Posted by Leonard Steinberg of URBAN COMPASS on October 16th, 2014 Wall Street is lamenting lower oil prices, yet this delivers some great news for consumers: the average American consumes about 35 gallons of gas per week, or 140 gallons per month. If gas prices are down about 50 cent per gallon on average since… [Read More]
ITS ALL ABOUT THE WEATHER!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on June 26th, 2014 The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the US economy took a 2.9% dip in the first quarter of 2014….the GDP slipped by as much as an annually adjusted rate of 1%…..mostly attributed to the bad weather we experienced throughout the USA. The weather? Really? Having… [Read More]
DOW 16,000: THE CLIMB CONTINUES….
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 22nd, 2013 The DOW has gone over the 16,000 threshold again to-day: an indicator of an improving economy or a signal that we may be at a high? NO-ONE knows. Lets focus on what we do know. There are strong arguments on both sides for sure. Just finished an interview with… [Read More]
FIVE YEARS LATER…..
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on September 18th, 2013 This week, five years ago, the global financial crisis reached a fever pitch with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Today the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to begin its long retreat from ultra-easy monetary policy by announcing a small reduction in its bond buying, while stressing that interest… [Read More]
WHEN THE FED STARTS TO TAPER QUANTITATIVE EASING…..
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 19th, 2013 It is a certainty that quantitative easing will be tapered: it is not a question of if, as much as when. It’s a new world for what tapering could mean for the markets as we have no historical benchmark. Is tapering an indication that the economy is improving?… [Read More]
5 CRITICAL EVENTS THAT WILL TELL US ABOUT THE FUTURE ECONOMY
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 7th, 2013 I had a very interesting dinner with two top bankers who truly ‘get it’. When I asked them what they saw happening economy-wise over the next 6 – 12 months, they told me about the five critical events that could help answer this question: Over… [Read More]
CATCH-UP!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 26th, 2012 This morning Ben Bernanke spoke on the subject of the economy: his conclusion was that the improving employment and growth figures were a product of CATCH-UP. We can see the same thing clearly happening in the luxury Manhattan real estate market. The above picture shows a line… [Read More]
CORNELL UNIVERSITY WINS SCIENCE CAMPUS: GREAT NEWS FOR NEW YORK’S ECONOMY
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 19th, 2011 Cornell University is the winner of a competition to build a new science and engineering campus in the city: An official announcement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected later today. The city has offered free land on Roosevelt Island and up to $100 million worth of infrastructure…. [Read More]
IS THE ANSWER TO U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE NAME STEVE JOBS?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 6, 2011 With Steve Job’s passing, certainly one of the greatest losses of 2011, it may be a good time to look at his company as a case study for the future of other companies in the USA. I write this on a MAC, own an I-pad, I-pod and… [Read More]
HOUSE SWAP, ECONOMY-BOOSTER STYLE?
The economy is experiencing a unique problem: unemployed people who are able to find good jobs in alternative cities are unable to take the jobs as they cannot sell their homes as many mortgages are worth more than the homes in this current market. Why not introduce a NATIONAL HOUSE-TRADE BANK/DATA BASE, whereby someone could… [Read More]