Top News & Analysis Texas

*Trump endorses bill, but it is unclear it can pass Senate. President Donald Trump, who has expressed frustration at the Senate's failure thus far to pass legislation to replace Obama's signature legislative achievement, said "47 or 48" Republican senators already back the new bill, which needs 50 votes for passage in the 100- seat Senate that his party controls...

*As expected Fed to reduce $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October. "Right now, the market sees the Fed more hawkish than anticipated," said Tim Alt, director of currencies and rates at Aviva Investors. Some traders had thought catastrophic damage from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida might force the Fed to postpone a rate increase until next year.

HOUSTON, Sept 20- U.S. oil producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Wednesday it would spend $2.5 billion to buy back its own stock, a plan worth roughly 10 percent of its outstanding shares at current prices. Anadarko, which has a 5 cent dividend that is far below peers, said it would spend $1 billion by December on buybacks and the remaining $1.5 billion by the end of...

NEW YORK— The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could have fined Wells Fargo in excess of $10 billion for its illegal sales practices but instead settled for $100 million, according to the agency's internal documents released by Congressional Republicans this week. The CFPB also had evidence that the bank's sales problems went back to at least 2006— far...

HOUSTON, Sept 20- Lawyers expect a spate of force majeure contract lawsuits after Hurricane Harvey tore through Southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana last month, paralyzing a fifth of U.S. fuel output and pushing some oil production offline. Damage in Texas wrought by Harvey is estimated at around $180 billion, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, with some...

TOLEDO, Ohio— Ohio's environmental regulators have more than doubled the proposed fines against a company building a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Michigan, saying Wednesday the two sides are at an impasse. Dallas- based developer Energy Transfer Partners, which also was behind the Dakota Access oil pipeline, has resisted attempts at resolving...

*Hurricane Harvey depresses sales in Houston. WASHINGTON, Sept 20- U.S. home resales fell to their lowest in a year in August as Hurricane Harvey depressed activity in Houston and a persistent shortage of properties on the market sidelined buyers. "One of the risks out there for the broader economy is that this house of cards comes tumbling down," said Chris Rupkey,...

BISMARCK, N.D.— North Dakota regulators on Wednesday approved an agreement settling allegations that the Texas- based builder of the Dakota Access pipeline violated state rules during construction. The agreement worked out by attorneys for the Public Service Commission and Energy Transfer Partners calls for development of a "how-to" manual and the planting...

Wednesday's advisory by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network asks banks to keep watch for Venezuelan government contracts, wire transfers from shell companies and real estate purchases in south Florida and Houston by senior Venezuelan officials, their families or associates. Last month, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Venezuela for...

*Hurricane Harvey depresses sales in Houston. WASHINGTON, Sept 20- U.S. home resales fell to their lowest in a year in August as Hurricane Harvey depressed activity in Houston and a perennial shortage of properties on the market sidelined buyers. "One of the risks out there for the broader economy is that this house of cards comes tumbling down," said Chris Rupkey,...

Sept 20- U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped last week as imports and production increased, while distillate inventories fell the most in nearly six years and gasoline inventories also declined, as the Gulf Coast recovers from the impact from Hurricane Harvey, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. "The impact of Hurricane Harvey can still be...

*Hurricane Harvey depresses sales in Houston. WASHINGTON, Sept 20- U.S. home resales fell to their lowest in a year in August as Hurricane Harvey depressed activity in Houston and a perennial shortage of properties on the market sidelined buyers. The NAR said Harvey, which struck Texas in the last week of August, had resulted in sales in Houston declining 25 percent...

WASHINGTON— U.S. home sales fell 1.7 percent in August, pulled down by the effects of Hurricane Harvey and a worsening shortage of available properties. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of existing homes sank last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million. "Given that job growth has been steady and demand is still...

EL PASO, Texas— The executive editor of the El Paso Times is leaving the newspaper after being directed by its parent company to cut newsroom staff. His resignation coincides with the departure of Lilia Castillo Jones, the president of the Times and several sister properties in New Mexico, whose position was eliminated by the USA Today Network, a division of the...

WASHINGTON, Sept 20- U.S. home resales fell to their lowest in a year in August as Hurricane Harvey depressed activity in Houston and a perennial shortage of properties on the market sidelined buyers. The NAR said Harvey, which struck Texas in the last week of August had resulted in sales in Houston declining 25 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The retailers and other companies asking Congress to pass a permanent replacement for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, reflect broadening pressure on political leaders to find a solution for the roughly 800,000 immigrants known as "Dreamers". The new letter reflects Trump's decision and asks for a permanent solution to let DACA recipients...

DES MOINES, Iowa— An Iowa woman who says she was wrongly ticketed by an automated traffic camera when she wasn't speeding has accomplished the unusual feat of getting the state Supreme Court to consider her $75 small-claims case. Her attorney, James Larew, argued Wednesday that the city of Cedar Rapids, where Leaf lives and was ticketed, is violating equal...