Michael Terry's  Instablog

Read this in the news this morning:

David Hamamoto, chairman and chief executive officer of NorthStar Realty Finance Corp., sold his Manhattan co-op apartment in a $50 million deal, exactly the price he was seeking when he put it on the market in June.
The sale of the property at 944 Fifth Ave. was completed on Dec. 7, according to New York City property records made public yesterday. The buyer is listed as Frank McCourt, with no other identifying information provided.
The transaction includes a six-bedroom, six-bathroom unit
spanning the building's 11th floor, as well as a ground-floor,
two-bedroom guest apartment, according to property records and StreetEasy.com, a real estate listings website. The main
apartment, with a private elevator landing and "majestic"
views of Central Park, was featured in Architectural Digest,
according to StreetEasy.

Makes me wonder if my NorthStar holdings will allow me to be a neighbor.

NRF is at $6.91% this morning. YTD total return has been 61%. NRFprA is at $24.62, yielding 8.88%. NRFprC trades at $24.95, yields 8.89% and has 4 more years of call protection. NRFprC is the way to go.

Still like the name.

Disclosure: I am long NRF.

Just read on Bloomberg:

Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service are cutting corporate debt ratings at the fastest pace since 2009 as a global economic slowdown and record borrowing erode credit quality.
The ratio of ratings downgrades to upgrades worldwide climbed to 1.85 this year from 1.23 in 2011, according to S&P data.

This should come as no surprise to anyone as low rates have made borrowing attractive and an easy way to lower the WACC. Unfortunately, instead of using these funds to invest/grow business, they have been used for dividends and share repurchases.

I would expect the trend to continue and increase the spread duration risk of fixed income portfolios. Keep your eye on the ball.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Ever read something on a usually semi-informed site that makes you question the validity of the site, nevermind the writer?

Try this one on:

www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/12/17/has-northstar-realty-finance-become-the-perfect-st.aspx

I have written on NorthStar (NRF) previously, and this writer using industrial valuation metrics and comparing the company to NLY and AGNC in terms of leverage is ludicrous.

Still like the common and preferred.

Disclosure: I am long NRF.