Miercoles 22/02/12 Ventas de casas existentes

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Aumentan los trabajos en el sector construccion gracias a la remodelacion de las casas, senial de que el peor declive en el sector podria haber terminado.



Construction Jobs Rebound Amid Pick-Up in U.S. Home Remodeling
By Anna-Louise Jackson and Anthony Feld - Feb 22, 2012 12:01 AM ET .LinkedIn Google +1 1 Comment.Construction hiring is picking up as Americans invest in renovating their homes amid signs that the worst of the housing-market declines may be over.

The number of people working in residential remodeling grew 5.8 percent in December to 250,700 from a year earlier, based on preliminary data released Feb. 3 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the highest growth for these jobs -- which account for about 5 percent of construction employment -- since December 2006, before the housing bubble burst.

Sales of existing homes, which rose 5 percent in December, precede spending on improvement projects by about six months, as new owners often do a lot of “fix-ups” soon after they move in, said Kermit Baker, a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. That means there’s now a “strengthening market” for this work, buoyed by demand that’s more discretionary in nature -- such as minor kitchen remodels - - and mild winter weather in much of the U.S.

“More remodeling projects are going to create more jobs in the construction industry,” said Baker, who also is the chief economist for the American Institute of Architects.

Home Depot Inc. (HD), the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, echoed the optimism yesterday when it reported fourth- quarter net income that exceeded analysts’ estimates. An increase in traffic and transactions among its professional customers is encouraging as “they’re getting more jobs, more work,” Craig Menear, executive vice president of merchandising at the Atlanta-based company, said on a conference call.

Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. and Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. (BECN) also have seen a pick-up in sales related to residential-remodeling projects, according to company reports.

Bouncing Back
Home improvement probably will bounce back the most this year since 2006, after spending fell as much as 20 percent during the three-year home-remodeling slump that ended in mid-2010, Baker said. Growth in the “low-to-mid-single digits” may follow an estimated 0.8 percent last year, with total spending projected to be $112.4 billion in 2012, he said, citing the Cambridge, Massachusetts, center’s leading indicator of remodeling activity.

The index forecasts changes in the industry for the current quarter and subsequent three periods, using data including sales of existing homes, which rose to a 4.61 million annual rate in December, the National Association of Realtors said Jan. 20. This marked the third consecutive monthly increase and highest level in nearly a year. January figures are scheduled to be released today.

Rising Construction Permits
Growth also is showing up in another index based on the number of construction permits filed, which rose 23 percent in December to 127.4 from a year earlier, according to Joe Emison, co-founder and vice president of research and development at BuildFax, an Austin, Texas-based real-estate data company.

Another driver for the rebound in contractor hiring comes from “pent-up demand” by Americans who can’t afford to move, said Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Nomura Securities International LLC in New York. She was among the top-ranked forecasters of nonfarm payrolls as of Feb. 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“If you can’t sell your home, may as well make the box you live in better,” she said.

The rebound “makes sense” because BuildFax’s data captures all work that requires a hired contractor, which accounts for about two-thirds of such projects, Emison said. Amid a “glut of bad homes” on the market, and with homeowners worrying their properties are undervalued, “people may be stuck in their existing homes for a while.”

Vinyl-Siding Sales
Remodeling projects represent “almost all” Beacon Roofing Supply’s current sales of vinyl siding, windows and doors, which are more-discretionary purchases, Chief Financial Officer Dave Grace said on a Feb. 9 conference call. As the economy continues to expand, owners will “start spending on their homes,” he said.

Similarly, Fortune Brands is forecasting “slight improvement” in its repair and remodel business this year, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Klein said on a Feb. 1 conference call. The market for this segment and new housing construction will grow 3 percent in 2012 from 2011, the Deerfield, Illinois-based company forecast when it released fourth-quarter earnings that day.

“Recent modest improvement in the U.S. economy and the unemployment rate, coupled with some pent-up demand in home improvements, seems to be supporting modest growth in remodel activity,” Klein said.

The U.S. jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January from 8.5 percent the prior month to the lowest level since February 2009, marking five consecutive months of declines. Meanwhile, payrolls climbed 243,000, the most in nine months, exceeding the most optimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.

Stronger Consumer Confidence
Consumer confidence strengthened to minus 39.8 in the week ended Feb. 12 from minus 41.7 the previous week, as measured by the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. That’s the highest in a year and more than 13 points above a nearly two-year low of minus 53.2 in October 2011.

Still, there may be some slowing before remodeling activity picks up, based on the Harvard indicator, which suggests acceleration may occur later this year, and the BuildFax index, which has fallen nearly 20 points since peaking in October.

Contractor-hired work also has a long way to go to reach prerecession levels, as the number of residential remodelers lags behind the September 2006 peak by more than 76,000, Labor Department data show. Government figures may underestimate the size of this industry because they track workers on payrolls, and about two-thirds of home-improvement businesses consist of self-employed people, Baker said.

Even so, the revival in residential remodeling seen last year probably will continue, which is encouraging for people in this industry, Zentner said.

“An increase in these jobs should precede a broader recovery in housing,” she said. “We have a bit of strengthening

[admin]

Las ventas de casas existentes suben 4.3% en Enero con respecto al mes pasado. Revision a la baja en Diciembre.

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OIl down 105.79

-11.58

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-24.37

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Parlamento griego debatirá canje de deuda, se esperan protestas
miércoles 22 de febrero de 2012 07:03 GYT
Imprimir[-] Texto [+] Por Tatiana Fragou
ATENAS (Reuters) - Sindicatos y grupos de desempleados protestarán el miércoles en Atenas contra los recortes de gastos introducidos para asegurar un multimillonario programa de rescate, mientras los legisladores griegos debatirán un canje de deuda destinado a evitar una bancarrota inminente.

También se espera que periodistas en huelga y grupos de motociclistas se sumen a la protesta convocada en la plaza Syntagma de Atenas para las 1400 GMT, frente al Parlamento.

Los recortes fiscales fueron clave para que Grecia consiguiera un segundo rescate de 130.000 millones de euros (172.000 millones de dólares), aunque es probable que prolonguen la recesión en el país.

Los ministros de Finanzas de la zona euro aprobaron el martes el paquete de ayuda luego de obligar a Grecia a reducir gastos y comprometerse a aplicar reformas para mejorar la competitividad de la economía.

El rescate también considera un acuerdo en el que los acreedores privados de Grecia acceden a asumir grandes pérdidas.

El Parlamento griego debatirá el proyecto de ley, llamado Claúsulas de Acción Colectiva (CAC), que forzará a todos los inversores a aceptar el canje de deuda una vez que se alcancen dos tercios de participación en la transacción.

El canje, en el que los inversores privados intercambiarán sus bonos por papeles de menor valor, es una parte vital del plan de salvataje que busca reducir la carga de deuda de Grecia desde un 160 por ciento del Producto Interno Bruto a un 120,5 por ciento del PIB al 2020, según los términos del acuerdo.

El primer ministro de Grecia, el tecnócrata Lucas Papademos, dijo el martes que el canje debía ser completado para el 10 de marzo a más tardar, 10 días antes de un vencimiento de deuda por 14.500 millones de euros.

La policía instaló barreras de metal frente a la Asamblea Nacional en un intento por evitar que se repitan los disturbios del 2 de febrero, cuando pandillas enfurecidas incendiaron y saquearon edificios en el centro de la capital mientras los legisladores adoptaban una ley con más de 3.000 millones de euros en recortes salariales, pensiones y despidos.
El complejo acuerdo alcanzado el martes gana tiempo para estabilizar al bloque del euro de 17 naciones y fortalecer su protección financiera ante un default de Grecia, pero genera profundas dudas sobre la capacidad de la nación helena de superar las dificultades a largo plazo.

El plan también irritó a los griegos porque pide el despliegue de un equipo permanente de inspectores extranjeros, el cual buscará garantizar que Atenas cumpla con los términos de su nuevo rescate, el segundo en menos de dos años.

(1 dólar = 0,7539 euros)

(Reporte adicional de Harry Papachristou; escrito por Matt Robinson; Editado en español por Marion Giraldo)

© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved.

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Futures cu down 3.82

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+0.15

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+11.62

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-5

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Oil 106.11

VIX up 18.55

-8.55

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Los inventarios de casas bajaron a un nivel considerado saludable por los economistas, un buen signo de la economia.

ECONOMYFEBRUARY 22, 2012, 10:27 A.M. ET.Existing-Home Sales Rise 4.3%, Inventory Shrinks

By ALAN ZIBEL And ERIC MORATH
WASHINGTON—Sales of previously occupied homes in the U.S. rose last month, and the inventory of unsold homes contracted to a level considered healthy by economists, positive signs for the housing market.

Existing-home sales increased 4.3% in January from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million—the highest level since May 2010—the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. It was the third increase in the past four months. Sales were up 0.7% from the same month a year earlier.

"The housing market is genuinely improving," said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economst.

December's annualized sales pace, however, was revised downward to 4.38 million from an originally reported 4.61 million.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected home sales to rise by 0.9% from the previously reported December figures to an annual rate of 4.65 million.

The median sales price was $154,700, down 2% from $157,900 a year earlier. The inventory of previously owned homes listed for sale fell to 2.31 million at the end of January, the lowest level since March 2005. That represented a 6.1-month supply at the current sales pace, a level economists consider healthy.

The housing market has been one of the weakest parts of the U.S. economy, but there are signs it is starting to recover after a collapse in prices that started 5½ years ago. For all of 2011, about 4.26 million homes were sold, up 1.7% from 4.19 million in 2010.

Mortgage rates have been hovering around the lowest recorded levels and employers have picked up hiring, giving some home buyers more confidence.

However, prices in many distressed markets have continued to fall amid a steady stream of foreclosures. The share of loans in foreclosure has remained near the highest levels of the housing crisis, and many hard-hit housing markets could still face continued pressure as banks take back and resell homes.

Still, the number of borrowers falling behind on their mortgages has been declining. The Mortgage Bankers Association said last week that the share of U.S. homeowners behind on their mortgages fell to the lowest level in three years during the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Realtors' report said home sales rose last month compared with a month earlier in all four U.S. regions. Sales were up 8.8% in the West, 3.5% in the South, 3.4% in the Northeast and 1.0% in the Midwest.

[admin]

Israel dijo que Iran tendra la capacidad para atacar la zona este (o sea NY) con sus misiles en dos o tres anios.

Que maravilloso, solo eso nos faltaba. Quien para a esta gente.

[admin]

VIX up 18.70

-15.48

[El_Diez]

Ahora si parece que empiezan a corregir los índices gringos .

[RCHF]

Doctor Elmer Huerta explica la recaída de Hugo Chávez por cáncer
El médico peruano radicado en EE.UU. sostiene que el mandatario venezolano tiene una recurrencia local

Miércoles 22 de febrero de 2012 - 07:43 am
(AP)
En un post anterior habíamos descrito lo que se sabía acerca de la operación y el diagnóstico hechos al presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez en junio del 2011. Es importante anotar que debido al extremo hermetismo del círculo allegado del presidente Chávez, nunca se ha sabido exactamente qué tipo de cáncer es el que sufre.

Hace un momento, el propio presidente ha dicho “que tiene una lesión de dos centímetros de diámetro en el mismo sitio de donde le fue extraído el tumor hace ya casi un año”. Señaló que viajó el sábado pasado 18 de febrero a Cuba a realizarse exámenes rigurosos donde le dieron ese resultado. “No tengo metástasis en ninguna parte”, afirmó.

“De tal modo que técnicamente hablando (y tal como lo explicamos anteriormente) el problema que presenta el Sr. Hugo Chávez no es una metástasis, como el mismo lo ha afirmado, sino una recurrencia local”, refirió.