October 2012
46 posts
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Exchange-traded product (ETP) primer →
Which ETP structure is best? Before making any major investment decisions, it’s crucial to clearly understand the strengths and weakness of each ETP type. Your success depends on it.
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“Those who say it cannot be done shouldn’t interrupt the people doing it.”
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“When you expect things to happen - strangely enough - they do happen.”
– J. P. Morgan
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“If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else.”
– Cornelius Vanderbilt
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A primer on inflation →
When the economy is slumping, the Fed increases the supply of money to spur growth. This fuels inflation. Conversely, when inflation is threatening, the Fed reduces the risk by shrinking the supply. It all sounds simple enough until you view it in the context of the many other factors that influence the economy in the U.S. In this larger context, monetary policy, inflation and just about...
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Multifamily investors bullish on four western... →
As a result of the positive momentum from the falling unemployment rates and increase in rental and occupancy fundamentals, these target cities: Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego witnessed a total combined multifamily transaction volume of $4.6 billion as of September.
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Freddie Mac: New short-sale guidelines are win win... →
The new Federal Housing Finance Agency short sale guidelines take effect Nov. 1 are designed to prevent deceptive transactions that pop up in times of distress when servicers and borrowers are negotiating short sales with homebuyers, according to representatives from Freddie Mac.
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U.S. Residential Mortgage Originations Projected... →
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), there will be an estimated $1.3 trillion in mortgage originations during 2013, largely driven by a spillover of refinances into the first half of the year.
The Psychology of Poverty →
Though there are many factors that influence consumers’ spending habits, household income is one of the most influential factors. There are noticeable differences in the ways that lower-income households spend their money versus higher-income households. While lower-income groups spend a larger share of their income on the basics, such as food and housing, they also devote a lower percentage...
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Driverless, steer-by-wire Nissan scares Usain Bolt →
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Private Equity: Too disruptive or not disruptive... →
Majority of PE investing is not disruptive enough; it is too focused on the financial side of restructuring and does not create enough disruption on the operating side.
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Emerging Trends in Real Estate: 2013 →
The U.S. commercial real estate marketplace will continue to recover in 2013 with modest gains in leasing, rents and pricing, according to PwC US and Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate Forecast for 2013. The opinions expressed in the report were derived from over 900 interviews and surveys of commercial real estate leaders.
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Alternative uses for converting former ghost malls... →
Communities all over America that are rethinking the ‘burbs” face similar challenges: whether to rehabilitate, re-tenant, refinance and reposition left-for-dead mall properties, or tear them down and start over again.
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Private equity firms eye more Asia deals to tap... →
Private equity firms are planning to increase investment in Asia over the next year as they look to tap into potential growth, a survey from Ernst & Young showed.
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In W’burg, tech entrepreneurs plan “Hackert0wn” →
A group of hackers is trying to raise $1.5M to fund the construction of the building, known as Hackert0wn, has led some online skeptics to label it a scam. But Sean Auriti, the co-founder of the Brooklyn hackerspace Alpha One Labs and the head of the Hackert0wn campaign, is undeterred, despite having raised only $3,000 so far.
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A partnership including real estate investors... →
Group which also includes the Miami-based cigarette company Vector Group Ltd., may build hotel on the Times Square site.
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PE firms must decide what to do with cash →
PE firms are awash with cash, much of which they need to spend soon or give it back to investors and forgo fees. Some anticipate funds will go on a shopping spree for takeovers in coming years, which could result in windfall gains for shareholders of the companies they target.
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Global economic distress 3.0 looms →
The world economy continues to be significantly challenged by the inability to hold a sustained recovery.
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“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to...”
– Henry David Thoreau
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“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
– Walt Disney
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Buyout executives emails purport to show collusion →
Senior executives at private equity firms including KKR & Co LP and TPG Capital LP sent emails that allegedly show them plotting to scoop up companies on the cheap during last decade’s leveraged buyout boom, according to court documents unsealed on Wednesday.
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Beige Book cites widespread improvement in real... →
The Federal Reserve Beige Book indicates expanded economic activity since the last report on Aug. 29. Big improvements came in residential real estate conditions. Stronger existing home sales, increasing prices and declining inventories were noted in the Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco districts.
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Blackstone prepares to deploy $13.3B real estate... →
The Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII fund, the largest real estate opportunity fund ever, closed at $13.3 billion. Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray, global head of the private equity giant’s real estate business, will now set his team to work deploying the funds.
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Dodd-Frank lobbyists delaying JOBS Act... →
The road to the JOBS Act must go through Dodd-Frank. As long as the financial lobbies hold up Dodd-Frank, they also hold up the JOBS Act.
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Facebook fought SEC to keep mobile risks hidden... →
Bloomberg describes how the SEC extracted key data from a reluctant Facebook prior to the company’s IPO. The volley of emails between the sides “depicts a management team…still guessing at even rudimentary aspects of its business.” Many of the issues “now unnerving investors were foreshadowed” in the correspondence, including about Facebook’s mobile...
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“No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing...”
– J. P. Morgan
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Companies feast on cheap money: →
Companies are not only exploiting rock-bottom interest rates to issue more debt, but are also taking advantage by offering long-term paper. Companies have sold $91.9B of 30-year bonds in 166 deals this year, up from $73.2B in 145 offerings in 2011 and the most in any full year since 1995. Those feasting include GE (GE), Comcast (CMCSA) and UPS (UPS).
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IMF cuts growth estimates →
The IMF just released its World Economic Outlook update, and expects the world economy to grow 3.3 percent this year, and 3.6 percent in 2013.
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Shares of clothing retailer Express falls out of...
Clothing retailer Express (EXPR) reported a dismal outlook for its third-quarter causing its share price to nose dive. In its report, Express drastically cut its earnings-per-share outlook to 16-20 cents from 27-32 cents for the quarter, and announced that it expected comparable-store sales to decline in the mid-single-digit range. Express also said it had increased promotions to maintain its...
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Norway’s wealth fund targets U.S. real estate →
Norway $650B sovereign wealth fund is closing in on its first U.S. real estate investment as the market struggles with stagnant prices. According to Trond Grande, deputy chief executive officer at Norges Bank Investment Management, the fund will invest in the U.S. by the end of next year at the latest.
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UK to close stock market listing loopholes →
In a bid to better protect investors, Britain’s financial watchdog is to close loopholes that allow companies to list shares on the London Stock Exchange without being fully vetted.
Thousands of WWII bombs dumped in Gulf of Mexico... →
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Volcker: QE3 to have little effect →
Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the U.S. central bank’s latest bond-buying program isn’t creating inflationary pressure. “It’s not going to have a profound effect on the economy and it’s not going to have any effect on inflation in the short run,” Volcker said.
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PetSmart to replace Sunoco on S&P
PetSmart (PETM) will be added to the S&P 500 after the close on Thursday, replacing Sunoco (SUN) following the latter’s buyout by ETP. Cabela’s (CAB) will take PetSmart’s position in the S&P MidCap 400, while Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) will replace Cabela’s in the S&P SmallCap 600… S&P Press Release
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Earnings Wizardry: Study says 20% of firms legally... →
Here is another reason to question corporate earnings: If you believe a recent academic study, one out of five U.S. finance chiefs have been scrambling to fiddle with their companies’ earnings.
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Don’t be surprised if a number of hedge funds... →
Hedge fund performance had been lagging the overall markets for the past two years or so. One of the main reasons: They sharply reduced their risk exposure, afraid to get out in front of price movements given the many macro uncertainties out there, whether they be the European recession, possible break-up of the euro, the U.S. presidential elections, the looming so-called fiscal cliff, possible...
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U.S. office vacancy falls to almost 3-yr low →
According to Reis Inc, U.S. office vacancies dropped to their lowest level in almost three years as demand from energy and technology companies combined with a dearth of construction to overshadow cuts by government employers. A total of 17.1% of the country’s office space sat empty as of Sept. 30, down from 17.4% a year earlier and 17.2% in the second quarter, the New York-based real estate...
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No Rush: Fast food chain Wendy's downgraded on... →
Wendy’s (WEN) today downgraded to Neutral from Buy on concerns that the company is poised to post disappointing same-store sales.
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Window for building single-family rental... →
As home prices recover, investors looking to create pools of single-family rental properties could find themselves late to the party as values go up.
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ISM index rose to 51.5 in September, up from 49.6... →
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its index of factory activity rose to 51.5. That’s up from 49.6 in August. A reading above 50 signals growth and below indicates contraction.
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Cashing in on J.C. Penney overhaul →
The shareholders have yet to see benefit, but suppliers like Leggett & Platt (LEG) - hired to help refurbish J.C. Penney (JCP) stores - have no complaints. Next up is the lucrative contract to install radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on every item in J.C. Penney’s stores in which R.R. Donnelly & Sons (RRD) and one other manufacturer are battling it out.
