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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (14181)	10/28/2004 10:54:33 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

UK Oct house prices fall for 1st time since Oct 2001 - Nationwide - Thursday, October 28, 2004 6:47:52 AM afxpress.com (Updating with further details) LONDON (AFX) - UK October house prices fell 0.4 from September, the first monthly fall since October 2001 and the largest decline since February 2001, according to Nationwide, the UK's largest building society. Prices were up 15.3 pct from a year ago, slowing sharply from last month's 17.8 pct. The average price stood at 153,159 stg, compared with 153,727 stg in September In September, prices rose 0.2 from August The report backs up various recent surveys from the likes of Halifax and Hometrack, which have shown a decline in house prices, as well as data showing a decline in mortgage lending. This has led the market to conclude that there is little scope for further UK interest rate hikes, with many believing that rates have peaked already. No further rate hikes are now expected this year Nationwide noted, however, that late summer/early autumn is normally a weaker period for house price growth and 1,970 stg of the 2,140 fall in the average price can be explained by normal seasonal movements in price. That means just 170 stg of the fall is due to underlying price falls "Nevertheless, this has been a period of marked deceleration in house price growth and is in part a result of 'real' factors, such as weak real take-home pay growth, rising interest rates and stretched affordability, acting as a drag on the market," it said If prices remain static from now on, the price of an average UK property would end the year 12 pct up on a year earlier, Nationwide said, adding that this is 3 pct below its forecast made in March Only around 40 pct of consumers believe that house prices will be higher over the next six months, compared with a figure of 64 pct in June In addition, the proportion believing house price declines are on the way has increased to just over 15 pct from 7 pct in June, Nationwide said It gave two main reasons for the decline in house prices this month. Firstly, the moderation in expectations combined with a deterioration in affordability for both first-time buyers and existing homeowners trying to trade up will have played a major part in slowing the market Secondly, it said less demand from buy-to-let investors appears to be contributing to the slowdown, "perhaps dissuaded by low rental yields and the prospect of limited future capital growth" Nationwide expects house prices to grow at a very subdued rate over the coming months rather than fall sharply "Our view is that the current moderation in price growth expectations will not translate into widespread panic and that instead the market will experience subdued levels of turnover and price growth," it said

To: zonder who wrote (14181)	10/28/2004 11:36:50 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

OECD urges Bank of Canada to keep removing monetary stimulus Thursday, October 28, 2004 3:15:06 PM afxpress.com BRUSSELS (AFX) - The OECD said the Bank of Canada should keep removing monetary stimulus to prevent a pick-up in inflation In its report on the Canadian economy, the OECD said that after a weak performance in 2003, activity was again buoyant The OECD noted that the Canadian economy was now forecast to grow by around 3 pct this year and 3.5 pct in 2005, above its previous projections "At this pace... the Bank of Canada will need to continue removing monetary stiumulus so as to avoid inflation picking up," it said Last week, the central bank raised its key overnight rate to 2.5 per cent, the second increase in as many months The OECD said Canada's macoreconomic policy mix is appropriate for this point in the economic cycle, but warned that a neutral fiscal stance must be maintained On the exchange rate, it said the best response to the appreciation of the Canadian dollar is for policy-makers to step up efforts to boost productivity and innovation [Policy makers to boost productivity and innovation - LMAO - Mish - well I suppose they could fire more govt workers, that might help] The OECD called on the government to ensure public finances remained sustainable in the long term, given the looming challenge of the ageing population It also said the government should strengthen its competition law to allow for, amongst other things, the ready prosecution of hard-core cartels The government should beef up the law's civil provisions by authorising monetary penalites for abuse of dominance and other violations, it said The OECD said that to dispel "lingering misconceptions" about the independence of Canada's Competition Bureau, the government should keep presenting its budget as a separate item within the annual estimates

To: zonder who wrote (14181)	10/28/2004 11:54:36 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Turkey to rush more reforms through in run-up to key EU decision Thursday, October 28, 2004 3:09:43 PM afxpress.com ANKARA (AFX) - Turkey said it will rush through parliament several more reforms demanded by the European Union ahead of a crucial Dec 17 decision on its membership bid A statement issued after a meeting between Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the three had agreed that five bills related to justice and civic organizations should be "urgently" enacted The proposed legislation aims to remove legal snags that hamper the functioning of associations and non-Muslim religious foundations, establish a judicial police and amend criminal procedures and rules related to the execution of punishments The planned reforms were mentioned as outstanding issues in an Oct 6 report by the European Commission, which recommended the opening of accession talks with Turkey The statement also pledged that the authorities would continue "to efficiently enforce" measures to stamp out torture and mistreatment of detainees and punish security forces found guilty of such crimes EU leaders will decide at a summit on Dec 17 whether to start membership negotiations with Turkey, a candidate for accession since 1999 Turkey wants the talks to begin in the first months of 2005 ==================================================== What is inflation rate, deficit, and interest rate in Turkey right now? Mish