Credit concerns drive Wall Street lower

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday on mounting concerns that credit market upheaval will erode bank profits and hold back consumer spending, but optimism about corporate investment helped lift technology shares. Trading volume was light and volatility once again high a day before a key speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that could shed light on prospects for a cut in the Fed's benchmark interest rate. A big catalyst for Thursday's drop came from Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH - News), which slashed earnings estimates on its investment banking peers, warning about the impact of faltering credit markets on profits. The AMEX Securities Broker Dealer index fell 0.7 percent.

A Merrill Lynch downgrade of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - News) to sell exacerbated worries about the effect of the credit crisis on the consumer. Shares of the world's largest retailer fell 2 percent to $43.32. "People continue to focus on the big question: 'how widespread are these credit problems?' And then you have high-profile analysts reminding the market that there are probably bad earnings from the financials coming in the back half of the year because of write-downs," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp. in Chicago. The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) was down 50.56 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,238.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was down 6.12 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,457.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) was up 2.14 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,565.30. The Dow and the S&P had seesawed earlier, dropping first on a report toxic gas had been discovered in a United Nations building in New York but reversing the losses when U.N. officials said there was no danger.

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source: updatere.com

GE Real Estate favors boosting hotel loans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - GE Real Estate, one of the largest global real estate investors, like hotels and plans to lend hotel borrowers about $2 billion this year, up from $500 million a year ago, the head of its North American Lending division said on Tuesday. "We like the fundamentals of hotels," Alec Burger, senior vice president of North American Lending, said at the Reuters Real Estate Summit in New York. "The fact it costs me $900 for a room in New York now means it's a pretty good time to be a lender," he said.

GE Real Estate, the real estate arm of General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), has about $60 billion invested globally in real estate. In North America, it has an equity ownership of about $14 billion, controlling $18 billion worth of real estate. On the lending side, the company has about $17.5 billion of total investment lending in the United States and Canada and loans about $12 billion yearly. "I think it's been a great run for hotels over the last three or four years," Burger said. "We're very comfortable to continue to be a lender in this sector."

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source: updatere.com

Real Estate M&A Going From Hot to Not

The Reuters Real Estate Summit held in New York this week had a clear message for property dealmakers: If you’re waiting for the M&A cycle to kick into high gear, it could be a while. In fact, it’s more likely the cycle is headed for a dry spell, they said. Indeed, with commerical property investors spooked by CMBS concerns and homebuilders seeing another year of slumping markets, the M&A outlook at the summit this week wasn’t too hot.

But there may be deals elsewhere in the industry. Companies specializing in real estate advisory and other real estate related services — like Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle – could peak the interest of big investment companies looking for a purchase. Executives at the summit spoke about the possibility of large commercial banks or asset managers beefing up real estate capabilities by buying a real estate advisory or real estate services firms.

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source: updatere.com

U.S. durables orders up, home sales disappoint

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods were surprisingly strong in March, the government reported on Wednesday, but softer-than-forecast sales of new homes took the glow off a pickup in investment spending. The Commerce Department said orders for long-lasting goods like new cars and refrigerators gained 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted $214.9 billion last month after a 2.4 percent February rise. A key category within the report that measures business investment also rose strongly. But a second department report showed sales of new homes rose 2.6 percent in March to an annual rate of 858,000 that was below forecasts for an 888,000-unit rate.

The inventory of completed but unsold homes gained slightly to 545,000 from 544,000 in February, a hefty overhang that analysts said will delay a recovery in the housing sector. "I still believe that falling prices are needed to help clear out the excess supply and without those declines, we could be in for a very long, slow adjustment period," said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. The monthly durable goods report is highly volatile but, nonetheless, the March rise handily surpassed Wall Street economists' expectations for a 2.5 percent increase.

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source: updatere.com

Warehouse lenders' role in mortgage woes

New Century Financial was one of the three biggest subprime lenders in 2006. Then things went south quickly, and New Century declared bankruptcy in early April 2007. Analysts saw the bankruptcy coming a month away -- right after warehouse lenders cut off New Century's flow of money.

All big mortgage lenders -- and especially institutions that don't accept deposits -- rely on warehouse lines of credit. These warehouse lines are like credit cards for mortgage lenders. The mortgage company borrows money from a warehouse line to lend consumers money to buy houses or refinance their home loans. Then the mortgage company sells those loans to investors and repays the warehouse lender. What's left over is profit.

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source: updatere.com