Ralph
Lauren Closes 5th Ave Flagship Store; Still Paying $70K a Day in Rent - (www.jewishvoiceny.com) Suffice
it to say that industry insiders and other observers of the fashion scene were
a bit more than shocked to learn that Mr. Lauren pulled out of his flagship
location earlier this month. Speaking to the NY Post, Tom Cusick, the president
of the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District said, "I don't recall
any company pulling out of a location with a long-term lease after such a short
time on Fifth Avenue. "That gives you a good indication of how poorly they
were doing at that location that they are paying rent there on an empty
space," one source told the New York Post. The person who brought Mr.
Lauren and Coca Cola together in the 2013 lease deal was CBRE's Richard
Hodos. He earned REBNY's Retail Deal of the Year Award for his efforts in doing
so.
London’s
Deflating House Price Bubble Gets Messier - (www.wolfstreet.com) Over
40% of luxury apartments in a tower on the Southbank, next to the London Eye,
were bought by companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, one of
myriad nodes in a vast, secretive financial web of UK-affiliated tax
havens. Over £4 billion worth of London real estate was bought by people
representing a high money laundering risk, estimates the report. The total is
probably much higher. London has also become a magnet for “crisis capital,”
with huge deposits of wealth fleeing insecurity overseas being invested into
the capital’s property market. A sharp drop in electricity usage in areas with
a high density of foreign ownership shows that thousands of properties are
lying unused for much of the year. Inevitably, public anger is rising. In a
poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of Transparency International UK, 54% of
Londoners said they believe house prices are being ratcheted up by rich people
from overseas cornering the high-end property market. More than 1 in 5 of
respondents thought international buyers were purchasing property in order to
launder money.
45%
Of Americans Spend Up To Half Of Income Repaying
"Excessive/Frivolous" Credit Card Debts – (www.zerohedge.com) “...More
than 4 in 10 Americans with debt (45%) spend up to half of their monthly income
on debt repayment..." On several occasions we've pointed out that the baby
boomer generation is, to put it mildly, ill-prepared for retirement. In
fact, over 50% of baby boomers have basically no savings set aside for
retirement at all. Now, a new survey from Northwestern Mutual helps to shed some light on why Americans
are completely incapable of saving money. First, roughly 50% of Americans
have debt balances, excluding mortgages mind you, of over $25,000, with the
average person owing over $37,000, versus a median personal income of just over
$30,000. Therefore, it's not difficult to believe, as Northwestern Mutual
points out, that 45% of Americans spend up to half of their monthly take
home pay on debt service alone....which, again, excludes mortgage debt.
Trump
could target 'carried interest' tax loophole: official - (www.reuters.com) The
Trump administration's push to overhaul tax laws might soon target a loophole
used by some financial managers to lower their tax rates, White House Chief of
Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday. President Donald Trump campaigned before
the Nov. 8 election to eliminate the so-called "carried interest"
loophole, which is used by many financial managers to lower tax obligations.
But a rough outline for a major tax overhaul released last week failed to
mention the loophole. Priebus, however, hinted that carried-interest could be
on the chopping block and warned against analysts taking the view that
financial managers would keep on benefiting from it. "That balloon is
going to get popped pretty quick," Priebus told ABC's "This
Week." The carried interest rule allows financial managers at private
equity, hedge fund and other firms to pay a capital gains tax rate on their
income instead of the higher income tax rate.
As
China’s Investors Rush In, Hong Kong Shares Take a Wild Ride - (www.nytimes.com) Meitu
had been a snoozer of a stock since listing in Hong Kong in December. Then investors from mainland China had a chance to buy in. Almost
immediately, shares of Meitu, a Chinese smartphone app maker, jumped 80 percent
in a week — then lost the gains nearly as fast. It briefly ranked as one of the
most actively traded stocks in Hong Kong, overtaking blue-chip names like HSBC.
The moves were remarkable for a small, unprofitable company that makes a selfie app that lets users morph into fairylike
airbrushed versions of themselves.
U.S. Looks at Sanctions, Military Action to Counter North Korea - (www.bloomberg.com)
David Stockman: Trump’s tax plan is ‘dead on arrival’ and Wall St. is ‘delusional' for believing it - (www.cnbc.com)
Fed Officials Expected to Keep Rates Steady - (www.wsj.com)
Trump Pushing for Vote on Health Bill, but Stumbling Blocks Remain - (www.wsj.com)
On Trade, a Politically Feisty Trump Risks Economic Damage - (www.nytimes.com)
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