Archive for Uncategorized
Record-Breaking Colony-NorthStar Merger Closes
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Thomas Barrack Jr.Colony NorthStar has an equity market capitalization of about $9 billion and assets under management of $58 billion. It manages capital on behalf of its stockholders, institutional and retail investors in private funds and non-traded and traded CRE investment trusts and 1940 Act companies…
Hong Kong’s Billionaires Outrank World in Property Wealth: Chart
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More than half of the Hong Kong billionaires ranked among the world’s 500 richest people derive their fortunes from property, controlling $119 billion in total net worth. Property moguls from the U.S., a country with more than 40 times the population and almost nine times the representation on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are worth a combined $78 billion. The world’s richest property mogul is Chinese developer Wang Jianlin, who’s worth $31 billion…
Hong Kong’s Billionaires Outrank World in Property Wealth: Chart
JPMorgan Ordered to Pay Damages for Firing Whistle-Blower
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JPMorgan Chase has been ordered to pay back wages, damages and legal fees to Johnny Burris, a former broker who was fired when he complained about the bank’s practices. CreditJoshua Lott for The New York Times
JPMorgan Chase inappropriately retaliated against a former employee who raised questions about the bank’s sales tactics and investment products, the Labor Department found.
The bank was ordered to pay back wages and damages to Johnny Burris, a former broker at one of its Arizona branches. A letter released on Tuesday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the department, said that JPMorgan had violated provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley law designed to protect whistle-blowers…
Central-Bank Bashing Makes Gold Only Asset Safe From Meddling
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‘This year is a turning point’ for critique-free age: Baring
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Gold could benefit in high-inflation, low interest-rate world
Baring Asset Management’s Christopher Mahon has one major conviction about 2017: it will be the year in which central-bank bashing by politicians becomes the new normal, so he’s seeking shelter in gold.
“This year is the turning point,” Mahon said in an interview on Monday. “For seven years or so, central banks have largely escaped critique even though one could argue that their policies have been pretty inadequate in many senses. It’s very plausible now that politicians stand up and throw stones at central bankers.”…
Chris Rokos Is Said to Be Seeking to Raise More Than $2 Billion
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Raising new capital would allow Chris Rokos, whose specialty is trading interest rates, to expand his fund’s footprint in areas like emerging markets. CreditLes Wilson
LONDON — A decade ago, the hedge fund manager Chris Rokos bought two tired hotels in the fashionable Notting Hill neighborhood here.
His ambition was to turn them into one huge house with a subterranean pool, a gym and a garage with a car lift.
Today, the hotels are in disarray on a jumbled building site. A large, cream-colored construction fence and a white plastic cover encircle the properties, revealing from the outside big Victorian houses with scaffolding protruding from the top, a patch of brickwork at the rear and an unfinished staircase inside…
NorCal Office Ready for Tenants as Construction Ends
Posted by: | CommentsThe 400 Concar building in San Mateo is the first of a 305,000-square-foot speculative project developed by Hines and Pearlmark Real Estate Partners.
400 Concar in San Mateo, Calif.
San Mateo, Calif.—Hines and Pearlmark Real Estate Partners have completed construction on 400 Concar, a 96,000-square-foot, Class A office building that is part of the 305,000-square-foot 400|450 Concar complex in San Mateo, Calif.
The developers said the four-story office building is available for leasing. It was built as a speculative project along with 405 Concar, which has over 210,000 split between two towers. Medallia, a software company based in Palo Alto, Calif., agreed in April to lease all of 405 Concar starting in June 2017.
Scaramucci, Hedge-Fund Show Impresario, Scores White House Role
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SkyBridge founder said to be named assistant to the president
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‘The Mooch’ was among early Wall Street supporters of Trump
Scaramucci in Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. Photographer: Albin Lohr-Jones/Pool via Bloomberg
Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, has been named an assistant to President-elect Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the decision.
Scaramucci will have a general advisory role in the White House, said the people who asked not to be identified without authorization to speak publicly. He’s been a member of Trump’s transition team, making public appearances on television in support of his policies…
Brick City Makes Creates Production Space in St. Louis
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2528 Texas Ave. in south St. LouisIconic Hollywood Address Commands $210M
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The SunsetOnce home to Playboy Entertainment, the 10-story building was acquired by Broadreach in 2007 for $105 million.
Situated along the world famous Sunset Strip, the complex encompasses 2.2 acres along Sunset Boulevard and boasts a 10-story, approximately 72,000-square-foot office tower and a three-building retail plaza encompassing approximately 107,000 square feet built on top of a subterranean parking structure that provides 930 parking spaces…
Wall Street Gets Early Win as House Tries to Ease Swaps Rules
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Republican lawmakers approve legislation to rein in CFTC
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Bill stalled last year, but might have new life under Trump
Republican lawmakers who want to rein in Wall Street’s watchdogs aren’t waiting around for Donald Trump.
In a likely preview of things to come, the GOP-controlled House passed legislation 239-to-182 Thursday that would make it much harder for the top U.S. regulator of the $544 trillion derivatives market to justify new rules. The bill also could reduce the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority over some swaps trades made overseas, even if the transactions involve U.S. banks. Wall Street and Republicans have sought such a change for years…
ARA, Unico Snap Up Congress Center
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Congress Center, Portland, Ore.China’s 2% Inflation Feels More Like 20% to Big-City Renters
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CPI fails to capture the 27% home price surge in mega-cities
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Central bank checks more gauges when making policy decisions
Project manager Yuan Fang says she’s cutting spending and working overtime after a 20 percent surge in the cost of both her Beijing room rent and her favorite Japanese lunch boxes. Civil servant Neo Zhu, who bought an apartment in the eastern city of Hangzhou 10 years ago, feels costs of everything from gas to food are stable.
Yuan is putting her savings into gold to protect them from inflation. Zhu is confident his extra cash will be protected in a fixed-income fund…
Vancouver Renters Help Million-Dollar Homeowners With Their Taxes
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Province raises homeowner grant threshold to C$1.6 million
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Loans to pad first-time buyers’ down payments start next week
In Canada’s priciest real estate market, the provincial government is pitching in to pay the property taxes of million-dollar Vancouver homeowners and offering loans to first-time buyers for down payments.
Too bad for renters, who are among the taxpayers footing a C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) bill at least in the next few years…
Vancouver Renters Help Million-Dollar Homeowners With Their Taxes
Lincoln Lands Atlanta Management Assignment
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Park Central
Atlanta—Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. Southeast has received exclusive leasing and property management assignment for Park Central, a Class A office building in Atlanta, owned by HighBrook Investors.
Located at 2970 Clairmont Road NE, the 10-story 213,165-square-foot building offers 24-hour security, a fitness center, a modern conference center, on-site management and 848 parking stalls. The property is close to the Clairmont and North Druid Hills area, which is adjacent to I-85…
Even Trump Building Isn’t Immune to India’s Real Estate Woes
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Land prices may decline 25 percent, homes 20 percent: analysts
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Cash component of home purchase often as much as 50 percent
After trying for four months to sell his apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai, Meher Verma decided to cut the price by 10 percent. With property demand plummeting in the wake of November’s sudden ban on high-denomination notes, he’s not sure the reduction will do the trick.
“I was hoping to sell my house soon,” said Verma, who put his two-bedroom property in Andheri on the market for $400,000 in September. “Now it looks like I might have to cut my price or wait much longer for the market to improve.”…
Suddenly, Home Sale Agreements Are Falling Apart Across the U.S.
Posted by: | CommentsThe share of sales that failed to close doubled in 2016, and nobody knows why.
Spending months to find the perfect home in your price range, only to have your mortgage application rejected, or a home inspection turn up expensive repairs, is a nightmare—one that is coming true with increasing frequency, according to a new report from real estate listings website Trulia.
A Trulia analysis of U.S. listings shows that 3.9 percent of homes that moved from for-sale to pending moved back to for-sale again, nearly double the rate in 2015. Such “failed sales” increased in 96 of the 100 biggest U.S. metros, with big swings in areas large and small, rich and poor. That includes Los Angeles and Charleston, S.C., as well as San Jose and Akron, Ohio…
InvenTrust Snaps Up $73M Retail Asset in San Diego Metro
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Campus Marketplace
San Marcos, Calif.—InvenTrust Properties Corp. has announced the purchase of Campus Marketplace in San Marcos, Calif., for the price tag of $73 million.
“This transaction will allow us to continue to build our asset base and concentration in Southern California. This property provides us with additional operational economies of scale while giving us an opportunity to acquire a top grocer in one of InvenTrust’s target markets,” Michael Podboy, executive vice president, chief financial officer & chief investment officer of InvenTrust, said in a prepared statement…
Brexit Means Profit for Britons Selling Portugal Property
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Stronger euro vs pound seen as incentive for British to sell
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French overtake British as biggest property buyers in Portugal
Just weeks after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, Peter Thompson, a British healthcare consultant, sold one of his two homes in the fishing town of Tavira in Portugal’s Algarve region, capitalizing on the plunge in the pound against the euro.
Breitbart Nabs Wall Street Journal Vet to Expand Audience
Posted by: | CommentsIn a bid to expand its influence in the era of Donald Trump, Breitbart News, the crusading populist-right website that was an early champion of the incoming president, has hired veteran financial journalist John Carney of The Wall Street Journal to lead a new finance and economics section set to launch soon after the Jan. 20th presidential inauguration.
“Breitbart was way ahead of the curve on politics and the rise of Trump,” Carney said in a telephone interview. “I think there’s an opportunity to do that for business, finance and economic news.”
Netflix Leases Hollywood Office Building
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Rendering of CUE
Los Angeles—Netflix has signed a 91,953-square-foot lease with Hudson Pacific Properties Inc., to fully occupy CUE, its new, five-story office building situated in Hollywood, Calif.
Designed by Gensler, CUE is a Class A, creative office environment, and part of the entertainment production complex Hudson Pacific is building at Sunset Bronson Studios, which is also the home of the company’s recently completed, 14-story, Class A office tower called ICON, and Netflix has previously leased all 323,000 square feet of space in that building, as well…
Wall Street’s Most Famous Quants Fed Up With JPMorgan Soothsayer
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Risk parity, trend-following strategies used as scapegoat: AQR
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Size of industry overestimated in bank research, firm says
Don’t listen to Marko Kolanovic.
Or anybody else who tells you quant managers regularly whip up bouts of pain and suffering for stock investors. Funds with programs that follow trends and sell like robots are getting smaller and simply aren’t big enough to overwhelm the $24 trillion U.S. equity market.
Shadow Bank Stretches Into Loans
Posted by: | CommentsRegulators are notorious for falling behind the financial industry, cracking down on risk in one area only to watch it move swiftly beyond their reach.
This phenomenon has rearranged the competitive landscape in the nearly $1 trillion market for U.S. leveraged loans. This week, Bloomberg News highlighted how private-equity firms have been winning a growing number of assignments to help companies secure risky loans from investors…
Shadow Bank Stretches Into Loans
Tishman Speyer Reels in Law Firm for DC Office Project
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2050 M St., Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.—Tishman Speyer’s new office project, 2050 M. St. in Washington, D.C., is attracting all the right attention. The developer just signed law firm Paul Hastings LLP to a 97,000-square-foot lease, three years in advance of the 364,000-square-foot trophy office property’s scheduled completion.
Trump Says He Just Turned Down $2 Billion Property Deal in Dubai
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He discussed Dubai deal with Damac chairman Hussain Sajwani
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Damac confirmed discussions took place without saying when
President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was offered $2 billion a few days ago to make a deal in Dubai with a major property developer but turned it down because he didn’t want to have a conflict of interest after his election.
“Over the weekend, I was offered $2 billion to do a deal in Dubai with a very, very amazing man, a great developer from the Middle East,” Trump said at his first press conference since the election. “I turned it down. I didn’t have to turn it down.”…
Long-Short Hedge Funds Are Ditching the Shorts to Focus on Longs
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Equity hedge fund managers are least bearish they’ve ever been
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In 2016 the funds posted their worst annual returns since 2011
What happens when you take the “short” out of a long-short trading strategy? Some hedge funds are about to find out.
Equity long-short fund managers, the biggest category in hedge funds, hold the fewest bearish stock bets on record, data compiled by Credit Suisse Group AG show. The shift reflects their abysmal performance in 2016, when the S&P 500 advanced 9.5 percent as the long-short managers tracked by Credit Suisse fell 4.3 percent, their worst year since 2011…
SoftBank’s $100 Billion Investment Fund Starts to Take Shape
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President-elect Donald J. Trump with the Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son at Trump Tower last month. Mr. Son has pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States, a move that he said would create some 50,000 jobs. CreditHilary Swift for The New York Times
Many business titans have made the trek to Trump Tower for a private audience with Donald J. Trump since he was elected president, but none have made a bigger splash than Masayoshi Son, the billionaire telecommunications entrepreneur.
Artisan Alley Development in California Greenlighted
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Artisan Alley rendering
Irvine, Calif.—KTGY Architecture + Planning has announced that Civic Partners, the developer of Artisan Alley at The Diamond, a retail development located in the City of Lake Elsinore, Calif., has received approval from the city council and planning commission.
Jack Ma Bets $2.6 Billion He Can Revamp China Retail Sector
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The e-commerce giant intends to pioneer a new retail model
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Intime acquisition will be its biggest step yet offline
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. pioneered shopping on the internet in China. Now it thinks it can teach old-school retailers a thing or two about real-world commerce.
The online juggernaut that vanquished EBay and Amazon in China has set its sights on transforming the byzantine world of brick-and-mortar retail. In its biggest old-economy deal so far, Alibaba is leading a bid to buy out department store chain Intime Retail Group Co. for as much as $2.6 billion. That’s a premium for the privilege of owning a company with shrinking revenues and a minuscule footprint beyond its eastern home region…
Big Banks Lose Bid to Halt Crisis-Era Lawsuits
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The Supreme Court rejected a petition from Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank on Monday.CreditAl Drago/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rebuffed an effort by some of the country’s largest banks to halt several financial crisis-era lawsuits that could result in tens of billions of dollars in legal costs.
The banks, including Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, had asked the justices to review an appeals court ruling that regulators filed their claims against the banks in a timely manner, despite a 1930s securities law that gave them only three years to do so. The claims were related to billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities that banks packaged and sold to other institutions before the financial crisis in 2008…
Mori Trust Enters US with Big Boston Buy
Posted by: | CommentsBoston—Mori Trust Co. Ltd. knows how to make an entrance. The Tokyo-based real estate company has joined the brimming crowd of foreign investors in U.S. real estate with the formation of a U.S. subsidiary, Mori America LLC, and the acquisition of a premier office complex in Boston. Mori Trust snapped up 10 St. James Ave. and 75 Arlington St. from tenant Liberty Mutual in a partial sale-leaseback transaction. The price tag on the Class A assets: approximately $673 million, according to Suffolk County property records…
American Apparel Bankruptcy Deal Leaves Retail Future in Doubt
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Gildan wins auction with $88 million bid for brand, equipment
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Clothing maker’s stores, factory leases aren’t part of sale
American Apparel, once a high-flying retailer that peaked at more than $600 million in sales, is probably headed toward liquidation after a bankruptcy auction ended with Canadian T-shirt and underwear maker Gildan Activewear Inc. buying intellectual property and other assets for $88 million.
This transaction doesn’t include American Apparel’s stores, and the fate of its garment workers in Los Angeles remains in doubt. The company had 4,700 employees and 110 stores as of November, when it filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 13 months…
Delta Terminals at LaGuardia Airport Land $4B Makeover
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Artist rendering of New York-LGAThe Port Authority will provide $600 million in funds for the project, with an additional $3.6 billion funded privately by Delta and its partners.
Ex-RadioShack Lender Starts Firm to Bet on Retail Turmoil
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New company will make asset-based loans to consumer brands
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Salus founder, former CEO of Frederick’s of Hollywood team up
A former lender to RadioShack Corp. and a one-time chief executive officer of Frederick’s of Hollywood are teaming up to provide a new source of funding to retailers, aiming to capitalize on upheaval at shopping malls.
Andy Moser and Thomas J. Lynch, two industry veterans, are starting a Boston-based firm called Scargo Hill Capital that will make asset-based loans to consumer companies. The founders expect to work with emerging businesses that may not be able to get a loan from a traditional bank, in addition to providing a lifeline to struggling chains…
Valeant Sells $2.1 Billion in Assets to Ease Debt Burden
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L’Oreal will pay $1.3 billion to gain three skin-care brands
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China’s Sanpower to buy Dendreon cancer unit for $820 million
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. agreed to sell about $2.1 billion in assets in two deals, an important first step in the struggling drugmaker’s endeavor to get cash and begin easing its debt burden.
L’Oreal SA, the Paris-based cosmetic giant, will pay Valeant $1.3 billion for three skin-care brands, according to a statement Tuesday. Valeant will also sell its Dendreon Pharmaceuticals unit to closely held Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group Co. for about $820 million. Valeant’s shares and bonds jumped after the news…
Hines Lands First Retail Property
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The Rookwood in Cincinnati
Cincinnati—Hines Global REIT II Inc. has purchased two retail centers in Cincinnati, Rookwood Pavilion and Rookwood Commons. The two buildings operate as a single property, referred to as Rookwood, and have a combined 600,071 square feet of gross leasable space. The acquisition represents Hines Global REIT II’s sixth purchase and is the first retail property in its portfolio. Eastdil Secured represented the seller in the transaction.
Even Trump Building Isn’t Immune to India’s Real Estate Meltdown
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Land prices may decline 25 percent, homes 20 percent: analysts
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Cash component of home purchase often as much as 50 percent
After trying for four months to sell his apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai, Meher Verma decided to cut the price by 10 percent. With property demand plummeting in the wake of November’s sudden ban on high-denomination notes, he’s not sure the reduction will do the trick.
“I was hoping to sell my house soon,” said Verma, who put his two-bedroom property in Andheri on the market for $400,000 in September. “Now it looks like I might have to cut my price or wait much longer for the market to improve.”…
History Shows Best Equity Gains Come From Emerging Markets
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Nine out of 10 top markets since 1996 are developing nations
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No rich country in top 10 list of 2016, figures reveal
If you want world-beating returns from your equity investments year after year, avoiding emerging markets isn’t an option.
The top 10 stock indexes that gave global investors the greatest returns in 2016 were all emerging or frontier markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s not a fluke: over the past 20 years, nine out of 10 best-performing equity gauges have been in developing nations, the figures show…
Shopoff Realty Acquires $15M CA Office Asset
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4440 Von Karman Ave., Newport Beach, Calif
Newport Beach, Calif.—Shopoff Realty Investments, a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, recently announced the $15.4 million acquisition of a three-story, 44,434-square-foot office building located at 4440 Von Karman Ave. in Newport Beach, Calif.
“We are employing our strategic plan to actively lease up the property and to increase rents that are currently below market rates,” David Placek, executive vice president, said in prepared remarks. “With high market occupancy, upward momentum on rental rates and an attractive location, this asset is well positioned to be stabilized in the near future.”…
Biggest Indian Refiner Hunts Oil Assets as Demand Surges at Home
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Company wants 10% of refining capacity fed by own oil assets
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Indian Oil eyeing oil assets in Africa, Middle-East, head says
India’s biggest fuel retailer is seeking to buy oil assets as demand surges in the world’s fastest growing energy market.
State-run Indian Oil Corp. wants to buy assets globally to ensure a tenth of its refining capacity is fed by crude that is either from its own oil field or from assets where it has a stake, Chairman B. Ashok said in an interview on Monday. That goal will require the company to boost oil production 10-fold to about 210,000 barrels a day in the next eight years…
U.S. Equities Swing With Dollar as Bonds Pull Back: Markets Wrap
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Investors cautious before Trump addresses media on Wednesday
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Asian index futures tip gains after China data boosts metals
U.S. stocks fluctuated with the dollar, while Treasuries retreated as post-U.S. election asset moves stalled a day before Donald Trump is slated to hold a press conference that could provide detail on his policy preferences.
The S&P 500 Index closed little changed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell from session highs as investors prepared for the fourth-quarter earnings reporting season. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps advanced, halting a three-day slide. Treasuries edged lower, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index nudged higher after swinging around throughout the day. Gold jumped to a six-week high as copper surged with iron ore after Chinese producer prices climbed. Oil slipped below $51 a barrel in New York…
Wall Street Clearinghouse to Adopt Bitcoin Technology
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The New York Stock Exchange. The company that serves as the back end for much Wall Street trading is replacing one of its central databases with new software inspired by Bitcoin. CreditJoshua Bright for The New York Times
After months of talk and hype, the world’s biggest banks have taken the first steps toward moving a significant piece of financial infrastructure onto a so-called blockchain — the technology introduced to the world by the virtual currency Bitcoin.
UnitedHealth Group to Buy Outpatient Surgery Chain for $2.3 Billion
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Insurers are aggressively experimenting with new ways to pay doctors and hospitals to reward them for delivering better care at lower prices. CreditJabin Botsford for The New York Times
UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest and most diversified health insurance companies in the United States, said on Monday that it planned to buy Surgical Care Affiliates, a chain of outpatient surgery centers, for about $2.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017.
While the acquisition is a relatively small one for UnitedHealth, whose annual revenues last year were around $180 billion, it marks the latest step in the company’s evolution from a traditional insurer to a diversified health services company.
Manhattan Office Asset Lands $105M Refi
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521-533 W 57th St.C&W Negotiates Sale and Financing of Tampa Office Campus
Posted by: | CommentsMeridian Premier Center is a three-building office campus located in suburban Tampa, with convenient access to major thoroughfares and a wide array of amenities.
Meridian Premier Center
Tampa, Fla.—Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the sale and financing of Meridian Premier Center, a 103,521-square-foot office campus located in the Northwest Tampa submarket. The asset traded for $14.8 million, or $143 per square foot.
CBRE Global Purchases Prime Pittsburgh High-Rise
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Liberty Center
Pittsburgh—After a highly acquisitive 2016, CBRE Global Investors kicks off the New Year by announcing the purchase of Liberty Center, a 529,300-square-foot office asset in Pittsburgh. A fund advised by the global real estate investment management firm snagged the 27-story tower, taking it off the hands of Starwood Capital Group.
Deutsche Bank Says Oil, Bond and Yen Trades May Be Due Break
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Bonds and yen shorts and long-oil trades look ‘stretched’
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Fundamentals still strong but positioning is at extremes
The new year has barely started and it’s time for a breather, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
The lender says three popular “reflation trades” — selling government bonds, buying oil and shorting the yen — may have gone too far.
While fundamentals suggest these trends may have further to go, Deutsche Bank strategists including New York-based Parag Thatte wrote in a recent note that the trio of consensus calls are now looking “stretched.”…
Reading Closes $57M Financing for 44 Union Square
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44 Union Square rendering
New York City—Reading International Inc. has secured $57.5 million in construction financing to fund the non-equity portion of the redevelopment of 44 Union Square in New York City. The facilities consist of $50 million in loans from Bank of the Ozarks to the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reading that is doing the redevelopment and a $7.5 million mezzanine loan from an affiliate of Fisher Brothers to the parent of that subsidiary.
$53 Billion Fund in Norway Offers ‘Scared of Everything’ Model
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Rise in protectionism threatening to reprice all markets
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Big question in 2017 is what role U.S. will take in world
The biggest Norwegian pension fund always fears the worst outcome. And it’s a strategy that’s paying off.
With interest rates still close to historic lows and a series of global political shocks upending many investment strategies, Norway’s biggest life insurer, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse, says its approach is to be “scared of everything.”
Charlotte’s Mallard Creed Center Changes Hands
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One of the buildings of Mallard Creek Center in Charlotte, N.C.
Charlotte, N.C.—CBRE Group Inc. has recently arranged the sale of Mallard Creek Center in Charlotte. Patrick Gildea, Will Yowell and Ralph Oldham exclusively represented the sellers, CBRE Global Investors and the State of Utah, in the transaction. Charlotte-based Stream Realty Partners purchased the property at the end of December 2016.
U.K. House Prices Show Strong End to 2016 That May Not Last
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Annual house-price growth rises 6.5% in Dec., Halifax says
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Slower growth, rising inflation set to reduce demand this year
U.K. home prices had a strong end to last year, according to Halifax, though will likely slow over the course of 2017.
The mortgage lender said values rose 1.7 percent compared with a month earlier as a shortage of homes continued. From a year earlier, values in the three months to December were 6.5 percent higher. That’s likely to slow by between 1 and 4 percent by the end of this year as the economy weakens…
New York Proposes Rule to Ban Bad Actors Over Banking Fraud
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Cuomo cites ‘systemic abuse’ of customers at Wells Fargo
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Law would let regulator ban people for ‘egregious conduct’
New York would ban “bad actors” from the banking and insurance industries in the state under legislation proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The law, which would need to be approved by state legislators in Albany, would allow the superintendent of the state’s Department of Financial Services to ban individuals for “egregious conduct,” the governor’s office said on Monday.
FHA to Cut Fees, Lowering Rates for First-Time Home Buyers
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Move to cut fees could be reversed by Trump administration
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Republicans have said fee cuts could put taxpayers at risk
The Obama administration cut mortgage-insurance premiums charged under a government program that’s popular with first-time home buyers with little money for a down payment, a move that may ease the burden of rising interest rates.
The annual fees the Federal Housing Administration charges to guarantee mortgages it backs are being cut by a quarter of a percentage point, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a statement on Monday. With the reduction, the annual cost for most borrowers will be 0.60 percent of the loan balance…
Here’s Where Goldman Sachs Is Telling Clients to Invest in Equities
Posted by: | CommentsGoldman Sachs Group Inc. has identified three big items that will shape the equity landscape this year — and they all hinge on the impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s policies.
Tax reform, the strength of the dollar and the pace of wage gains stand to set the tone on the American market this year, Chief U.S. Equity Strategist David Kostin and his team at the investment bank wrote in a note to clients. Here’s why:
Here’s Where Goldman Sachs Is Telling Clients to Invest in Equities
Fed Officials See Faster Economic Growth Under Trump, but No Boom
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Janet L. Yellen, the Fed’s chairwoman, at a news conference in December. Fed minutes released on Wednesday show just how much Donald J. Trump’s unexpected victory has clouded the economic outlook for 2017. CreditAlex Brandon/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials expect Donald J. Trump’s election to result in somewhat faster economic growth over the next several years, but they see little chance of the boom Mr. Trump has promised, according to an account of the Fed’s most recent meeting in mid-December.
That is in part because the Fed plans to raise interest rates more quickly if growth accelerates.
Dubai’s Latest Mega Project Looks Spectacular
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Dubai Harbour LighthouseSheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum unveiled the master plan for the development, noting that it “represents a unique and innovative new addition to the region’s tourism landscape.” He did not release construction estimates.
Frontier Airlines Is Said to Hire Banks to Plan Stock Debut
Posted by: | CommentsWarren E. Buffett recently revealed a willingness to invest in airlines after years of shunning them, and ever since, those stocks have soared. Now, one more company is aiming to be added to the list of publicly traded airlines.
Frontier Airlines — known for offering scant legroom and low prices for rides on planes that have wild animals painted on the tails — is preparing an initial public offering, people with knowledge of the deal said. The Denver-based company has tapped Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Evercore to manage the debut, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information.
Wyndham Expands Caribbean Portfolio
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The island of Nevis
Nevis—Wyndham Hotel Group is expanding its Caribbean footprint by bringing the first Wyndham Grand Resort to the island of Nevis. Situated within the Northern Pointe Resort, the new 30-acre development is being built along Long Haul Bay in the Parish of St. James. Located 1,200 miles from Miami, the 36-square-mile Nevis is the smaller of two islands which make up the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Europe’s Bank Stress-Test Star Is Focus of Buyback Speculation
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Norway’s biggest bank spent oil crisis building capital
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DNB is now better prepared than most to handle Basel IV
A DNB ASA minibank in Oslo, Norway.
Photographer: Krister Soerboe/Bloomberg
Norway’s biggest bank, DNB ASA, has more capital than it needs and will probably start using the excess funds to buy back its own shares.
After topping the European Banking Authority’s resilience score (DNB’s capital reserves were hardly affected in the stress tests’ “adverse” scenario), the Oslo-based lender is now attracting investor interest as analysts predict shareholder rewards ahead…
Will Jay Clayton Protect Investors?
Posted by: | CommentsPresident-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, Walter J. Clayton, differs in an encouraging way from several of Mr. Trump’s other choices for top jobs in the executive branch. As a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell — the go-to law firm for Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks — Mr. Clayton, known as Jay, has undoubtedly mastered the nation’s securities laws and related regulations, and applied them in real-world circumstances. Presumably, he is also equipped with a mastery of the history and workings of the agency he has been named to lead. The same cannot be said of Mr. Trump’s nominees to head, say, the departments of labor and housing.
Miami Comcast Call Center Trades for Nearly $23M
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Comcast Call Center, Miramar, Fla.
Miami—Cushman & Wakefield recently negotiated the sale of a 91,872-square-foot operations and call center property located near Miami in Miramar, Fla. The property traded for $22.8 million, or $248 per square foot.
The seller, Chicago-based Green Meadows Miramar LLC, was represented by Cushman and Wakefield’s Managing Director Dominic Montazemi, Executive Director Scott O’Donnell and Senior Associate Greg Miller. Key Biscayne, Fla.-based ATCG LLC was the buyer. Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Team co-marketed the property along with CBRE Senior Vice President Tom O’Loughlin. City National Bank of Florida provided a $13.8 million acquisition loan for the buyer…