crankyinvestor

GGP Suspends Dividend in Attempt to Address Liquidity Concerns

in the ass (corr)

GGP Suspends Dividend in Attempt to Address Liquidity Concerns

GGP was doing quite well as long as it could finance long-term assets with short-term paper; now that the credit markets have frozen, that doesn't seem like the best of strategies.
Their executives, particularly Bernie the super-CFO, showed excessive fiscal irresponsibility by taking an already leveraged situation and loading up additional shares personally with short-term margin borrowing. Whatever bets they placed on financing long-term assets with short term financing (sorry for repeating but it's the "original sin" of finance and deserves multiple repetitions) have come back to bite them in the as.

GE Looks Very Attractive Here

GE looked very attractive at 28 too.

GE Finally Joins Victims of Financial Crisis

so now Buffet has a seat at the GS and GE tables; and all because he had the foresight to keep some dry powder and avoid leverage. sort of reminds you of Warren Buffet of the 90s; and Warren Buffet of the 80s; etc.

Is It Time To Sell NBCU?

Media companies, like most others that were bought and sold, were priced as a function of earnings and cash flows, but with multiples that rose and fell based on the availability of credit.
GE's not going to get the 14 times earnings or 10 x cash flow that it could have when money was loose and life was easy. Selling NBCU in a time of tight credit makes no more sense than selling your home when prices are in a slump.
NBCU is a core asset of GE; it provides balance to the portfolio and has as much upside potential as any of the other divisions. A sale at distress price makes no sense whatsoever.

First Time in Thirty Years - GE Won't Raise Dividend

Thanks to Jeff Inmelt and his marginal performance over the past 5 years, I'll be using a walker and living on crackers and cat food by the time I can retire.

Non-Financials Hit Hardest By the Crisis

GGP took a battering in the market on Monday because it has become a proxy for shorting the credit-starved market.

Inhospitable Value at Hospitality Properties Trust

After all the BS, the realities are that the truck-stop business is already on the mend; personal spending by drivers is increasing as fuel costs moderate, and the cost reductions can move the business well into "the black".
If one really wants to profit from HPT, the best way to do it is through the preferred shares; they sell to yield in excess of 13 percent even though the cash flow coverage is in excess of 11 times.
By the standards of other REIT preferreds, they should sell to yield between 9.5 and 10 percent. They have a whole lot of upside, and can easily achieve an overall 25 percent per year irr over the next 2 years (safely).

Wal-Mart: Moving Beyond Low Prices

only some wmt stores are sub-par; if anything, the walmart experience can be a real hoot for someone who's been shopping in smaller and more upscale stores; recently, we put together a party for 150 people on the spur of the moment -- 2 vanloads of stuff we bought on a sunday morning for an afternoon bbq - including 2 bbq's; 40 lbs of meat; 30 lbs of hot dogs; and enough beer to float a battleship

it was a ton of fun; cost us less than taking 4 people out to dinner; and was all accomplished under one roof with one check-out line.

REITs: Uninspiring Valuations, Still Vulnerable to Housing Bust

Expectations are just miserable for the near-term commercial real estate: mortgages may roll over with much higher spreads; contraction and failure to exercise renewal options by retailers will create vacancies at weaker malls; apartment reits can no longer sell off properties to condo-converters as these guys go down in flames.

Inhospitable Value at Hospitality Properties Trust

The TA shortfall is mitigated by the recent drop in gas/diesel prices.
The "shaky" dividend may be "shaky" for 20 - 30 cents out of 3.08.
It's built into the stock by a wide margin.

Islamic Banking in America?

1. calling these institutions banks is a misnomer
2. the "trust" they're built on doesn't work as well in Western countries where honor killings are frowned upon.
3. the "trust" they're built on presupposes that a "borrower" will act honorably when faced with the choice of paying for his wife's medicine or repaying these loans.