Friday, June 26, 2009

Required Reading: Friday, June 26th 2009

CRE: Office Building sold in Denver – Calculated Risk

This is an interesting transaction for several reasons:

  • The seller was J.P. Morgan. Need cash?
  • The cap rate is rumored to be in the 8.5% to 9% range.
  • It was an all cash deal (no financing) by a CRE REIT that stayed on the sidelines during the insanity.
  • The purchase price is said to be below replacement cost.
  • Sheila Bair Can't Sell Her House – Clusterstock

    Today's Awful Income News – Clusterstock

    …Just as we can't believe the financial markets, since the Fed has created so much liquidity, we're at the point where it's hard to believe the real economy, because so much of it is based on transfer payments and government spending obscuring what the private sector is able to do on its own.

    Hummer: Too dirty even for the Chinese – Felix Salmon

    Projected new-car sales fall 25% since last year – Sacramento Bee

    New-car sales in June nationwide will be down 25.3 percent compared with June a year ago, according to Edmunds.com, the Santa Monica-based auto site.

    Falloff in Port of Oakland container traffic could impact region's economy in many ways – The Contra Costa Times

    During the first five months of 2009, compared with the same January-through-May period of 2008, container traffic fell 13.8 percent at the Port of Oakland.

    "That is a significant decline," said Robert Bernardo, a port spokesman.

    US Savings Rate Hits 6.9%, Highest In 15 Years – Mish

    Bernanke Suffers From Selective Memory Loss; Paulson Calls Bank of America "Turd in the Punchbowl" – Mish

    …The Fed is largely to blame for the housing/credit bubble by holding interest rates too low, too long. The way to control risk is to get rid of the Fed and its micro-mismanagement of interest rates, not to extend the Fed's power.