brewboy

More Thoughts on Underwriting Factors in Commercial Real Estate Deals

What I can never understand is the 'investors' that pay based on a rental income that is derived from a Build to Suit lease for a specialty bldg and a rent that is not acheiveable again for YEARS to come, if ever. Alternatively, the deals where the tenant has been there for years, rent now 'market' for the type of use but the building meets no current building code so if it is ever vacant the entitlements are GONE.

Lennar: Picking Calpers' Pocket

Unfortunately, CalPers may lose the money but the Teachers and other pensioners will not as the TAXPAYERS will be required to pony up to keep them whole. Heaven forbid a State Employee loses a job or has a pension cut! Taxpayers in California will get the short end of the stick for YEARS to come over lost pension fund investment at the State, County and City levels. The only true hope for them is Bankruptcy like Vallejo where the overly generous pension guarantees can be re-done without Union Coercion and/or collusion with the politicians for votes.

Earnings Preview: Starbucks

What a Kettle of smelly fish. SBUX, once touted as a 'great place to work', a paragon of 'Corporate Virtue" is no different than any other corporation, perhaps worse as they touted they were the new mold. Benefits for everyone are nice but if you get laid off, what good are they? The problems were evident over three years ago yet the top dogs refused to act for fear of offending the man behind the curtain, "MISTER S". Yes-people get you nowhere, ignoring history begs a repeat. They saw McD over expansion, They saw KrispyKreme debacle, They saw the Boston Market Debacle, yet SBUX was immune, their customer was different.

UBS Analyst: Starbucks' Slump Could Attract Investors

User 220539 certainly doesn't know SBUX Seattle Mgt /ownership at all. Beyond the remarks of the ill-informed, this painful chapter shoudl do the following: 1) Put to rest the "Starbucks, a great place to work" myth, they are just another corporation and terminate employees in no 'nice' manner. 2) If they close 600 stores that have opened primarily since 2006 and more recently, they will have a HUGE lease obligation unless they can find subtenants to absorb at least of their high rents. SBUX 'made" the market for rents, they were the top rent payer. Reminiscent of the homebuyers that bought, no money down at the top of the market. 3) Since many of their leases had a 5 yr termination window it might mean only 3 years left of rent obligation 4) Wonder if Schultz will use his investment in Pinkberry to put Pinky into the vacated SBUX...next 'single purpose craze' waiting to find that the market isn't forever.

Countrywide CEO Finds Struggling Homeowners “Disgusting”

2nd homes, cash out refi's for new cars, buying homes knowing you can't afford the loan but figuring "prices are going up, I'll just resell it and take 'my' profit", and, in a damning example of our pitiful educational system, people that don't know simple math nor have any understanding of how an ARM worked. Those of us that didn't partake now get to see 'bailouts of the poor hapless "Victims". Recently heard of Countrywide offering to assist a Victim by altering their loan term to 3.75% interest only for 3 years then loan becomes fixed at 5.375% 30 yr amortized. This is significantly better than any loan we who were not greedy can get. My take-away is that greed and stupidity get rewarded in the Barney Frank world.

What Is Starbucks Doing Out There?

The issue for SBUX now is that need to SPEND MONEY to fix the issue. Look at the market and close the lower performers that can transfer sales to another unit PROVIDED the service does not suffer. AND, if they make a decision to close a unit and transfer sales, they should also spend any necessary $$ to make sure the store that will get the transfered sales is up-to-snuff. This means write off for the closed store and FF&E PLUS cost to make the 'keeper' look it's best. PLUS, they have the write off for the ill-fated 'warming' to deal with. They need to get this pain BEHIND them and it is my opinion they are attempting to spread the pain over a sequence of quarters instead. RIP off the bandage PLEASE dont pull it off slowly!

Starbucks: Is A "Transformation" Necessary?

Add: Reinvest in the facility. Upscale means clean AND FRESH. Stop being cheap on replacing worn out or stained items in the dining areas, etc.

Still Not Convinced by Starbucks

I don't get how Howie Schultz will 'fix things'. Everything that has been done has had his blessing, if not his instigation. HE is the person that made the ridiculous 'promise' of 20,000 store in the USA. Historical reference should have precluded that statement, look at what happened to McDonald's back in the later part of the 90's when they believed they could put stores everywhere and, by being 'convenient', capture all the business. Is it so odd to believe that some people just don't like Starbucks? I'd rather have 12,000 highly profitable stores than 20,000 with 8,000 of them eeking out a small profit or losing money. Add to this that Starbucks has yet to make any significant in-roads into ownership of any of the their real estate so they will continue to experience extreme increases in occupancy costs. At least McDonald's owns a significant portion of their portfolio!