by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2009 04:07:00 PM

From the LA Times: Schwarzenegger orders third furlough day, proposes new cuts

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning ordered state workers to take a third day off without pay each month ... If lawmakers and the governor do not agree on a plan to wipe out the deficit -- or at least part of it -- by the end of today, State Controller John Chiang will begin giving out IOUs in lieu of checks to pay debts owed by the state.

"We have one more day," Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)

Here are the FAQs on IOUs (known as Registered Warrants). A few points:

6. Will my financial institution honor a registered warrant?
Recipients of registered warrants should contact their financial institution to determine whether they will honor the registered warrant before the redemption date.

7. What happens if my financial institution will not accept the registered warrant?
You may decide to open an account at another financial institution that will accept registered warrants, or you will have to hold the warrant until it matures on October 1, 2009.
...
9. Who will receive registered warrants?
The State in July will issue registered warrants, or IOUs, for all other payments, including those to private businesses, local governments, taxpayers receiving income tax refunds and owners of unclaimed property.

Most banks will probably accept warrants from established customers ...

by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2009 02:01:00 PM

From MarketWatch: General Motors U.S. June sales decline 33.6%

This is worse the the 29% drop in May.

Also: Toyota June U.S. sales down 32% to 131,654 units

And Chrysler June U.S. sales down 42% to 68,297 units

I'll have a summary for the month soon.

by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2009 12:59:00 PM

I've already posted most of the data in this article ... so I'll just excerpt a quote.

From Bloomberg: Hotel Loan Defaults Double as Recession Cuts Travel (ht mark, ghostfaceinvestah, brian)

As many as one in five U.S. hotel may default on their loans by the end of 2010 as the recession forces companies to spend less on travel and perks, according to Kenneth Rosen, an economist at the University of California.

The value of hotel properties in default or foreclosure almost doubled to $17.3 billion in the second quarter through June 24 from $9 billion at the end of the first quarter, data compiled by Real Capital Analytics Inc. show. The New York-based research firm, which began tracking distressed commercial property in November, expects hotel defaults to increase by as much as $2 billion next quarter, said analyst Jessica Ruderman.

“Hotels without question will have the highest foreclosure rate of any commercial real-estate sector,” said Rosen ...

The hotel segment was the most overbuilt of all CRE - and that is saying something with all the excess retail space!

by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2009 12:27:00 PM

From MarketWatch:

Ford June U.S. sales down 11% to 148,153 units

Ford to increase Q3 production to 485,000 vehicles

Volvo June U.S. sales down 0.6% to 7,042 units

Daimler June U.S. sales fell 26.5% to 16,271 vehicles.

MORE TO COME ...

Previous months:
Ford U.S. May sales fall 24.2%

Ford April U.S. vehicle sales off 31.3%

Ford U.S. March sales dropped 40.9%

February Ford sales were off 46.3% YoY

January off 42.1%

December off 32.4%

November off 31%

by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2009 10:49:00 AM

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Record Fourth Straight Monthly Gain

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in May, increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 90.6 in April, and is 6.7 percent higher than May 2008 when it was 85.0. The last time there were four consecutive monthly gains was in October 2004.
...
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, cautions that there could be delays in the number of contracts that go to closing. “Closed existing-home sales have improved but are coming in lower than expected because some contracts are delayed or falling through from the application of new appraisal rules for many transactions,” he said.

Yun is blaming the disconnect beteween pending and existing home sales on the change in apprasial rules, but there are probably other factors too - like rising mortgage rates, tighter lending standards, and the inability of homeowners to sell the current home.