FBI Uncovers Alleged TARP Fraud

March 22, 2010
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The FDIC closed 7 more banks on Friday, bringing the 2010 total to 37.  On the Friday before last, the FDIC bagged 2 New York City banks, the first FDIC takeunders in New York City since 1999.  One of these was a small privately held firm named Park Avenue Bank, which had been operating under […]

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The Next Wave of the Housing Crisis: Much More Pain in 2010, 2011

March 17, 2010
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In case you missed it, the Federal Reserve just threw some gasoline on the housing inferno. This month, the Fed confirmed that it will no longer make open market purchases of mortgage backed securities after March 31st, and underwater homeowners are going to miss that money. This particular Fed program was one of a number […]

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Anthracite Capital Files Chapter 7

March 15, 2010

What took them so long? After months of being unable to service its debt, and numerous SEC filings describing the Company’s inability to cure its defaults, secured lenders finally closed in on Anthracite Capital, a struggling Mortgage REIT with a “legacy” portfolio full of almost worthless CMBS equity. While events began to spin out of […]

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Lehman’s Balance Sheet Games: REPO 105 and its $3 Billion Mini-Me

March 15, 2010

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” Number 42, August 5, 2004 What a mess. Before the most recent giant sucking sounds you all heard, the two largest bankruptcies in the U.S. were Enron […]

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Freddie Mac Says Lever it Up!

March 9, 2010
REIT Money Man

According to Instutional Investor, Freddie Mac is bringing its high leverage crack pipes back to the multi-family market. But the move is less a return to the go-go days than a sign of just how weak the market is, and it appears to be driven more by the fact that Freddie is running out of […]

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Northstar is Running out of Time; is Hamamoto Outside the Tent?

March 3, 2010

After a furious year of churning CMBS, repurchasing outstanding corporate debt and refinancing its bank loans, among other feats, Northstar actually ended the year with a little bit of cash. That’s the good news. The bad news is they’re going to need it. Northstar now has about $238 million in the bank, which includes the […]

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Record CMBS Loss Severities Expose Major Flaw in Securitization, Compensation Models

February 18, 2010

I love zerohedge. Last week, they posted a story Chris Germain San Francisco whose headline blared “Kanjorski Admits There Is A Growing Bubble In Commercial Real Estate As S&P Observes CRE Losses Could Wipe Out Banking System.” You’re forgiven if you didn’t know, but Kanjorski is a Congressman from the 11th District of Pennsylvania, and […]

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Piedmont Office REIT Finally Goes Public…Sort Of

February 16, 2010
REIT IOU

Non-Traded REITs are a funny lot. They register with the SEC and comply with all public company filing requirements, yet their shares don’t trade on any public exchange. Most aspire publicly to achieve some sort of “liquidity event” for investors within 7-10 years of formation, either through a public listing or bulk asset sales. Last […]

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Commercial Real Estate: 6.8 Trillion Reasons Why it Won’t Derail the Recovery

January 26, 2010

Not even Joe DiMaggio could have hit this change up. Just one year ago, the United States financial system stood on the brink of failure. GDP had declined by 6.25%, the most severe contraction since 1982. In November 2008, non-farm payrolls were cut by 533,000, the most severe contraction since 1974. But just a few […]

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Healthcare REIT Directory

January 19, 2010

This is the most up-to-date Healthcare REIT list on the web, including the recently public SABRA Healthcare REIT, which was spun out from Sun Healthcare Group. Prices and yields update daily at the close, and the list contains links to the latest news and home pages of each REIT. Links to additional REIT lists by […]

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