Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz of the day will be.
Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.49 points, or 0.04%, to close at 17,489.50. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 2,050.44. The NASDAQ composite index added 1.40 points, or 0.03%, to 4,986.01.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil dropped $1.07 to close at $40.67 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 99 cents to close at $43.57 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline was little changed at $1.238 a gallon, heating oil lost 1.7 cents to $1.368 a gallon and natural gas fell 1.4 cents to $2.371 per 1,000 cubic feet.
An early gain fades, leaving stock indexes little changed — U.S. stocks ended little changed on Tuesday after a late-afternoon slump wiped out much of the market’s gains from earlier in the day. Investors weighed mixed results from Wal-Mart stores, Home Depot and other big U.S. retailers, as well as new data on inflation. Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners as oil prices closed lower. U.S. stocks ended little changed on Tuesday after a late-afternoon slump wiped out much of the market’s gains from earlier in the day.
Air Liquide offers to buy Airgas in deal worth about $10.3B -- French industrial gas producer Air Liquide will buy U.S. counterpart Airgas in deal valued at about $10.3 billion. The companies say Air Liquide will pay $143 in cash for each share of Airgas in a deal that has already been approved by the boards of both companies. Including debt, the deal is worth 12.5 billion euros ($13.4 billion). The per-share price represents a 35 per cent premium to the closing price of Airgas shares on Monday, and the Radnor, Pennsylvania, company’s stock soared Tuesday after the deal was announced.
TIAA-CREF, U.S. Investment Giant, Accused of Land Grabs in Brazil “As an American investment giant that manages the retirement savings of millions of university administrators, public school teachers and others, TIAA-CREF prides itself on upholding socially responsible values, even celebrating its role in drafting United Nations principles for buying farmland that promote transparency, environmental sustainability and respect for land rights. But documents show that TIAA-CREF’s forays into the Brazilian agricultural frontier may have gone in another direction.” (New York Times)
Sternlicht Says Obama Deserves Blame for Paris Terrorist Attacks “Barry Sternlicht, chairman and chief executive officer of Starwood Capital Group, said President Barack Obama deserves the blame for last week’s terrorist attacks in France. ‘This is this president’s fault, what happened in Paris,’ Sternlicht said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. ‘He said these guys weren’t real. Everyone in the Middle East has been telling him differently and he’s been looking the other way.’” (Bloomberg)
Marriott’s $12.2 Billion for Starwood Signals More Deals to Come “Marriott International Inc.’s agreement to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in a $12.2 billion deal, creating the world’s largest lodging company, signals more consolidation to come as hotel operators find being bigger is better to compete with each other and such upstarts as Airbnb Inc. The combined company will operate or franchise more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide.” (Bloomberg)
Marriott CEO: We Were “Compulsive” About Keeping Starwood Deal Secret “Was it an eleventh-hour bid? No, says Marriott president and CEO Arne Sorenson, who spoke with me this morning. Then how’d he keep such a lid on it? ‘The technical answer is, we are very compulsive about keeping confidential things confidential,’ he said, noting that the company even made certain Marriott executives sign documents that acknowledged confidentiality. But, in fact, the deal’s history dates back seven months, when Starwood originally put itself up for strategic review.” (Fortune)
Financial District Office Building is Sold for $115 Million “A partnership between Newmark Holdings and Northwind Group has purchased a 20-story office building in the financial district for $115 million, the team announced Monday. The acquisition of 40 Exchange Place was financed in part by a $65 acquisition loan from Natixis Real Estate Capital. Newmark Holdings and Northwind plan on renovating the property, near the corner of William Street, to increase its appeal for small and midsize commercial office tenants.” (Crain’s New York Business)
AR Capital to Stop Creating Non-Traded REIT “AR Capital, the real estate investment company built by Nicholas S. Schorsch and William M. Kahane, said Monday that it would stop creating new investment products and close existing ones to new investors to focus on managing the $19 billion it has in current investments. The company cited ‘regulatory and market uncertainty’ that was affecting its ability to raise investor money.” (New York Times)
In Wake of AR Capital Deal Collapse, Marc Rowan Leaves NY REIT Board “The fallout from Apollo Global Management’s aborted acquisition of Nicholas Schorsch’s real estate asset management business continues, with Apollo’s co-founder stepping down from New York REIT’s board of directors. The New York-focused real estate investment trust announced Rowan’s resignation from its board of directors on Monday, less than seven weeks after his appointment last month as part of a ‘strategic review process’ initiated in response to mounting shareholder criticism over the company’s stock price.” (The Real Deal)
Meet the Biggest Landowners in the U.S. “The annual edition of the Land Report 100, listing the individuals and families who own the most real estate in the U.S., is out. The top 10 includes lumber legacies, ranchers and entrepreneurs who own sprawling parcels of forests, prairies and vineyards. This year's list also features landowners who added significantly to their portfolios, like the Emmerson family at number three.” (CNBC)
Real Estate Execs Were ‘Upset” to Learn They Were Paying Sheldon Silver Referral Fees: Testimony “The chief lobbyist for the state's biggest residential real estate developer testified Monday that top execs at the company were “angry” and “upset” after learning they’d been paying Sheldon Silver without knowing it. Richard Runes recalled January 2012 conversations with Glenwood Management founder Leonard Litwin and general counsel Charles Dorego after the real estate taxation law firm, Goldberg & Iryami, notified them that Silver received referral fees as a result of the firm's representation of the company.” (New York Daily News)
New Jersey Mall Frees Up Santa’s Lap: No More $35 to $50 Fee “Santa Claus is free again. A New Jersey mall on Monday eliminated a requirement that parents pay $35 to $50 for a photo or video package for their kids to get into a Santa exhibit. The decision to charge for an attraction that had been free last year sparked anger from many parents, some who said the fee inherently pushed away low-income families and ran counter to the spirit of the holiday.” (Valley Morning Star)
Home Depot beats Street 3Q forecasts on sales boost — The Home Depot Inc. reported its profit rose 12.2 per cent in its fiscal third-quarter as sales gained ground, fueled partly by a continued housing market recovery. The home-improvement retailer reported net income of $1.73 billion, or $1.35 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations of $1.32 per share. Revenue rose 6.4 per cent to $21.82 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts.
Wal-Mart tops 3Q profit forecasts, narrows full-year outlook — Walmart reported improved customer traffic and an uptick in a key sales figure for the third quarter, even as a stronger dollar pressured its performance overseas. The world’s largest retailer also issued a forecast for the holiday shopping season that largely topped Wall Street expectations, and narrowed its full-year outlook after cutting it in August. For the fourth quarter, which includes the key holiday shopping season, Wal-Mart said it expects sales at established locations to rise 1 per cent.