This is an interesting post from the National Apartment Association blog, particularly some of the reasoning behind the lack of deals in multi-family housing:

"'There are going to be deals out there,' he said. But companies should not expect a large-scale clearance reminiscent of the U.S. government’s Resolution Trust Corporation that liquefied many non-performing assets in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he said. 'I don’t see that happening.'

Part of the issue is that special servicers, which represent multiple lenders in commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) loans, have little incentive to sell properties at a discount right now, said Christy Freeland, who was recently named Chairman of Riverstone Residential Group, which manages 185,000 apartments across the country. 'Servicers can wait three or four years and see if the property’s value or NOI goes up,' she said."

Seth Godin's post about some people being better customers/prospects has this interesting tidbit:

"Walmart and other mass marketers are now offering top bestsellers for $9 or less each, about $5 less than their cost. Why? Why not offer toasters or socks as a loss leader to get people in the store? I think the answer is pretty clear: people who buy hardcover books buy other stuff too. A hardcover book is a luxury item, it's new and it's buzzable. This sort of person is exactly who you want in your store."

I think he makes an excellent point and it's something to remember as you consider premiums and giveaways for boosting sales: make sure they attract the right kind of customer.

Mark Cuban argues that TV execs should be praising DVRs instead of trying to kill them.

Once again Fec provides a compendium of information about a pressing financial issue. This time it's commercial real estate. Here's my favorite quote-of-a-quote:

"The problem for the industry is that between now and 2013, more than $2 trillion in commercial mortgages, which typically have a five- to 10-year term, will need to be refinanced, according to a July report by Richard Parkus, head of commercial mortgage-backed securities at Deutsche Bank AG. It is not turmoil in the capital markets that is causing the bottleneck, but rather the fact that properties are not worth enough to retire the old debt in a refinancing, Parkus said."

As Scooby says: "Ruh, roh."

"Even with the credit slowdown and recession, the Triangle’s banking market grew by 10 percent in the dozen months ending June 30, according to new federal data."

Depending on what time Erin's team has to be in Burlington for State Cup this Saturday we might be hitting this for breakfast.