Thursday, April 16, 2009

Taking the Economy's Pulse

JP Morgan Chase reports better than expected earnings, to pair with Intel reporting the same and many other companies reporting earnings that happened to be above the dismal expectations and guidance they had provided months ago. All great signs, and combined with a rising stock market, job losses beginning to ease (a TINY bit), final arrangements being made for car companies, banks and insurers protected, beginning to lend and beginning to pay back their loans to the government, it seems we may be turning a corner.

But...

Mortgage defaults and foreclosures rose by 27% over the past few months (despite the moratorium on foreclosures, explain that one!), Nokia saw profits plunge 90%, UBS warns it may have to add to the 8,700 layoffs announced earlier this week and won't know 'for months' if it 'will be able to stay in business if the economy does not immediately and aggressively turn around,' and now the world's second-largest mall owner has filed for bankruptcy protection. Now it's not to close everything, just to restructure debt as it gets settled back into a different market, and it will probably try to sell off a lot of its assets, including: FANUEIL HALL!

That's right, Fanueil, which has seen good profits even in this downturn is currently $1 million in debt because of defaulted mortgage loans and with either need to be 1) bought by another company or 2) closed down. So, if there isn't a company willing to pay the extravagant price for it and willing to close its debt window, then it's bye bye Fanueil Hall.

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