wndysrf Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 No doubt, this is going to end up going down as the Greatest Bubble Boom of All Time. Thing continue to accelerate everywhere, as noted by this article in Saturday's Wall St. Journal. This time, in Greenwich, the HedgeFund Capital of the World: Greenwich Builder Bets Hedge Funds Will Pay For Excess Riding a Boom, Antares Erects Mansions on Spec; A Fight With Renters By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN GREENWICH, Conn. -- Joseph Beninati pushes a button in his Range Rover and the metal gates to "Leoncelli," his new mansion in the ritziest part of this exclusive town, swing open. Mr. Beninati says he modeled the 17,000-square-foot home after one he saw near Lake Como in Italy. The floor tiles, he points out, came from a French abbey. One set of doors was carved 600 years ago in China. The basement contains a basketball court, a movie theater and a wine cellar with space for 10,000 bottles. Outside are a bocce-ball court, a swimming pool and a tennis court. Mr. Beninati, 43 years old, moved to Greenwich a year and a half ago. His business partner, James Cabrera, 43, lives in a 19,000-square-foot mansion next door. Their business is local real estate. Here in one of the world's new capitals of money, Mr. Beninati has become rich by catering to the real-estate demands of the very, very rich. As an influx of hedge funds and private-equity firms transforms this venerable community of mansions and gated estates, Mr. Beninati and his partner have become two of the town's top purveyors of modern excess. Many of the financiers flocking to Greenwich in the big hedge-fund boom pay to rent office space in eight buildings managed by Antares Investment Partners, their real-estate firm. They can choose between four Greenwich restaurants in which Antares has investments, and their visitors can bed down at the once-disreputable motor lodge it renovated to look like a Mediterranean villa. If Antares's plans pan out, lushly-paid hedge-fund executives will buy three mansions it built on "spec" -- without buyers -- including one it claims is the largest in Greenwich. Fund traders and anal cysts, Mr. Beninati hopes, will buy luxury condominiums his firm is creating from Greenwich's last big middle-class apartment complexes. All told, Antares manages about $5 billion of local real estate, Mr. Beninati says. It co-owns some of it with Goldman Sachs & Co., hedge funds and other institutional investors. "The town is their play. They feel this town is exploding," says Mark Finerman, a managing director at RBS Greenwich Capital, which has provided loans to Antares. "They want to build a house for a guy too lazy to build his own," and rent him office space as well. Since the 1990s, Greenwich has become home to more than 100 hedge funds, private investment pools catering to wealthy investors and institutions. These new businesses are believed to manage more than $100 billion. As hedge funds gobbled up scarce commercial space, rents shot up and some local businesses moved out. Enormous estates built by billionaire managers such of Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors left longtime residents shaking their heads in disbelief. More and more Aston Martins and Maseratis were seen wheeling around town. Residents began griping about traffic, parking, increasingly expensive shops, and McMansions. "The wealthy are staking their claim on whatever they can," says Dorothy Nins, whose husband is minister of the First Baptist Church. For Mr. Beninati, this all adds up to the "ultimate investment play," he says. During a recent interview in his office in Stamford, Conn., he used a white board and marker to sketch out what he referred to as the town's "business ecosystem." He drew a triangle and divided it horizontally into three sections. In the top section, he scribbled "Hedge funds and private equity." For them, he said, rent is lowest in comparison to profits, so they can pay the most. In the middle tier, he said, come investment banks. At the bottom, he said, sit advertising firms, accountants and lawyers. "We'll move them to Stamford," he said, referring to the city east of Greenwich, where office space is less expensive. In 2002, Antares made its first purchase. Together with hedge funds, private-equity funds and others, it bought Pickwick Plaza, a 240,000-square-foot office building. Antares, which got a 22% stake, renovated the building and rented much of it to hedge funds and other finance firms, eventually tripling rents to about $100 per square foot. In January, Antares and its partners sold the building for $235 million -- about twice what they paid. In 2004, it bought about 18 acres of land from a local hedge-fund executive for about $7.8 million, then hired an architect who had worked on the estate of Mr. Cohen, which among other things, contains a 20-seat movie theater, an indoor pool and an outdoor skating rink. They drew up plans for "Lake Carrington Estate." At about 40,000 square feet, it would be bigger than the mansion down the road owned by Ms. Helmsley. The new house is going on the market next week for $25 million, but any buyer will have to spend another $5 million to $11 million to complete the interior. Last month, with money from Goldman Sachs. and from their own coffers, Messrs. Beninati and Cabrera outbid two dozen other bidders to buy the Greenwich headquarters of UST Inc., a tobacco company, for $130 million. When UST moves out later this year, Antares intends to renovate the building. Mr. Beninati says Antares intends to fill the building, at rents ranging from $100 to $175 per square foot, with hedge funds, private-equity firms and securities firms. Last year, Antares paid $223 million for two 1960s-era apartment complexes, Putnam Green and Weaver Hill, which have long housed young professionals and retirees. Antares set out to convert the 466 units into condominiums, at a cost of $120 million. It has offered the apartments to tenants for $485,000 to $1.3 million. Mr. Wiemer blames the rich newcomers. "Hedge funds are willing to pay whatever it takes to get real estate, cars, clothes," he says. "We can't even shop in town anymore. We are being pushed out of Greenwich." Wall St. Journal is now putting up some pretty cool videos on its website with new stories. This story is one of the top 5 downloaded. Check out the video of the 40,000 sq. ft. mansion here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 My E*Trade feed showing that NXG blasted up to $3.97 as the merkit closed. That looks like a penetration of the $3.90 or so ceiling it has been hitting. But there is no way I'm going to use a 'B' word to describe it. They fooled me once, and then twice on that stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 No doubt, this is going to end up going down as the Greatest Bubble Boom of All Time. Thing continue to accelerate everywhere, as noted by this article in Saturday's Wall St. Journal. This time, in Greenwich, the HedgeFund Capital of the World: Greenwich Builder Bets Hedge Funds Will Pay For Excess Riding a Boom, Antares Erects Mansions on Spec; A Fight With Renters By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN GREENWICH, Conn. -- Joseph Beninati pushes a button in his Range Rover and the metal gates to "Leoncelli," his new mansion in the ritziest part of this exclusive town, swing open. ....... Wall St. Journal is now putting up some pretty cool videos on its website with new stories. This story is one of the top 5 downloaded. Check out the video of the 40,000 sq. ft. mansion here. 576372[/snapback] What a scam. That place doesn't even have wiring or plumbing in it yet. Talk about selling the sizzle! The framing, outdoor finish and development cost they have in that place couldn't be more than 25% of the total finished cost. Rule of thumb in residential is that when the drywall is on, you're half done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungster Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 I was hoping to go hunting with that Micron (MU) dog.... but now I aint so sure.. That dog won't hunt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linrom Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Unbelievable, absolute carnage at VT and the market trades up 100 points. The market is truly sick!. Sure, Pigmen don't send their kids to VT, but, how can one trade through this collegiate 9/11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungster Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Unbelievable, absolute carnage at VT and the market trades up 100 points. The market is truly sick!. Sure, Pigmen don't send their kids to VT, but, how can one trade through this collegiate 9/11. 576435[/snapback] In the market's defense...Smith & Wesson was down over 3%... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungster Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 An interesting blog over at irvinehousingblog.com about possible support of the housing market through "creative financial instruments". As much as it pains me to write this, there is a short to medium term solution to the foreclosure problem: convert part of the mortgage to a zero coupon bond. For those of you not steeped in finance, a zero coupon bond is a bond which does not make periodic interest payments. Think of it a zero amortization loan. You don?t pay either the interest or the principal, and both accumulate for the life of the loan. The loan would be due upon the sale of the house. Here is how it would work for our typical homedebtor: Assume our financial genius utilized 100% financing and took out a $500,000 interest-only mortgage with a 2% teaser rate that is due to adjust to 6%. Let?s further assume his real income (not what he reported on his liar loan) could support a $1,500 payment on a $250,000 conventional 30-year mortgage at 6%. The bank could convert $250,000 to a conventional mortgage, and convert the other $250,000 to a zero coupon bond at 6% due on sale. The homedebtor can now make their payment, and they get to keep their house. But here is the catch: when they sell their house, they will owe the bank a lot of money. If they sell the house in 20 years, they will owe $800,000 on the zero coupon bond note. In other words, all the equity gain on the value of the home will go to the bank. The blogger then goes on to give reasons that this would probably not work longer term...but a very good read.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatohead Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Unbelievable, absolute carnage at VT and the market trades up 100 points. The market is truly sick!. Sure, Pigmen don't send their kids to VT, but, how can one trade through this collegiate 9/11. 576435[/snapback] My heart goes out to those who were killed and injured and their families. I agree, the market has a perverse way of using these kind of tragedies to squeeze the market higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorma Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Unbelievable, absolute carnage at VT and the market trades up 100 points. The market is truly sick!. Sure, Pigmen don't send their kids to VT, but, how can one trade through this collegiate 9/11. 576435[/snapback] "Buy death" An actual quote I heard in an commodity bucket shop the day Sadat was assassinated. Far more often than not it is good advice. Big news noise about death, one or thousands, is bullish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudaca Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Perfect stock for the naughty word portfolio -- ANO. I see no reason why naughty words in other languages can't be used..... 576384[/snapback] So that would make you... "Dr. Ano" ?? 576390[/snapback] Indeed, that pun was always intended. You however are the first to have noticed that in lo these many years. 576393[/snapback] The thought occurred to me a couple of years ago, but I didn't say anything at the time for fear of a food fight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudaca Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Greenwich Builder Bets Hedge Funds Will Pay For Excess Or, in other words: Greenwich Builder Turns Into Hedge Fund Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwd Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Unbelievable, absolute carnage at VT and the market trades up 100 points. The market is truly sick!. Sure, Pigmen don't send their kids to VT, but, how can one trade through this collegiate 9/11. 576435[/snapback] In the market's defense...Smith & Wesson was down over 3%... 576437[/snapback] It is a sad commentary that one person could do that much damage, the ultimate sheple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudaca Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Rusty joins the party late in the day to close at a new alltime lifetime high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_Am_Madness Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 WM closed at the highs. Still holding half of my May 40 calls. Sold the other half earlier today for 60% gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realist Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Wndy.. Your avatar is horrendous dude.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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