Gansevoort Foreclosure?

It'll be interesting to see how the new one on 29th and Park works out, although I don't think that one has any condos.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/12/9/125418/716/hotels/Gansevoort_South_Issues_Statement_About_Foreclosure_Says_STK_To_Open_Soon

No doubt, the hotel woes are hitting hard today. In an earlier story, we linked to a Miami Herald article about the imminent foreclosure auction of the Gansevoort South, which despite being a party hotel has hit some rough times, just two years after opening.

The Miami Herald said the hotel had issues selling the condo units inside the hotel and that revenue was not enough to help them cover construction debt costs. Today, the Gansevoort Hotel Group sent HotelChatter their official statement on the scenario. The good news is, it's still going to remain a Gansevoort. The Gansevoort Hotel Group is even going to try and buy it back at the auction.

Barbarians at the Gate

Time to get the panic room stocked with MREs and extra ammo ...

Home of Subprime Lender Targeted by Violent Robbers

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-newport-home-invasion,0,6912762.story

NEWPORT BEACH -- Three suspects are under arrest after a violent home invasion robbery in a gated Newport Beach community -- the same development where NBA star Kobe Bryant owns a home. Two other suspects escaped.

The home is owned by Daniel Sadek, a prominent former subprime lender.

Sadek made and lost a fortune in the subprime mortgage business. Quick Loan Funding, which he founded in 2002, wrote about $4 billion in subprime mortgages before it collapsed in 2007

We can trade from anywhere!

Next time Wall St threatens to move trading to a less regulated country, tell them to go to China:

China executes rogue trader, millions still missing
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091208/ts_nm/us_china_execution;_ylt=AhmWYunJ1NlAEAdG3Vse22OOe8UF;_ylu=X3oDMTM3OWVuY3RiBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkxMjA4L3VzX2NoaW5hX2V4ZWN1dGlvbgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzcEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNjaGluYWV4ZWN1dGU-

The Shape of Things to Come II

Maybe HG Wells was right after all. Except the bloodless coup will be won by the banksters, not bomber command:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shape_of_Things_to_Come

From Wiki: The book is dominated by Wells's belief in a world state as the solution to mankind's problems. ... Wells envisages a benevolent dictatorship - 'The Dictatorship of the Air' - arising from the controllers of the world's surviving transportation systems (the only people with global power).

The Shape of Things to Come

WSJA(7/24) South Korean Riot Police Wait Out Factory Seizure

SEOUL -- Police said they would try to wait out a group of fired workers who have taken control of part of a factory complex at South Korean auto maker Ssangyong Motor Co., in hopes of avoiding a violent end to a plant takeover that has lasted nearly two months. ... The demonstrators used giant slingshots to fire nuts, bolts and other projectiles at police again Thursday. They spray-painted a message on the building that said, "If you are not going to talk, kill us all."

(BN) Fired French Workers Win Improved Pay Offer After Bomb Threat

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Fired workers at a bankrupt French auto-parts supplier won severance pay averaging 28,500 euros ($40,500) after threatening to blow up their factory along with components destined for Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen. ... Workers had vowed to ignite gas canisters at the plant if they didn’t get 30,000 euros each in severance pay. The July 13 threat and its outcome illustrate escalating French labor tensions that have led to a series of "bossnappings" -- where striking workers take executives hostage until demands are met - as the economy falters.

The Bankster appears in Dilbert

Opening Salvos

(BN) *SUMMERS SAYS ECONOMY'S DOWNTURN DOESN'T HAVE SAME `STEEPNESS'
... meaning it's not vertical anymore?

(BN) *BERNANKE SAYS FED TO KEEP LOOKING AT ITS DISCLOSURE
... we'll keep looking, we won't change it though.

(APW) Hitler-signed Watercolors to Be Auctioned
... TALF eligible? Or is it PPIP? Doesn't the market realize the long-term intrinsic value of these?

(DJN) GFI Chief: Credit Derivatives To Fuel Interdealer Recovery
... Gooch forecast a "significant" increase in GFI's credit derivatives business within a year. Good luck with that. More press release regurgitation at Dow Jones and the WSJ. WSJ: the print edition of CNBC.

(BN) *AMBAC CONFIDENT OF STRENGTH OF FINL GUARANTEE BUSINESS MODEL
... What the fuck? Why does anyone report what they say anymore? That goes for MBIA, AIG, Lewis, Pandit and on and on.

(BN) *ALCOA SEES CAPEX CUT BY 50% BY 2010
... does the paradox of thrift apply to corporates too? Cutting capex helps you near term, but if everyone does it, won't that tank the economy?

(DJC) DJ Fiat: Workers Holding 3 Company Officials Hostage
... more "bossnappings." My nomination for next year's OED. I hear kidnappings were popular during that other Depression too. (http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/brooke_hart/index.html)