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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 141-150 out of 197 results for "Latest Non-Traded REIT Valuations: Not Good".

Major Tenants-in-Common Sponsor Charged with Fraud

(Apr 2013)

Four former executives of DBSI, one of the largest sponsors of tenants-in-common (TIC) interests, have been indicted on 83 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property. The indictment is seeking approximately $169 million in forfeiture of properties and assets, alleging that the executives misrepresented the financial condition of DBSI to potential investors. The executives named wereformer president Douglas Swenson, general counsel...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - April 12th, 2013

(Apr 2013)

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Glenn Hoppes, United States Energy Corp., TN-KY Development Fund LP, TN-KY Development Fund II LP and TN-KY Development Fund III LP
April 8, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22669)
According to the complaint (opens to PDF), Glenn Hoppes and four companies he controls ("United States Energy Corp., TN-KY Development Fund LP, TN-KY Development Fund II LP, and TN-KY Development Fund III LP") fraudulently offered "unregistered investments in oil drilling projects"...

Credit Spread Futures and the Futurization of CDS

(Apr 2013)

Yesterday S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the launch of three credit spread indices based upon constituents of the S&P 500. The indices are part of a suite of indices that "are designed to track the credit default swap market for global corporate credits, including those in distinct Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) sectors and sub-industries".*

S&P Dow Jones licensed the indices to the electronic exchange trueEX-- "the world's first CFTC-designated, Dodd-Frank compliant...

CFTC Investigating Potential Manipulation in Interest Rate Swap Market

(Apr 2013)

Bloomberg's Matthew Leising is reporting that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued subpoenas to current and former employees at swap brokerage firm ICAP (IAP) "and as many as 15 Wall Street banks" for alleged manipulation of a key benchmark price in the interest rate swap market.

The benchmark, known as ISDAfix, "provides average mid-market swap rates for six major currencies at selected maturities on a daily basis." Similar to LIBOR, the rates are set based on end-of-day...

Fees on Structured Products Rise as Sales Increase

(Apr 2013)

Kevin Dugan recently reported that fees on structured products linked to stocks have risen to their highest level in three years. In particular Kevin notes that "issuers and underwriters earned $137.7 million in disclosed fees, or 1.95 percent of the $7.08 billion of equity-tied securities" that have a stated commission. Average fees have ranged from less than 1.5% to nearly 2% over the past three years.

The increase in average fees is likely due to the increase in average term for products...

Goldman Sachs Uses JOBS Act to Sidestep Volcker Rule

(Apr 2013)

Evan Weinberger at Law360 is reporting that Goldman Sachs may have found a way around the Volcker Rule--the ban on proprietary trading by banks, which also prohibits sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds--by using another controversial regulatory measure, the 2012 JOBS Act (of which we have spoken before):

By setting up an independent business development company in which it will hold a minority stake and limited leverage exposures, Goldman will be able to engage in at least limited...

Stockton California May Proceed with Chapter 9 Bankruptcy

(Apr 2013)

Yesterday a federal judge in California ruled that, despite the objections of bondholders and bond insurers, the city of Stockton could proceed in the process of Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Stockton is a city of almost 300,000 located about 90 minutes east of SanFrancisco Stockton was hard hit by the housing bubble and saw a 16% decline (page 345 of the PDF) in general fund revenue from FY 2008-2009 to FY 2009-2010.

After facing "an immediate and severe fiscal crisis" in early 2012, Stockton became...

Eaton Vance, Transparency, and Exchange-Traded Managed Funds (ETMFs)

(Apr 2013)

Eaton Vance (EV) made a splash yesterday when they announced an application with the SEC for approval of a new type of open-end fund they call "Exchange-Traded Managed Funds" or ETMFs. Since the announcement, several bloggers have commented on the implications of such products, such as Brendan Conway at Barrons and Olly Ludwig at IndexUniverse.

In August 2011, the Financial Times reported the uncovering of patents -- U.S. Patent Nos. 7,444,300, 7,689,501, 7,496,531, 8,131,621, 8,306,901 and...

TD Ameritrade Data Suggests Retail Investors Use ETFs in 'Sophisticated Ways'

(Mar 2013)

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are increasingly popular among retail investors. ETFs tend to have lower expense ratios than comparable mutual funds, and can be traded intraday like stock, giving them a comparable advantage that has proven attractive. The number of ETF issuers has grown, and that competition has driven down prices in what has become known in the financial press as the "ETF Fee War".

TD Ameritrade has produced an infographic that shows how their clients use ETFs, and the results...

JP Morgan's New Incarnation of Non-Agency RMBS Weakens Provisions from Pre-Crisis Version

(Mar 2013)

Last week, the Wall Street Journal covered the first non-agency residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) offering from JP Morgan since the financial crisis. This particular RMBS is a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) which is "supported by 752 jumbo mortgage loans [...] made to borrowers with high credit scores and with about 35% of their own money in a down payment for the property." JP Morgan originated nearly half of the mortgage pool (48%) and First Republic Bank originated...

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