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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (83273)	3/21/2001 1:59:49 AM
From: Michael Watkins	Respond to of 436258

Perhaps they've cut the rate there to -5.

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (83273)	3/21/2001 2:23:15 AM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

<<what the hell is going on? is this the largest tape painting job in history?>> In a word, yes. Here's the best explanation I've come across: quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's key stock indexes staged their biggest rallies since November 1997 as investors said government-related funds such as postal savings waded into the market to support share prices. ``It's got to be some public pension funds buying to prop up the market,'' said Satoru Sakumoto, associate director at Barclays Capital Japan Ltd. ``Who else would have money to buy this aggressively?'' Edit: doesn't seem to be rubbing off on Europe, however. Frenchies are getting fried: finance.yahoo.com^fchi&d=b

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (83273)	3/21/2001 7:38:55 AM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

doesn't matter....

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (83273)	3/21/2001 8:30:38 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

Wallets slam shut in Silicon Valley By Jon Swartz and Jim Hopkins, USA TODAY USA TODAY, 20 Mar 2001, 11:00 AM CST Silicon Valley feels Wall Street's pain. With the stock market falling faster than favorites in the men's NCAA basketball tournament, anecdotal evidence is piling up that consumers and businesses are saving money as fiercely as they spent it last year. The bear market, despite an uptick Monday, has created a "reverse wealth effect" that is casting a pall on: Commercial real estate. Vacancy rates in San Francisco, which hovered at 2% last year, have soared to 8%. "Softness in the dot-com market is creating a glut of office space," says San Francisco chief planner Amit Ghosh. Nowhere is that more evident than in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. Once a bustling center for dot-com dreamers, it is now teeming with "for lease" signs. In the past 3 months, its vacancy rate has more than doubled to 18%, says Mike Hamasu, research director of real estate firm Whitney Cressman. "And it will get worse," he warns. "Tenants are either relocating to cheaper areas or downsizing." Home sales. Flush with inflated stock options last year, shoppers often engaged in bidding wars for homes. A year ago, 5,000 buyers competed for 1,460 homes in Santa Clara County. Today, 1,400 buyers are chasing 2,470 homes. "The market flipped," says Carole Rodoni, president of Alain Pinel Realtors. "Buyers were beat up last year. Now sellers are sweating." In January, the median price of a single-family home sold in the San Francisco Bay Area hit $472,280 — up 21% from the same month a year before. But buyers are spending more time shopping, says Nina Hatvany of TRI/Coldwell Banker. "Let's keep on looking," is a common refrain, she says. Rentals. Apartment listings in San Jose jumped 43% the past 3 months, MetroRent.com says. Vacancies extend to San Francisco's notoriously tight market. "I've seen more 'for rent' signs in the last few months than at any other time," says Dean Macris, San Francisco's former planning director. "Because of layoffs, people are doubling up in apartments or moving away." Prices have barely budged, with one-bedrooms in upscale neighborhoods often costing $2,000 a month. "Sellers will wait another month or two before they drop prices," says Marcy Stein of MetroRent.com. "They're hoping the economy turns around." Auto sales. At Allison BMW in Silicon Valley's Mountain View, some customers are canceling orders, says general sales manager Rick Gebers. Financing also has become more popular. Gebers estimates that 65% of buyers paid cash a year ago. Now, it's down to about 45%. Rachel Lewis has a front-table view of the downturn. The manager of South Park's Ristorante Ecco says business is down 30% from 5 months ago. The upscale eatery is flanked by vacant offices that were bursting with dot-commers a year ago. The neighborhood "got empty awfully fast," Macris says.