U.S. Property Owners Lost $3.3 Trillion in Home Value Last Year

The U.S. housing market lost $3.3 trillion in value last year and almost one in six owners with mortgages owed more than their homes were worth as the economy went into recession, according to website Zillow.com

The median estimated home price declined 11.6% in 2008 to $192,119 and homeowners lost $1.4 trillion in value in the fourth quarter alone, the Seattle-based real estate data service said.

Source: Bloomberg

THE NEXT COMMERCE SECRETARY?

President Obama will nominate Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) for commerce secretary on Tuesday, a White House official said Monday night, a move that would fill the last opening in Obama’s Cabinet with a fiscal conservative. Obama has lacked a nominee for the Commerce Department since New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) withdrew his name from consideration last month, citing a federal investigation involving state government contracts.

Source: Washington Post

Outsourcing Gets Crimped by Recession

The economic slump has become so pronounced that even outsourcing is getting scaled back. Executives who once relied on outside firms to handle certain IT tasks to cut costs are now reining in some outsourcing plans on concern they’re too expensive.

Source: BusinessWeek

GM, Chrysler Gain Momentum on Labor Cuts

General Motors and Chrysler, propped up by $17.4 billion in U.S. loans, are speeding up efforts under a Feb. 17 deadline to shed traditional labor practices and justify keeping the money. Buyouts are being offered to almost all their 91,600 United Auto Workers members to make room for new employees earning half of the $28 hourly wage of their predecessors.

Source: Bloomberg

MBA Job Outlook Dims

By all objective measures, the summer of 2008 was a bad time for new MBAs to venture into the job market. The Fed was slashing interest rates, CEOs were stepping down, and people were starting to mutter about recession. Unfortunately for the 2009 class of MBAs, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Source: BusinessWeek

China’s Migrants See Jobless Ranks Soar

The global slowdown is taking a toll on China, claiming the jobs of an estimated 20 million migrant workers and dimming their prospects as they set out in search of work after the New Year holiday. The year ahead appears no more promising: Officials forecast the number of migrants looking for jobs will reach at least 25 million.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Asian economies can recover but not on their own: IMF

Asia’s economies, which have been hit hard by the economic crisis, could recover next year, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, but warned that the export-dependent continent could not pull through on its own. Asia needed to boost household demand to reduce its traditional reliance on exports, but such a shift would not happen overnight, said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Source: Reuters

Consumer Spending Continues to Drop

Consumers in December scaled back on spending for the sixth month in a row — even though they had slightly more to spend — in a sign that Americans remained nervous about the future. As the economy spiraled downward at the end of 2008 and contracted at the fastest pace in more than 20 years, consumers retreated, spending $102.4 billion, or 1%

Source: Washington Post

Citigroup to Use $36.5 Billion of Funds for Expanding Lending

Citigroup plans to use $36.5 billion to lend to consumers and companies and to fund U.S. mortgage loans after receiving $45 billion as part of the government’s bailout of the banking industry last year.

Source: Bloomberg

Bank of Japan unveils $11 billion stock buying scheme

The Bank of Japan said it will buy up to $11 billion worth of shares held by Japanese banks to ease the pain from the global financial crisis, reviving a scheme launched earlier in the decade to head off a banking crisis.

Source: Reuters

Most Asian markets rise amid new stimulus plans

Most Asian markets were higher Tuesday but trimmed early gains, as optimism over new stimulus measures in Japan and Australia gave way to concerns about the sputtering global economy. Tech companies were among the day’s best performers, following similar gains in U.S. markets overnight. Samsung Electronics rose 4%, Canon edged 3.6% higher and Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision advanced 2.4%

Source: Associated Press

In Your Face: FORD GETS SCRAPPY

Reader Bill in Detroit Writes: “What is happening at Ford cannot be divorced from the pillaging the country is encountering at the hand of well-placed thieves.”

Tell Us: Is Ford Wrong to Resist TARP Funds?

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