Author: Tom Silva

Paulson’s TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) turnaround – he originally dismissed the bailout package as a recipe for “failure” -may demonstrate that his revised response is a gesture to public opinion.  At present, the bailout also seems geared more to help Main Street than Wall Street, a strategy that will play well with the general […]

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is sitting on $350 billion dollars of the taxpayers’ money, and can’t quite settle on the best way to spend it.  When approved by Congress in October, the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) bill’s purpose was to purchase bad mortgage assets that had frozen the credit markets. The Treasury Department […]

Stressed single-family homeowners trying to pay their mortgages might be in for some relief after a recent move by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s leading mortgage-finance issuers.  Since being placed under a government conservatorship in September, Fannie and Freddie have devised a plan to help homeowners who are 90 days behind in their […]

Wal-Mart’s growth strategy is poised to overtake Jewel and Dominick’s as the leader in Chicago’s $12 billion grocery market.  Though not viewed primarily as a place to buy food, Wal-Mart’s new super centers, offer savings in the 10 to 15 percent range over traditional grocery stores.  Wal-Mart currently has 16 grocery stores in Chicago’s suburbs, […]

Layoffs and the promise of more to come, falling home prices and shrinking investment portfolios have created the highest level of consumer pessimism on record, says the Conference Board.  According to an online AP report, consumer confidence sank to just 38 in October, a significant drop from the rather rosy 61.4 reported in September. The Conference […]

As if we needed it, even more evidence attesting to the ongoing economic slowdown came to light recently.  According to a Federal Reserve Board report referenced on Market|Watch and known as the Beige Book, the slowdown in economic activity in late September. Among the findings are: Factory activity is slowing. Non-financial services – typically the […]

The Treasury Department is spending the first $250 billion of the $700 billion rescue bill that Congress recently approved in an attempt to defuse the financial crisis that has dominated the headlines for weeks.  According to an article on GlobeSt.com the move – which partially nationalizes the banking system – is seen by some as […]

Housing prices in the United States plunged a record 16.3 percent during July, compared with the previous year.  According to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, this indicates an ongoing home-price decline now in its second year. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.9 percent in July, when compared with June.  That […]

A sign of the times from GlobeSt.Com:  Construction of the high-profile Santiago Calatrava-designed and engineered Chicago Spire condominium tower has been postponed – a victim of the ongoing economic slowdown.  The building is still in its infrastructure-construction phase, with the neighborhood’s utilities undergoing updates to support the structure and its residents.  With work at a […]

Bill Alter, founder of The Alter Group, passed away peacefully Friday, August 8, in his Winnetka, IL, home of complications from Alzheimer’s at age 78.  Named one of the most influential people of the 20th century by National Real Estate Investor magazine, Alter presided over the development of more than $1 billion of space over […]