Rumor has it that hookers and johns are now using abandoned foreclosures.

Ho-bandos?

Staying in CRE but moving to SPG (sorry if repost), it's a great time to be opening new retail centers apparently. No wonder their forward P/E is in the mid 40's

Simon Expands Camarillo Premium Outlets(R)

INDIANAPOLIS, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG) announced that it opened The Promenade at Camarillo Premium Outlets(R) this morning in Camarillo, California. The 220,000 square-foot expansion brings the property to a total of 674,000 square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) and 160 stores.

A ribbon cutting ceremony with company and city officials was held kicking off a four-day 'Expansion Celebration' which will run through Sunday, April 26 featuring entertainment, promotions, and more. The center is located in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, directly off Highway 101 at the Las Posas exit.

The Promenade is anchored by Neiman Marcus Last Call, a new merchant at the center. Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has relocated to a larger store with a new store design. Gap Factory Store has also relocated to a larger suite in The Promenade. New stores include: Aldo, Charlotte Russe, Columbia Sportswear Company, Converse, Crocs, DC Shoes, Ecco, Esprit, Etnies:exs, Journeys, Karen Kane, Le Creuset, Loft Outlet, Michael Brandon, New Balance, Papaya, Rack Room Shoes, Robert Wayne Footwear, Tommy Bahama, Vans, and Zumiez.

The new stores join an already impressive list of outlet stores including Adidas, Banana Republic, Barneys New York, BCBG Max Azria, Betsey Johnson, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Coach, Cole Haan, Diesel, DKNY, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, J.Crew, Juicy Couture, Kenneth Cole, Michael Kors, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Restoration Hardware, St. John, Theory, and Tommy Hilfiger.

"Camarillo Premium Outlets, which has long been regarded as one of the industry's most productive outlet centers, today becomes one of the largest," said John R. Klein, CEO of Simon's outlet division Chelsea. "The Promenade enables us to fulfill merchant demand for new space as well as the desire by stores to expand existing space. The Promenade provides area residents and visitors the chance to purchase even more quality brands at great savings and this growth has created many new jobs."

In addition to the more than 1,000 jobs the project created during construction, The Promenade will add over 400 new retail jobs to the community. Camarillo Premium Outlets is already one of the largest generators of sales tax in Camarillo, and this project will generate incremental revenue for both the city and the county.

Camarillo Premium Outlets opened in 1995 and has expanded several times. With this latest expansion, the center is now the second largest property in the Chelsea portfolio. Chelsea is the world leader in upscale outlet shopping, with 49 Premium Outlet Centers in 22 states, Japan, Korea, and Mexico. See Sorry. Page not found. for more information.

@GiezCubed: That makes perfect sense as well in Bizarro World. Well done, SPG. Well done.

In Atlanta, Irrational Building Exuberance - WSJ.com 

sam2,
Is that Buckhead or Butthead ?

Anak,

We decided to start flying anywhere we find a cheap ticket in the US. I don't care if it is Oklahoma City. Fly out, rent a car, drive around that part of America, go home. Maybe 3 days at most.

swamp otis wrote:
"there is only a depression if you admit it."

Wasn't that a line from the Matrix ?
"Do not try to fix the economy; that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth: There is no depression."

Nova, thanks.

The sigificant other is allergic to US airports, and then again allergic to freeways. In fact, she's allergic to space. I'm just easing her into our state fair world. And then we'll split and get back to live sea creatures for dinner.

CR, have you ever considered including the data from STR's Pipeline report. You make mention of how hotel construction is being impacted. STR seems to publish a report each month with exactly this data. A .summary of the data series in one of your fantastic graphs would be interesting

STR reports US hotel pipeline for March 2008

15 April 2009 9:42 AM
HNN Newswire

“The largest change comes from the Mountain region due to the cancellation or deferring of projects in Las Vegas such as the 5,000 room Crown Hotel and Casino and the Echelon project,” said Marcella Quaglia, supervisor of STR Pipeline Department. “The Southern U.S. and Pacific regions also have slowed in large part due to the resort nature of these locations.”

Hotel News Now | Hotels News - Article

nova,

Search for, then steal.

Railfax just did their latest Rail Report. BTW, it is free.

The little bump up in rail traffic has turned down. I watch a long freight train go by every night. A little of empty cars and lumber/car carriers these days.

Derivatives Bankers ‘Search for a Soul,’ Seek to Avoid Future Crises'

More like

Derivatives Bankers "Search for a method to secure bonuses,’ Seek to Avoid Future drops in their income"

"There is no depression" SBUX $12.58 ..... +0.75% ...... p/e (ttm) 56.90

As somebody said earlier, go long lawyers.

Yahoo! 404 - Page Not Found

Calif. AG sues Wells Fargo for $1.5 billion

I guess they don't use steel in new hotel projects, excerpt from Nucor press release:

"We have seen business and market conditions worsen each succeeding month"
from September to March, the company said. Heading into the second quarter,
"both the U.S. economy and steel market conditions have continued to
deteriorate," it said. It blamed continued low operating rates, lower pricing
and the consumption of high cost pig iron inventories" at sheet mills for its
weak outlook.

look at the cof short covering wwow getting tasty.

cof - Google Search

I'm loving the AAPL trade, some at 105, 90 and 85. I was a bit early last fall, but my time frame was a year out so I'll take it. SRS is looking especially attractive right now below 28. With SPG's recent movement et al, I just am not sure if I'm missing something in this sector or more likely I just need to be patient waiting for the news to meet my expectations.

Any idea why this came out today?

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve regulators expressed concern in December about Bank of America Corp.’s “ability to remain stable” while the lender was trying to back out of its deal to buy Merrill Lynch & Co., according to minutes of the bank’s Dec. 30 board meeting.

Ahhh, Larry Summers. The gift that keeps on giving. He really should retire and rest his weary head:

Think Progress » Larry Summers falls asleep during Obama’s meeting with credit card executives.

Have you noticed there has not been much chemical spraying over your heads these past couple of days? It may be because of Earth day. Here in SW Florida the sky's are noticeably absent of chemical con-trails. How does it look in the sky's over your neighbor hoods? If you get a chance, see the new video in my signature line.

Comparisons between this economic recession and the Great Depression

How this recession matches up to the Great Depression - CNNMoney.com

"Tourism related jobs have been estimated to be one of every eight jobs. And when they start to go away, there's not a lot of other booming industry...."
.........reminds me of the ghost town previously known as Las Vegas.

"Scientists Making Better Milk Cow"
"The genetic blueprint of domestic cows has been decoded in a scientific feat that traces bovine evolution and may lead to more nutritious milk, meat and increased food supply, scientists reported.
......why does this scare the crap out of me? "Scientists" have been taking the nutrition out of milk for 70-years and I tend to like the cow the way it is now, thank you. Why must people mess with stuff that ISN'T broken? Why can't they confine their "repairs" to stuff that IS ?

Headline from the BBC:

Dead ponies 'got wrong medicine'

That says it all, folks.

--kinda sad, though ...

I think about sept/oct last year I first mentionned that my daily commute passes by a future Hampton Inn that despite nearly six months of site work was still moving earth.

Today they are STILL moving earth (major issues with sewer/water/rock). Ouch!

Well, can I have a dead pony then?

"The number of U.S. businesses and individuals declaring bankruptcy is rising with a vengeance amid the recession, despite a three-year-old federal law that made it much tougher for Americans to escape their debts..."

Decisions by consumers often seem to defy logic - Baltimore Sun

OT:
The Federal Reserve started buying up mortgage backed securities in November and then on March 18th expanded the size of the program to $1.25 Trillion by the end of the year. The total amount of residential mortgages outstanding is just under $11 Trillion, about half of which is held or backed by the GSE’s. The actual mortgages held by the GSE’s is roughly $1.5 Trillion, with the remainder securitized and guaranteed. However, one would have to add in the paper backed by Ginnie Mae as well. The total amount of Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Ginnie Mae paper outstanding is about $5 Trillion. The rest of the mortgages are either held as whole loans on the books of banks and S&L’s or are in private label securitizations (where the really crappy toxic waste is). So just using some back of the envelope calculations it looks like by the end of the year the Fed will own about one quarter of all the GSE related paper outstanding. It also suggests that if the Fed were not buying up all this paper, the number of mortgages that could be made would be sharply lower than they already are. There does not seem to be a lot of demand in the private sector for this paper. Given that home prices are still falling, and unemployment and delinquencies are still rising, one might worry about the credit risk the Fed is taking on. After all historically the Fed invested in nothing but T-bills. The Fed addressed the issue in its FAQ about the program (The page cannot be found.

"Does the agency MBS program expose the Federal Reserve to increased risk of losses?

Assets purchased under this program are fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae, so the Federal Reserve's exposure to the credit risk of the underlying mortgages is minimal."

This is an absolute knee slapper. Don’t worry, the paper is guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie. That is supposed to give us comfort? They somehow neglect to mention that FNM and FRE happen to be on life support from the Treasury to the tune of $200 billion each.

Very silly comparisons, Popeye. To take just one example, under "economic decline" in the left hand column we've got the total decline for the entire 1929-1933 period and we compare that to the decline from 2Q to 4Q of 2008.

If you think the "recession" was over in the fourth quarter of last year and you've got convincing evidence to back your stance, fine. Otherwise it's an absurd exercise.

"OT, thanks for the Joe Bageant ref on the last thread. I've always thought of him as a Garrison Keillor of "that place", and it would not hurt if more people read him to get a better notion of flyover east."

I could not recommend his book Deer Hunting With Jesus more highly.
A very insightful read.

Bank of Japan Governor Shirakawa says U.S. has a long row to hoe, implies policy errors:

BOJ’s Shirakawa Says U.S. Faces ‘Painful’ Adjustment (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

I know China is trying to secure more natural resources durring the downturn by lending to hard hit developing countries, but why Jamaca? Are they trying to get a secure supply of Ganja?

is larr a snorer?

Dirk: to establish a foothold in the Caribbean. Maybe put a naval base there?

wasn't that cheney's mo, pullin' the z's while w waxed eloquent

Michael wrote:

Have you noticed there has not been much chemical spraying over your heads these past couple of days? It may be because of Earth day. Here in SW Florida the sky's are noticeably absent of chemical con-trails.

Right. Because CIA/Military conspirators respect Earth Day. Or maybe it's the "J-people" as you call them.

You are such a loon. I cannot wait until Ken implements filtering.

kermit

Missed the thread again. For the late readers, then...

Lewis up for re-election.

"Investors cast ballots April 29 on whether to re-elect Lewis to the board and split his roles as chairman and CEO. He’s under fire after the bank spent more than $30 billion on takeovers including Merrill Lynch & Co. and posted a fourth-quarter loss. Directors are concerned the vote may be close and were counting on first-quarter results to bolster support for the bank, people familiar with the matter have said. "

Bank of America’s CEO Loses Connecticut’s Support (Update4) - Bloomberg.com