| ANSA: Oro: in calo a 1273 ollari Posted: 06 Aug 2013 10:59 PM PDT Da inizio anno -24%. Pesano timori per ritiro stimolo Fed Usa. |
| ANSA: Petrolio: in ribasso a 105,29 Posted: 06 Aug 2013 11:03 PM PDT Brent a 107,9 dollari |
| ANSA: Cambi: euro invariato a 1,33 dollari Posted: 06 Aug 2013 11:09 PM PDT Moneta giapponese a massimi 6 settimane su dollaro |
| ANSA: Ing: calo utile trimestre a 788 mln Posted: 06 Aug 2013 11:17 PM PDT Riduzione superiore alle attese,completato 70% piano dismissioni |
| Financial Times: SFO reveals loss of BAE case documents Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT Serious Fraud Office says 98% of documents and evidence has been recovered after data loss sparks two reviews in the latest setback for organisation |
| Huffington Post: White Sox-Yankees: De Aza Triple Lifts Chicago Past New York 6-5 Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:06 AM PDT CHICAGO -- Hours after Alex Rodriguez dug in for a fight, the New York Yankees looked like they might be down for the count. It'll be hard to pick themselves up after this. Read More... More on New York Yankees  |
| Huffington Post: Detroit Bankruptcy Timeline Could Result In A Clean Balance Sheet In 14 Months, Says EM Kevyn Orr Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:10 AM PDT
By Nick Carey
DETROIT, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Detroit's emergency manager voiced confidence on Wednesday that the city could emerge from bankruptcy before his term expires in October 2014 and possibly without having to borrow more money.
Even so, Kevyn Orr, the bankruptcy expert who was appointed in March to a post that gives him almost unlimited power over Detroit's finances, warned that the path back to financial health will not be painless for Detroit's creditors.
If the city wins court approval to proceed with the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing it made last month, virtually all of the city's creditors will have payments on their bonds reduced, he said.
"We may need a little bit of cash, or we may be able to stay cash-flow free-and-clear without borrowing anything for the purposes of the bankruptcy," Orr told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview. "The schedule we're on, we should be able to get this done in 14 months, so I don't anticipate a need for me to stay on."
Detroit's bankruptcy has marked a new low for a city formerly renowned as the cradle of the U.S. auto industry and central to America's role as the "arsenal of democracy" in World War Two.
The city's population has fallen from its peak of 1.8 million people in 1950 to around 700,000 as manufacturing jobs moved elsewhere along with the white population. Financial mismanagement and political corruption have made things worse.
The bankruptcy process is expected to be protracted and rough on creditors, who have been offered pennies on the dollar for the city's $18.5 billion in long-term debt.
Orr said he anticipates "a lot of jousting" between creditors in federal bankruptcy court but warned that he expects virtually all the city's creditors, even investors in the city's general obligation bonds, will have to accept reduced payments as part of the bankruptcy process.
"Most unsecured debt in bankruptcy gets a haircut," Orr said. "That's just what happens."
General obligation bonds, which are backed by tax revenue, have long been considered the safest class of municipal debt.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, appointed Orr as emergency manager in March to tackle Detroit's financial crisis. In mid-July Snyder approved Orr's request to file for a Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy.
'DRAFT HORSE'
Orr said his team of lawyers and advisers is seeking to make it through a grueling schedule in federal bankruptcy court at a pace viewed as aggressive by most outsiders. It would leave Orr little time to focus on corrupt practices in the city's past or on whether its borrowing was properly handled over the years. "I'm a draft horse with blinders on going uphill," he said.
The emergency manager said he did not anticipate any form of bailout from the state of Michigan during the bankruptcy process but thinks there will be "a lot of state support upon exit (from bankruptcy), and I expect I'll probably recommend to the governor and the state that there be some additional legislative oversight."
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes is to rule on whether Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 protection in a trial to begin on Oct. 23. Orr expressed confidence the bankruptcy filing would be approved.
Rhodes has ruled that the federal bankruptcy proceeding overrides challenges from retirees and pension funds to Michigan's emergency manager law that started in state court.
Orr said he believes he has legal arguments to overcome any effort to use state law to prevent the bankruptcy from going ahead.
He said talks with Detroit's neighboring counties over the creation of a regional water and sewage authority were progressing well, with the suburbs keen on playing a role in the new authority. He ran through a long list of possible assets the city could sell, including its airport and parking meters.
The city said on Monday that it had hired Christie's auction house to appraise the city-owned portion of the Detroit Institute of Art's 60,000-piece collection, a move Orr said was mostly to determine what exactly the collection contains. He left open the option of selling off some of the DIA's works.
"Whether you have to sell grandma's heirloom china and your wedding silver is a big issue," Orr said. Detroit "shouldn't have to sell that stuff, but it's not a resolved issue by any measure."
Orr also addressed one of the biggest concerns: what will happen to pension benefits for Detroit's public employees. The city's retirees outnumber the active workforce by more than two to one.
"There are assets in both pension funds," he said. "So there's going to be pensions. The question becomes how do you divvy that up."
Orr said current retirees in particular could argue they should receive more than younger workers who have decades left in their careers.
"The guy or gal who's 35, they have a chance to go to defined contribution, get another job, get a second-job supplement, get married, handle their affairs," he said. "Frankly there's some validity to that kind of argument."
'ZERO' POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS
If Detroit is found eligible for bankruptcy, the case will generate immense interest since there have been relatively few municipal bankruptcies over the past eight decades and none on the scale of Detroit's. When asked if he was concerned about the precedents Detroit might set, Orr said: "I'm a fiduciary for this city. I cannot be concerned about what dreams may come from the result of what we do."
The emergency manager acknowledged that his mission was not a popular one. Orr's appointment has rendered the city's elected council largely powerless and critics have described him as a dictator.
"I think a lot of Detroit residents will be very happy to see me go," he said. Still, he is not concerned for his safety. "I've been hung in effigy in several venues in my lifetime."
Detroit held a primary on Tuesday that selected two mayoral candidates who will square off in a general election in November. Whoever wins is likely to take over once Orr leaves. He said both candidates for mayor seem to love the city and want to move forward.
"I hopefully will leave them with a clean balance sheet - the first time in a long time for the city - (and) a more agile city government," he said.
Asked whether he had had any political aspirations himself before being appointed or based on his experiences in Detroit since March, Orr said: "Zero. And after this, negative zero."
Read More... More on Detroit Development  |
| Huffington Post: Oprah On Portrayal Of Black Family In 'Lee Daniels' The Butler': 'This Is Who We Are' (VIDEO) Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:10 AM PDT "Lee Daniels' The Butler" spans nearly 35 years of American history, including the turbulent years of the civil rights movement. In an interview for Oprah.com, Gayle King sat down with director Lee Daniels and two members of the cast, Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, for a Q&A session about the film. During the conversation, King brings up the subject of race relations in America. "So many people do not know the history of the civil rights of this country," she says. King asks the cast what they hope movie-goers will take away from seeing the film, which tells the story Cecil Gaines (Whitaker), an African American butler who served in the White House during the course of eight presidential terms. "I'm hoping that people will recognize that they need to stand up and have their voices heard," Whitaker says. "I think that this movie allows you to see different people reaching for the things they believe." Read More... More on Civil Rights  |
| Huffington Post: 'If We Dated' Is An Unsettling Reality Show From UCB Comedy (VIDEO) Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:16 AM PDT What happens when an off-balance woman rejected from every reality dating show wins a lawsuits and uses the settlement money to start her very own dating show? Nothing good. Check out this UCB Comedy video that's not too far off from actual "reality" shows. Read More... More on Funny Videos  |
| Aljazeera: US Marine demoted for urinating on corpses Posted: 08 Aug 2013 08:52 AM PDT Videotape showed Sergeant Robert Richards along with other Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. |
| Financial Times: A writer to help Fed share its feelings Posted: 08 Aug 2013 09:13 AM PDT The role of the central bank has become largely literary, issuing forward guidance in narrative form |
| Aljazeera: Cameron castigates cyberbullying websites Posted: 08 Aug 2013 09:21 AM PDT British PM asks internet users to not to use certain social networking sites, after a teenage girl committed suicide. |
| Financial Times: India needs more than a new broom Posted: 08 Aug 2013 09:55 AM PDT With an election next year the government has little political space to introduce necessary reforms, and the onus may well fall on its successor |
| Aljazeera: Georgia marks fifth anniversary since war Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:51 AM PDT Georgian and Russian leaders trade barbs five years after the two countries went to war over South Ossetia. |
| Aljazeera: Banks looted amid Kenya airport blaze chaos Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:11 AM PDT Officials say that first responders to huge Nairobi fire looted electronics and banks during and after blaze. |
| Financial Times: Oh! What a shabby war Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:24 AM PDT The west's errors in Afghanistan – strategic, political and military – are too legion to list and most blame lies with the Bush administration |
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