Free Republic

The unravelling of its real estate sector after decades of debt fueled growth may have major knock-on effects One of the most worrying economic stories in the world right now is unfolding in China’s real estate sector. To put it in perspective, real estate drives nearly one-third of China’s economic activity, and housing accounts for about 70% of household wealth. Nearly 30% of all bank loans are property-related. The ripple effects are impacting the entire Chinese economy—it grew only 0.4% in the last quarter compared to the previous year—and may turn contagious around the world. Here are some numbers. Some...

A Los Alamos Story Worthy of Stephen King Ever heard of The Demon Core? It was named by Los Alamos scientists — who are generally not a superstitious lot — after it claimed multiple lives, in a series of strange and horrible accidents. Discover a legend of science... that's worthy of a horror movie. When I was reading Stephen King stories, I was constantly amazed at the things he made scary. It was like reading the legend of the monkey's paw over and over again, with increasingly weird objects. His most famous evil objects are the hotel in The Shining...

Are we buying a $700 billion 'maybe'? Just by seeking aid through the government's bailout, financial companies could be putting themselves at risk. And we wouldn't know for months whether the plan was working. By Jim Jubak What if they gave a $700 billion bailout and nobody came? It's a real possibility. And it would doom the plan to rescue Wall Street with $700 billion in taxpayer money. All the hearings and late-night meetings have focused on how to improve the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The modifications being considered would indeed...

Bond insurers spark new credit concerns By Aline van Duyn and Saskia Scholtes in New York and Stacy-Marie Ishmael in London Published: January 17 2008 19:09 | Last updated: January 17 2008 23:23 Fears that the credit crunch might be entering a traumatic new phase grew on Thursday as investors lost confidence in the insurers that guarantee payments on billions of dollars in bonds. Shares in Ambac Financial and MBIA, the worldÂ’s biggest bond insurers, fell 52 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, as MoodyÂ’s InvestorsÂ’ Service raised the possibility that both might lose the triple-A credit rating on...

Hedge fund jitters emerge, 7 years after big failure Wed May 11, 5:37 PM ET NEW YORK (AFP) - Jitters are growing in financial markets about the potential for failure of hedge funds, largely secretive and unregulated pools of capital, seven years after a spectacular collapse of one such fund. A number of reports and market rumors circulated in recent days about potential problems with hedge funds, although there have been no confirmed instances of difficulties at any of the funds. But because hedge funds operate largely in secret, with little or no government oversight, some analysts have been concerned...

May 11, 2005 Hedge Fund Rumors Rattle Markets By RIVA D. ATLAS Long-simmering worries about the growing influence of hedge funds erupted yesterday in a wave of nervous selling on world stock markets after talk that hedge funds had suffered large losses tied to the debt of General Motors. Shares of banks with connections to hedge funds fell sharply, even though the rumors could not be substantiated. Hedge funds, lightly regulated investment pools for the wealthy and institutions like pension funds, have been a source of concern for some investors because the recent flood of money into the funds appears...

A 59-year-old janitor missing a hearing aid darted into a MetroRail train Wednesday at Reliant Park, then the ambulance carrying him to the hospital was hit by a car one minute into the trip, injuring four more people. Donnie Hall, who works for a temporary agency cleaning Reliant Stadium, was on his way home when he walked in front of the southbound train approaching the Reliant Park Station platform about 4 p.m., said Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Ken Connaughton. Hall had apparently seen a northbound train at the station and hurried to get on board for his trip to his...