DSK Lives Right near Me
May 22, 2011
Posted by Jody Eisenman | Filed under Uncategorized
Last week, the world was abuzz over the arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund on charges of raping a hotel maid. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was considered a leading candidate to challenge Nicholas Sarkozy for the French premiership, resigned as head of the IMF. As most people now know, DSK was apprehended on an airplane as he allegedly attempted to flee to France, a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States. As such, he was confined to Riker’s Island, a place no one wants to be housed in. By Friday, DSK’s lawyers managed to arrange a rather substantial bail package ($1 million cash, $5 million bond, electronic monitoring, and a $200,000/month security service). He is currently housed in the Empire Building at 71 Broadway, which is about a five minute walk from my offices in Lower Manhattan. Somehow, I don’t think I will be running into him at the coffee shop. Here’s an interesting link from an English newspaper.
Meanwhile, the markets had an interesting week: a Monday rally, a selloff on the IMF news on Tuesday, rallies on Wednesday and Thursday, and then a selloff on Friday. By the end of the week, the S & P 500 was little changed. However, a strengthening dollar (mostly on the basis of Eurozone issues) may be cause for concern. In addition, US housing data continue to be weak, with housing starts down almost 24% in a year. According to Zillow.com, US home prices have been down an incredible 57 straight months. In addition, over 28% of all single family homes are underwater, meaning that the home is worth less than the mortgage. With the nationwide unemployment rate still hovering around 9%, it would seem that most Americans still feel that we are in a recession.
