From the category archives:

REIT

Averting Massive, Sector-Wide REIT Defaults: Non-Traded Equity May Be Part of the Answer

February 28, 2009

REIT stocks are in all sorts of unprecedented trouble. They depend on leverage, and to the extent that it can be had at all, it’s become more expensive and tougher on terms. Consequently, the weighted average cost of capital (debt and equity combined) for REITs will increase by an average by 100-200 basis [...]

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Mortgage REITs Catch Bid on Fed’s New $4 Billion a Day Habit

January 12, 2009

The Fed announced late in 2008 that they would finally follow through on the original TARP intentions and actually buy mortgages. The Fed’s plan is to spend $500 billion by June 30th. That would would be $4 billion a day in government demand for mortgage bonds from the Fed’s munificent money men, so they [...]

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Is iStar Sprouting A Portfolio Full of Contingent Liabilities?

September 4, 2008

iStar, the embattled Mortgage REIT, has been taking it on the chin recently. Last quarter, they set aside $217 million for bad loans, and a $45 million charge for mark to market losses. The REIT’s high profile developer defaults in Miami, the epicenter of the bubble, are already well-known. However, its new [...]

More on this topic (What's this?)
iStar Financial Inc. (SFI) Update
iStar Continues to Flame Out
iStar: iSorry I Doubted You
Read more on IStar Financial at Wikinvest
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REIT Yields Beat Bonds After "Overdone" Drop

September 3, 2008

Laura Cochrane Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) Property securities are worth buying for their dividends alone, which offer superior yields to government bonds after the “overdone” drop in share prices prompted by the U.S. housing slump, ING Real Estate said.
Real estate investment trusts are on average being priced at a 17 percent discount to their net asset [...]

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REIT Taxable Income Definition Unlocking Opportunities?

September 2, 2008

In order to maintain qualification as a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, (please see “REIT Definition” for a comprehensive definition of REITs), any entity organized as a REIT is required (among other things) to annually distribute dividends to its stockholders in an amount at least equal to 90% of taxable income (not GAAP income). [...]

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REIT Definition

August 28, 2008

A REIT is an entity organized as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. In order to maintain REIT status on an on-going basis, a REIT must also operate in conformity with the requirements for REIT qualification under the Internal Revenue Code. The advantage of operating as a REIT is that [...]

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REIT CDO Buybacks

August 22, 2008

The $1.2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) is draining money from investor’s portfolios faster than the mighty Limpopo River flushes monsoon rains into the Indian Ocean. Consequently, investing in a CDO is now about as popular as halitosis, and CDO assets have been marked down as fast as overwhelmed accountants can sharpen their [...]

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Risk Rising on Alesco’s REIT Status

April 9, 2008

CDOs are back in the headlines – again. The old story is that they are defaulting in record numbers. If you bought CDOs in 2006, you might as well have been buying penny stocks. Indeed, few now seem to be generating any income for anyone, except for the lawyers that are now starting to [...]

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