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May 8, 2008 Sign up Forward Archive Advertise The daily source on REITs and real estate investment   Top News  Cantor, KBW to capitalize on real estate opportunities Interdealer broker Cantor Fitzgerald plans to launch a real estate opportunity fund of as much as $350 million to capitalize on distressed real estate assets. The fund will also focus on other parts of the sector, such as development. Meanwhile, investment bank Keefe Bruyette and Woods is starting to expand its presence in the sector by launching a real estate investment banking division. The group will help real estate companies with their capital needs along with providing advisory services. Financial News Online (U.K.) (subscription required) (5/7)   Capital Markets  Banks make some progress in selling hung bridge loans Banks have managed to sell about half of the $300 million in hung bridge loans at the start of the credit crunch, according to Bill Winters, co-head of JPMorgan Chase's investment bank. The loans had been used to finance leveraged buyouts, but got hung up when the credit crunch kicked in last summer. Banks recorded massive charges to move them to their balance sheets when they were unable to sell the loans. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (5/8) Report: REITs may face trouble accessing capital Ahead of the industry's two biggest events, including NAREIT's REITWeek Investor Forum, REIT executives say they see mixed signals in the CMBS marketplace. The sector has enjoyed a solid start to the year, but a recent Fitch report suggests access to capital is a concern. "Not a lot's trading on the CMBS side; it's very interesting," said Simon Property Group CEO David Simon. "At this point, it's just very hard to find the paper. We do expect that logjam to loosen up." CoStar Group (5/7) White House economist doesn't see recession in U.S. The U.S. economy is not in a recession, according to Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear. "The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession," he said. Lazear also expects stimulus checks to fuel growth in the current quarter. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (5/8) Other News Moody's president to retire at end of July International Herald Tribune/Reuters (5/8)   Investment News  Pub operator Enterprise gets approval to become a REIT Enterprise Inns received approval to convert into a real estate investment trust by Britain's HM Revenue & Customs. The approval, which make Enterprise the first U.K. pub group to convert into a REIT, lifted the company's shares 29% and gave a boost to the overall pub sector. The Times (London) (subscription required) (5/8), The Independent (London) (5/8) British mall operator warns of more write-downs Liberty International announced a $675.8 million write-down to the value of its $16.3 billion retail holdings during the first quarter. Liberty warned that write-downs are likely to continue across Britain's shopping mall owners. The Times (London) (subscription required) (5/8) Analysts see Maguire suspending dividend Maguire Properties Inc. is not expected to have cash to pay its common dividend in the foreseeable future. The troubled company released earnings late Tuesday that led analysts to speculate the company will not even be able to pay its first-quarter dividend of 40 cents per share. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)/Dow Jones Newswires (5/8)   Real Estate Marketplace  Housing slump a boon for rental property owners With mortgage holders continuing to default, the rental market has remained strong. "People are working, and they need places to live; if they can't buy, they'll rent," said Michael Cuggino, president and portfolio manager of the Permanent Portfolio Fund. Demand varies among markets. InvestmentNews (free registration) (5/5) The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) RECON Spring Convention - May 18 - 21, 2008 Join the Pitney Bowes MapInfo and Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software professionals at this premiere global retail real estate convention in Las Vegas - booth #S 5110. We will be promoting the latest predictive analytic tools to enable your organization to make mission critical decisions. Schedule a complementary meeting with one of our analytical consultants. Sign up here. Interested in learning more about advertising in NAREIT SmartBrief? Contact Susan W. Kim at (202) 407-7877 or skim@smartbrief.com.     NAREIT News  REITWeek®: NAREIT's Investor Forum, June 4-6 REITWeek®: NAREIT's 2008 Investor Forum® is less than a month away, June 4-6. The event will once again be held at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel. In addition to presentations from more than 130 real estate companies, REITWeek® will feature informative panel discussions including top real estate professionals from around the globe. This year's sessions include detailed looks at the credit markets, the future of the economy and the state of the retail industry, among others. For a complete agenda and registration information, Click Here. Track performance of U.S. and global real estate markets Updated daily, the FTSE NAREIT U.S. Real Estate Index Returns and the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Returns provide index performance data, industry segment returns and comparisons against other major market benchmarks. Learn more about NAREIT ->   Join NAREIT |  Policy & Politics |  NAREIT Events |  Publications   Policy Watch  SEC aims for greater disclosure from investment banks The Securities and Exchange Commission wants investment banks to publicly disclose details of their funding levels after the second quarter. The increased pressure is the SEC's first step to increase disclosure in light of the collapse of Bear Stearns. ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (5/8), The Wall Street Journal (free content) (5/8), Financial Times (free content) (5/7)   SmartQuote  Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?" --Ronald Reagan fortieth U.S. president     Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Advertise Associate Publisher:  Susan W. 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