September 2012
102 posts
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Per new agreement, NYC Housing Authority will file... →
City Council gives NYCHA a new project: Report back quarterly on how you’re spending taxpayer money.
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“The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may...”
– Andrew Carnegie
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“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one...”
– Thomas Jefferson
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2012-16 U.S. Communications Industry Spending... →
New VSS Forecast 2012-2016: U.S. Communications Industry Spending Increased 4.4% to $1.129 Trillion in 2011; Expected to Rise 5.2% in 2012 to Reach $1.189 Trillion
Subprime auto loan borrowing and financing is... →
More privately-owned lenders tap the asset-backed securities (ABS) market and meet keen demand to increase lending to borrowers with tarnished credit histories obtain auto loans at lower rates.
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U.S. commercial and multifamily mortgage debt... →
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding decreased by $10.4 billion, or 0.4 percent, in the second quarter of 2012, as the balance of loans in CMBS, CDO and other ABS issues continued to decline.
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NYC Nonprofits look to cash out →
Faced with tepid business conditions, some groups put their townhouses on the block and decide to downsize to commercial condos instead.
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“Rio Tinto has agreed to sell two small coal assets in South Africa to Forbes...”
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Emerging market debt still worth consideration →
While it may look unappealing right now, two factors make emerging market debt worth considering. First, while slight compared with their long-run average, spreads remain reasonable next to their more recent history, in this case the more relevant benchmark. Second, while yields have shrunk across the fixed-income universe, implied volatility in the U.S. Treasury market has also faded. To the...
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NYC Housing Authority ponders boosting revenue by... →
A plan introduced by NYCHA chairman John Rhea to boost the New York City Housing Authority’s revenue by making vacant land available to private developers via ground leases received a welcomed response at a recent Association for a Better New York breakfast forum.
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NYC real estate relationship web →
Swiss Franc’s ceiling looks more like a floor →
ECB’s bond-buying efforts fuel speculation that the Swiss franc is ready to fall below Zurich central bank’s ceiling. But skeptics say the currency’s prospects are actually the reverse of that.
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Beijing spreads its wings →
China is moving, slowly but surely, to use its financial clout to promote its economic interests beyond Asia.
Justice Dept to highlight investment fraud scams →
With investment fraud cases piling up in the weak economy, the U.S. Justice Department is holding summits around the nation to warn investors about the scams, which are often carried out by people with personal ties to the victims.
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Outgoing AIMA chairman replaced by former SEC... →
The Alternative Investment Management Association’s decision to tap Kathleen Casey comes at a crucial time for the private fund industry, which is facing increased scrutiny by the SEC through a series of new rules required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.
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The mood was sanguine among the nearly 4k ICSC... →
Deal flow and activity continue to pick up between retailers and landlords, despite macroeconomic concerns.
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Tunnel connecting LIRR and Grand Central complete →
Workers have completed excavation a continuous tunnel that goes from Sunnyside, Queens, to a cavern 12 stories beneath Grand Central Terminal.
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Cheap financing fuels U.S. leveraged buyout boom →
U.S. leveraged buyouts almost doubled in the third quarter of 2012 from a year ago, reaching their highest levels since before the financial crisis as cheap financing fueled private equity’s appetite for deals.
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The House of Representatives voted 412-3 to... →
It turns out there is at least one federal stimulus program that Congress can support almost unanimously — the Immigrant Investor Program, which allows foreign nationals to obtain a so-called EB-5 visa in exchange for investing in U.S. real estate development and other job-creating ventures. The House of Representatives voted 412-3 last week to reauthorize the EB-5 Regional Center Program,...
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Bucking historical trends, bank branches... →
Bank branch closings have outpaced openings by an average of 48% in every quarter since the first quarter of 2011. Elevated cost structures, new technology and changing customer preferences are all contributing to a fundamental re-assessment of branch banking operations and investment by U.S. financial institutions, according to the latest FDIC statistics and a new Fitch Ratings special report.
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New Rules, Old Risks →
Regulation has undergone a major overhaul in the wake of the crisis, and leverage is leaving the system. But no amount of rule-writing can banish risk from financial markets — nor should it.
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Need a salt shaker? Print one out. →
Brooklyn-based MakerBot, a leading player in desktop 3D printing, announces the opening of the first-of-its kind retail store on 298 Mulberry Street where consumers can buy printers that make everyday objects.
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Spanner: Google’s Globally-Distributed Database →
Spanner is Google’s scalable, multi-version, globally- distributed, and synchronously-replicated database. It is the first system to distribute data at global scale and sup- port externally-consistent distributed transactions.
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The New Orleans Small Business Assistance Fund
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office and the city’s Office of Economic Development have announced a new program to encourage small business expansion and job creation. The New Orleans Small Business Assistance Fund is a $2M fund that will provide 8% interest rate loans to for-profit and nonprofit businesses for operating capital and equipment purchases. Loans are expected to range...
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Arab property buyers in London face taxing... →
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has gotten wind of the misinformation and is anxious to set the record straight for the Arabs; particularly the tax-free status on rental income properties that London agents have been touting to them as a sales magnet.
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Bar brawls could alter nature of nightlife leases →
The aftermath of the highly publicized brawl that broke out between hip-hop musicians Drake and Chris Brown at the W.i.P. club in Soho may reverberate throughout the real estate industry. The nature of leases for nightlife establishments could change significantly: Landlords may require clubs to serve in plastic cups, include lease-termination clauses in the event of police shut downs or other...
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WatchJon Stewart joins the crowd (which includes many Republicans) shredding Mitt Romney for saying 47% of Americans refuse to take responsibility for themselves.
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Strength and resilience personified... →
The SCAR Project is a series of large-scale portraits of young breast cancer survivors shot by fashion photographer David Jay. Primarily an awareness raising campaign, The SCAR Project puts a raw, unflinching face on early onset breast cancer while paying tribute to the courage and spirit of so many brave young women.
With capitalism’s enablers hunkering down under a... →
Five years after the outbreak of the financial crisis, investments banks are facing a battery of profit-slashing structural changes, including sharply higher capital requirements under the Basel III Accord, a raft of new U.S. regulatory restrictions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and a proposal from the U.K’s Independent Commission on Banking for new barriers...
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New IMF research contradicts claims that tough new... →
Financial regulations such as Basel III are unlikely to have a significant impact on bank lending rates or the global economy. That’s the determination of a recent paper by staff of the International Monetary Fund, a conclusion in accord with the new, tougher mood among global banking regulators but which is out of line with previous research on the subject that has played up, sometimes quite...
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Higher-income earners in few states dominate... →
According to the Government Accountability Office, taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $100,000 or more accounted for just 13% of all returns in 2008 but claimed 47% of all mortgage interest and property tax deductions.
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“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to...”
– Sun Tzu
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Can sophisticated investors make their own... →
As the Securities and Exchange Commission prepares to permit hedge funds and other private partnerships to advertise, the trade group that looks out for the interests of hedge funds has asked the regulator to spell out exactly what they must do to verify whether investors are accredited after the rules in the Jump Start Our Business Start-ups Act (JOBS Act) are finalized.
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Winklevoss twins invest $1M in SumZero →
The Winklevoss twins, best known for their legal battle against Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook Inc , have invested $1M in SumZero, a social network company aimed at professional investors founded by fellow Harvard University alumni Divya Narendra and Aalap Mahadevia.
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“You either evolve or you evaporate.”
– Usher
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“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
– Shakespeare
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Start-ups fight back as patent wars intensify →
The patent wars that have embroiled many of the world’s technology giants in recent years are spreading to a new set of combatants: “patent trolls” in Silicon Valley, and are increasingly going after entrepreneurs, start-ups and their investors, claiming patent infringement.
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Subdivide and conquer →
As big tenants sit tight, landlords go where the action is and cater to smaller outfits looking for spaces of 2,500 square feet or less.
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“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see...”
– J. P. Morgan
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