Randomly Noted

Investors looking for a play on the commercial real estate market but don’t have the stomach for defaults and declining property values may have an interesting alternative on the horizon. The company is Velocity Commercial Capital and it filed to go public late last week. It’s relatively small but that’s what makes it attractive.

The company originates or buys small business commercial real estate loans. All are first lein. And the largest loan it will get involved with is $3 million. The average loan value in its portfolio is $391,000.

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Intel late today reported its best quarterly earnings and sales in its 42-year history as corporations and small businesses significantly increased orders for PCs and servers powered by Intel chips. Clearly, companies that cut back capital exchpenditure budgets during the recent recession began to feel more comfortable starting to make those purchases again. The two open questions are whether this increase in demand will have a carryover effect into other quarters for Intel? And, which PC makers were the beneficiary of corporate buying?

Stay tuned.

CIT Group is on the ropes. It’s credit ratings were dropped into junk territory earlier in the week, a particular problem for a financial services company that needs that sense of confidence from its lenders to keep doing business. And then there is the practical aspect – if CIT has to borrow at very high rates, it can only lend at higher rates.

Why does this matter?

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The Verdun Section of Montreal - across the street from Mas Cuisine, a remarkable new restaurant run by chef owner Michel Ross

This is a story not only about food but how to run a small, small business.

There is an industrial section of Montreal called Verdun. You walk down the main street, Wellington, and you see a consignment store here, a dollar store there. No Hermes on this roadway. But it just happens to house a remarkable restaurant that has been open for a little less than six months. It probably shouldn’t be considered remarkable that the restaurant, Mas Cuisine, is so good. The chef owner, Michel Ross, was a co-owner of another popular Montrea restaurant called Brunoise, which in several short years jumped up to the number one ranking in Zagat. And then in late 2007, it was closed.

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A dizzying number of new proposals in the Obama budget that was released earlier today. Looks like at least one proposal provides an opportunity for for the financial adviser and wealth manager businesses. Basically, the new budget will require every company that does not offer a retirement plan to foot the costs to enroll all of their employees into direct-deposit IRA accounts. The idea is that about half (or 75 million people) of the workforce in the U.S. lack employer-based retirement plans. And if you aren’t forced to save a little here and there, you don’t save. This gives individuals the incentive to start saving in a tax-deductible program. And at no cost for them to set up. Most of the companies that don’t offer 401 (K) plans or traditional pension plans are small businesses. So, the opportunity may seem minimal for plan sponsors who see the dollar signs in administering large company lans. But by pooling plans and products, some smart Wall Street firms and advisers may find a way to bring in some much needed new business.

To read this section of the budget, click here.