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 for the day will be.
The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 167 points, or 1.1%, to close at 15,761 on Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 23 points, or 1.3%, to 1,770. The NASDAQ composite rose 61 points, or 1.6%, to 3,919. The price of oil rose 40 cents Friday to close at $94.60 a barrel.
SURPRISE! US ADDED 204,000 JOBS IN OCTOBER
WASHINGTON - Despite all the warning to expect the contrary, a burst of hiring in October added a surprisingly strong 204,000 jobs to the economy in a month when the government was partly shut down for 16 days. And employers added far more jobs in August and September than previously thought. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3% from 7.2% in September, the Labor Department said Friday. But that was likely because furloughed federal workers were temporarily counted as unemployed. The surge in jobs shows the economy was stronger in October than many economists had expected. Activity at service companies and factories also accelerated last month, an earlier report showed. The figures signal that many U.S. companies didn't bother or perhaps liked the government partial shutdown.
TUESDAY NOV 13: TUCSON EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND FY13 FINANCIALS ON AGENDA
TUCSON - At their Study Session next Tuesday, November 13th, Mayor and Council will hear a report from staff on preliminary unaudited FY 2013 financial results for the General Fund and provide an update on the 1st quarter General Fund financial results. This report will show a General Fund fund balance of about $54M, which is about $8M less than the previous year. At their Study Session November 26th, M&C is expected to consider three possible increases to employee compensation upon review of fund balance information contained in this report. M&C memo on preliminary unaudited FY 2013 financials: https://1.usa.gov/195PJ6u
STITELER EXPECTS TO BREAK GROUND ON 7-STORY, 150-ROOM HOTEL
TUCSON - Developer Scott Stiteler says his upcoming downtown hotel project, a 150-room, seven-story tower at the Northwest corner of Fifth and Broadway, is now about two months into its design phase. The hotel, tentatively to be called AC Tucson, will reflect the European boutique style of the AC Hotels brand, which Marriott acquired in 2010 and will soon reveal across the country, mostly in major urban centers like Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami. The average daily rate would be about $145, Stiteler told the Rio Nuevo board in July. Stiteler said the hotel is now about two months in to its design phase. Project leaders have traveled to Spain, the birthplace of the AC brand. He expects construction to begin this summer, with the hotel completed about a year and a half later.
BERNANKE: FED HAS GREATER POWER TO COMBAT CRISISES NOW
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chairman Ben Bernanke says the Federal Reserve is drafting rules to close large insolvent banks without bringing down the broader financial system, one of many steps regulators must take to prevent another financial crisis. Bernanke says the absence of a process to deal with systemically important institutions in 2008 left regulators facing the “terrible choices of a bailout or allowing a potentially destabilizing collapse.” Bernanke is making the comments at a conference sponsored by the International Monetary Fund Thursday. The financial overhaul law passed by Congress in 2010 gave regulators better tools to close down large financial institutions, he said. The Fed and other regulators are working to implement those rules now.
SAC CAPITAL PLEADS GUILTY IN $1.8B DEAL
NEW YORK (AP) — SAC Capital Advisors has pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges in a record $1.8 billion deal with the government. The company’s longtime general counsel Peter Nussbaum entered the plea to wire fraud and securities fraud Friday in Manhattan. But a federal judge didn’t immediately accept the plea, saying she’d wait until a probation report is made. The plea comes four days after the federal government announced it had reached a deal requiring the largest penalty ever for insider trading. The deal requires the Stamford, Conn.-based hedge fund to close its business to outside investors. It also allows prosecutors to continue its criminal investigation and spares no individuals from scrutiny, including its founder, Steven A. Cohen. Cohen was accused by federal regulators over the summer in a civil action of failing to prevent insider trading at the company. He has disputed the allegations.
US CONSUMER SPENDING SLOWS TO 0.2% GAIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers slowed their spending in September, even as overall income grew at solid pace for the second straight month. Consumer spending rose 0.2% in September, after at 0.3% gain the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Americans cut spending on long-lasting manufactured goods 1.3%. That partly reflected a drop in auto sales. Labor Day weekend auto sales were counted in August. Income rose 0.5% in September, matching the August gain. The increases in both months were the strongest since February. September’s gain was helped by the end of government furloughs, which had reduced federal pay in the previous two months. The gain in income and the slowdown in spending meant consumers saved 4.9% of their after-tax income, up from 4.7% in August.
DALLAS FIRM TO BUILD BRAIN TREATMENT INJURY CENTER IN SURPRISE
SURPRISE, AZ – A $15 million medical facility specializing in the rehabilitation of traumatic brain-injury patients would bring 125 new jobs to the city by fall 2016 under an agreement expected to be approved next week by the City Council. The deal, with Dallas-based Cobalt Medical Treatment, would pave the way for construction of a 50,000-square-foot Advanced Rehabilitation Center on an approximately 5-acre undeveloped tract off Bell and Dysart roads. Surprise officials would use $160,000 from the city’s economic-development contingency fund to pay fees associated with the project, including development review, civil construction review, civil permit, building permit and plan review. The firm must obtain a certificate of occupancy by Aug. 1, 2015. “A project like this aligns perfectly with the Council’s Strategic Plan,” said Mayor Sharon Wolcott after the plan was presented by officials from the city and Cobalt to the council Tuesday night at City Hall, 16000 N. Civic Center Plaza. “Job creation and the recruitment of new health care operations are cornerstones of the plan.” Full story
MOHAVE COUNTY DECIDES AGAINST WOULD-BE DEVELOPERS
KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors may have put the final nail in the coffin of any commercial development on 285 acres of the former Silverado master planned community. The Board unanimously denied allowing developers more time to meet the conditions of rezoning the property from residential to general commercial/highway frontage after hearing from three residents opposed to the extension Monday. The land is located along both sides of U.S. 93 between Hidden Valley Drive and Hackberry Road. See full story in the Daily Miner.