over-the-coming

Investors see 2010 as the time to target prime European real estate (EUR)

by on March 19, 2010

Group, Inc. announced the results of a survey of more than 270 European real estate investors, revealing their intentions for the timing and focus of their investment activity over the coming years. The findings were launched at the companys European

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Investors see 2010 as the time to target prime European real estate (EUR)

Andy Stern: A Path Forward: It’s Time to Pass Health Insurance Reform

by on January 20, 2010

The question on everyone’s mind today is what went wrong in Massachusetts? The tea leaf-reading and hand wringing will no doubt monopolize much of Washington’s time over the coming days and weeks. But there’s a better question for today: What’s the path forward to passing meaningful health insurance reform? For Pat Dejong and the millions of working families like her’s across the country, today is no different than yesterday when a Democratic senator held Ted Kennedy’s old seat. Pat DeJong will still wake up in Libby, Montana. She’ll still mourn the loss of her husband and the family ranch they lost because of his medical bills. And, Pat will still go to the bedside of her patients each day, still lacking coverage of her own. So what’s next for Pat? What’s next for a country frustrated by leaders who seem to be governing out of timidity versus conviction? Step one: The House should pass the Senate’s health insurance reform bill – with an agreement that it will be fixed, fixed right, and fixed right away through a parallel process. Reform can work — the Senate bill can serve as the foundation for reform and include at minimum the improvements the Administration, House, and Senate have negotiated. We cannot squander the opportunity to make real progress. The House and Senate must move forward together. And, there is no reason they cannot move forward together to make those changes through any means possible — whether through reconciliation or other pieces of moving legislation. Some in Washington may want to throw their hands up and walk away; others may call for walking back reform by passing something smaller. So let’s just say it: the Democrats own health reform. They own the votes they already took. And, they own what health reform will stand for. Most importantly, it will be a major achievement the American people need and deserve. There is no turning back. There is no running away. There is no reset button. There is a right choice: Break the political paralysis and go big. Giving up or scaling back reform is not an option. It’s not an option for our employers. It’s not an option for our deficit. And, it is certainly not an option for the millions across this country like Pat DeJong who are crying out for real change. It’s simply not an option for our country’s future. It’s time to deliver the change that the people of our country voted for in 2008 and Massachusetts voted for last night. Let’s not overcomplicate the process, let’s just make it happen. Because we cannot pause or take a step back – we have only one choice: move forward with real reform decisively and right now. For more information about SEIU’s programs and initiatives to help working families, visit SEIU.org.

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Andy Stern: A Path Forward: It’s Time to Pass Health Insurance Reform

Merkel Predicts `Difficult’ Time for Euro as Greece Strives to Cut Deficit

January 14, 2010

By Tony Czuczka Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece’s mounting budget deficit risks hurting the euro, saying the currency faces a “very difficult phase.” Merkel, speaking at a private forum hosted by Die Welt newspaper yesterday, questioned the fiscal discipline of other countries using the euro, according to a transcript posted on the German government’s Web site today. “The Greek example can put us under great, great pressures,” she said, according to the transcript. “Who will tell the Greek parliament to please go ahead and pass a pension reform? I don’t know that they’ll be enthusiastic about Germany giving them instructions.” German lawmakers wouldn’t be happy if Greece told them what to do, she said. “So the euro is in a very difficult phase over the coming years.” Greek 10-year bonds extended declines. They yielded 5.99 percent, up 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage points at 12:08 p.m. in Berlin. That includes an increase of 3 basis points after Merkel’s remarks were reported. In Athens, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced plans to cut spending and raise revenue by about 10 billion euros ($14.5 billion) this year as part of a three-year plan adopted today to bring the European Union’s biggest budget deficit within the EU limit in 2012. “We will do whatever it takes,” Papandreou said in a televised speech to his Cabinet. “Our country can and is obliged to exit as soon as possible this vicious circle of misery. We will not retreat; we will proceed quickly.” The plan, to be presented to the European Commission tomorrow, aims to cut the shortfall from 12.7 percent of output, more than four times the EU limit, to 8.7 percent this year. That reduction will be achieved even though the economy will contract 0.3 percent, the plan says. The budget deficit will shrink to 5.6 percent next year and 2.8 percent in 2012. For Related News and Information: Greek economy news: NI GRECO Top German stories: TOPG

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U.S. Growth Prospects Deemed Bleak In New Decade By Economists

January 3, 2010

A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation’s leading economists said on Sunday.

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Moody's “sceptical” of property market recovery – Property Week

November 3, 2009

“We however remain sceptical of this recovery and anticipate further value declines until 2010 in all EMEA CMBS markets,” said Christian Aufsatz, a Moody’s senior vice president and co-author of the report. The performance deterioration in … The rate at which defaulted loans were transferred into special servicing also increased, as fewer events of default are expected to be cured with many sponsors unable or unwilling to support their loan. Over the coming quarters, …

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Housing Crash Will Resume as Seven Million Foreclosures Hit, Amherst Says

September 23, 2009

By Jody Shenn Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — The crash in U.S. home prices will probably resume because about 7 million properties that are likely to be seized by lenders have yet to hit the market, Amherst Securities Group LP analysts said. The “huge shadow inventory,” reflecting mortgages already being foreclosed upon or now delinquent and likely to be, compares with 1.27 million in 2005, the analysts led by Laurie Goodman wrote today in a report. Assuming no other homes are on the market, it would take 1.35 years to sell the properties based on the current pace of existing-home sales, they said. Helping to stoke speculation the housing slump has ended, an S&P/Case-Shiller index for 20 U.S. metropolitan areas showed the first month-over-month increases in values since 2006 in May and June, reducing the drop from the peak to 31 percent. Echoing other mortgage-bond analysts including those at Barclays Capital Inc., Amherst cautioned that a change in the mix of foreclosure and traditional sales over different parts of the year lifted prices in the period, as the distressed share shrank. “The favorable seasonals will disappear over the coming months, and the reality of a 7 million-unit housing overhang is likely to set in,” they said. The amount of pending foreclosed-home supply has been boosted by more borrowers going into default , fewer being able to catch up once they do, and longer time periods to seize properties because of issues such as loan-modification efforts and changes to state laws, the New York-based analysts wrote. A Limited Aid Accounting for efforts to have more loans reworked to avert foreclosure makes “not much” of a difference in the shadow inventory, with optimistic assumptions leading to a 1 million reduction in the amount, they said. “And many of these borrowers would default later, if they remain in a negative equity position,” they added. Goodman is the former head of fixed-income research at UBS Securities LLC whose team there was top-ranked for non-agency mortgage debt in a 2008 poll of investors by Institutional Investor magazine. Amherst is a securities firm specializing in trading and advising investors on home-loan debt. The analysts didn’t forecast home prices. The Barclays analysts including Glenn Boyd , who earlier this year wrote that once it starts, the housing recovery will be dulled by a “pent- up supply” of homes from owners who have put off sales during the slump, this month predicted 8 percent further depreciation. That’s better than the New York-based Barclays analysts’ previous forecast of 13 percent because of their view that recent data show that the end of the crash is “decidedly under way,” they wrote in a Sept. 11 report. Foreclosed-home “supply should sap the strength of the recovery in all but the most optimistic of scenarios,” they added. To contact the reporter on this story: Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net or

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Unemployment Benefits Will Run Out For 1.5 Million Jobless Americans

August 1, 2009

Over the coming months, as many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits, ending what for some has been a last bulwark against foreclosures and destitution.

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Munich Re May Consider Purchases to Triple Health Unit’s Revenue by 2015

July 30, 2009

By Oliver Suess July 30 (Bloomberg) — Munich Re , the world’s biggest reinsurer, may make acquisitions to boost its health unit’s premium income to 9.3 billion euros ($13.2 billion) by 2015. “If we are able to add one or two acquisitions of a manageable size over the coming years we can achieve our growth targets,” Wolfgang Strassl , management board member at Munich Re and head of the Munich Health unit, said in an interview. Health insurance is one of the most promising growth markets for Munich Re as people living longer and rising costs will force the reform and privatization of public health-care systems worldwide, Strassl said on July 27

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MIT Appoints John Ricardi to Executive Vice President in Charge of Commercialization Program

July 23, 2009

SAN CLEMENTE, CA–(Marketwire – July 23, 2009) – Micro Imaging Technology, Inc. ( OTCBB : MMTC ) announced that it has promoted John Ricardi to Executive Vice President, a specialized role created by the Board of Directors where Mr

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Credit-Rating COmpanies Will Face Limits on Conflicts Under Obama Proposal

July 21, 2009

By Rebecca Christie and Bryan Keogh July 21 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration today proposed setting limits and disclosure requirements on credit- rating companies aimed at reducing conflicts of interest and providing more information about investment products. The plan is intended to “create transparency, tighten oversight and reduce reliance” on ratings firms, the Treasury said in a summary of proposed legislation sent to Congress. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, the two biggest credit-ratings companies, are among the firms that would be barred by the Treasury’s proposal from consulting with any company they rate. “We need tough rules to regulate conflict of interests,” Michael Barr , assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, said on a conference call

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