Finance Institutional Investment
Rockwood Latest Investor to Close Fund, Raising $964M
April 29, 2009
Hoping to capitalize on an unsettled real estate environment that could ultimately lead to the “best investment period in the last 20 years,” private real estate investment firm Rockwood Capital L.L.C. has closed an investment fund with some $964 million in capital commitments.
Economic Update - Bear Stearns' Bum Real Estate, Revealed
April 24, 2009
Bear Stearns Cos. was in the news again Thursday, in case anyone remembers back far enough to recall the last time it was big news--a time when the disappearance of that company into JPMorgan Chase seemed unfortunate, but not necessarily a harbinger of vast financial problems ahead. Which, in fact, it turned out to be.
U.S. Infrastructure at Crossroads: Report
April 21, 2009
With $132 billion having been set aside in the stimulus package for road, highway and various other transit related projects across the United States, the issue of the country's outdated infrastructure is at the forefront. The Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young note in a new report that while the funding will certainly boost the job market, what is of even more vital importance is a long-term infrastructure plan for digging the nation out of an economic slump and shoring up the country to be competitive on an international level in the future.
Economic Update - Credit Woes Put Kibosh on $2.5B Midway Deal
April 21, 2009
Citi Infrastructure Investors--a joint venture of Citigroup Inc., John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and Vancouver Airport Services-- will be unable to go through with a deal that would have seen the group buy Midway International Airport in Chicago for $2.5 billion. After previous extensions, the City of Chicago decided not to give the group any more time to close on the deal.
In Wake of CityCenter Suit, Another Vegas Project Looks to Move Forward
March 25, 2009
As one Las Vegas mega-project hits a snag, the site for a possible new development is set to go up for auction. Just a day after the announcement of a lawsuit brought by a co-developer of the massive CityCenter project against its partner comes word that a 22-acre parcel for a proposed Asia-themed casino resort will be sold at a bankruptcy auction in May.
Economic Update -- Cautious Optimism About TALF
March 06, 2009
Will TALF--the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, in case anyone's forgotten--bring the securitization of loans, especially non-agency RMBS and CMBS, back to life in any meaningful way? The program will get under way on March 25, and Wall Street is keeping a close eye it. And so are players in some real estate niches that used to obtain much of their capital from securitizations.
Economic Update -- AIG Black Hole Eats Billions More
March 03, 2009
"Too big to fail" has new meaning these days in the context of the never-ending black hole known as American International Group. The "too big" in this case is the insurance giant's giant losses, which totaled $61.7 billion in 4Q08, a record. Just to give a little context, that much money is roughly equal to or greater than the gross state products of 12 states of the union--Hawaii, for instance, had a gross state product of $61.5 billion in 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Big Week Ahead for Federal Intervention
Feb. 09, 2009
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that nearly 600,000 people lost their jobs in January, the most since the slumping economy of 1974. That report is expected to give further impetus for federal invention in the economy, and this week's events aren't likely to disappoint in that regard.
Amazon Beats Expectations; New Home Sales Dismal
Jan. 30, 2009
Ten years ago, futurists were predicting that online retail would threaten the prosperity of bricks-and-mortar retail, a prognostication about as accurate as the coming of the paperless office. On the other hand, online retail--at least in the form of Amazon--has managed to do unexpectedly well in the face of the current recession. For the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, the company's net profit rose 9 percent to $225 million, or 52 cents a share, up from 48 cents in the same quarter last year.
Deflation on the Horizon?
Jan. 20, 2009
As markets dipped at the end of last week--largely on renewed fears of deflation and the lingering weakness in the industrial sector, specifically auto production--calls continued for more government fiscal intervention.
Federal Pension Watchdog Picks Advisors for Shift into Real Estate
Dec. 23, 2008
The federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has revealed the investment firms that will act as its strategic partners in managing $2.5 billion in assets and supporting PBGC’s in-house investment staff. The firms are BlackRock, The Goldman Sachs Group and J.P. Morgan Chase, all headquartered in New York City.
Pink Slips Proliferate in November
Dec. 05, 2008
The magnitude of the unemployment numbers--533,000 jobs evaporated in November, according to the Department of Labor--took economists and analysts by surprise this morning.
Government Mulls More Mortgage-Rate Intervention
Dec. 04, 2008
Has the government hit on a bailout method that works? At least partly? Fed intervention to lower mortgage rates might allow some homeowners (those with good credit) to refinance their way out of high post-teaser rates.
Morgan Stanley Ups Stake in Struggling General Growth
Dec. 03, 2008
Morgan Stanley has become the second investor to take a large stake in General Growth Properties Inc., the struggling mall operator headquartered in Chicago. Morgan Stanley bought more than 13.6 million shares, upping its stake in the company from 3 percent to 5.1 percent.
More Bad Numbers for Economy
Dec. 03, 2008
The Institute for Supply Management, which released its manufacturing index for November recently (those numbers were bad), has more bad news for the nation today: U.S. service industries, which constitute about nine-tenths of all domestic economic activity, contracted in November.
Fed Says it Still Has Arrows in its Quiver
Dec. 02, 2008
The Federal Reserve has acknowledged that the recession won't be over anytime soon by extending a number of temporary programs designed to deal with the credit freeze and generally unstable financial markets.
RREEF Nails Down Stake in Rosen Real Estate
Dec. 02, 2008
RREEF Alternative Investments has finalized its agreement to acquire “a significant minority interest” in Rosen Real Estate Securities L.L.C., a Berkeley, Calif.-based real estate investment advisor.
Recession is Officially Here, Says Group
Dec. 01, 2008
Who decides when it's a recession? The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the nonprofit research organization known as the National Bureau of Economic Research, that's who, at least as far most economists and parts of the U.S. government are concerned.
Financial Update-Consumer Spending Sees Historic Drop
Nov. 26, 2008
Consumer spending numbers, as expected, are going nowhere but down. The U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting that personal consumer spending among Americans dropped 1 percent in October compared with the month before, which is the largest decline since September 2001. On the other hand, saving is up. Personal saving as a percentage of income rose to 2.4 percent during the same month, up from 1 percent in September.
A New Economic Crew in Town
Nov. 24, 2008
At around noon Eastern Time, President-elect Barack Obama made it official: Timothy Geithner will be U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers will be director of the National Economic Council. Interestingly, neither man has ever worked in a major capacity for a Wall Street bank, as have many previous shapers of U.S. economic policy, though Geithner has been an important liaison between the banking industry and the government as head of the New York branch of the Fed.
Financial Market Update-Big 3 Continue to Angle for Aid
Nov. 19, 2008
The bosses of the Big Three automakers, who are facing the prospect of being bosses of the Not-So-Big-Three anymore, came before Congress today to beg, "Please, sir, can I have some more?" As in more loans to stay afloat, besides the $25 billion already committed to retool to build fuel-efficient cars.
Financial Market Update-Bair, Paulson Quarrel in Burning House
Nov. 18, 2008
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair is on the warpath for more aggressive government intervention in the foreclosure crisis, saying today before the House Financial Services Committee that the government is "clearly falling behind the curve" on the issue.
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