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Here we go again. After a down session yesterday, the markets experienced another drubbing today in the wake jobless numbers that were worse than expected. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones index had lost 443.48 points, or about 4.85 percent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also down, 5.03 percent and 4.34 percent, respectively. As expected, the Bank of England cut its key rate by 150 basis points to 3 percent, the lowest since the last year Winston Churchill was prime minister, 1955. The European Central Bank lowered its rate by 50 basis points to 3.25…

More than 1,000 affordable housing units will be created or renovated across New York State from Manhattan to Monroe County as well as in Brooklyn and 10 other counties thanks to $66.8 million in financing approved this week by the boards of the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the New York State Affordable Housing Corp. The sale of private activity tax-exempt bonds will finance $45.1 million in first mortgages for multi-family housing developers, including construction of new affordable housing in Manhattan and Syracuse and major repairs and renovations made at Section 8 multi-family rental developments in Nassau and…

Stocks gained before the election, but the market advances following the presidential victory of Sen. Barack Obama may be short-lived, according to the Wall Street Journal.European stocks snapped their winning streak Wednesday morning as investors judged recent market gains as overdone. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index was 2.9 percent lower at 226.79. In terms of national markets, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index lost 2.6 percent to 4517.15, while France’s CAC-40 Index shed 2.9 percent to 3581.90. Germany’s DAX Index declined 2 percent to 5173.30. Asian markets racked up sizable gains on news of the results, with Japan’s Nikkei 225…

In spite of the hype surrounding the presidential elections today and what the outcome will mean for the nation – and the world – in respect to business, the news of the continuing credit crisis still dominates business reports. Circuit City Stores Inc. announced that “due in part to its deteriorating liquidity position and the continued weak macroeconomic environment, the company has decided to take certain restructuring actions immediately, including closing 155 domestic segment stores, reducing future store openings and aggressively renegotiating certain leases.”In a letter to its investors, Blue Mountain Capital Management L.L.C. temporarily halted redemptions at its largest…

At long last, election day is upon us. Or rather, it’s the last day people in many states can vote, since so many have done so already. What will it bring to the financial markets? If nothing else, an end to some bedeviling uncertainty about who will occupy the White House come January, and whether the Democratic Party will actually have a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate. The Financial News interviewed a number of economists this morning to see what the impact of a change in presidents might be on the economy. One of them, Keith Hembre, chief economist…

Simon Property Group said that funds from operations (FFO) for the first three quarters of 2008 increased 10.8 percent to $1.312 billion from $1.184 billion in the same period of 2007. In a conference call relatively upbeat about 2008 but cautious about 2009, David Simon, firm chairman & CEO, said that while the weak economy has already begun to affect mall sales, the company has performed well so far this year. Simon even nudged the 2008 guidance for the year up into the range of $6.40 to $6.45 per share. “Our initial guidance for the year (2008) was $6.25 to…

Financing has been secured for the $168 million military family housing project at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., where Balfour Beatty Communities will be providing 850 homes, including 610 new units. The financing will be used for the design, development and construction and renovation of military housing at the base. At the end of the five-year development plan, Balfour Beatty will have built 610 new units, renovated or converted 119 and made capital improvements to another 121. The units are a mix of townhomes and single-family residences. As reported Aug. 8 by CPN, Balfour Beatty has a property management agreement…

Dallas-based Riverstone Residential Group, already one of the nation’s largest privately owned third-party residential real estate management companies, is getting even larger, growing by leaps and bounds with such moves as its April acquisition of Seattle-based HSC Real Estate Inc. And as Riverstone CEO Christy Freeland (pictured) told CPN, size really does matter.  CPN: While the housing crisis has been sustaining the multi-family market, no sector of real estate is fully escaping the economic downturn and the financial crisis. How have these issues impacted the business of property management? Freeland: Property owners want to keep revenue up as the economy slows…

“Bright” green buildings are becoming more popular across North America, and we’re not talking about the paint on the outside. It’s the increasing use of intelligent technologies to take green building practices–and savings–even further. A new research report conducted by the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) aims to show property companies that using intelligent building features along with green building designs can result in a significant return on investment as well as provide a more healthy and productive environment for workers. Ron Zimmer, president & CEO of CABA, an industry association promoting advanced technologies in homes and buildings in North…

While the nation awaits the results of Tuesday’s presidential election, the financial world continues to hold its breath to see what is going to happen. Wall Street’s steep gains in the final days of October are leaving some investors optimistic that the market has put its scariest days behind it, but they’re still wary about the landmines that could send stocks reeling again, according to MSNBC. Tuesday’s presidential election could help erase some unknowns over how the power structure in Washington will affect investors, but pressing economic questions could ultimately shape the week. Reports due on manufacturing, the service sector…