published Apr 21st 2016, 3:55 pm, by Jen Skerritt (Bloomberg) — West Fraser Timber Co. and Canfor Corp., Canada’s largest lumber producers, are suffering from tepid demand in the U.S. where the recovery in the housing market is stuttering. U.S. housing starts fell a more-than-expected 8.8 percent last month, the

published Apr 21st 2016, 5:00 pm, by Adam Minter (Bloomberg View) — The pattern is a familiar one. In February, the Malaysian government proposed allowing 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers into the country to seek employment. A popular backlash ensued and the government quickly backtracked, imposing a moratorium on hiring foreign

published Apr 21st 2016, 4:09 pm, by Matt Levine (Bloomberg View) — There are basically two ways for a big bank to do bad things: It can do bad things to itself. It can do bad things to someone else. There is some blurring of the boundaries. The U.S. legal

published Apr 20th 2016, 1:53 pm, by Eli Lake (Bloomberg View) — Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, is angry. For some reason Iran’s Arab neighbors, not to mention many U.S. politicians and journalists, think his country is an aggressor, unworthy of international investment and entry into the global community of

published Apr 20th 2016, 7:03 pm, by Stephen Stapczynski (Bloomberg) — Oil traded near $44 a barrel after U.S. crude production slipped to the lowest since October 2014 and Iraq said producers plan a new push to agree on an output freeze in talks as early as next month. Futures

published Apr 20th 2016, 5:25 pm, by Erik Larson (Bloomberg) — New York’s attorney general opened an investigation into alleged improprieties during the state’s primary voting on Tuesday, when thousands of voters complained they couldn’t cast ballots due to inaccurate voting lists. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Wednesday that the

published Apr 19th 2016, 4:56 pm, by Jonathan Bernstein (Bloomberg View) — Supporters of Bernie Sanders are complaining about how restrictive the rules are for Tuesday’s New York’s primary. It is a closed election — only registered Democrats can vote for Democratic candidates — and the deadline for registered voters

published Apr 19th 2016, 1:16 pm, by Noah Feldman (Bloomberg View) — Ever wanted to sue the tax man? Usually you can’t — but Gilbert Hyatt found a loophole, and the Supreme Court gave him a symbolic victory Tuesday while depriving him of most actual damages. Acting out the fantasies

published Apr 19th 2016, 6:38 pm, by Candice Zachariahs (Bloomberg) — Asian equities were poised to climb for a second day after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to a four-month high and commodities from oil to silver advanced on Tuesday. Futures on equity gauges for Japan to Australia

published Apr 18th 2016, 3:31 pm, by Justin Fox (Bloomberg View) — The U.S. has two big housing affordability problems. They’re related — and solving the first would go some way toward solving the second. But they’re not the same, and it’s important to understand that. The first problem is