Stocks got hammered yesterday amid concerns over growth in China and other global market tremors. They’re trying to claw back some ground in the early going today. Treasuries, gold and silver, crude oil, and the dollar are mostly flat.
On the news front...
China is in a pickle, with worries about loan losses, housing market declines, and rising unemployment. But the country is also locked in a battle with the US over trade and technology policy. So perhaps it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Intel (INTC) just said it was terminating a deal to acquire Tower Semiconductor Ltd. for $5.4 billion.
The problem? While Tower is an Israeli company, it has significant operations in China. That meant the deal needed Chinese approval, and China wouldn’t give it. Several other announced transactions have been scrapped or are taking longer than expected for the same reason.
As for the economic data, housing starts rose 3.9% to a 1.452 million annualized rate in July. That was slightly better than expected, though building permit issuance came in light. Industrial production and capacity utilization beat forecasts.
Always on the hunt for opportunity, many Wall Street firms and funds are raising billions of dollars to invest in other people’s castoffs – troubled commercial real estate (CRE) . Banks, funds, and other CRE owners stuck with office, retail, and apartment properties they can’t rent out profitably are increasingly looking to cut their losses. With values down 10% to 15% so far – and potentially 20% to 25% before all is said and done – opportunistic buyers are looking to put money to work.
