Blog

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

Displaying 31-40 out of 85 results for "Muni Markup Week".

UBS Stuffed $2.5 Billion of ERS and COFINA Bonds it Underwrote in Its Puerto Rican Funds in 2007 and 2008

(Nov 2014)

We've written extensively about the UBS Puerto Rican Municipal Bond Funds. You can find our earlier blog posts about Puerto Rican Funds on our blog. In a January 2014 blog post titled "Diversification and UBS Puerto Rico Bond Fund Losses", we pointed out that the losses suffered by investors in the UBS PR Funds were caused by the portfolios' high leverage and concentration in Employee Retirement System and Sales Tax Authority (COFINA) bonds. In a December 2013 post titled "Merry Christmas...

Durante 2007 y 2008 UBS Rellenó sus Fondos de Puerto Rico con $2.5 Billones de Bonos de ASR y COFINA Suscritos por Ellos Mismos

(Nov 2014)

Hemos escrito extensamente sobre los Fondos UBS de Bonos Municipales de Puerto Rico. Pueden encontrar nuestra entrada de blog más reciente aquí. En la entrada de blog de Enero de 2014 disponible aquí, nosotros señalamos que las pérdidas sufridas por los inversionistas de los Fondos UBS PR fueron causadas por el alto apalancamiento y concentración de las carteras en bonos del Sistema de Retiro de Empleados y en la Corporación del Fondo de Interés Apremiante (COFINA). En nuestra entrada de...

Taxes, Puerto Rico Municipal Bonds and the UBS Funds

(Oct 2014)

We've written extensively about the UBS Puerto Rican Municipal Bond Funds on our blog. Puerto Rico's unique tax regime keeps coming up and we thought it was worth a blog post clearing this matter up.

Puerto Rican residents don't pay federal income tax but do pay very high income taxes. The Puerto Rican maximum marginal income tax rate is 33%, reached at only $50,000 per year of taxable income.

The income on Puerto Rican municipal bonds is exempt from the state income tax that would be paid...

United Development Funding IV Left Investors $34.8 Million Worse Off

(Jun 2014)

On Wednesday last week, another non-traded REIT listed on a public exchange. United Development Funding IV (ticker: UDF), which sold as a non-traded REIT for $20 per share, closed its first day of trading on the NASDAQ at $19.60. As we have argued extensively in the past, we think that non-traded REITs are a very bad deal for investors, and UDF IV was no exception.

We have gone through all of UDF IV's SEC filings and applied the gross proceeds, distributions, and other cash flows to a liquid,...

How is NYRT Doing?

(May 2014)

We've posted extensively about the evils of non-traded REITs. You can find those previous posts on our blog. Two weeks ago we posted the summary results of our investigation into the performance of 27 non-traded REITs which had had a liquidity event by December 31, 2013. We found that investors are $27.7 billion worse as a result of investing in these 27 REITs rather than investing in a diversified portfolio of traded REITs. To learn more, read our blog post titled "Retail Investors Have...

This is How We Determined Investors Lost $27.7 Billion Investing in Non-Traded REITs

(Apr 2014)

Earlier this week we posted the summary results of our investigation into the performance of 27 non-traded REITs which had had a liquidity event by December 31, 2013. We found that investors are $27.7 billion worse as a result of investing in these 27 REITs rather than investing in a diversified portfolio of traded REITs. The post titled "Retail Investors Have Lost at Least $27.7 billion as a Result of Non-Traded REITs" is available on our blog.

Figuring out this $27.7 billion shortfall...

Retail Investors Have Lost at Least $27.7 billion as a Result of Non-Traded REITs

(Apr 2014)

As part of our effort to help investors avoid non-traded REITs, we have written over 25 blog posts on this defective investment type. We have noted in our research that because of high costs, illiquidity, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest, non-traded REITs should underperform liquid, low-cost traded REITs. A number of our blog posts including our post on the early trading in NYRT last week, titled "NYRT's Listing is More Evidence That Even the Non-Traded REITs Winners Are...

NYRT's Listing is More Evidence That Even the Non-Traded REITs Winners Are Losers

(Apr 2014)

The non-traded REIT, American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT, Inc., renamed New York REIT, became a listed REIT this week. It opened at $10.70 and closed at $10.75 on April 15, 2014. Yesterday, April 16, 2014, it closed at $10.55 and today it closed at $10.62. We've posted extensively about the evils of non-traded REITs. You can find our previous blog posts on Non-Traded REITs to learn more.

The April 16, 2014 Wall Street Journal's "New York REIT Starts Fast" quotes Nicholas Schorsch...

Inversionistas del Fondo Rochester de Oppenheimer Sufren Grandes Pérdidas por la Alta Concentración de Bonos Municipales de Puerto Rico

(Feb 2014)

Los inversionistas de bonos municipales de Puerto Rico sufrieron grandes pérdidas durante el año 2013. El gráfico 1 muestra un índice que abarca un amplio número de bonos municipales en los Estados Unidos (el Índice de Bonos Municipales S&P). Este gráfico también muestra un índice regional que se enfoca en bonos municipales de Puerto Rico (el Índice de Bonos Municipales puertorriqueños S&P). Entre los años 2000 y 2012, ambos índices presentaron movimientos muy similares. Sin embargo, durante...

High Concentration in Puerto Rico Municipal Bonds Results in Losses for Investors in Oppenheimer Rochester Funds

(Feb 2014)

2013 was a tough year for investors in Puerto Rican municipal bonds. Figure 1 shows a broad index of U.S. municipal bonds--the S&P Municipal Bond Index--and a regional index focusing on Puerto Rican municipal bonds--the S&P Municipal Bond Puerto Rico Index. While both indexes moved in tandem from 2000 until 2012, the Puerto Rico index shows a much sharper drop in 2013 as the island's economy continued its prolonged contraction. Puerto Rico's 2012 GDP was 12% below its 2006 GDP, according to...

85 Results

<
1
2
3
4
5
6
...
9
>