Archive for Uncategorized
A $200 Billion Danish Investor Sorts Bad Hedge Funds From Good
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Danske wealth management unit says hedge funds stopped hedging
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CIO still uses hedge funds in Denmark to help with repo trades
The hedge fund business isn’t what it used to be. For starters, a lot of funds in the industry forgot to hedge at crucial moments over the past decade, according to the men now running the $200 billion wealth management unit of Denmark’s biggest lender, Danske Bank A/S.
“If you look back over time, there are a lot of hedge funds that were really exposed to the market,” Anders Svennesen, the chief investment officer of Danske’s pension arm, Danica, who was recently made CIO at the bank’s wealth unit, said in an interview at his office outside Copenhagen…
California big purchase sentiment at bubble levels: The psychology behind house lust.
Posted by: | CommentsYou would have a hard time believing it but California’s homeownership rate is near a generational low but the good news is that hipster pants couldn’t get any tighter without turning into spandex. A large part of the state is now fully praying at the altar of real estate mania lighting incense for the HGTV gods to bring granite countertops alongside host with upgraded body parts. It is an odd sort of Hollywood herd mentality but this is how we do things here in California. While the majority of L.A. County lives in rental Armageddon you have geriatric house humpers salivating at the Botox stretched mouth when a crap shack hits the market. “This makes total sense with a 20 percent down payment! They don’t make land anymore!” They also don’t make more time and life is too short chasing crap shacks. But for some, the crap shack is the ultimate dream like sipping hard liquor in the Caribbean. The culmination of all financial success is being in debt for a beat up house and this is the race many are trying to run…
Investing in the Pain of Student Debt Is a Tough but Tempting Play
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Charles Trafton, at the Boston College campus in Newton, Mass., once worked for a student-loan collection agency. His experience there helped shape one of his investment ideas. CreditTony Luong for The New York Times
As a college student in the early 1990s, Charles Trafton worked nights at a student-loan collection agency in Boston’s theater district, calling trucking and beauty school dropouts to ask them for money.
As a professional investor more than two decades later, he has bet that shares of companies like his former employer will sink, which has become one of his most lucrative investment ideas…
Boston-Area Office Asset Changes Hands in $18M Deal
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Boston—HFF recently announced that it has closed the sale of Tower at Northwoods, a 184,116-square-foot, Class A office building in the suburban Boston community of Danvers. LNR Partners Inc., represented in this transaction by HFF, sold the property for $18 million. Additionally, HFF worked on behalf of the new owner to secure a $12.5 million financing.
Home Prices Rose in 89% of U.S. Metro Areas in Fourth Quarter
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Competition heating up for record-low supply, Realtors say
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Gains accelerated, with 31 areas seeing double-digit increases
Home price gains accelerated in the fourth quarter, with increases reported in 89 percent of U.S. metropolitan areas, as competition heated up for a record-low supply of listings, the National Association of Realtors said.
The median price of an existing single-family home rose from a year earlier in 158 of the 178 areas measured, the group said in a report Thursday. In the third quarter, 87 percent of metropolitan areas had price increases. Thirty-one regions had gains of 10 percent of more in the three months through December, up from 25 in the third quarter…
Endowment Sweepstakes: How Tiny Houghton College Beat Harvard
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Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Mass., last year. The university said its investments declined by 2 percent, and its endowment total dropped by $2 billion in the 2016 fiscal year. CreditCharlie Mahoney for The New York Times
The hotly competitive returns of college endowment performance are out, and the results have again shaken the higher education elite down to their Ivy League roots: The smallest endowments — those with total assets under $25 million — outperformed their billion-dollar-plus rivals for the second year.
TSCG to Begin Reno of One305 Central’s Retail Portion
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Charlotte, N.C.—The Shopping Center Group recently announced that the renovation process of the 10,000-square-foot retail spacein the One305 Central project is set to begin this month. As part of a $50 million project launched in 2015 with the demolition of existing warehouses, the restoration of the retail portion can commence as residential construction nears completion. Atlanta-based TriBridge Residential acquired the 5-acre site in 2014 for $8 million and is now the developer of the project. Citizens Bank provided $29 million in financing for the mixed-use building.
Trapped China Cash Breathes Life Into Hong Kong’s Yuan Banking
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Banks offer hedging to companies unable to repatriate yuan
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Profits of foreign industrial firms at $253 billion last year
Banks in Hong Kong are finding a new source of revenue in helping multinational companies deal with a growing headache: how to cope with tightening restrictions on transferring profits and dividends out of China.
As Beijing clamped down on outflows that threatened to destabilize its currency, companies are suddenly turning to lenders in Hong Kong to hedge their currency risks, bolster the yield on money trapped inside China and for new loans, according to bankers and analysts…
Do You Need to Worry About Trump’s Reforms? It Depends
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President Trump signing an executive order aimed at the Dodd-Frank Act. CreditAl Drago/The New York Times
I get it: You are freaked out. You don’t like this president. Practically every day, he sets off some new crisis and, according to your Facebook feed, does something that might destroy the nation. You’re wondering if you should start buying canned foods and ammunition.
Or perhaps you’re thrilled that the Trump administration is making good on its promise to “drain the swamp” by changing regulations. It’s wonderful to see businesslike thinking in Washington. In moments of reflection, however, you’re a bit concerned that some important details might get overlooked amid the flurry of action from the White House…
C&W Arranges $104M Financing for NJ Office Campus Buy
Posted by: | CommentsThe property in Hopewell consists of three Class A buildings adding up to 553,941 square feet.
Hopewell, N.J.—An affiliate of Capital Commercial Investments Inc. has received $103.6 million in financing to acquire 1300, 1350 and 1400 Merrill Lynch Drive in Hopewell.
Overall, the property consists of three Class A office buildings adding up to 553,941 square feet within a larger campus consisting of a total of 1,788,961 square feet in 12 Class A buildings.
Cushman & Wakefield served as the exclusive advisor for CCI and arranged financing through affiliates of Barclays and Morgan Stanley…
Credit Suisse Client Latest Test to Leniency in Tax Fraud Cases
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Dan Horsky pleaded guilty to hiding $200 million from IRS
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Most wealthy defendants in offshore tax cases avoid prison
A former client of Credit Suisse Group AG who pleaded guilty to hiding $200 million from U.S. tax authorities is at the center of a struggle between the Justice Department, which wants to send a stern message by sending tax cheats to prison, and U.S. judges, who have opted for leniency in past cases.
DRA Advisors Nabs $1B-Plus Industrial Portfolio
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New York—In a deal worth a little over $1 billion, DRA Advisors LLC has acquired, on behalf of its funds, a 19.8 million-square-foot industrial portfolio sold by private equity real estate firm Cabot Properties Inc. of Boston. Eastdil Secured and Cushman & Wakefield represented Cabot Properties.
The portfolio is diversified across 21 markets throughout the United States, including major industrial hubs such as Dallas, Chicago, Columbus, Houston and Atlanta. Its 184 properties are 94 percent leased overall to more than 500 tenants.
Tommy Hilfiger Changes Manhattan Base with 200 KSF Lease
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New York—Tommy Hilfiger, the global luxury apparel business owned by PVH Corp., is the latest company to lease space in RFR Realty’s newly repositioned 285 Madison Ave. in midtown Manhattan.
HFF Arranges Recapitalization of LA-Area Campus
Posted by: | CommentsAlhambra, Calif.—HFF announced it arranged the sale of and secured debt and equity placements to facilitate the recapitalization of The Alhambra, located at 1000 S. Fremont Ave. in Alhambra, Calif.
HFF worked on behalf of The Ratkovich Co. and their institutional capital partner to recapitalize the campus with new equity and debt providers. The company will maintain a stake in the property along with its new partners, ELITE International Investment Fund and Future Land Holdings. In addition, HFF also worked on behalf of the new ownership group to secure $119.5 million in financing from a national lender for the full payment of the existing CMBS loan…
U.K. Homebuilders Reach Pre-Brexit Level as Fear Seen Overdone
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FTSE 350 Household Goods & Home Construction Index rebounds
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‘It’s been a nice dip to buy into’: London Capital’s Lawler
A builder uses a nail gun on roof timbers at a construction site in Weston-Super-Mare, U.K.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Looking at U.K. homebuilding shares this week, you might think the Brexit vote never happened.
More than seven months after the country voted to leave the European Union, the stocks on Wednesday closed above the level last seen before the decision. Investor concern that Britain would face economic disaster sent those shares plunging 14 percent in the two days following the referendum. Since then, investors have realized the concerns were overblown, analysts said…
Blackstone Said to Get $1.5 Billion to Seed New Hedge Funds
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Firm has raised $5 billion since 2007 to give startup capital
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BAAM unit also manages $3.3 billion fund buying equity stakes
Blackstone Group LP gathered about $1.5 billion to provide startup capital for new hedge fund managers, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the alternative-asset giant continues to make bets on the industry’s growth.
Blackstone set a lower target for Strategic Alliance Fund III than for its predecessor fund as it saw fewer opportunities for seeding new managers, said the people, who asked not to be named because the process was private. The firm’s second fund for the strategy finished collecting $2.4 billion in 2011…
For-Profit Law School Faces Crisis After Losing Federal Loans
Posted by: | CommentsCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Toni Valentine, a third-year law student, wanted to know if her school, Charlotte School of Law, was going to close, but it was not telling her.
So, she took an overnight bus last month from here to the Education Department in Washington. “I was exhausted and dressed in sweats, and dragging my suitcase,” Ms. Valentine, 30, said. “But that didn’t stop me.”
After hearing her out, officials at the agency later that day sent her and other students an email explaining that closed-door negotiations to restore the law school’s access to federal loans had broken down…
Hackman, Calare Pocket $124M on 10-Property Industrial Sale
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Los Angeles and Boston—Hackman Capital Partners LLC and Calare Properties Inc. continue their profitable disposition of assets from an industrial portfolio acquired a decade ago, with the sale of 10 properties in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The partners sold the 2.9 million-square-foot group of predominantly warehouse and distribution facilities to Winstanley Enterprises LLC for, according to Hartford Business Journal, $124 million.
Intel Will Invest $7 Billion in Chip Factory in Arizona
Posted by: | CommentsSAN FRANCISCO — Intel, the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, will invest $7 billion to finish a factory in Arizona, adding 3,000 jobs, the company’s chief executive said on Wednesday after meeting with President Trump at the White House.
The completion of the factory, which will complement two other Intel semiconductor plants in Chandler, Ariz., had been under consideration for several years…
Intel Will Invest $7 Billion in Chip Factory in Arizona
BKM Launches Value-Add Fund, Targets $300M in Equity
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Orange County, Calif.—Nearly one year after closing its debut fund, BKM Capital Partners, a California-based fund manager, has launched its second value-add institutional fund focusing on multi-tenant industrial assets. BKM Industrial Value Fund II LP will target $300 million in equity commitments and deliver $850 million in buying power.
The fund will invest in the acquisition, improvement and repositioning of undervalued multi-tenant light industrial and small and mid-bay industrial warehouse properties in the Western U. S. to drive maximum value…
An $8 Million Montecito Mansion With Presidential Pedigree
Posted by: | CommentsPlus: ocean views, a Lalique fireplace, massive terrace, and feng shui-approved surroundings.
“I’m probably the poorest person that’s ever lived here,” said Howard Rochestie of his 6,630-square-foot Montecito, Calif., home. “And we’re definitely the first family to live here full-time.”
An $8 Million Montecito Mansion With Presidential Pedigree
Jose Cuervo Seeks More Than $700 Million in a Stock Offering
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Jose Cuervo, the world’s biggest tequila producer, was seeking up to $742 million from its initial public offering. CreditEdgard Garrido/Reuters
Snapchat’s parent might be the most prominent company to seek an initial public offering this year. But until the start-up begins trading, that honor will briefly belong to Jose Cuervo.
The world’s biggest tequila maker announced the price range for its stock offering on Wednesday, seeking up to 15.3 billion pesos, or $742 million, in proceeds.
Factor in the “greenshoe,” Wall Street parlance for additional shares set aside to cover exceptional investor demand, and Cuervo is hoping to raise 17.5 billion pesos from its initial offering…
Global Holdings Taps JLL for Nomad Tower Leasing
Posted by: | CommentsThe 773,000-square-foot high-rise in Midtown South Manhattan is LEED Gold and Energy Star-certified.
New York—Global Holdings selected JLL as office leasing agent for the Class A Nomad Tower at 1250 Broadway in Midtown South Manhattan.
The 39-story, 773,000-square-foot, transit-oriented office tower was originally built in 1968 and was designed by Shreve Lamb & Harmon. The property features 150 parking spaces and 8,000 square feet of retail space. Nomad Tower is LEED Gold and Energy Star-certified…
Global Holdings Taps JLL for Nomad Tower Leasing
Wells Fargo Said Likely to Withhold Bonuses for Top Executives
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Board said to near final decision after talks in January
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Move would reflect bank’s performance in year hit by scandal
Wells Fargo & Co. will probably withhold 2016 bonuses for senior leaders including Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan after the bank’s business and stock were slammed by a bogus-account scandal, according to a person briefed on the talks.
The company’s board discussed the move in late January and is likely to make a decision by the end of this month, potentially eliminating annual incentive awards paid in cash or equity, the person said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The measure, which also could affect finance chief John Shrewsberry and other top executives, is meant to hold management accountable but doesn’t reflect findings of specific wrongdoing…
Home2 Suites Expands in DFW
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Dallas—Hilton strengthens its presence in the Dallas area with the opening of Home2 Suites Dallas Addison. The new property offers 132 suites designed for both overnight and extended stays.
The pet-friendly hotel is located at 4875 Belt Line Road, just off Dallas North Tollway, offering easy access to Dallas-area airports, the Village on the Parkway, Galleria Dallas and several restaurants. According to Hilton, the area has recorded a 2.7 percent year-over-year occupancy growth…
Hanley Investment, Coldwell Banker Complete Sale of Retail Asset
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Chico, Calif.—Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, in partnership with Coldwell Banker DuFour Realty, announced they have completed the sale of a new construction net-leased retail property occupied by ULTA Beauty in Chico, Calif.
The property is located at 2068 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, on a 1-acre parcel anchored by Costco and adjacent to Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. The 10,055-square-foot building was completed in late 2016.
Prudential Gains on Pension-Risk Transfers; Profit Jumps 22%
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Insurer lifts dividend by 5 cents to 75 cents a share
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Account values climb in retirement unit on pension deals
For many large companies, the pension promises that were made years ago to employees became a large and distracting headache. For Prudential Financial Inc., these retirement plans are a pathway to growth.
Account values at the retirement unit climbed by $17 billion in 2016 to $386 billion as of Dec. 31., the Newark, New Jersey-based company said Wednesday in a statement. That helped Prudential’s fourth-quarter operating profit climb 22 percent to $1.09 billion…
Stone Mountain Properties Acquires Houston Flex Campus
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Houston—LandPark Advisors LLC recently announced that it has represented Stone Mountain Properties in the acquisition of Beltway 8 Office Flex Center, a 116,700-square-foot office/industrial complex. The property is situated along Sam Houston Parkway in Houston. Financing details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Bill McGrath, president, and Peter Wall, CEO of LandPark Advisors, represented the buyer. LandPark Commercial, a subsidiary of LandPark Advisors, will provide both property management and leasing services. Vice President Will McGrath will be in charge of leasing…
San Diego-Area Power Center Receives $92M Refi
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San Diego—United American Properties Inc. and World Premier Investments Inc. have received $92 million in refinancing for Grand Plaza, a 356,796-square-foot retail power center with a grocery anchor in San Marcos, Calif.
HFF secured a 25-year, fixed-rate loan with JP Morgan Asset Management for the development partnership.
Chelsea Clinton’s Husband Closes His Hedge Fund
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Former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, listen during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Eaglevale Partners, the hedge fund co-founded by Marc Mezvinsky, the son-in-law of Hillary and Bill Clinton, closed in December, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Eaglevale, based in New York, is in the process of returning money to clients, said the person who asked not to be named because the firm is private.
Stephen Schwarzman’s Bad Business Advice
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Stephen Schwarzman, the chief executive of Blackstone, at the White House on Friday with President Trump.CreditAl Drago/The New York Times
For devotees of President Trump, the first gathering on Friday of his business council, which featured 17 executives, may have looked like a colorized version of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” but for those focusing exclusively on the rapport between the two leaders, it resembled “Goodfellas.”
Decade After Crisis, No Resolution for Fannie and Freddie
Posted by: | CommentsFannie Mae, the gigantic government-sponsored mortgage service entity, has guaranteed $1 billion of debt backed by Invitation Homes, the single-family rental business owned by the giant private equity firm Blackstone. In making the guarantee, Fannie is taking a big leap into the growing home rental market, in which Blackstone is the biggest player. But it’s also a sign that the true comeback kids are not the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots but Fannie Mae and its cousin, Freddie Mac, both of which were supposed to be left for dead a decade ago…
Decade After Crisis, No Resolution for Fannie and Freddie
Skanska to Begin 38-Story Seattle Office Tower
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Seattle—Skanska USA Commercial Development is set to start work on 2+U, a lifted, 38-story, 665,000-square-foot office tower in Seattle’s urban core. The $392 million building is named for its location, at Second Avenue and University Street, near the Seattle Art Museum, Pike Place Market, Benaroya Hall (the home of the Seattle Symphony and also built by Skanska) and the downtown transit tunnel.
Hedge Fund That Made 56% in FX Backs New Singapore Trading Venue
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Spark Systems is backed by Dymon, Singapore’s central bank
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City-state wants to grab a bigger slice of global FX trading
The $5.1 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market’s newest upstart trading venue has big ambitions to bring more of the world’s currency transactions to Asia. It also has some big-name backers.
Singapore-based Spark Systems will start a live trial of its currency platform in March, hoping to lure traders with lower fees than existing offerings in the city. The firm won financial support from Singapore’s central bank and is part-owned by Dymon Asia Capital, the $5.5 billion investment manager whose currency hedge fund returned 56 percent last year…
A Quiet Giant of Investing Weighs In on Trump
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Seth A. Klarman appears to fear that investors, charmed by talk of pro-growth policies, are not considering the full ramifications. CreditScott Olson/Getty Images
He is the most successful and influential investor you have probably never heard of. His writings are so coveted and followed by Wall Street that a used copy of a book he wrote several decades ago about investing starts at $795 on Amazon, and a new copy sells for as much as $3,500.
Cracks Are Appearing in Australia’s Trillion-Dollar Debt Pile
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Caution sounded as borrowers’ metrics show some deterioration
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Rate hikes would ‘knock the wind’ out of housing market: CBA
The Reserve Bank of Australia frequently seeks feedback on the health of the economy. It might want to call the debt counselors soon.
Homeowners, consumers and property investors around Australia are making more calls to financial helplines as three warning signs back up the spike in demand: mortgage arrears are creeping up, lenders’ bad debt provisions have increased and personal insolvencies are near an all-time high…
Cracks Are Appearing in Australia’s Trillion-Dollar Debt Pile
Swiss Manufacturer to Invest $62M in First US Hub
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Huntersville, N.C.—Swiss-based global technology group Oerlikon will invest $62 million to establish a manufacturing hub in Huntersville, N.C., about 12 miles north of uptown Charlotte. The company intends to create 93 new jobs by 2022, including engineers, R&D staff and craftsmen. Oerlikon’s Charlotte facility will be the company’s first additive manufacturing facility in the U.S. and will provide advanced component manufacturing. Moreover, the facility will house extensive research, development and production teams.
U.K. House Prices Start Year on Negative Note as Demand Wanes
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Values declined 0.9% from December, Halifax report says
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Weaker growth, affordability constraints to damp growth
U.K. home prices declined at the start of the year, underscoring predictions for a slowdown in 2017, according to Halifax.
Values fell 0.9 percent from a month earlier, posting their first slide since August, the mortgage lender said. While values in the three months to January rose an annual 5.7 percent, that’s almost half the 10 percent peak seen in March. Halifax expects price growth to slow to between 1 percent and 4 percent by the end of the year…
Fit Food Stop to Open Second Cincinnati Location
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Cincinnati—Fit Food Stop, a locally owned and operated diner, recently announced that it will open another location in Columbia-Tusculum, a neighborhood east of downtown Cincinnati. The second store will be 2,400 square feet and is expected to open by early spring 2017. CBRE’s Tori Sunderman, senior associate, represented the landlord in the transaction.
China Property Stocks Priced for Disaster are Bargain to Goldman
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Developer valuations near all-time bottom reached in 2008
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Goldman Sachs, Citigroup see some developer stocks rallying
A pedestrian walks past derelict buildings slated for demolition and redevelopment, in front of high rise buildings in Dalian, China, on Jan. 18, 2017.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
China’s property developers are in far better shape than their rock-bottom stock valuations would have you believe. So say top analysts from firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.
Harvard’s $1.2 Billion Haul Erased by Investing Loss, Payout
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U.S. colleges raise record $41 billion in fiscal 2016
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Less than 1% of colleges raised 27% of all donations
Harvard University raised $1.2 billion from donations, a record for the world’s richest college. The haul was erased by $2 billion in investment losses and spending.
Harvard’s take was the most by any U.S. university as colleges collected an unprecedented $41 billion in fiscal 2016, the New York-based Council for Aid to Education, which tracks university giving, said in a survey released Tuesday. Stanford University was ranked No. 2, with $951 million, marking only the second time in 12 years that Stanford failed to outpace Harvard in fundraising…
Denver Office Tower Awarded LEED Platinum
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Denver—Hines and Invesco Real Estate announced that 1515 Wynkoop, an eight-story office building located on the northwest corner of 15th and Wynkoop in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood, has earned LEED Platinum certification under the USGBC’s rating system for Existing Buildings.
Rainy Day Funds Show States Are More Vulnerable to Next Downturn
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Median reserves of expenses among states slipping in 2017
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Lack of budgetary cushion in past recession heightened woes
More states are failing to sock away cash for the next rainy day.
The number without budget reserves has doubled to four from last year, according to data from the National Association of State Budget Officers. And discipline in building up cushions has slipped, with the median balance 4.9 percent of expenditures in fiscal 2017, down from 5.1 percent, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note to clients…
Is A Spanish Ambassadorship Too Much To Ask For Trump’s Biggest Hedge Fund Fanboy
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The voters who shocked the political establishment by delivering Donald Trump the presidency, we are told, were economically precarious working-class whites from forgotten communities. But that narrative leaves out a crucial population: economically precarious financiers from forgotten hedge funds.
Thankfully, the media is just beginning to rectify that problem. Meet Duke Buchan III, a North Carolina native and founder of Hunter Global Investors, a MAGA devotee who donated the maximum amount possible to Trump during the campaign. The New York Times has the story:
Is A Spanish Ambassadorship Too Much To Ask For Trump’s Biggest Hedge Fund Fanboy
Paul Singer’s Still Got It
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In recent months, we’ve seen a kinder, gentler Paul Singer. When Samsung started selling small bombs that explode in people’s pants instead of smartphones, the Elliott Management chief offered some supportive words (in addition to less-supportive words about the “company’s forthcoming new leadership”). A similar missive of relative mildness showed up on the desk of Cognizant Technology’s CEO after Thanksgiving. He even moved to mend some fences with our southern neighbors in the wake of the whole Argentina thing. Perhaps more importantly, after offering significantly less than an endorsement to our (tragically) fearless new leader, Singer quickly found a few good things to say about our brave new world and even helped finance the party inaugurating it…
Macy’s Is Said to Receive Takeover Approach by Hudson’s Bay
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Department stores like Macy’s have been hit especially hard in recent years as shoppers have been trained to hunt for bargains. CreditChristopher Lee for The New York Times
The Macy’s of today grew from the union of several great names in American retailing, including its namesake chain, Bloomingdale’s and Marshall Field’s.
But the ambitious owner of Saks Fifth Avenue has broached the idea of taking the union even further, combining with Macy’s to create a department store juggernaut at a time when the industry is reeling. Hudson’s Bay Company, the Canadian owner of Saks, has approached Macy’s about a potential takeover, people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly said on Friday…
Spectrum Moves to Single 927 KSF Warehouse
Posted by: | CommentsEdgerton, Kan.—Spectrum Brands Hardware and Home Improvement division recently announced its intention to merge operations of two existing distribution centers in Charlotte, N.C., and Mira Loma, Calif., into a single 927,112 square-foot warehouse at Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) in Edgerton, Kan. The company will add approximately 315 jobs to the state of Kansas…
Australia Orders Sale of Illegal Foreign Property Purchases
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Properties have a combined value of more than A$14 million
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Foreign buyers have been blamed for helping stoke housing boom
Australia has ordered the sale of 15 properties illegally acquired by overseas buyers as part of the government’s crackdown on breaches of its foreign investment laws.
The properties are located in Victoria and Queensland and have a combined purchase price of more than A$14 million ($11 million), Treasurer Scott Morrison said in a statement Monday. They range in value from A$140,000 to A$5.9 million…
Australia Orders Sale of Illegal Foreign Property Purchases
Vincent Viola, Nominee for Army Secretary, Drops Out
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Vincent Viola, a billionaire Wall Street trader who was President Trump’s nominee for Army secretary, at Trump Tower in December. CreditKevin Hagen for The New York Times
Vincent Viola, a billionaire Wall Street trader and President Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Army, abruptly withdrew his name for the post on Friday night after concluding it would be too difficult to untangle himself from his business ties, two government officials said.
Two Florida Retail Centers Change Hands for $163M
Posted by: | CommentsWhen an expansion is finished in mid-2017, the properties will total nearly 389,000 square feet.
Miami—InvenTrust Properties Corp. has acquired Paraiso Parc and Westfork Plaza, two adjacent retail centers in Pembroke Pines, Fla., for $163 million.
When an expansion is finished in mid-2017, the two centers will total nearly 389,000 square feet…
Two Florida Retail Centers Change Hands for $163M
Wall Street’s Hottest Investment Idea May Be Getting Too Hot
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Factor-based ETFs see assets balloon past $500 billion
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Popularity increases chance of short term crashes, says Asness
Internet stocks, the Nifty Fifty, Crocs — Wall Street’s littered with examples of what can go wrong when market fads run amok.
Is the same fate awaiting the increasingly popular investment style known as smart beta?
Among securities industry professionals, the threat level is rising. Concern stems from a surge in money chasing strategies that slice and dice the market based on various stock traits, factors like cheapness or volatility. Assets in these smart beta exchange-traded funds, which use methods that are similar to actively managed portfolios but are in a passive instrument, just topped $500 billion for the first time…
Trump Moves to Roll Back Obama-Era Financial Regulations
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President Trump met with business leaders in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday.CreditAl Drago/The New York Times
President Trump on Friday moved to chisel away at the Obama administration’s legacy on financial regulation, announcing steps to revisit the rules enacted after the 2008 financial crisis and to back away from a measure intended to protect consumers from bad investment advice.
Lendlease, Turner to Lead $1.5B Javits Expansion
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New York—Lendlease and Turner Construction will comprise the design-build team for the $1.5 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, on Manhattan’s West Side, it was announced last week by Empire State Development, a subsidiary of which owns the convention center.
The size of the expansion is in keeping with the stature of the Javits Center, the nation’s busiest convention venue, and already enormous. Sited on Eleventh Avenue between West 34th and West 40th streets, the facility covers six blocks and encompasses 2.1 million square feet, of which 840,000 square feet is exhibition space…
Silicon Valley Hedge Fund Takes On Wall Street With AI Trader
Posted by: | CommentsSentient Technologies won’t disclose its performance, but is being closely watched by the finance and artificial intelligence communities.
Babak Hodjat believes humans are too emotional for the stock market. So he’s started one of the first hedge funds run completely by artificial intelligence.
“Humans have bias and sensitivities, conscious and unconscious,” says Hodjat, a computer scientist who helped lay the groundwork for Apple’s Siri. “It’s well documented we humans make mistakes. For me, it’s scarier to be relying on those human-based intuitions and justifications than relying on purely what the data and statistics are telling you.”…
Silicon Valley Hedge Fund Takes On Wall Street With AI Trader
Downtown Boston Mixed-Use Asset Trades for $22M
Posted by: | CommentsThe seller, represented by Colliers, received 15 offers for the Class B property.
Boston—Colliers International recently announced the sale of a 53,034-square-foot office and retail asset located in the downtown area of Boston, for a price tag of $21.8 million. The sale of the property met significant buyer interest, Colliers having received 15 offers on behalf of the seller, Synergy Investment, a Seattle-based real estate developer. In the end, Eden Properties acquired the asset.
Goldman Sachs Says Trump Rally Has Been Curbed
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Cooling sentiment visible in surveys, fund flows, price action
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Recommends clients stay long U.S. break-even inflation
Trump-fueled enthusiasm is running out.
Hopes for a pro-growth suite of fiscal policies under President Donald Trump buoyed financial markets after Nov. 8, sparking a rise in measures of consumer and business confidence that sent the gap between these “soft” data and measures of real economic activity to its widest level in six years…
Goldman Sachs Says Trump Rally Has Been Curbed
The Boulder Group Closes Walgreens Sale for $5M
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Jacksonville, Fla.—The Boulder Group announced it has completed the $5.2 million sale of a single-tenant, net-leased Walgreens located at 3505 University Blvd. W. in Jacksonville, Fla.
Walgreens signed a 10-year lease extension for this location that will expire in August 2026 and includes eight five-year renewal options.
The 13,905-square-foot building is located at the intersection of University Blvd. W. and St. Augustine Road, surrounded by other retailers such as Publix, TJ Maxx, LA Fitness, Restaurant Depot, Bank of America, AutoZone and Dollar Tree…
Everyone Is Suddenly Worried About This U.S. Mortgage-Bond Whale
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Fed holds $1.75 trillion of MBS from quantative-easing program
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Comments spur talk Fed may start drawdown as soon as this year
Almost a decade after it all began, the Federal Reserve is finally talking about unwinding its grand experiment in monetary policy.
And when it happens, the knock-on effects in the bond market could pose a threat to the U.S. housing recovery.
Holder Properties Breaks Ground on Charleston Office Building
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North Charleston, S.C.—Holder Properties recently announced that is has begun construction of River Oaks Center, a 106,000-square-foot Class A office building in Charleston’s largest office park, the Executive Park at Faber Place. The project is being designed by Warner Summers and will be built by Harper Corp. Tenants are expected to begin moving in by the fall of this year.
Delta Dental Moves HQ to Seattle
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Seattle—Skanska USA Commercial Development has announced that Delta Dental of Washington will move its headquarters to 400 Fairview in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle.
The 14-floor, 350,000-square-foot LEED Platinum building located at 400 Fairview N. Ave. comprises collaborative and creative workspaces, featuring a side-loaded core, wide-open and flexible floor plans. Delta Dental will occupy approximately 61,000 square feet on the seventh, eighth and part of the sixth floors of the building. 400 Fairview is Skanska’s second office development in Seattle and Delta Dental’s lease marks the final commercial lease in the building. The property also serves as the headquarters of Tommy Bahama. Impinj, Car Toy’s/Wireless Advocates and Stantec are also among the building’s tenants…