Noteworthy News
Signs of the Times? For as many who say that the capital markets crises is easing or ending or whatever, there is daily evidence that things are not quite that rosy as shoe after shoe continues to drop. A number of this week’s shoes included the following:
The 10 books to help you understand the crisis (or a summer reading list):
Not surprisingly, the number of books about the causes and consequences of the financial crisis has proliferated in recent months. To help our readers keep up, Financial News has compiled the following list of 10 finance books released this year along with brief synopses and links to reviews and excerpts.
“Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism”, by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller. Reviewed by The Economist: http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13362834
“Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy” by Barry Ritholtz. Ritholtz. Reviewed by Bloomberg Europe: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=amoZezYyYwFA
“Chasing Alpha: How Reckless Growth and Unchecked Ambition Ruined the City's Golden Decade”, by Philip Augar. A Q&A with the author in Financial News: http://www.efinancialnews.com/homepage/content/1054016326
”Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at JP Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe”, by Gillian Tett. Reviewed by The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/fools-gold-by-gillian-tett-1676686.html
“Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis”, by John Taylor. Reviewed in the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b6b56bd6-278b-11de-9b77-00144feabdc0.html
“House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street”, by William Cohan. Reviewed by The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032000979.html
“Lecturing Birds on Flying: Can Mathematical Theories Destroy the Financial Markets?” by Pablo Triana, with foreword by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. The book is scheduled to be released June 9, but here is a link to its Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Lecturing-Birds-Flying-Mathematical-Financial/dp/0470406755
“Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World”, by Liaquat Ahamed. Reviewed by the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/books/review/Nocera-t.html
“The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street”, by Justin Fox. Reviewed by Barron’s: http://online.barrons.com/article/SB124363560053267777.html
“Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street”, by Kate Kelly. An excerpt from the book is here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124182740622102431.html
Monday’s Numbers
Year-to-Date Equity Market Performance (as of June 13, 2009):
DJIA(1): +0.03%
S & P 500(2): +4.80%
NASDAQ(3): +17.90%
Russell 2000(4): +5.05%
MSCI U.S. REIT(5): -6.40%
(1) Dow Jones Industrial Average.
(2) Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index.
(3) NASD Composite Index.
(4) Small Capitalization segment of U.S. equity universe.
(5) Morgan Stanley REIT Index.
U.S. Treasury Yields: (as of June 13, 2009)
3-month: 0.17%
6-month: 0.28%
2-Year: 1.26%
5-Year: 2.78%
10-Year: 3.29%
Indicated Spreads for Conventional Fixed and Floating Commercial Mortgages (as of May 27, 2009)
Beginning with this week’s update, we will include rates for floating-rate, 3 to 5 year mortgages.
| Property Type | Mid-Point of Commercial Mortgage Rate Spreads for 5-10 Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages | ||||
| 3/12/09 | 4/2/09 | 4/30/09 | 5/13/09 | 5/27/09 | |
| Multifamily: Non-Agency | +388 | +350 | +350 | +293 | +280 |
| Multifamily: Agency | +225 | +265 | |||
| Regional Malls | +513 | +513 | +513 | +525 | +518 |
| Strip/Power Centers | +575 | +575 | +575 | +530 | +463 |
| Multi-Tenant Industrial | +625 | +500 | +475 | +470 | +460 |
| CBD Office | +500 | +500 | +513 | +465 | +455 |
| Suburban Office | +500 | +525 | +525 | +500 | +460 |
| Full-Service Hotel | +600 | +600 | +600 | +588 | +563 |
| Limited-Service Hotel | +650 | +600 | +600 | +600 | +588 |
| 5-Treasury | 1.87% | 1.76% | 1.89% | 2.09% | 2.13% |
| 10-Year Treasury | 2.90% | 2.69% | 3.10% | 3.10% | 3.56% |
| Source: Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman, LLC. | |||||
| Property Type | Mid-Point of Floating Rate Commercial Mortgage Rate Spreads for 3-5 Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages | ||||
| 4/2/09 | 4/30/09 | 5/13/09 | 5/30/09 | ||
| Multifamily: Non-Agency | -- | +475 | +475 | +475 | +475 |
| Multifamily: Agency | -- | +475 | NA | NA | NA |
| Regional Malls | -- | +550 | +550 | +550 | +550 |
| Strip/Power Centers | -- | +575 | +575 | +575 | +525 |
| Multi-Tenant Industrial | -- | +500 | +500 | +475 | +475 |
| CBD Office | -- | +550 | +525 | +500 | +500 |
| Suburban Office | -- | +600 | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Full-Service Hotel | -- | +650 | +675 | +650 | +650 |
| Limited-Service Hotel | -- | +710 | +725 | +725 | +725 |
| 1-Month LIBOR | -- | 0.50% | 0.43% | 0.40% | 0.31% |
| 3-Month LIBOR | -- | 1.19% | 1.04% | 0.99% | 0.75% |
| Source: Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman, LLC. | |||||
Looks like a well thought-out list! I'd seen the review in the Economist and made a mental note to get the book.
Posted by: Brandon | June 16, 2009 at 03:38 PM