Word-of-The-Day: Volatility | The Worst December For Stocks Since 1931

What the heck is that? . . . Blame it on somebody

The Fed - Understanding Global Volatility - Federal Reserve Bank

https://www.federalreserve.gov/.../ifdp.../understanding-global-volatility-20180119.ht...

by JM Londono - ‎Related articles
Jan 19, 2018 - The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC. ... In particular, for stock markets, option-implied volatility (of which the VIX, the ...

Mnuchin Blames Volcker Rule, High-Speed Trading for Volatility

Bloomberg-25 minutes ago

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blamed volatility in equity markets ... The Volcker Rule, named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul ... It prohibited banks from using their own money to make speculative bets ...

 

Charts of the Year: US market volatility likely to persist

Financial Times-1 hour ago

Having enjoyed years of tranquility, Wall Street has seen a surge in volatility this year that is “likely to persist”, according to folks at Credit Suisse ...

Checking In On The Lower Volatility Sectors For Retirees In The ...

Seeking Alpha-10 hours ago

In a recent article, I looked at the typical defensive sectors to see how they held up in the recent volatility. Here's The Defensive Utilities, Pipes ...

Fourth Rate Hike Likely to Raise Volatility: 5 Defensive Picks

Zacks.com-7 hours ago

A rate hike at this point would not only dampen investor sentiment, which is already at a low, it could also spark volatility and endanger the real ...

Low Volatility Stocks are the Market's New Winner

Investopedia-Dec 16, 2018

Soaring market volatility as the S&P 500 has fallen 11% off highs reached in mid-September has caused investors to rush to low volatility ...

Treasury yields slip amid market volatility; Fed meeting ahead

CNBC-7 hours ago

Stocks have suffered wild bouts of volatility as of late, with the S&P 500 dipping as much as 2 percent on Monday, marking a new low for the ...

The Bursting Of The Volatility Bubble: Part 2

BBN Times-2 hours ago

The volatility environment, up until very recently, has been a ... easing (QE), subdued “inflation”, steady economic growth, short volatility trading ...

The Bursting Of The Volatility Bubble: Part 1

BBN Times-2 hours ago

If there were a Word of the Year award in finance it most certainly would go to volatility. It seems like nearly every article you read makes some ...

US natgas implied volatility falls 40 percent since hitting record high

Reuters-58 minutes ago

(Reuters) - Implied volatility for U.S. natural gas futures tumbled 40 percent on Monday from an all-time high a month ago as weather forecasts ...

The Difference Between Risk and Volatility

Nasdaq-2 hours ago

When the market is performing well and volatility is low, it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. As a result, investors tend to put more ...

 

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Bulletin: AIR QUALITY INDEX

These forecasts are based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s AQI federal health standards

Phoenix Forecast | Today's AQI | Moderate

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) sent this bulletin at 12/18/2018 08:42 AM MST

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.                                           ISSUED ON: Tuesday, December 18, 2018 View the Phoenix Hourly Forecast > These forecasts are based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s AQI federal health standards and are issued for the following areas: Phoenix | View Forecast >  Tucson | View Forecast > Yuma | View Forecast > Nogales | View Forecast > The AQI Forecast lets the public know expected air quality conditions and provides advice about what they can do to protect their health, especially that of children, seniors and people with respiratory problems.

Photo-Bombed / Ain't Mis-Behavin' Now

No words . . . Who's looking up? 

A Different POV: Downtown Mesa's "Arts-and-Culture District"

It's def-not the usual image most people see. It is, however the view from a 2nd Floor Observation Deck in a building on the opposite side of an avenue. With a high block wall and barbed wire on the top it sends what at least one person says is "the wrong message".
It's a relic from the glorious 1950's: a gas station built in 1952 that sold for $775,000 in 1998, changing-hands again in a private transaction for $545,000 in 2016 two years ago. Location-location-location.
Highest-and-best use for 26,611 Sq. Ft?  

The good news:
the SWC of Center Street/1st Street is "available"
Just read the sign in front on the sidewalk >

A Calling Late-In-Life? MesaZona Online Celebrates Over 210K Page Views

It's like that box of chocolates from Forrest Gump:
Ya never know what you're gonna get here on this blog.
Some days is spot-on to keep you amused.
Some people have said you make me smile (or laugh).
Hizzoner the mayor once called me "A Rabble-Rouser".
Just like any words on the pages anywhere, they're all open to interpretation from all your diverse points-of-view.
 It goes with the territory . . .
Thank you again, dear readers,  for hitting me up!
Other days it's time to switch gears and try to live-up to the last name your MesaZona blogger has been saddled with.
Waking up like this after things go-bump-in-the-night might be a challenge to recover from or get-over.
It all depends on how it goes  . . .
Here in 'The Old Donut-Hole' called home there are more than a few sweet spots to enjoy around the edges.
Have a few more bytes: ENJOY

Flash-Back To Downtown Real Estate Deals: Here's Courtyard Towers

Hardly a year after Valley Metro Light Rail Service extended into the Main Street Central Business District, some dealmakers in a partnership made their big move to acquire the highest building here in downtown - it's the one you at the upper-hand far left in this blog's header image that dominates the usual down-low downtown city landscape with one-story commercial properties all around it.
It's a drab unremarkable utilitarian architectural statement to say the least.  T years it fetched the highest price ever paid for pre-existing residential housing: $20,864,569 or about $119,000 per unit.
It's as close to high-rise living that residents can get. It's not luxury above-market rate housing and probably not affordable either.
The deal went down before Opportunity Zones. A rich history for sure.Greystone Real Estate Advisors Closes $21M Sale of 175-unit Mesa, AZ
Seniors Housing Community

September 8, 2015

Category: Deals 

"Greystone announced its Real Estate Advisors group has closed the sale of Courtyard Towers in Mesa, AZ for $20,864,569. Sierra Capital purchased the seniors housing property from Harrison Street Real Estate Capital on June 30.
Courtyard Towers is a 175-unit independent living, assisted living and memory care community in operation since 1997. Originally built in 1985 and converted to seniors housing 12 years later, the property offers 22 independent living units, 123 assisted living units, and 30 memory care units serving the Mesa, AZ region. Cody Tremper, a Managing Director of Greystone Real Estate Advisors, led the sale for Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.
“Courtyard Towers offers a diverse range of lifestyle options and amenities for the seniors demographic group, which will ensure the community sees high occupancy for many years to come,” said Tremper.
Brian Glover of Sierra Capital, who led the partnership which acquired the property, has selected Frontier Management to provide management services for the community bringing Frontier to four Arizona locations.
“This in an exceptional property with significant potential and has the features that make it very successful,” stated Glover.
Greg Roderick, Frontier’s Chief Executive Officer, is proud to add the community to Frontier’s family. “The exceptional team, rich history, and variety of services made Courtyard Towers a pleasure to become involved with,” said Roderick.
The Greystone Real Estate Advisors team leverages its extensive experience in providing expertise on the disposition or acquisition of seniors housing, including age-restricted communities, independent living, memory care and assisted living facilities.
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Source: https://www.greyco.com
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NOTE: The most recent Insight from Greyco: 
[Mesa has a crisis in affordable housing also...how do we deal with it?]

How Does Seattle Stack Up in Combating the Affordable Housing Crisis?

December 12, 2018

" . . . Seattle is the third-fastest growing economy among large cities in the U.S. As a result, the metro area is struggling with rising rents and tight rental vacancy, which has led to a housing affordability crisis. In 2015, Seattle declared a state of emergency with respect to its homelessness problem—and it currently has the third largest homeless population in the country, despite being the 18th largest city. Against this backdrop, the city is now girding itself for an influx of 120,000 new residents expected to move in over the next two decades. . . .

Headwinds for Low-Income Housing

Upzoning for Affordable Units
Seattle City Council’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) was formed to present approaches for creating more affordable housing. The city has recommended an inclusionary approach to development known as Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), which would require developers to either include affordable housing for those who live at or up to 60 percent of adjusted median income ($38,000 for a single person, $54,000 for a family of four) within each new residential housing project or pay into a fund for such development.
Developers participating would gain upzoning privileges, a policy hotly contested within some neighborhoods where residents have raised concerns about additional density that isn’t linked to additional parking. The MHA plan is estimated to add 20,000 new affordable housing units over the coming decade (of the Mayor’s 50,000 goal), according to city estimates.
Pushback Against Plan
However, housing advocacy groups such as Seattle Fair Growth have criticized the plan for focusing incentives on the higher end of the affordability scale. Under MHA, developers need to create housing priced for those earning 50 to 60 percent of adjusted median income (AMI)—rather than the 0 percent to 50 percent AMI. Every $100 increase in rent, the organization says, results in a 15 percent increase in homelessness. While rents on average are not growing as quickly, they remain elevated—making it likely that Seattle’s affordable housing problem won’t be resolved anytime soon.

A Team of AZ Republic Investigative Reporters Tackles Charter Schools

In the rush to write charters into law in 1994, legislators omitted regulations that would have constrained unruly school spending.
The reporters: Justin Price, Anne Ryman, Craig Harris and Alden Woods
Disclaimer: Images inserted on this post are not taken from the team's excellent reporting. They might provide some subtle or not-so-subtle blog editorial comment if you happen to recognize persons that go un-named and un-identified. 

The Charter Gamble: In this series, they examine how Arizona committed 25 years ago to the then-untested concept of charter schools, and what the program has meant for the state.

That 1994 legislation, and the changes in the years to follow, also have become noteworthy for what charter schools didn't have to do. 

Arizona's charter school rules don't prevent conflicts of interest in school contracts. They don't impose rules about school boards being run by friends and relatives of school executives.

They don't put any limits on how much money charter schools spend outside the classroom. They don't require strict reporting of expenses.

Did the state's charter-school gamble pay off for students and taxpayers? 

Here's the entire story from AZ Central yesterday 17 December 2018 >  Click here