Continue Reading Add comment September 29th, 2008
The $700 billion bailout legislation now under consideration by Congress calls for the Treasury Secretary to implement a plan to stem foreclosures by working with servicers to modify loans.
Continue Reading Add comment September 29th, 2008
It’s not often we get to report breaking news on Hot Property, but I see the bailout seems to have died on the floor of Congress. The final vote was 205 for it and 228 against. A surprisingly large number of Republicans voted against it.
The Dow Jones average is down some 700 points so far today, 400 of that in the last ten minutes as vote was being tallied. It seems this bailout is toxic, much like the mortgages Treasury Secreatary Paulson hoped to buy with the money.
Continue Reading Add comment September 29th, 2008
As my blog colleague Dean Foust lays out in an excellent story on <a href=”http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2008/db20080929_369126.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis”>Businessweek.com, Citigroup could end up getting quite a deal on its $1 a share purchase of Wachovia.
The acquisition quadruples the size of Citigroup’s branch network to more than 4,400 locations. Whereas before the company was really just a player in New York, California and Texas, Citibank—as its branches are known– now has major positions in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “Citigroup passed over Washington Mutual because they were focused on a bigger target: Wachovia.” says Bart Narter, senior vice president of the Banking Group at Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm. “Citigroup instantly becomes a major player in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.”
The deal could turn out to be a good one too for the F.D.I.C. which gets $12 billion in Citigroup preferred stock. The federal fund will only have to cough up money if the losses on mortgages Citigroup acquired top $42 billion, a very high number.
Unlike Washington Mutual investors, Wachovia shareholders are at least getting that $1 a share. There may be some additional assets for bondholders as Citigroup is not acquiring Wachovia’s AG Edwards brokerage firm. WaMu shareholders, by comparison, were wiped out. WaMu bondholders got more bad news. The firm, really just a shell at this point, declared bankruptcy. WaMu had some $ 6.8 billion worth of bonds outstanding, according to the research firm Gimmie Credit. On Friday they were trading at just 32 cents on the dollar.
Continue Reading Add comment September 29th, 2008
Taurus Investment Holdings L.L.C. and DivcoWest have acquired two properties in North Reading, Mass., from Teradyne Inc., for $27.5 million. CB Richard Ellis Inc. of New England arranged the transaction. Read more »
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