November pending home sales dip 0.7%
WASHINGTON -- Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in November as higher mortgage rates and prices continued to squeeze would-be buyers out of the market.
The National Association of Realtors said Friday that its pending home sales index dipped 0.7 percent last month to 101.4. The index based on contract signings has dropped 7.7 percent over the past year and has recorded 11 straight year-over-year decreases.
The rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages was 4.55 percent this week, down from 4.62 percent last week but up from 3.99 percent a year ago.
"The latest decline in contract signings implies more short-term pull-back in the housing sector," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.
All four U.S. regions have reported annual drops in pending home sales: The West is down 12.2 percent, the South 7.4 percent, the Midwest 7 percent and the Northeast 3.5 percent. From October to November, sales rose 2.8 percent in the West and 2.7 percent in the Northeast but fell 2.7 percent in the South and 2.3 percent in the Midwest.
Pending sales are a barometer of home purchases that are completed a month or two later. So the November index suggests that sales will possibly decline through January.
-- The Associated Press
Some victims decry publishing-fraud deal
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Many people defrauded by an Oklahoma publishing company doubt they'll get fully reimbursed and are upset with the owners' plea deal.
Attorney General Mike Hunter's office recently accepted a plea deal settling numerous felony charges against 70-year-old Richard Tate and his son, Ryan Tate, 38, who owned Tate Publishing Co. They were accused of defrauding thousands of authors and musicians by transferring money from book and music sales to their personal checking accounts.
The company agreed to make monthly payments for the next 20 years toward a victim restitution fund of at least $825,000, but Hunter said the dollar amount could grow as more victims come forward. Hunter's office said it has received more than 2,200 complaints so far from victims around the world, and more complaints appear daily.
Karen Exelby, an author in Paragould, doesn't think a plea agreement should have been accepted. The Tates originally faced felony extortion, embezzlement and racketeering charges.
"Many of us poured our hearts and souls into those books, and we were cheated for it. We were let down and taken advantage of. The plea deal stinks," she said.
The attorney general's office is trying to contact other former clients of the publishing company and has urged victims to visit www.oag.ok.gov for more information about the process.
-- The Associated Press
U.S. gains drill rigs even as oil prices fall
Oil producers again boosted U.S. drilling this week despite the biggest quarterly drop in oil prices since 2014.
Working U.S. oil rigs rose by two this week to 885, according to data released Friday by oil-field services provider Baker Hughes. More than 100 additional rigs have been deployed across American fields this year.
Still, drilling activity may be poised to slow as producers including Diamondback Energy Inc. and Parsley Energy Inc. scale back spending in response to the lowest crude prices in more than a year.
-- Bloomberg News
Slowdown predicted in Texas job growth
Job growth in the Lone Star State likely will weaken in the first half of 2019 if oil prices remain at current levels, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Changes in Texas job growth tend to lag big moves in the crude price by about six months, according to a report Wednesday. With the average price of West Texas Intermediate crude falling to about $57 a barrel in November, the state's job growth will probably show a hit for the second quarter, the Dallas Fed said. Texas' unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in both October and November, the lowest level since the Labor Department data series began in 1976.
The U.S. crude benchmark, which settled at $45.33 a barrel on Friday, is heading for its biggest quarterly drop in four years over fears that the ongoing trade war with China will stifle demand and doubt that OPEC's recent deal to curb output will do enough to shrink a supply glut.
-- Bloomberg News
China to speed up foreign-tied ventures
China will speed up approvals for securities firms and fund-company joint ventures in which foreign investors have majority stakes, a senior official said, another sign that policymakers are pressing ahead with efforts to open up the country's financial system.
The comments were made by Li Chao of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to the China Securities Journal. Li also said China must hasten to open up its capital markets, create globally competitive banks, and improve stock-trading links with Hong Kong.
Chinese officials have repeatedly stressed their determination to open up their $45 trillion financial industry, despite trade tensions with the U.S. In the past month, UBS Group AG became the first firm to take majority control of a local securities joint venture. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. also have applied for approval to take 51 percent stakes in onshore joint ventures.
-- Bloomberg News
Canada pot producer rejects $2.1B bid
Canadian marijuana producer Aphria Inc. said a planned $2.1 billion hostile offer by U.S. cannabis retailer Green Growth Brands Ltd. is significantly undervalued.
The proposed bid would be about 23 percent below Aphria's average share price over a 20-day period, the Canadian company said in a statement. Columbus, Ohio-based Green Growth on Thursday offered $11 per share in an all-stock bid for Aphria, a 46 percent premium over the closing price on Monday, after the stock plunged in November and early December.
Aphria, one of Canada's biggest pot producers, became an easy target after its share price almost halved in two days when short-sellers Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research alleged on Dec. 3 that the company paid inflated prices for assets held by insiders. The Leamington, Ontario, company vigorously defended itself, saying the purchase was a transaction negotiated at arm's length and that both companies retained professional financial advisers.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 12/29/2018