Office rents are falling, vacancy rates are approaching 10%, and construction of the new World Trade Center continues.
Anyone with an option is fleeing Manhattan, the smoking bans, transfat bans, proposed taxes on free bridges, higher income taxes, MTA claiming new budget shortfalls – and living and working in the most obvious target if/when there is another large terrorist attack.
“Intense Preparations” are underway preparing for a possible GM bankruptcy, along the lines of Geither’s plan – to split the company into a “good GM” and a “bad GM”.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like the decision has been made – in a company as complex as GM, it takes a while for lawyers to write up the paperwork and anticipate possible objections the court or other parties (including countries in Europe) may have.
If GM “goes”, the automotive parts business will likely follow – as well as serious damage to the bondholders (most of the value of the bonds has already been “written off”, but forces everyone to adjust their valuation)
But don’t worry – the Federal Reserve has lots of “money” it can create to keep funding cascading bailouts of the companies that fail.