A Quick Reminder Of How Wall Street’s Troubles Effect New York’s Skyline
Wall Street banks help fill the iconic skyscrapers and commercial buildings that people all over the world associate with New York City.
And, of course, Wall Street’s seen better days. The Post sat down with Larry Silverstein, famed commercial real estate mogul, and other players in the industry to talk about how these dark days are effecting their bottom line.
Silverstein said that the Street was definitely worried about the Presidential election, and while most would obviously prefer a Republican win in November, it’s really the uncertainty of it all that’s hurting his business.
Wall Streeters are “holding back and waiting to see what happens tomorrow,” the developer of 4 World Trade Center told The Post. He said that it isn’t just politics, and that the Euro Crisis is also to blame but, “You can have a totally new picture at the beginning of 2013.”
Despite the fact that leasing for the first two months this year was 40 percent off last year’s figure for the same period, there is an upside says Ken McCarthy, a managing director at firm Cushman Wakefield.
From The Post:
McCarthy saw a silver lining. Although banks continue to shed jobs, he said the “regulatory environment requires people who know how to navigate it,” and so law, accounting and consulting firms are ramping up — to the tune of 32,000 new hires in the city last year.
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The Next Housing Bubble Might Just Be The Rental Sector
Typically when rents go up, more renters turn to home buying.
The Russian Billionaire Who Bought Sandy Weill’s $88 Million Penthouse Was Just Sued By His Estranged Wife
The estranged wife of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev filed suit today over a New York City penthouse apartment Ryoblovlev bought for $88 million through a limited liability company earlier this year.
Filed by Elena Rybolovleva in the New York State Supreme Court, the suit claims Rybolovlev did so in order to hide assets acquired during their marriage, which ended several years ago.
The suit says Rybolovlev, who shook New York’s real estate scene when he picked up the apartment from Sandy Weill, ostensibly for a daughter who was attending school in New York City, violated a freeze order mandated by the Swiss court overseeing their divorce proceedings when he purchased the property.
In the suit, Rybolovleva also says that their daughter does not actually attend school in New York.
She calls his LLC, known as “Property NY 100-11 LLC,” a “sham entity” with “no legitimate business purpose,” and asks the court to enforce the freeze order of the Swiss court, as well as a issue permanent injunction. The suit was filed on her behalf by law firm Day Pitney LLP.
According to the suit, Rybolovleva initiated divorce proceedings against Rybolovlev in Switzerland in 2008. At the time, his main assets were stakes in two major Russian companies, which were later subject to the Swiss court’s freeze order.
But, according to the suit, Rybolovlev violated that order by liquidating those assets, and using a portion of the several billion dollars in proceeds to buy the penthouse.
The suit also claims that in 2010, Rybolovlev bought a 9.7 percent stake in Bank of Cyprus for $295 million, also in violation of the freeze order.
The suit is similar to another one Rybolovleva filed in West Palm Beach in 2008 over a $95 million property Rybolovlev purchased from Donald Trump, also through an LLC.
Ryoblovlev is ranked #100 on the Forbes Billionaires List, with an estimated net worth of around $9 billion.
Bank of America swings To profit amid heavy one-time items
This may be a turn-around story in the making. The faster they write-off the bad loans and give more disclosure on any contractual and legal liabilities, the better. It looks like they are getting serious about reforming the BofA bank and brand so lets hope so.
WSJ - Bank of America Corp. (BAC) closed out the turbulent 2011 year with better-than-expected revenue in the final three months, driving the bank to a fourth-quarter profit compared with the prior year’s loss.
The quarter was full of one-time charges and gains from asset sales and mortgage issues, showing the nation’s second-biggest bank by assets is still battling the past just as much as it is looking to position itself for the future. The moves provided a net boost to pre-tax earnings and the bank’s much-watched capital levels rose more than expected, cheering investors who have worried low capital could result in a highly dilutive share sale.
Shares jumped 5.7% to $7.17 and have now gained 29% this year. The stock was more than halved in 2011 by concerns about capital. “We enter 2012 stronger and more efficient,” Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a statement.
But while capital increased, Bank of America still won’t be returning more to shareholders, as Moynihan said the bank wouldn’t be asking the Federal Reserve for permission to raise its dividend.
The items helped Bank of America post a profit of $1.99 billion, or 15 cents on a per-share basis, compared with the prior-year loss of $1.24 billion, or 16 cents.
Total revenue improved 11% to $24.89 billion, topping the $24.08 billion analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.
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Where is the German gold bullion reserves?
Bombshell of a story. Looks like the German Central Bank (Bundesbank) has not audited their gold reserve since 2007, which I will add is when the financial crisis began. The article is a little hard to follow because I had to rely on Google Translate to bring it from German to English. The element that stood out in this article is the fact is that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York does not allow any photos or tours of the facility, but they do send you a “picture” of your gold. That picture only goes the Central Bank.
Being the huge lapse in auditing, a financial meltdown, I can understand why some of the people would be upset. Psychologically is must mean a lot to the German people to know that their reserve wealth is safe and accounted for. Especially because they have basically been underwriting this whole EU bailout. I think we will see the rectified in the next few weeks. Most likely just an oversight, hopefully.
Text from Google Translate Link:
New York – It is the most precious treasure we have Germans: 3401 tons of pure gold – € 1,800 for each. Absolute crisis-proof, divided into high-security vaults in Frankfurt, Paris, London and New York! And the Bundesbank does not care!
The incredible gold scandal! On 19 November 2011 IMAGE reported that the German Central Bank for the last time in 2007 cast a look at our gold holdings in New York, and even alert the Federal Court of Auditors (verification is ongoing).
A clear breach of the law, says top Bilanzrechtler Prof. Jörg Baetge told BILD: “At least every three years to control counts the bars are made.” It has not done the Bundesbank.
A sloppy with tangible consequences: In the annual balance sheet of the Federal Bank’s gold reserves (current value is around 147 billion euros) from a “significant” (Baetge) items of more than 17%: So, are the Bundesbank’s balance sheets in recent years wrong?
Alarmed by the BILD report, it asked the CDU member of parliament and foreign policy expert Philip Missfelder accurate. On the edge of talks at the UN in New York wants to control the Mißfelder stored there parts of the German gold reserves at the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed).
According to the report he requested from IMAGE-Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, the list of gold bullion. Missfelder told BILD: “I was shocked. First they said that there was no list. Then there were lists that are secret. Then I was told, demands endanger the trust between alliance bank and the Fed. “
Experiences as the Federal Bank of the IMAGE-searches on the German state gold, communications chief Michael Best is even trying to obstruct the visit of representatives and report to Bild: “Against this background, I ask for understanding that the Bundesbank your visit concerns (…) not supported. ”
Click Here to Continue Reading Interview (English)
Source (German)
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