Salient to Investors: Texas bonds this year have outperformed other top-rated states. John Bonnell at USAA Investments said the nation’s second-biggest economy shields Texas from cutbacks and lures bond investors, with demand for almost everything in Texas. Robert Dye at Comerica said: The population of Texas, the second-most-populous state, is younger than the U.S. average
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Yelena Shulyatyeva at BNP Paribas expects housing to be a bright spot despite foreclosures, delinquencies, people cutting mortgage debt. Investors can buy very cheap houses and, with rents rising, can get good yields. Primary residence rents rose 2.6 percent in the year ended August versus a 1.7 percent gain in average hourly wages. Read the full article
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Berkshire Hathaway has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits, including Johnson & Johnson and Intel. John Paulson in Q2 2012 dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase, his fund’s entire position in Family Dollar and Sara Lee. George Soros recently sold
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The USDA reported the average value of all land and buildings on farms and ranches in the 48 continental states was $2,650 an acre in June versus $2,390 a year ago. thinkrogers.com/old/ Brent Gloy at Purdue University said the worst drought since the 1950s in the Corn Belt and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Home prices are beginning to rise in cities that appeal to younger and affluent buyers. Professor Robert Shiller at Yale said speculative fervor comes back, sees signs of strength, though surveys of home buyers show a continued lowering of expectations on prices. Chris Rupkey at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said glamour
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Demand for new U.S. homes rose more than forecast in May, the most since April 2010. The number of houses on the market held near a record low. Brian Jones at Societe Generale sees a gradual improvement but says we’ve miles to go before we get back to normal. Prices
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Demand for new U.S. homes rose more than forecast in May, the most since April 2010, while supply dropped to the lowest in more than six years. The median sales price increased 5.6 percent from the same month last year. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/sales-of-new-homes-in-u-s-increased-to-two-year-high-in-may.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Housing industry is restrained the weakest employment gain in a year last month and limited access to credit. The median price of an existing home climbed to $182,600 in May, the highest since June 2010. Cash transactions accounted for about 28 percent, distressed sales 25 percent , investors for
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Economists expect sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in May and reflect an uneven recovery. Existing-home sales reached a low of 3.39 million annual in July 2010 versus a peak of 7.25 million in September 2005. Foreclosure starts grew in May for the first time since January 2010. Michael Feder
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The purchase is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars according to the application to the commission, and includes two resort hotels, two championship golf courses and club houses, more than 88,000 acres of land including a 600-acre residential development, a solar farm, parks and utilities. Lanai
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