The SBA and obloquy

obloquy

(OB-luh-kwee)

1. Censure or abusive language towards someone, especially when expressed by many.

2. Disgrace resulting from public condemnation.

From Latin obloquium (talking against, contradiction), from ob- (against) + loqui (to speak).



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TIP OF THE WEEK

Obloquy for commercial real estate?

The Moody’s/REAL All Property Type Aggregate Index declined 1.2% in January. According to Moody's, CRE prices are down 4.3% from a year ago and down about 43% from the peak in 2007.

CoStar however said values were up 11 percent from January 2010. CoStar, unlike Moody’s, tracks transactions of less than $2.5 million. CoStar also limits its index to class A and B offices, the highest-quality buildings; retail and industrial properties built since 1990; and multifamily buildings of 30 units or more.

If you like a copy of either the Moody’s or CoStar report let me know.

SBA loans are exceptionally well suited to finance or refinance any owner user real estate.
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Indices:

PRIME RATE= 3.25%

SBA LIBOR Base Rate March 2011 = 3.26%

SBA Fixed Base Rate March 2011 = 6.20%
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504 Debenture Rate for March

The debenture rate is 4.09% but note rate is 4.15% and effective yield is only 5.94%.
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AHEAD OF THE YIELD CURVE

Obloquies will continue to fly with so many people still out of work.

Over 8 million jobs were lost in the great recession.

Last month, employers in the U.S. added 192,000 workers. This gain in payrolls for February follows a 63,000 increase in January.

Keep your eye on Friday’s payroll report from the Department of Labor.


What does all this mean?

I don’t know.

For all of 2010, about 1.1 million jobs were created, the most since 2006.

That’s a start, but we’ve got a long ways to go. There are still over 7 million fewer jobs in the U.S. compared to the peak of employment in 2007. If the U.S. economy adds 200,000 jobs per month, it will take 3 years to get back to the previous peak. And that doesn't include jobs needed to offset population growth (about 125,000 jobs per month).

As a result, when the Federal Open Market Committee met two weeks ago, they continued to say conditions "likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period".

Until we see continued and robust improvement in the labor market, interest rates will remain low.

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OFF BASE

Obloquies at baseball games are more often referred to as heckles.

Baseball heckling goes back to the 19th century. The term ‘heckle’ comes from the textile trade. If you heckled you combed out flax or hemp fibers. The current meaning today started as a name for the workers who combed the flax, as they were some of the most unruly people in the workforce.

Perhaps the most clichéd heckle of all time, “Kill the Ump!” was first recorded in Ernest L. Thayer’s 1888 poem “Casey at the Bat.”

Needling the umpire is a time-honored baseball tradition. It is also legal, a New York State appeals court ruled in 1987. In the unanimous decision, Justice Betty Weinberg Ellerin quoted, among others, General Douglas MacArthur. It was General MacArthur, the judge wrote, ''who is reported to have said on his return to American soil that he was proud to protect American freedoms, like the freedom to boo the umpire.''

If anyone had a perfect opportunity to heckle an umpire, it was pitcher Armando Galarraga last season. While playing for the Detroit Tigers, he lost a perfect game following a wrong call made by umpire Jim Joyce in the top of the ninth with two outs. Replays showed that Galarraga, covering at first for a grounder to the first baseman, got the throw and touched the base a stride ahead of the runner, but Joyce inexplicably called him safe. With the perfect game stolen from him, Galarraga simply smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and got the next batter out for a one-hitter that should have been perfect.

To his credit, Joyce apologized after the game and admitted he blew the call. Galarraga accepted the mistake gracefully, saying later, “Nobody’s perfect.”

Armando now pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He had his best outing of the spring Friday against the Dodgers, as he allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. He next pitches Wednesday in the last spring training game of the year.