Buybacks, Tenders and Exchanges – A Distortion of the Default Rate

Buybacks, Tenders and Exchanges – A Distortion of the Default Rate

In the world of corporate bonds, the yield spread over the sovereign benchmark reflects the liquidity premium and, more importantly, investors’ compensation for default risk. Accurate measurement of default risk is critical in determining the required risk premium on bonds. But the official default rate, which is measured and published by rating agencies, can be subject to distortions because certain capital losses, corporate buybacks, tenders and exchanges may not be accurately represented in the default rate calculations. In a macroeconomic environment likely to be characterized by greater performance differentiation among credit markets, sectors and issuers, paying closer attention to these potential distortions will prove invaluable to the credit selection process. ...

Office letting market in Frankfurt 1st quarter 2010 in comparison to last nine years: Worst result after 2004

2010-04-12

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Germany | Property Markets, Commercial property: Office, estate agent
Office letting market in Frankfurt 1st quarter 2010 in comparison to last nine years: Worst result after 2004

Hessen: The total letting performance in Frankfurt in the 1st quarter 2010 is approx. 54,906 sqm office space. With this the office market has achieved its second-worst result since 2002: During the past nine years even less office space, 36,500 sqm, was transacted in the 1st quarter 2004.

http://www.immopro24.com/press-releases/office-letting-market-in-frankfurt-1st-quarter-2010-in-comparison-to-last-nine-years-worst-result-after-2004_20838.html

Economy, Ben Bernanke

To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.

- Ben Bernanke, Speech given on Apr. 7, 2010 to the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, "Economic Challenges: Past, Present and Future"

Melbourne Water moving to Docklands

Melbourne Water moving to Docklands
01 Apr 2010

Melbourne Water has committed to locate its new 12,100m² head office facility at 990 LaTrobe St, in the south east corner of Digital Harbour above the link road access to Etihad Stadium.

http://www.docklandsnews.com.au/editions/article/melbourne-water-moving-to-docklands_5228/

Capture Ratio as a Tool to Measure Investment Performance

Capture Ratio as a Tool to Measure Investment Performance

We examine the concepts of up-capture and down-capture, two widely used statistics for measuring investment performance. Our research indicates that each one on their own is an ineffective tool to accurately describe investment performance. However, the use of the Capture Ratio, the relationship between up-capture and down-capture, provides a much more useful tool.

Cars: Classic Car Market on Bumpy Road - CNBC

Classic Car Market on Bumpy Road - CNBC

Owning a classic car is often a childhood dream and in May this year the highest price ever was reached at an auction for a classic car: 9 million euros ($12.2 million) for a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa. ...

Commercial investors may look to Worldwide Plaza as model

Commercial investors may look to Worldwide Plaza as model
October 23, 2009 12:10 PM

Real estate investor Peter Duncan, who scored a deal on the 49-story Worldwide Plaza building in July, now has the chance to shape the New York commercial real estate market’s investment landscape. Duncan, who is president of George Comfort & Sons, purchased the property at 825 Eighth Avenue for $590 million, roughly a third of what Harry Macklowe paid for it in February 2007. The price means Duncan might be able to lease out the first 14 floors, which stand vacant as the second-largest empty space in the city, for as little as $30 or $40 per square foot, according to Robert Sammons, research director at Colliers ABR. Whereas Midtown office buildings have had a rough year — CB Richard Ellis Group reported that there have been no single leases in the area for more than 250,000 square feet — low prices may hasten leasing activity for the space in Duncan’s building formerly occupied by advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather. That could, in turn, encourage other investors to take on risk in buying up more New York office buildings, said Jim Frederick, also of Colliers. [Bloomberg]

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2009/10/23/commercial-investors-may-look-to-peter-duncan-s-worldwide-plaza-as-model/

NYC Tower Buyers Wrestle Towering Vacancy Dilemma (Update1)

NYC Tower Buyers Wrestle Towering Vacancy Dilemma (Update1)
By David M. Levitt - October 23, 2009 13:08 EDT

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Real estate investor Peter Duncan, who negotiated the nation’s biggest property deal of the year in buying Manhattan’s Worldwide Plaza, is now in charge of a skyscraper that’s 40 percent empty.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJG1.l7fPiik

Frankfurt: Grounds for optimism in spite of upheaval

Property

Frankfurt: Grounds for optimism in spite of upheaval

By James Wilson in Frankfurt
Published: October 2 2009 16:02 | Last updated: October 2 2009 16:02

Frankfurt’s property market professionals are surprisingly optimistic about the city’s prospects in spite of the inevitable upheaval that the deep banking crisis has caused in Germany’s financial capital.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c0b8a95a-ad13-11de-9caf-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2PXw36Vqx

Fund-Performance Scorecard for Third Quarter

http://www.realert.com/ranks.php

Fund-Performance Scorecard for Third Quarter

HIGH-YIELD DEBT FUNDS