One giant debt for mankind: US national deficit would reach almost to the moon ... - Daily Mail

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Daily Mail

One giant debt for mankind: US national deficit would reach almost to the moon ... Daily Mail By Mail Foreign Service President Ronald Reagan once famously said that a stack of $1000 bills equivalent to the US government's debt would be about 67 miles high. That was 1981. Since then, the national debt has climbed to $14.3 trillion. ... and more »

'Iran aiding Assad in crackdown against protesters' - Jerusalem Post

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The Guardian

'Iran aiding Assad in crackdown against protesters' Jerusalem Post COM STAFF 'Washington Post' reports members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force helping regime quell unrest despite US sanctions. Iran has continued to send trainers and advisers to Syria in order to help Bashar Assad's government clamp down on ... Syrians sustain their protests, troops open fire Washington Post In Syria, Accounts of Widening Torture W »

Baltimore Development Corp. reveals teams vying to build downtown arena - Baltimore Business Journal:

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unveiled the list of interested developers vying to construct thearenaa — which could cost up to $300 million on the site of the existing 46-year-olfd First Mariner Arena. The BDC, the city’sd development arm, also said Tuesday it has narrowed down a list of 12 consultant teams to four that submitted bids to work as financial consultants on behalf of the agencuy for thearena project. In an interview Tuesdayu afternoon, BDC President M.J. “Jay” Brodiew offered some details as to what each developetwas proposing, in addition to the arena. Brodie said the $300 millio price tag to build the new arena will rise with the additionaol components developmentsare pitching.
“We need to reflec t seriously oneverything they’ve showbn us,” Brodie said. The BDC has said it hopesa to select a development teamthis summer. The four developmenyt teams are: 1) Developers: ESmith Legacy and Garfield TrauDevelopment (Emmitt Smith, Brian Morris and Vernon Marrows from ESmith Legacy and Ken Portnoy, Ray and Greg Garfield from Garfieldc Traub); • General contractor: Baltimore’as Sage Policy Group, led by Anirban will also serve as economic analyst. Plans include: 20,000 squares feet of retail space; a seven-screen movie theater and a smaller 1,00p0 seat concert venue. 2) Baltimore-based and Capital Venture Group.
• Operator: Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Comcast’x Global Spectator. The company manages 31 arenas acrosd the country including the Wachovia Centerin Philadelphia; • Hotelk operator: , the holding company of the Sheraton and W Hotel brands; • Baltimore’s Moag & Co., led by former Chairmaj John Moag, is part of the team as a financial consultant.

Moneta's Schick establishes University of Missouri-St. Louis professorship - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Alumnus Peter Schick, chairman of the , has pledged $1.7 milliohn to establish an endowed professorship in finance in the College of Business The endowment will be known as thePeter G. Schick Professorship in Financeat UMSL. The which will be the first endowed position forthe college's finance area, will be filler through a national search. Moneta Group is a financiap advisory company basedin Mo. Also on Wednesday, UMSL established a new partnership with the to creats the Center for Excellence in Financial Counselingat UMSL. The FCE is a nonprofitr dedicated to improving thefinanciapl well-being of consumers througuh the professional development of financial counselors.
Assorter assets of the foundation totalingabout $3.25 million will be donateds to UMSL. The Center for Excellence in Financial Counselinbg will be locatedon UMSL's South Campus. It is expecter to open in July.

Medical testing firm expands locally - Dayton Business Journal:

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Dayton-based , which tests blooe and other bodily fluids at 30 area will add a center in Eaton in the next two month and another in Jamestown later this Both offices will begin witha $100,0000 investment and one or two full-timew staff members before building up as patient deman d increases. The offices are set to see a total of 25 patientsz a day or 500 patients a Company officials said increasing demand for healtn care services and a push to cut health care costxs is leading tothe firm’s growth. Ed Doucette, chiefv executive officer, said while laboratory diagnostics only account for 3 percent ofthe U.S. healthy care costs, 70 percent of decision-making is basecd on the results.
CompuNet, which postex $60 million in revenue last year, is set to increase to $65 millionh in 2009. CompuNet, which has 530 full-time employees, sees a totakl of 30,000 patient visits a month, 360,000 a at its centers.

US muni bond funds break outflow streak - ICI - Reuters

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US muni bond funds break outflow streak - ICI Reuters NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - US municipal bond funds broke a 26-week streak of net outflows as investors tilted back into the sector for the first time since November, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday. ... ETFs, Taxable Bond Funds Stay Hot In April Financial-Planning.com  »

Green Township OKs Mercy hospital plan - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The plan passed 3-0. “We’re very pleasedr to get to this stage and excited to take the next saidPete Gemmer, spokesman for Mercy. “Wes realize there is still a lot of work to do and we look forward to continuing to work with the residents and the township leaderw to develop a hospital everyone can beproud of.” The projecg will now be submitted to the Hamiltonb County Regional Commission for consideration, probably next Gemmer said. The planned hospitall and parking areas would cover about 40 acresz and sit near toInterstate 74. The facility, to cost $200 could open in early 2014. The proposeed site is 60 acres.
Mercy has said it will close itstwo West-Sidse hospitals: Mercy Hospital Western Hill and Mercy Hospital Mount Airy. The new hospital, with 200 to 250 will be a replacement for Some residents in the area had expressed concerns about increasedd traffic as a result of the whose main access road wouled be from NorthBend Road, at roughly the midway poing between Kleeman and Boomer. Gemme r said a traffic impact study through the HamiltonnCounty Engineer’s Office is nearly complete.

El Paso Pipeline prices offering of 14M units - BusinessWeek

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El Paso Pipeline prices offering of 14M units BusinessWeek El Paso Pipeline Partners LP said Friday that it priced a public offering of 14 million common units at $34.51 per unit. The company plans to use the offering's net proceeds for general partnership purposes, including potential acquisitions and growth ... El Paso Pipeline 14M-Unit Offering Priced At 3.3% Discount W »

Watch Jamie Foxx & Wendell Pierce In First Trailer For 'Horrible Bosses' - Indie Wire (blog)

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Marie Claire.co.uk

Watch Jamie Foxx & Wendell Pierce In First Trailer For 'Horrible Bosses' Indie Wire (blog) Here's your first full trailer for the upcoming ensemble workplace comedy, Horrible Bosses, which centers on three best friends who decide to kill one anothers' bosses, when they become frustrated by their jobs. That's ex! actly what I would have thought ... 'Horrible Bosses' Gets a Promising First Trailer I Am Rogue.com  »

5 Who Thrive: Four key changes enabled SuperGeeks to prosper - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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“We’re seeing if they can fly in this league, and they shoulr be able to match the level of skillp andquality immediately,” Ledoux “Even if we’re desperate for workers, we’l still take the time to get it Beyond implementing stricter hiring Kerr and Ledoux are creating a working environmengt that supports “A” employees withoutr micro-managing. The fourth step, Kerr was to begin soliciting feedbacjfrom SuperGeeks’ base of approximately 10,00o0 customers through online surveys and comment “We started asking customer on a regular basis what they want, how they how we can do thing s differently or better, which is something we hadn’yt done before,” he said, adding that he encouragese participation through giveaways for such items as iPodsz and certificates for a professional massage.
“Sometime the comments are painful, many times it’a insightful, and almost always it’s worthy gold,” Kerr said.

Pacific Business News (Honolulu): Honolulu Commercial Real Estate Listings - View Commercial Real Estate

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PCL Construction relies on niche to weather downturns - Denver Business Journal:

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For the Rocky Mountain division, that meant a turn to renewabldenergy projects, building on military bases and in the mountain resorgt towns. So far, the moves have paid off for the employee-owned company, which is based in Canada and hasits U.S. headquarterd in Denver. Companywide, PCL billed about $6.1 billioj worth of work in its fiscal2008 (which ended Oct. 31) and expectsd to bill about $6 billion in 2009.
The with 3,000 full-time focuses on commercial, heavy civil construction — such as roadds and bridges — and industrial In the Rocky Mountain division, whicyh covers Colorado and eightsurrounding states, PCL had revenure of $200 million in fiscal 2008 and expects $412 milliom for fiscal 2009, said Allen Ross, the division’s vice president and districty manager. The division has 178 all in Colorado, with anothefr 46 people workingat PCL’s U.S. headquarters. “Colorad in general is faringh much better than other partw ofthe country,” said who has been with PCL for 24 years.
“We’res looking at pursuing a data center in ColoradkoSprings [to cost] about $100 million. I thinjk there are good opportunitiesin Colorado, and we’re righf on track with where we shouled be in the first The company even is pulling workers into the Rocky Mountain divisioh from other regions where the work isn’ coming in as fast, he said. In 2002, PCL completerd the Alfred A. Arrajm U.S.
Federal Courthouse in It did the $90 million reconstruction of the interior of the Ellir CaulkinsOpera House, completed in and currently has 22 people overseeing construction of the nearly $240 milliojn wind-turbine-tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo for Danisg wind-power company Vestas. In the mountains, PCL is building two projectw for Broomfield-based Vail Resorts Inc.: the Ritz Carltohn Residences with117 units, including a health club and swimming pool at the bottok of Vail ski resort scheduled for completion in 2010; and One Ski Hill Plac e at the base of the Breckenridge ski “We find them to be very professiona l and we find them to be very strong from a financial strengtjh perspective,” said Keith Fernandez, president of Vail development company.
“We have comfort in their abilityto execute.” Fernandez said he’d also impressed with PCL’s aim to work well with clientws — even inviting him to training sessions for employees to talk about what a developer wants from a general contractor before the first shoveol hits the dirt. “They’ll bringb in management people and field people from all over the country for two orthrewe days,” Fernandez said. “I’ve talked to them severao times onpreconstruction services. Other [companies] that I’vew worked with haven’t invited me.
” While Ross admittedx the recession’s depth has surprised PCL’s executivesd — even hitting the resorts they’d thought would be safe from it mountain workremains steady, he “We picked up a lot of work in the mountains, whichh will help carry us through 2009 and he said. “The big ones, the $200 milliom projects, are slow, but in the mountainsd the smaller projectsare continuing.” And with lack of financingt for commercial projects slowing that PCL’s companywide move into tenant-finish work has been successful, Ross “When people aren’t building new buildings, they’re he said.
PCL’s special projects division for tenant-finish work aims at jobs ranginffrom $50,000 to $5 million, he said. “They’ree turning out two or three pricings aweek now, and last year did 628 jobs [throughout the company] worth $506 millioj — that will keep some people Ross said. As for other companiesw wondering how to survive the Ross advises owners to take thelong view, work hard to diversifgy their companies and make sure the compan y fulfills its promises.

Commercial foreclosures start to spread across Northern Va. - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Anyone who follows the commercial real estatd market knows there are buildinges in troublethroughout Washington, but as one drivess along the Dulles Toll Road or Route 28, it’s hard to miss the signsw of distress. “See-through buildings” dot the corridor, beref t of the interior office wallsthat don’t show up untio a tenant does. In recengt weeks, at least two lenders have givenn up the waiting game and taken the keys and the titles back fromthe owners: Lincoln Park III and Monument III. More than 50 officwe buildings stand empty or virtually emptuy inNorthern Virginia, with 46 lyingg beyond the Beltway.
With no tenants biting at their rock-bottonm asking rents dozens of those buildingsz are expected to sink into foreclosure The 203,000-square-foot Lincoln Park III, 13857 McLearen was developed by and sold to an entith in 2007 for $47 million, duringv the last days of the commerciaol real estate boom. Still asking rents dropped as lowas $28 per squarw foot and brokers scrambled to put together a deal for an interestede tenant. In March, starterd its foreclosure proceedings by appointinf asubstitute trustee. ING did not responcd to a requestfor comment, but Fairfax County tax assessorss estimate the building is now wortbh just $35 million.
The building may be worth even Like many propertytax offices, Fairfax County’s assessmeng procedure lags market conditions by as much as two said David Levy, a co-founder of McLean-baseds , which represents property ownerzs in tax appeals. Although Levy had time to fielda reporter’s questions while hitting golf ballzs in his yard, the tectonivc shifts in the real estate economy have flooded him with appeals from desperate property owners. “There’xs certainly a lot of businessout there,” he said, his club clinkinb against another ball. “Prior to this, I hadn’g filed an appeal in Fairfax Countusince ... gosh, I can’ t remember when.
Probably six, seven or eighft years ago.” Some commercial buildings in the Washington regionh have lost as much as half theifvalue but, on average, his clientss are asking tax authorities for 20- to 25-perceny reductions in assessed value, Levy said. If those numbers are most of his clients will have lost virtually all of the equity they have intheitr buildings. And with the emboldened tenantr market demanding lower rent and highef allowances for custom interior many owners are calculating it might take them up to sevej years to recoup the cost of landingthat “Landlords are saying this is a losing game,” Levy With lending conditions already bleak, those owners will face foreclosuree if their existing loans are due in the near “There are going to be a lot of buildingas trading on the markert through the banks,” Levy said.
One of Levy’ s clients is another bank that swiped a Herndon property back from its In April, took back title to Monumentf III, a 193,138-square-foot building at 12930 Worldgate The owners — a joint venture between The Praedium a New York-based real estate investment and of Bethesda — paid $54.09 million, or $284 a square foot, for the building in At the time of the 2007 sale, the buildin g was just 29 percent leased. The joinr venture owed nearly $51.8 million on the GE note. the building is nearlty 80 percent leased, yet Fairfas County assesses its valureat $50.6 million, which is the recorded “sale” price for the Aprilp transaction.
Unless something dramatic happens to strengthen and emboldenn the banking andfinance industry, commercial real estate’s woes are likely to worsenj in the near future. By next a massive wave of properties financeed in 2005 through thecommercial mortgage-backed securities market will need to find new Right now, the options are few, and the legions of owneres of these securitized notes can’t easily be corralled to sign off on loan In March, the Federal Reserve announceed that it would expand one of its primarhy rescue programs, the Term Asset-Backesd Securities Loan Facility (or to include commercial property originalluy financed through CMBS loans.
There’s just one catch: Only the highest-rated securitieas are eligible for purchase throughthe program. With values ratings agencies are now questioning the optimisti c underwriting on many of these CMBS-financed deals. For instance, Standare & Poor’s on May 18 lowered its corporate creditt rating onTishman Speyer’s D.C.-area real estate portfolio to from “B+.” A large chunkk of that portfolio, which was purchasec in 2006, was financed through the CMBS “The government is hoping that all these fixes will fix the lendinvg environment so that the credit facilities will open up and starf lending again before we have a major problem,” said Mark president of Larsen Commercial Real Estate Services/Oncor International.
“But so far, that hasn’tr happened.” Despite all the glum there is one piece ofgood news, at leasy for the struggling Reston/Herndon submarket. Afterr years of overbuilding in theDulles corridor, developerxs have now pulled out completely. Just 235,433 squar feet remain under construction inthe Reston/Herndon submarket now, comparexd to more than 1.1 milliomn square feet in the first quarter of 2008. There’x just one building under construction — Bostonj Properties’ 11955 Democracy Drive. Although it is still being built, it’s already been leased in its entirethy by the College EntranceExaminationh Board.