Archive for Uncategorized
Trump Can’t Kill Solyndra Loan Program That Outperforms Banks
Posted by: | Comments-
Energy Department loan program generated $1.65 billion to date
-
Program supports renewable energy, nuclear, fossil fuels
The federal energy program that’s best-known for a failed loan to solar manufacturer Solyndra LLC is generating billions for the government, and probably won’t be going anywhere under Donald Trump.
The incoming president can’t unilaterally kill the U.S. Energy Department’s loan programs office. Only Congress can do that, and it would require new legislation. And that’s doubtful, according to the program’s executive director and his two most recent predecessors, all appointees of President Barack Obama…
Trump Can’t Kill Solyndra Loan Program That Outperforms Banks
Mixed-Use Development in the Works for Suburban Phoenix
Posted by: | Comments
99th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard, Avondale, Ariz.
Avondale, Ariz.—Virtua Partners has announced the purchase of 58 acres of undeveloped land in Avondale for the price tag of $4.5 million. A mixed-use property will be developed on the newly acquired land by Quyp Development Services, an affiliate of Virtua. The company has revealed plans for a multifamily development with retail, hospitality and office space included at 99thAvenue and Encanto Boulevard.
State Gives Port of Philadelphia $300M Boost
Posted by: | Comments
Port of PhiladelphiaTrump to Accept Inauguration Funds From Corporations and Big Donors
Posted by: | Comments
Workers building the presidential reviewing stand on Tuesday in Washington for the inaugural parade. Most of the inauguration costs fall on taxpayers. CreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump will allow corporations and wealthy individuals to make large donations to fund the activities surrounding his inauguration, complicating his promise to eliminate special interests from influencing his government.
Mr. Trump plans to ban money from registered lobbyists, whom he has purged from his transition team and barred from working for his administration. But the restrictions will be lighter on corporations and individuals — the groups that have traditionally provided a vast majority of funding for the festivities surrounding the transfer of power…
Physicians JV Sells Office Building in Arlington
Posted by: | Comments
The Medical Office Building in Central Arlington, TexasAussie Pension Fund Steps Onto Banks’ Turf for Company Lending
Posted by: | Comments
Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
-
Host-Plus says funding good entities an avenue for return
-
Low global rates have prompted pension funds to diversify
One of Australia’s top-performing pension funds is scouring for ways to ramp up lending to companies, stepping into a realm traditionally dominated by banks.
Host-Plus Pty Ltd., which manages A$21 billion ($16 billion) in retirement assets on behalf of around one million Australians, considers funding “good, creditworthy entities” an avenue for strong returns as banks tighten their lending criteria, according to Chief Investment Officer Sam Sicilia…
Aussie Pension Fund Steps Onto Banks’ Turf for Company Lending
Value of Payments Provider Stripe Doubles to $9.2 Billion
Posted by: | Comments
Patrick Collison, the co-founder of Stripe, which helps companies process payments made via credit cards and newer payment tools. CreditJoshua Bright for The New York Times
Stripe Inc., a start-up that offers software and services that process payments for businesses, has raised another round of private funding that values the company at just under $9.2 billion, according the company’s investors.
That valuation is nearly double what Stripe was worth nearly a year and a half ago. The company, based in San Francisco, is undergoing a rapid expansion…
Value of Payments Provider Stripe Doubles to $9.2 Billion
Billionaires Brave Rupee Drop to Extend Record Dollar Loan Spree
Posted by: | Comments-
India syndicated loans $21.9 billion in 2016, set for record
-
Companies ‘more concerned about rising U.S. yields than rupee’
India’s billionaires are braving a slumping rupee to borrow from the international loan markets before the U.S. Federal Reserve resumes interest-rate increases.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is about to mandate 15 banks for a $1.75 billion loan, people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified, said Nov. 23. Novelis Inc., the U.S. unit of Kumar Mangalam Birla’s flagship Hindalco Industries Ltd., has sounded out banks for a refinancing of about $1.8 billion, separate people familiar said Nov. 21. Dollar-denominated syndicated loans from local borrowers surged 25 percent to $21.9 billion so far in 2016, on course for a record year, data compiled by Bloomberg show…
American Marksman Expands KC-Area Operations
Posted by: | Comments
Orbital ATK’s facility in Independence, Mo.
Independence, Mo.—American Marksman LLC, a distributor of various caliber bullets, is increasing its production plant in Independence, a Kansas City metro area city. The company plans to add 65 advanced manufacturing positions, with significant regional growth expected in the coming years. American Marksman will cooperate with Orbital ATK to address U.S. Department of Defense needs.
SNB Says Some Lenders Show ‘Imprudent’ Stance on Rate Risks
Posted by: | Comments-
Low rates likely to continue weighing on bank profitability
-
SNB Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg comments in Bern speech
Swiss banks focused on property lending are taking more risks to compensate for the impact of record-low interest rates, increasing the threat of a real-estate bubble, Swiss National Bank Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg said.
“Exceptionally low interest rates are putting pressure on interest rate margins and this is weighing on the profitability of Swiss banks,” Zurbruegg said in a speech in Bern on Thursday. That “creates an incentive for banks to step up their exposure to interest-rate risk and adopt an imprudent attitude in their affordability assessment.”…
New York Residence Expands in the Bronx
Posted by: | Comments
From left to right: Leo Zavala, Sandy Rubin, Thomas Guss, Natalia Fernandez, Richard Pino, Councilman Fernando Cabrera
New York—Real estate brokerage firm New York Residence Inc. has announced that the company is extending in the Bronx. This marks the firm’s fourth location in New York City.
The project was spearheaded in conjunction with a local contractor and a local architect and the company is planning to continue supporting the area by hiring locals and purchasing local goods…
A $430 Billion Mortgage-Bond Market Shrugs Off the Trump Effect
Posted by: | CommentsDonald Trump may have frightened off global bond investors, but the world’s largest mortgage-backed covered-bond market is shrugging off the specter of a real estate mogul with big spending plans running the U.S.
Yields on short-term bonds in Denmark’s $430 billion mortgage bond market fell close to record lows in quarterly refinancing auctions that ended last week. That means investors will continue to pay some households to borrow, excluding fees.
Christian Heinig, chief economist at the mortgage unit of Danske Bank says monetary policy is still more important for bond investors than whatever Trump might do in the White House…
Hedge Funds Stop Shorting Danish Cement Firm Hit by Trump Flurry
Posted by: | Comments-
FLSmidth was among Europe’s most shorted stocks last year
-
Rising copper prices are also helping FLSmidth’s recovery
FLSmidth & Co. A/S was among Europe’s most-shorted stocks last year. Now, hedge funds are abandoning their bets against the company as Donald Trump’s surprise election win has investors bracing for a construction boom that could revive an industry battered by years of hardship.
Short interest in the Danish maker of mining equipment and cement production lines fell to 3.1 percent last week, according to Markit data. That’s down from 6 percent before Trump won the U.S. election, and marks the lowest level of short interest in FLSmidth since 2009…
Orlando-Area Class A Office Building Changes Hands
Posted by: | Comments
8390 Champions Gate Blvd., Championsgate, Fla.
Championsgate, Fla.—In a transaction facilitated by Marcus & Millichap’s Orlando-area team, an office asset located in the resort community of Champions Gate was recently sold to a local Tampa family. The asset traded for about $7.3 million.
The new owner acquired the property to partially accommodate an exchange for a recent portfolio sale. The undisclosed buyer was represented by Dan Mulkey, vice president of Marcus & Millichap…
Pimco Says TIPS Have Further to Run as Morgan Stanley Sees Peak
Posted by: | Comments-
Both investors say Trump has accelerated existing trends
-
TIPS beating nominal Treasuries for first time since 2012
A surge in inflation expectations triggered by Donald Trump’s election has rewarded investors who bet on U.S. bonds that protect against rising consumer prices. Pacific Investment Management Co. says there are gains ahead, while Morgan Stanley Investment Management isn’t so sure.
Both investors say Trump has accelerated a repricing of inflation risks that was already starting. Pimco says prices for Treasury Inflation Protected Securities are still short of the levels that reflect the cost-of-living increases that have been the norm over the long term. The securities have returned 4.6 percent this year through Nov. 23, versus 1.1 percent for conventional Treasuries. TIPS are outperforming for the first time since 2012…
World’s Biggest Pension Fund Finds a New Best Friend in Trump
Posted by: | Comments-
President-elect’s shock victory provides tailwind for GPIF
-
Stocks surge and the yen tumbles, benefiting giant investor
One of the world’s most conservative investors has found an unlikely new ally in one of its most flamboyant politicians: Donald Trump.
The unconventional president-elect’s victory is helping Japan’s giant pension fund in two important ways. First, it’s sending stock markets surging, both at home and overseas, which is good news for the largely passive equity investor. Second, it’s spurred a tumble in the yen, which increases the value of its overseas investments. After the $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund reported its first gain in four quarters, analysts are betting the Trump factor means there’s more good news to come…
London Home Values Surpass 14 Times Earnings for First Time
Posted by: | CommentsHomes in London are less affordable than ever before as low mortgage rates allow buyers to borrow more.
It now costs the average Londoner 14.2 times their annual gross salary to purchase a home, the highest level on record and more than double the ratio for the U.K. as a whole, according to data compiled by Hometrack. The annual rate of house-price growth in the capital was 9.1 percent in October, almost the lowest in three years, the property researcher said.
Greystone Taps Senior Underwriter for Loan Sector
Posted by: | CommentsKelly Cush will handle the company’s growing FHA healthcare deal volume.
Kelly Cush
Columbus, Ohio—Greystone, a real estate lending, investment and advisory company, recently announced the appointment of Columbus-based Kelly Cush, to operate the growing amount of FHA loan volume in the sector. Cush is a senior underwriter in the healthcare finance industry. She is certified as an approved underwriter in both HUD MAP and HUD LEAN transactions and will report to Nikhil Kanodia, COO of Greystone’s FHA business.
Over the last 15 years, Cush has underwritten and closed more than $1 billion in HUD transactions. Following her appointment, she will serve a key role in managing Greystone’s growing volume of healthcare FHA loans…
New Quartz Hill Library Reaches Completion
Posted by: | Comments
The County of Los Angeles Quartz Hill Public Library grand opening on November 19, 2016 (PRNewsFoto/SVA Architects, Inc.,Swinerton)
Los Angeles—It has been more than a year since shovels hit the ground to build a new library for the County of Los Angeles unincorporated community of Quartz Hill, and construction has now reached completion.
Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management. His firm is set to receive $35 million in incentives from the state of Connecticut. CreditChris Goodney/Bloomberg
The billionaire investor Cliff Asness is a staunch libertarian who is very much against government intervention.
Except, perhaps, when the government intervention involves $35 million going to his firm, AQR Capital Management.
The funds from the Connecticut state government are part of efforts to persuade companies not to leave the state and includes loans and grants tied to conditions for jobs to be created…
ECB Says It Can Shield Euro Area From Global Finance Instability
Posted by: | Comments-
Central bank publishes twice-yearly Financial Stability Review
-
Populism could re-ignite sovereign debt concerns in euro area
The European Central Bank is confident it will be able to continue shielding the euro area from the risk of a sudden correction in asset prices, after political events such as the election of Donald Trump threaten to increase volatility in coming months.
“We are certainly seeing a correction coming from the U.S.,” ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said on Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Matt Miller. “The ECB will continue to exert its stabilizing role, so I don’t think there will be significant contagion to Europe.” Constancio spoke on the occasion of the publication of the ECB’s twice-yearly Financial Stability Review…
Seeds of a Fintech Start-Up Sometimes Come From the Trenches
Posted by: | Comments
Sheryl Rowling, 60, created Total Rebalance Expert, or TRX, which automates the rebalancing process for advisory firms and saves clients money on taxes. CreditAnnie Tritt for The New York Times
Who says the most useful start-up ideas come from millennials fresh from dropping out of Stanford?
Some recent tech-based financial innovations haven’t come from venture capitalists or young hotshots but rather from professionals who have toiled away in their industry for decades.
Sheryl Rowling, 60, is a financial planner in San Diego who was constantly overwhelmed by the complexity of rebalancing her clients’ portfolios. In portfolio management, rebalancing requires periodic adjustment of client holdings to a preset target of stocks, bonds and cash assembled to meet their goals while minimizing taxes…
Countrywide Falls to Lowest Since 2013 as Housing Market Weakens
Posted by: | CommentsCountrywide Plc, the U.K.’s largest real estate broker, fell to the lowest since the company’s initial public offering in 2013 as the Brexit vote and an increase in sales tax damped demand for homes.
Earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization this year will be at the lower end of market expectations, the broker said in a statement on Thursday. The shares fell as much as 14 percent to 165.9 pence in London trading, the lowest since March 2013. They were trading at 168 pence at 8:25 a.m…
Countrywide Falls to Lowest Since 2013 as Housing Market Weakens
Dollar’s Ascent Weighs on Emerging-Market Assets as Copper Soars
Posted by: | Comments-
Bund futures swing on prospect ECB could delay QE decision
-
Asian stock-index futures tip gains after EM equity slump
The dollar’s surge reverberated across emerging markets as the case for a succession of U.S. interest-rate hikes strengthened.
Shares in developing nations extended their November slide as benchmark gauges from Brazil to Indonesia retreated. Turkey’s lira and India’s rupee touched record lows versus the greenback, while the Philippine peso dropped to its weakest level since the global financial crisis. German bund futures pared gains with the European Central Bank said to have room to delay some decisions on the future of its stimulus program. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index advanced, with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Copper jumped, on track for its best month in a decade, as gold extended losses…
Huntington Invests $18M in Columbus Gateway Center
Posted by: | Comments
The former Meijer store in Columbus, OhioLondon Property Prices Falling Faster Than You Think, NAMA Warns
Posted by: | Comments-
Irish agency says analysis shows deeper decline than reported
-
NAMA’s U.K. real estate holdings down to 800 million pounds
U.K. real estate prices may be dropping at a much faster pace than official reports indicate, according to the Irish agency that manages property loans acquired from bailed-out banks.
Reports since Britain’s vote to leave the European Union point to the value of land in central London declining by more than 10 percent in the past year, while house prices are 11 percent below their 2014 peak, said Frank Daly, chairman of Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency, known as NAMA…
Class A Office Asset Trades In Key Orlando Submarket
Posted by: | Comments
Baldwin III
Orlando—Owens Realty Capital, a full-service commercial brokerage, investment and management company has recently acquired Baldwin III, a 44,478-square-foot, Class A suburban office building located in Orlando. The firm purchased the asset for $8.5 million.
Palmer Vietor from Owens Realty Services represented Owens Realty Capital in the transaction. HFF’s Michael Weinberg, Matthew Sand and Ashley Rosenberg secured $5.6 million acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer. CBRE represented the seller…
Paschi Investors Approve $5.3 Billion Capital Raising Plan
Posted by: | Comments-
96% of shareholders attending meeting backed capital increase
-
Bank plans to start debt-swap on Monday, share sale Dec. 7-8
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA shareholders backed the ailing Italian bank’s plan for a vital 5 billion-euro ($5.3 billion) capital increase at a meeting in Siena.
The capital plan was approved by 96 percent of investors attending the meeting, according to outgoing Chairman Massimo Tononi. The Italian Treasury with a 4 percent stake and Axa SA with a 3.2 holding were the biggest shareholders attending the meeting in Italy…
Paschi Investors Approve $5.3 Billion Capital Raising Plan
Rupee Sinks to Record as Foreign Funds Dump Indian Assets on Fed
Posted by: | Comments-
Top currency forecaster sees recovery by the end of 2016
-
Stocks turn volatile as rupee drops amid derivatives expiry
The rupee tumbled to a record low and stocks fell as global funds dumped Indian assets amid rising odds for a U.S. interest-rate increase and a slump in local yields damped the appeal of the nation’s debt.
The currency plunged to an unprecedented 68.8650 per dollar Thursday, falling past its previous low of 68.8450 reached on Aug. 28, 2013. It ended 0.3 percent lower at 68.7475 in Mumbai. HDFC Bank Ltd., the top rupee forecaster based on Bloomberg’s quarterly rankings, doesn’t see the losses sustaining and predicts a recovery to 68.50 by the end of the year, according to Tushar Arora, senior economist for treasury at the lender…
TRG Relocates Ohio Warehouse
Posted by: | Comments
TRG’s new distribution facility in Westlake, Ohio
Westlake, Ohio—Technology Recovery Group, a TruWest Co., plans to relocate its distribution warehouse for retail-based operations to 1006 Crocker Road in Westlake, a suburb located 12 miles west of downtown Cleveland. TRG is the leading hardware solutions provider in the mobile computing and barcode printing industry and is currently headquartered at 31390 Viking Parkway in Westlake. The company will utilize the new space for distribution and retail rollouts amidst consistent growth.
Kochs and Other Madoff Investors Are Winners in Fight Over Profits Held Abroad
Posted by: | Comments
David Koch at a gala in 2015. CreditKrista Schlueter for The New York Times
The company led by the American billionaire Koch brothers, along with dozens of banks and fund managers, kept billions of dollars in profit from Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme in accounts offshore. As it turns out, that was a good decision.
Koch Industries and others who invested in the Madoff fund from offshore accounts won a key ruling in federal bankruptcy court on Monday, when the judge said certain funds held abroad — estimated at about $2 billion — could not be made available to victims of the Madoff scheme…
Verizon Opens Store in Denver Area
Posted by: | Comments
Cellular Sales’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at Thornton store.
Denver—A Verizon Premium retailer has recently opened its second store in the Denver metropolitan area. The store, Cellular Sales, is the first in the Thornton community.
“We see great potential for serving the Thornton community by supplying them with the latest Verizon products, while demonstrating the highest quality in customer service,” Regional Director James Russell said in a statement.
Sales of New U.S. Homes Declined to Four-Month Low in October
Posted by: | Comments
A contractor carries a steel support beam for a condominium under construction in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016.
Purchases of new U.S. homes declined in October to a four-month low, showing the residential real estate market began to soften a month prior to a jump in borrowing costs.
Sales decreased 1.9 percent to a 563,000 annualized pace, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg called for a 590,000 rate.
Lincoln Property, Rockwood Team Up on SoCal Office Project
Posted by: | Comments
Gateway El Segundo
El Segundo, Calif.—Lincoln Property Co. and an affiliate of Rockwood Capital LLC have partnered together on the purchase and multi-million dollar repositioning of a 355,000-square-foot office and retail campus to creative offices in the region’s fast-growing “Silicon Beach” area.
Mutual Funds See Massive Variations In Performance Following Trump’s Win
Posted by: | Comments
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, left, and First Lady-elect Melania Trump.
Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg
Not all mutual funds are created equally, especially in Donald Trump’s America.
The days of low return dispersion — in other words, of slender differences between the returns of different funds — may be coming to an end. According to a new note from Barclays Plc., there’s been a sharp polarity between winners and losers after the President-elect’s surprise win.
Mortgage Rates’ Rise Catches Home Buyers — and Lenders — Off Guard
Posted by: | Comments
Luis Solis, of Realty One Group, outside of the home in Phoenix that he is selling. For his new home, “we were lucky that we locked in our rate on November 1,” he said. CreditDavid Jolkovski for The New York Times
When Jared Rutledge called his mortgage broker one morning last week after putting in an offer on a home in Glendale, Ariz., just west of Phoenix, he discovered that the 3.8 percent rate he had been quoted a couple of months ago had already gone up to 4.125 percent. That afternoon, it had inched up to 4.25, and by evening, when he finally called back to finalize the deal, it was 4.375 percent.
Akamai Pre-Leases 468 KSF Boston Office Tower
Posted by: | Comments
Akamai Technologies Headquarters, courtesy of Akamai
Boston—Akamai Technologies Inc. went looking for a new headquarters location in its hometown of Cambridge, Mass., and the company just found it. Akamai has pre-leased 145 Broadway, a 468,000-square-foot office project to be developed by Boston Properties in the city’s Kendall Square neighborhood. The project cost: approximately $517 million, as noted by Boston Properties CEO Owen Thomas during the REIT’s third quarter earnings call on Oct. 28.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Will Back Even Bigger Mortgages
Posted by: | Comments
A contractor installs trim on a home under construction in Sycamore, Illinois.
-
Jumbo mortgage threshold rises to $424,100 for most of U.S.
-
Change will help first-time buyers, Realtors and brokers Say
The definition of a jumbo mortgage is changing for the first time in more than a decade.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2017 will back mortgages of up to $424,100 in most of the U.S., an increase from $417,000, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday. The change, which will increase the limit for areas with the most expensive homes to $636,150 from $625,500, comes after home prices in the third quarter pushed past their level of a decade ago.
BestDrive Expands Tire Store Network in Cincinnati
Posted by: | Comments
The new BestDrive store in Cincinnati
Cincinnati—BestDrive LLC, a commercial tire dealer, recently opened its newest location in Cincinnati. The new shop and service center continues the expansion of the Continental tire and ContiLifeCycle retread service network throughout the Midwest and the U.S. CBRE Vice President Robert Bunton represented BestDrive in this transaction.
The new BestDrive store is situated at 10801 Millington Court in Blue Ash, Ohio. The shop and service center is located in the former Cincinnati Enquirer building, off of I-71 and near the I-275 interchange. The BestDrive store offers the full range of Continental commercial truck, off-the-road and industrial tires in addition to ContiTread retread tires…
Hammond’s Rental Fees Ban for Tenants Sends Foxtons Plunging
Posted by: | Comments
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
-
Fees have spiraled to hundreds of pounds, Hammond says
-
Foxtons, Countrywide, LSL shares declined in London trading
The U.K. government will ban brokers from charging fees to tenants as it tries to shield lower-paid workers against stagnant wage growth, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said in the Autumn Statement on Wednesday. Shares of real estate agents plunged.
“We have seen these fees spiral despite attempts to regulate them, often to hundreds of pounds,” Hammond said in Parliament. “This is wrong; landlords appoint letting agents and landlords should meet the fees.”…
Fund That Beat 91% of Peers Puts Next Big Bet on World’s Poorest
Posted by: | Comments-
Holberg fund buys consumer companies in frontier markets
-
Fund posts 30% gain over past five years, beating benchmark
Here’s some good news: The world’s poorest consumers will get richer.
It’s a bet that is already enriching a top performing emerging markets fund in Norway.
Betting on a new consumer class in frontier markets such as Kenya, Tanzania and Vietnam, has given the Holberg Rurik a return of 30 percent, in dollars, over the past five years. That’s better than 91 percent of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…
SendGrid Opens Its Headquarters in Downtown Denver
Posted by: | Comments
SendGrid headquarters
Denver—SendGrid has recently opened its global headquarters at 1801 California St. in downtown Denver, Colo. The office was designed to hold more than double the current Colorado employee-base to accommodate its growth plan of 900 employees globally by the year 2020.
“The opening of our new Denver headquarters is an important milestone for SendGrid as we continue our evolution and maturation as a market-leading SaaS communication provider,” said Sameer Dholakia, CEO of SendGrid. “We’re excited to have all of our over 260 Colorado employees together in one office so we can continue to innovate and collaborate as we attract new customers and introduce new features to our existing customers.”…
U.K. to Set Up $2.9 Billion Fund to Boost New Home Building
Posted by: | CommentsThe U.K. is setting up a 2.3 billion pound ($2.9 billion) housing infrastructure fund as it seeks to slow home-price rises.
The fund will develop infrastructure to help support the construction of 100,000 homes by 2021, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said in the Autumn Statement on Wednesday. An additional 1.4 billion pounds will be spent to help deliver 40,000 affordable homes, Hammond said.
“The government expects to more than double annual capital spending on housing,” the Chancellor said, “This commitment to housing supply represents a step change in our ambitions on housing for sale and for rent.”…
Wall Street Says Mexican Government Downplaying Trump Threat
Posted by: | Comments-
Finance Ministry keeps forecast for expansion of up to 3%
-
Analysts in Citigroup survey see 2017 growth of less than 2%
Mexico’s government and the analysts who cover the economy have never been further apart on their growth expectations. It’s essentially a disagreement on how much concern Donald Trump presents.
The Finance Ministry maintained its forecast for expansion in 2017 on Wednesday, saying the economy can grow as much as 3 percent even with Trump as U.S. president. A day earlier, private-sector economists reduced their estimate to 1.8 percent from 2.3 percent, according to a survey by Citigroup Inc. The 2.5 percent midpoint of the Finance Ministry’s forecast is higher than any prediction in the survey…
Michael Sherwood, Goldman Sachs’s Co-Head of Europe, to Step Down
Posted by: | CommentsLONDON — Michael S. Sherwood, a Goldman Sachs vice chairman and co-head of its European division, will retire from the Wall Street firm at the end of the year.
Mr. Sherwood, who is also known as Woody, had previously been seen as a potential successor to Lloyd C. Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs chairman and chief executive. Mr. Blankfein revealed last year that he had what he described as a “highly curable” form of lymphoma.
Mr. Sherwood’s departure came as Goldman tries to navigate the political uncertainty following Britain’s decision this year to leave the European Union…
Growing South Bay Market Prompts El Segundo Deal
Posted by: | Comments
181-185 S. Douglas St.Mexico Set to Receive a $2.9 Billion Windfall From Oil Hedges, IMF Says
Posted by: | Comments-
Oil exports locked in at 42% above average price of past year
-
Second straight year the price insurance has reaped a payout
Mexico is set to earn about $2.9 billion from its oil hedges for 2016, reaping a windfall from plummeting crude prices for a second straight year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Mexico has spent an average of almost $1 billion a year over the past decade buying put options through deals with banks that have included Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to government documents. The payout for 2016 will be about $2.9 billion, the IMF said in an e-mailed response to questions on Tuesday after completing its annual review of the nation’s economy…
Freeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Posted by: | CommentsThe election has resurrected the fiasco of how to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Shares of the two bailed-out mortgage agencies have rocketed over the last two weeks on hopes that the Trump administration might end government oversight. Big political roadblocks remain, though.
Fannie and Freddie, which buy or guarantee home loans, needed $188 billion of taxpayer aid in the 2008 financial crisis and were placed under government conservatorship. Debates about whether to reduce their role went nowhere because they play a large role in the 30-year mortgage market…
Freeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Friedman Integrated to Manage and Lease High-Tech Office Building
Posted by: | Comments
Avis Centre Twelve in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ann Arbor, Mich.—Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions announced it took over management and leasing for Avis Centre Twelve, a 89,461-square-foot office building in Ann Arbor, Mich. The multi-tenant high-tech office building is located at 5430 Data Court and includes call and data center space.
The building was completed in 2001 and is situated on a 16.9-acre lot in Avis Farms. Amenities include a 500-space surface parking lot, large windows and a park-like setting with pond views. Occupancy is currently reported at 65 percent, according to data published on Friedman’s website…
Goldman: Hedge Funds Are Poised to Get Beaten for the Eighth Year Straight
Posted by: | CommentsThose looking to explain what’s set to be another bad year for hedge funds could do worse than blame their passion for tech stocks.
The funds have averaged a 4 percent gain year-to-date, but that pales next to a 9 percent rally in the S&P 500. Barring a sharp turnaround before December 31, this will be the eighth year since 2008 that hedge funds have underperformed, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists including Ben Snider and David Kostin…
Goldman: Hedge Funds Are Poised to Get Beaten for the Eighth Year Straight
Investment Funds Get Millions to Stay in Connecticut
Posted by: | Comments
Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management. His firm is set to receive $35 million in incentives from the state of Connecticut. CreditChris Goodney/Bloomberg
The billionaire investor Cliff Asness is a staunch libertarian who has railed against government intervention in health care and finance.
Yet his AQR Capital Management is set to receive $35 million in financial aid as part of a broader move by the Connecticut government to persuade companies not to leave the state…
Investment Funds Get Millions to Stay in Connecticut
Koch Brothers Among Investors Who Can Keep Madoff Billions
Posted by: | Comments
Charles Koch and David Koch. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post via Getty Images/Peter Foley/Bloomberg
-
Madoff trustee sought to recoup $2 billion in dozens of suits
-
Bankruptcy judge sided with early Madoff investors in ruling
Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch’s company fought for years to hold on to millions of dollars in profit from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. That battle just paid off, and victims won’t like it.
HFF Taps New Director for Self-Storage Investments
Posted by: | Comments
Tom Doyle Joins HFF as Director
Tampa—Tom Doyle has joined HFF as a director, working in the firm’s Tampa office. In his new role, Doyle will focus on the company’s self-storage investment sales transactions in the Southeast and Southwest United States.
U.S. Existing Home Sales Climb to Highest Since Early 2007
Posted by: | Comments-
Reflects pent-up demand in month before spike in rates
-
Housing inventory falls from year ago for 17th straight month
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly climbed in October to the highest level since February 2007, a sign of momentum in the housing market a month before a jump in borrowing costs, National Association of Realtors data showed Tuesday…
U.S. Existing Home Sales Climb to Highest Since Early 2007
Big Data Is a Big Mess for Hedge Funds Hunting for Trade Signals
Posted by: | Comments-
Citadel, Winton Capital move to exploit new data sources
-
Humans created huge amount of ‘low-grade data,’ says one quant
It was big data’s big moment.
The most unfathomable U.S. presidential race in memory gave Predata, a startup firm backed by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, a chance to cut through the vitriol and coolly calculate the winner by monitoring chat data. Turns out that Predata, which anointed Hillary Clinton the likely victor days before the Nov. 8 vote, was no smarter than the cable news pundits…
Big Data Is a Big Mess for Hedge Funds Hunting for Trade Signals
New Manufacturing Campus Launches in South Carolina
Posted by: | Comments
David Joyce, Vice Chairman, President & CEO with GE Aviation
Spartanburg, S.C.—Advanced Ceramic Coatings (ACC), a 50-50 joint venture between GE Aviation and Turbocoating Corp., has announced the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Duncan, S.C. The project represents $15 million in new capital investment and will create 50 jobs in Spartanburg County.
Located at 1191 Howell Road, within Hillside Enterprise Park, the 62,500-square-foot facility is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2017, thus allowing the company to produce advanced coatings for GE’s high-temperature CMC components in jet engines…
Hammond Targets U.K. Working Class With Pledges on Homes, Wages
Posted by: | Comments-
Funding for new homes to be announced in Autumn Statement
-
Chancellor to promise increase in minimum wage to 7.50 pounds
Philip Hammond
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will outline a series of measures to help “ordinary working-class families” and stress that a stable economy, fiscal discipline and better productivity are the best ways to raise living standards.
In his Autumn Statement to Parliament Wednesday, Hammond will pledge 1.4 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) to help build 40,000 new homes and announce a relaxation of the rules governing affordable housing funds, the Treasury said in an e-mailed statement. Other measures will include an increase in the minimum wage from the current 7.20 pounds ($8.93) an hour…
Julius Baer Hires Private Bankers From BSI in Singapore
Posted by: | Comments-
Staff said to specialize in non-resident Indian clients
-
Singapore withdrew BSI’s local licence in May for 1MDB links
Swiss private bank Julius Baer Group Ltd. is pushing ahead with a recruitment drive in Asia, hiring close to 20 Singapore-based bankers from BSI SA, the wealth manager caught up in the scandal surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd., according to a person familiar with the matter.
Silver ETF Investors Bail as Prices Near Bear Market: Chart
Posted by: | Comments
Investors in silver, the best-performing precious metal through the first three quarters of this year, are heading for the exit. Through Thursday, almost $79 million was pulled from iShares Silver Trust in November, set for the biggest monthly outflow since January. Money managers are bailing as prices of the metal head for a bear market, with traders pricing in a near certainty of a U.S. interest rate increase next month…
Silver ETF Investors Bail as Prices Near Bear Market: Chart
Morning Agenda: Dallas Bankruptcy Threat, Italy’s Crisis, Change in the Air
Posted by: | Comments
Michael S. Rawlings, the mayor of Dallas, said this month that his city appeared to be “walking into the fan blades” of municipal bankruptcy. CreditCooper Neill for The New York Times
The scenario: elected officials promising workers nice pensions based on wishful thinking. Sound familiar?
It is a problem faced across the United States, and the next victim could beDallas. The city’s mayor said it appeared to be “walking into the fan blades” of municipal bankruptcy.
Its pension fund for police officers and firefighters is near collapse and is seeking an immense bailout…