Readings for the Day

From CNBC: Hard Time: Gift Cards are used for Cash, Necessities
From Bonddad: Wednesday Commodity Round-Up:
Bottom Line: Technically, the chart wants to rally. But there are no fundamental reasons to commit to the commodities market right now.
From Bonddad: Employment is looking grim
From Calculated Risk: Office rents off as much as 25% in New York

“We have fallen further faster than any time in the last 20 years,” said Mitchell S. Steir, chief executive of Studley, a national brokerage firm that represents tenants. “There has been more damage to real estate values in the last four months than in any other four-month period. The pace with which it has occurred has been astonishing.”
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[B]rokers say that actual rents have fallen much further than the data suggests. Studley said that the asking rents for 40 percent of the spaces included in its research are listed as “negotiable.”

“No one knows what the rents are, because there has been very little activity for the past three months,” said Ruth Colp-Haber, a partner at Wharton Property Advisors, which represents small to medium-size tenants. “No one is paying attention to the asking rents.”
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[A]ctual rents have slipped as much as 25 percent since the summer, said Mitchell L. Konsker, a vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield.