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]].

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.

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]].

For the time being, I will no longer be writing for Seeking Alpha due to perceived conflicts with my employer. Essentially, it is believed that my writing may (or may not) reflect the view of my employer and may be influenced by the information I receive while at work.

As a result, I have been asked to discontinue writing in order to eliminate any potential conflicts.

I have enjoyed writing for Seeking Alpha and have particularly enjoyed the interaction with those who have contributed to the discussion streams in order to enhance the value of the articles. I will be checking my inbox and frequenting the site (as it is a tremendous source of information).

I hope that I have added value and look forward to learning more from the articles and discussions.

Mike

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

Enjoy

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

The credit default swap market is now eyeing its first real test following the high-profile Greek credit event earlier this year - Spanish bank restructurings. Investors continue to digest the details of Spain's new banking resolution law, passed at the end of August, which is likely to inflict haircuts on subordinated debt-holders.

And in the same way that Irish bank restructurings became a case study for CDS, the process for recapitalising the cajas will be watched closely by market participants in coming months.

"This procedure for recapitalising the banks is very new, and it will have to be analysed carefully to see if it will trigger a credit event," said one Madrid-based lawyer. "If there is going to be a trigger event, the extent to which CDS works with bonds and loans with Spanish law documentation will be tested."

Sovereign CDS is still finding its way for what constitutes a credit event and the issue of deliverability. Stay tuned.

Disclosure: I am long [[SAN]].