FIG Topics of Interest

06/28/17

The cost of housing has gotten so expensive that Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) thinks that a monthly subsidy of $2,500 would help ease the burden — for members of Congress.

06/27/17

The top four most-challenging places to add new apartments are all coastal markets: Honolulu, Boston, Baltimore and Miami. Somewhat surprisingly, Memphis was ranked as the fifth most challenging, according to the research conducted by Hoyt Advisory Services (HAS) and commissioned by the NAA and NMHC. Six California cities were also listed among the markets considered more challenging to construct new apartments. 

06/26/17

A Republican senator is building support to change budget rules in order to make temporary tax cuts last for two decades or more, but he has yet to convince a critical figure -- House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Currently, reconciliation rules require that any changes that would add to the deficit outside a 10-year window must be set to expire.

06/23/17

With nearly 39 million Americans now living in apartments, the industry has quickly exceeded capacity, with a record average of 1 million new renter households formed annually over the last four years, the study notes.

06/20/17

House Speaker Paul Ryan is warning against watering down the sweeping overhaul of the nation's tax code he laid out a year ago and will call on Washington to enact permanent reforms this year.

06/19/17

Expect more consolidation in agriculture, whether it’s family farms, big agribusinesses or food manufacturers and retailers. 
That’s according to speakers at a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City forum Thursday, who said low commodity prices may persist, and businesses will respond by consolidating. Larger family-owned farms — those with more than $1 million in gross cash income — are better-positioned to be profitable through economies of scale. They also have the resources to invest in technology, better manage their finances and to develop relationships with customers who’ll pay more for specialty products, speakers said.
The Fed’s two-day 2017 Agricultural Symposium includes farmers, agribusiness lenders, bank regulators, university professors and agribusiness executives. They’re exploring what’s causing consolidation, and what it will mean for business, consumers and rural communities. 
Farm profits are in their fourth year of declines since peaking in 2013, and while worldwide demand for ag products is high, so is supply, keeping commodity prices low and income “subdued,” said Nathan Kauffman, Omaha branch executive.

06/16/17

At $31 billion, GE’s pension shortfall is the biggest among S&P 500 companies and 50 percent greater than any other corporation in the U.S. It’s a deficit that has swelled in recent years as Immelt spent more than $45 billion on share buybacks to win over Wall Street and pacify activists like Nelson Peltz.

06/15/17

Urgent care clinics have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the medical-care industry, and more are showing up in neighborhood retail centers, providing a boost to flagging occupancy levels. While they may not be a cure to what ails the shopping center industry, they are offering some relief. 

06/14/17

If a single ship can capture the current state of the global oil market, it’s the supertanker Saiq, floating idly about 850 kilometers (530 miles) south of the Canary Islands.

06/13/17

The Trump administration has a backup plan to keep the government from defaulting on its financial obligations even if Congress misses an August deadline to raise the debt limit, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a congressional panel Monday.