bureau of Economic Research working paper lays out the toll of lifelong high inflation on consumers. It estimates that permanent 5% inflation would lower household lifetime spending by a median 3.62%, compared with zero percent inflation. Permanent 10% inflation would lower lifetime household spending by a median 6.82%.

Even if inflation ran permanently at the Fed’s 2% target, consumers would still feel a pinch, with a 1.5% reduction in lifetime household spending, Kotlikoff estimates. The last time inflation was at or below the central bank’s goal was 2018, when prices rose at a 1.9% rate for the year.

This inflation-induced pain, however, isn’t the same across tax brackets. The richer you are, the bigger the effect. The top 1% in lifetime resources would see a median decline in lifetime spending of 8.52% under permanent 5% inflation, and a decline of 15.9% under 10% inflation, the paper calculates. By contrast, the bottom 20% would see declines of 3.47% and 6.76%, respectively.

“We looked at effective inflation as it works through the tax system, and the imperfect adjustments in some of the structural elements of our tax system—that essentially increase the tax liability of the individual as inflation rises,” says paper co-author David Altig, chief economic advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “It creates a world in which inflation, which ought to be relatively neutral, is not.”

One of group especially affected by inflation is the 67 million Americans who are collecting Social Security. Their benefits are adjusted annually for inflation, but they still get hit hard because the benefit increase every January reflects the previous year’s price changes. If inflation keeps rising briskly year after year, Social Security recipients never catch up.

Persistent 4% inflation is equivalent to about a 2% permanent drop in spending power for Social Security recipients, the paper found. If inflation were to surge to 10% and remain there, it would effectively lower Social Security benefits by about 5%, according to the analysis.

Just as with Social Security benefits, tax brackets are adjusted for inflation. But there is also a lag there, and that particularly hurts the middle- and upper-income filers in a period of permanently high inflation.

The wealthy and families that are accumulating wealth get hit even harder. That’s largely because they get taxed on nominal capital gains in asset values—not on gains that are adjusted for inflation.

Suppose someone bought $100,000 worth of stock and it doubled in value over 10 years to $200,000. Now suppose that consumer prices also doubled during that period, effectively offsetting that $100,000 gain. At the end of the decade, that $200,000 would have exactly the same buying power as $100,000 did 10 years earlier. Yet if that person sold that stock, they would have a $100,000 capital gain on paper that they would have to pay taxes on—even though they actually gained nothing in real terms.

“The real issue is we’re taxing nominal asset income, not real asset income,” Kotlikoff says.

To be sure, the government throws some big tax breaks at homeowners. If a house rises in value, a single homeowner selling that house doesn’t have to pay capital-gains taxes on the first $250,000 increase; a married couple escapes taxes on the first $500,000. But those numbers haven’t changed since 1997, and consumer prices have nearly doubled since then, so these tax breaks aren’t nearly as valuable as they once were.

And some income brackets for certain government benefits aren’t adjusted. That top bracket for
Medicare premiums is $500,000 for single filers and $750,000 for joint filers. Seniors who hit those income levels pay a monthly premium of $594, compared with a monthly premium of $174.70 for the majority of Medicare recipients. The $500,000 and $750,000 number haven’t changed for several years. As incomes rise, more people are finding themselves in the top bracket—even though inflation has lessened the spending power of those earnings.

“If you’re asking why people are so upset about inflation,” Kotlikoff says, “it may be this hidden explanation—that everybody is being taxed at a higher level.”

[Derby]

https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20240615/9733408/ministro-economia-frances-alerta-peligro-crisis-financiera.html

FRANCIA, A ELECCIONES
El ministro de Economía francés alerta del peligro de una crisis financiera

La bolsa vive su peor semana desde el 2022 y la prima de riesgo se dispara

Los hombres de Emmanuel Macron –y el propio presidente francés– apelan al miedo en un intento desesperado por evitar una severa derrota en las elecciones legislativas anticipadas del 30 de junio y el 7 de julio. El ministro de Economía, Bruno Le Maire, alertó ayer de una crisis financiera en el caso de aplicarse los programas de la extrema derecha como a la coalición de izquierdas, a las que criticó por igual.

De hecho, la bolsa de Francia, segunda economía de la Unión Europea, ha vivido su peor semana desde el 2022. Desde que Emmanuel Macron convocó elecciones, el indicador de la Bolsa de París se ha dejado un 6%. La prima de riesgo (que mide el grado de incertidumbre de un país para los inversores) se ha disparado en este período a 80 puntos.

El Nuevo Frente Popular (izquierda) quiere anular la reforma de las pensiones y migratoria

Peso pesado del Ejecutivo, Le Maire ha ocupado su cargo desde el primer gabinete de Macron, en mayo del 2017, y es uno de los personajes más conocidos en los círculos políticos y financieros internacionales. A pesar de ello y de los efectos que tendría la decisión, el jefe de Estado no le comunicó sus planes de disolver la Asamblea Nacional y avanzar los comicios. Se enteró apenas unas horas antes, al igual que el primer ministro, Gabriel Attal.

En una entrevista con France Info, Le Maire calificó de “delirio total” el programa pactado por la coalición de izquierdas, el Nuevo Frente Popular, en concreto su anuncio de que no se consideran vinculados a los compromisos de disciplina presupuestaria europea. Eso significaría, para el ministro, “la garantía para la salida de la UE”, la decadencia del país y un desempleo masivo. “Es la primera vez que una unión de la izquierda da la espalda a Europa”, advirtió Le Maire, que habló de “un hundimiento económico garantizado”. Además de la eliminación del rigor financiero, el ministro consideró muy dañino subir el salario mínimo a 1.600 euros netos mensuales, medida que destruiría puestos de trabajo.

El responsable de Economía tampoco ahorró críticas, aunque quizás con menos vehemencia, para lo que propone el Reagrupamiento Nacional (RN, extrema derecha). A juicio de Le Maire, se trata de un programa “plagado de mentiras” y “no mejor” que el que plantean los partidos de izquierdas. El ministro evaluó en 24.000 millones de euros la merma de ingresos para el Estado causada por las medidas de drástica bajada del IVA para la gasolina, el gas, la electricidad y la alimentación que prometen. Ese montante corresponde al ahorro presupuestario que Francia debería hacer, según el actual Gobierno, para progresar en el equilibrio de sus finanzas públicas, por lo que Le Maire piensa que es algo del todo inviable y descabellado.

El ministro resumió su posición en que “hay un bloque de extrema derecha con sus mentiras, en particular en materia económica y financiera; hay un bloque de extrema izquierda, con sus locuras y su delirio económico, y luego está el bloque central, que debe mejorar sus propuestas y tener en cuenta los mensajes de inquietud y cólera que se han expresado”.

En otra jornada políticamente muy cargada, el Nuevo Frente Popular presentó a la prensa el detalle de su programa de “ruptura” con el macronismo, en el que, además de anular la reforma de las pensiones –que elevó de 62 a 64 años la edad de jubilación– y la migratoria y prometer la subida del salario mínimo, plantea restablecer el impuesto a las grandes fortunas –una de las primeras medidas del presidente, en el 2017–, reforzada con una cláusula de carácter ecológico. La coalición de izquierdas pretende gravar a escala europea los beneficios extraordinarios de las empresas.

Al Nuevo Frente Popular se han adherido fuerzas bastante heterogéneas, pero que se han visto forzadas a ir juntas, al menos por ahora, por razones prácticas de conseguir el máximo de diputados para sus integrantes. Forman parte La Francia Insumisa (LFI, izquierda radical), los socialistas, los comunistas, los ecologistas, el Nuevo Partido Anticapitalista y Plaza Pública. Esta última formación, más moderada, del ensayista Raphaël Glucksmann, cabeza de lista en las europeas, se ha unido con reticencias, pues difiere en multitud de cuestiones. Al final se ha impuesto la idea de cerrar el paso a la extrema derecha. Glucksmann aseguró que el líder de LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, no será en ningún caso primer ministro. Mélenchon, gran orador, sabe encender a los suyos, pero da miedo a millones de electores por sus excesos verbales y su radicalismo.

La actividad de campaña es febril en todos los partidos, porque no hay tiempo que perder. Attal hizo campaña en Boulogne-sur-Mer, en el departamento norteño de Paso de Calais. El presidente del RN, Jordan Bardella, visitó una explotación agrícola en Chuelles, en el departamento del Loiret, al sur de París. Bardella identificó a la izquierda como el gran rival, pues descarta que los macronistas lleguen segundos a la segunda vuelta en la mayoría de circunscripciones.

El candidato a primer ministro dirigió sus ataques a LFI porque son “los ingenieros del caos” y dan prioridad a la insurrección. Bardella intentó tranquilizar por la inquietud que hay ante los Juegos Olímpicos y dijo que no modificará el dispositivo de seguridad diseñado. Sobre las pensiones, volvió a la promesa de jubilación a los 60 años para las carreras laborales muy largas.

[Derby]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-deal.html

Ukraine-Russia Peace Is as Elusive as Ever. But in 2022 They Were Talking.

Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. They fizzled. Documents from those talks show why any new ones will face major obstacles.

With Russia and Ukraine locked in their third year of all-out war, there is no clear path to military victory for either side. Nor are there immediate prospects for a ceasefire and an eventual peace plan, with both sides sticking to irreconcilable positions.

Yet the issues that would need to be tackled in any future peace settlement are evident, and in fact were at the center of negotiations two years ago that explored peace terms in remarkable detail.

Documents reviewed by The New York Times* shed light on the points of disagreement that would have to be overcome.

The documents emerged from negotiating sessions that took place in the weeks after the start of the war, from February to April of 2022. It was the only time that Ukrainian and Russian officials are known to have engaged in direct peace talks.(...)

*https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/e548b273c4d42a3a/5e73b566-full.pdf

[Derby]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/14/why-competition-in-the-housing-market-is-cooling-off.html

Competition in the housing market is cooling off. Here’s why

(...)But with buyers not returning to the market, many new listings are just adding to inventory. The number of homes on the market rose 22% compared with last year, Zillow found.

“Homes are staying on the market for a bit longer because the sales are not keeping up with the flow of homes coming on the market,” Divounguy said.

‘The market is slowing down’

Almost two-thirds, or 61.9%, of homes listed on the market in May had been for sale for at least 30 days without going under contract, according to a new analysis by Redfin. About 40.1% of homes that were for sale in May had been listed for at least two months without going under contract, Redfin found.

“The market is slowing down. Homes are taking longer to sell and that allows inventory to accumulate on the market,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin.

Yet despite the recent jump in supply, “we’re still starved for inventory in the for-sale market,” said Divounguy. The housing inventory in the U.S. is still 34% below pre-pandemic levels, according to Zillow.

“We’re short nationwide of about 4.3 million homes,” he said. “We’re still in a housing unit deficit.”

Homebuyers are waiting on lower mortgage rates

As mortgage rates have remained high and housing affordability has strained household finances, buyers have been unable to enter the market, Divounguy explained.

“Buyers are facing these incredibly high mortgage rates, at least relative to what they were during the pandemic,” said Fairweather, who believes homebuyers might lack the motivation and financial ability to purchase a home.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the U.S. slid to 6.95% on June 13, lower from 6.99% a week prior, according to Freddie Mac data via the Federal Reserve.



While mortgage rates could “change pretty quickly” or “on a dime,” said Fairweather, buyers are unlikely to see big movement in the near term. The Fed held rates steady at its June meeting and now anticipates just one rate cut this year. Its next meeting is July 30-31.

“There’s no right answer for homebuyers who are deciding whether to wait or not,” Fairweather said. “It’s just up to chance when mortgage rates drop. Nobody really knows when that will happen, so it’s hard to plan your life around that.”

What to do if you’re a buyer or a seller

Some markets in the U.S. are seeing a significant increase in unsold inventory. About 60.5% of listings in Dallas, Texas, stayed on the market for at least 30 days, up from 53% a year earlier, according to Redfin.

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the share of unsold listings that have stayed on the market for at least 30 days is 75.5%, up from 68.2% a year prior, Redfin found.

A similar increase is happening in two other areas in Florida. The share of unsold homes in Tampa that have been on the market for 30 days is 68.7%, up from 61.9% a year ago; in Jacksonville, 69.2%, up from 62.9% in the same period, per Redfin data.

“When you give buyers more options, that means they have more bargaining power,” Divounguy said.

If you notice homes for sale linger on the market for longer in your area, “there’s probably an opportunity to get [a property] for under its listed price,” Fairweather said.

If you make it into the home inspection process and you learn about issues that were neither noticeable during the initial walkthrough nor disclosed, it may be worth asking the home seller to do repairs, she said.

But don’t overdo it: “You don’t want to be nit-picky and ask for every single repair,” such as chipped paint, Fairweather said.

Other markets are still in favor of home sellers as inventory remains tight, Divounguy said. Not only do many homeowners have record home equity, they also have low mortgage payments.

If a home seller needs to move this year due to upcoming life changes and their area is experiencing high levels of unsold listings, they may need to be prepared to cut their asking price to draw interest.

“Price cuts sell homes,” he said.

[Derby]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-15/lagarde-urges-governments-to-respect-global-trade-rules

Lagarde Urges Governments to Respect Global Trade Rules

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the world risks a new “geopolitical divide” and urged governments to respect international trade rules.

Repeated failures can hurt the global economy, Lagarde told Croatian state TV HRT1.

*“We have rules that are the WTO rules and if all countries could respect the rules and resist tweaks and turns and violations here and exceptions there and subsidies here, it would all be much better for the world economy. I’m concerned that we are seeing more and more violations of the rules”

*We’re seeing “a geopolitical divide between some of the developed countries led by the United States and some emerging market economies, in particular China. That is a transformation of the trading landscape that we have known, with all consequences that go with a fragmentation of trade”

[Derby]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-14/kuehne-owner-sees-triple-digit-million-hit-on-signa-investment

Kuehne Owner Sees Triple-Digit Million Hit on Signa Investment

Logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne anticipates triple-digit million-euro losses from investments in the insolvent real estate firm Signa Prime Selection AG, Welt am Sonntag reported.

Kuehne didn’t rule out further investment to rescue the Elbtower project in Hamburg, the newspaper reported. The partly constructed skyscraper, designed to dominate the Hamburg harbor, has come to symbolize the fall of Signa and its founder, Austrian real estate tycoon Rene Benko.

“Mr. Benko showed me many beautiful photos of properties, and I let myself be snowed by him,” the newspaper quoted Kuehne as saying, adding that the losses will be manageable. “I often ponder how that could have happened to me.”

Insolvency sales of the properties would drive down their value, Kuehne told Welt. Kuehne Holding and some banks weighed an emergency loan for more than €100 million ($107 million) this year to provide liquidity and allow the property firm to lift some developments out of insolvency, potentially leading to higher prices if they’re sold, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Signa Prime is the biggest unit in Benko’s retail and property conglomerate. The property company’s holdings run the gamut of luxury, from a Venetian palazzo to iconic shopping names Selfridges and KaDeWe in Berlin.

Falling real estate values and rising interest rates sent various units in the group into insolvency starting late last year.