AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (“MITT” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MITT – News) today reported net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 of $5.8 million and net book value of $20.52 per share.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Net income of $5.8 million, or 0.58 per share for the fourth quarter
• Net income of $19.0 million, or $3.20 per share for the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• Core Earnings of $6.5 million or $0.65 per share for the quarter
• Core Earnings of $12.4 million, or $1.24 per share for the period from July 6, 2011 (the consummation of our initial public offering) to December 31, 2011
• Net realized gains of $2.9 million, or $0.29 per share, on Agency RMBS for the fourth quarter and $7.2 million, or $0.72 per share, for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• Net realized losses of ($3.5) million, or ($0.35) per share, on credit investments for the fourth quarter and for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• $0.70 per share dividend declared for the fourth quarter and $1.10 per share dividends declared for the period ended December 31, 2011
• Approximately $0.46 per share of undistributed taxable income as of December 31, 2011(1)
• $20.52 net book value per share as of December 31, 2011(1)

INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

• $1.4 billion investment portfolio value as of December 31, 2011 (2) (4)
• 5.86x leverage as of December 31, 2011 (2) (3)
• 91.0% Agency RMBS investment portfolio (4)
• 9.0% credit investment portfolio, comprising Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS assets (4)
• 5.0% constant prepayment rate (“CPR”) for the fourth quarter on the Agency RMBS investment portfolio (5)
• 2.25% net interest margin as of December 31, 2011 (6)

FOURTH QUARTER 2011 AND PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011 RESULTS
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is an actively managed REIT that opportunistically invests in a diversified risk-adjusted portfolio of Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS. For the fourth quarter, the Company had net income of $5.8 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, and Core Earnings of $6.5 million, or $0.65 per diluted share. For the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011, the Company had net income of $19.0 million, or $3.20 per diluted share (7), and for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011 (“period ended December 31, 2011”), the Company had Core Earnings of $12.4 million, or $1.24 per diluted share. Core Earnings represents a non-GAAP financial measure and is defined as net income (loss) excluding (i) net realized gain (loss) on investments and terminations on derivative contracts and (ii) net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments and derivative contacts. (See “Non-GAAP Financial Measure” below for further detail on Core Earnings)
David Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, commented “We are pleased to announce our fourth quarter earnings. During the quarter, Core Earnings increased to $0.65 per share and we announced our first full quarter dividend of $0.70 per share. In addition to meeting our financial goals, we continued to diversify funding relationships and in January we were able to successfully complete an equity raise which has improved our stock’s liquidity. We are proud of our accomplishments over the last two quarters and look forward to the opportunities ahead.”
“Amidst uncertainty in the global markets, European liquidity difficulties and year-end funding pressures, we continued to optimize our Agency portfolio, opportunistically rotate the credit portfolio and retain capital for potential market dislocations,” said Jonathan Lieberman, Chief Investment Officer. “While Agency RMBS yields have compressed, we believe the low interest rate environment and a carefully selected investment portfolio will continue to support attractive risk-adjusted returns. Over the course of the quarter, we rotated a significant portion of the Agency portfolio into securities with more favorable prepayment attributes to further mitigate prepayment risk. Allocations to credit securities were concentrated in less volatile short duration Non-Agency securities and CMBS tranches with superior intrinsic value. We believe MITT is well positioned to continue to produce sustainable returns and take advantage of the opportunities ahead in both the Agency RMBS and credit markets. With the success of the European Central Bank’s Long-Term Refinancing Operation, funding risks have materially declined and we anticipate deploying capital in a more aggressive style. New capital from our January equity transaction allows greater latitude to the investment team to selectively increase our capital allocation to credit opportunities.”

KEY STATISTICS (2)
		Weighted Average at						Weighted Average
		December 31, 2011						at September 30, 2011
Investment portfolio		$	1,388,006,801					$	1,332,205,377
Repurchase agreements		$	1,189,303,407					$	1,126,859,885
Stockholders’ equity		$	206,283,920					$	207,413,703
Leverage ratio		5.86x			(3	)		5.70x			(3	)
Swap ratio			66	%	(8	)			51	%	(8	)
Yield on investment portfolio			3.16	%	(9	)			3.26	%	(9	)
Cost of funds			0.91	%	(10	)			0.82	%	(10	)
Net interest margin			2.25	%	(6	)			2.44	%	(6	)
Management fees			1.49	%	(11	)			1.43	%	(11	)
Other operating expenses			1.57	%	(12	)			1.58	%	(12	)
Book value, per share		$	20.52		(1	)		$	20.64		(1	)
Dividend, per share		$	0.70					$	0.40

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
The following summarizes the Company’s investment portfolio as of December 31, 2011 (2):

														Weighted Average
		Current Face			Premium (Discount)				Amortized Cost		Fair Value			Coupon		Yield
Agency RMBS:
15-Year Fixed Rate		$	738,344,948		$	22,525,476			$	760,870,424	$	772,310,909		3.32	%	2.62	%
20-Year Fixed Rate			227,566,114			7,362,001				234,928,115		237,586,837		3.69	%	3.00	%
30-Year Fixed Rate			232,890,169			12,162,512				245,052,681		246,679,482		3.99	%	3.18	%
Interest Only			43,505,596			(34,046,500	)			9,459,096		6,636,871		5.50	%	3.45	%
Non-Agency RMBS			102,246,062			(8,980,754	)			93,265,308		90,368,316		5.90	%	6.31	%
CMBS			19,500,000			(5,411,965	)			14,088,035		13,537,851		5.88	%	13.44	%
ABS			21,046,150			(34,497	)			21,011,653		20,886,535		4.50	%	4.50	%
Total		$	1,385,099,039		$	(6,423,727	)		$	1,378,675,312	$	1,388,006,801		3.81	%	3.16	%

As of December 31, 2011, the weighted average yield on the Company’s investment portfolio was 3.16% and its weighted average cost of funds was 0.91%. This resulted in a net interest margin of 2.25% as of December 31, 2011. (6)
The CPR for the Agency RMBS portfolio was 5.0% for the fourth quarter and 5.0% for the month of December 2011. (5)
The weighted average cost basis of the Agency investment portfolio, excluding interest-only securities, was 103.5% as of December 31, 2011. The amortization of premiums (net of any accretion of discounts) on Agency securities for the fourth quarter was $1.9 million, or $(0.19) per share. The unamortized net Agency premium as of December 31, 2011 was $42.0 million.
Premiums and discounts associated with purchases of the Company’s securities are amortized or accreted into interest income over the estimated life of such securities, using the effective yield method. Since the cost basis of the Company’s Agency securities, excluding interest-only securities, exceeds the underlying principal balance by 3.5% as of December 31, 2011, slower actual and projected prepayments can have a meaningful positive impact, while faster actual or projected prepayments can have a meaningful negative impact on the Company’s asset yields.
We have also entered into “to-be-announced” (“TBA”) positions to facilitate the future purchase of Agency RMBS. Under the terms of these TBAs, the Company agrees to purchase, for future delivery, Agency RMBS with certain principal and interest specifications and certain types of underlying collateral, but the particular Agency RMBS to be delivered are not identified until shortly before (generally two days) the TBA settlement date. At December 31, 2011, we had $100 million net notional amount of TBA positions with a net weighted average purchase price of 103.8%. As of December 31, 2011, our TBA portfolio had a net weighted average yield at purchase of 3.01% and a net weighted average settlement date of February 5, 2012. We have recorded derivative assets of $1.4 million and derivative liabilities of $0.5 million, reflecting these TBA positions.
LEVERAGE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES
The investment portfolio is financed with repurchase agreements as of December 31, 2011 as summarized below:

		Agency RMBS						Non-Agency RMBS / CMBS / Other
Repurchase Agreements Maturing Within:		Balance			Weighted Average Rate			Balance			Weighted Average Rate
30 days or less		$	652,002,000		0.35	%		$	68,187,000		1.74	%
31-60 days			334,825,407		0.42	%			1,749,000		1.95	%
61-90 days			118,340,000		0.37	%			14,200,000		1.80	%
Greater than 90 days			-		-				-		-
Total / Weighted Average		$	1,105,167,407		0.37	%		$	84,136,000		1.75	%

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had entered into repurchase agreements with twenty-one counterparties. We continue to rebalance our exposures to counterparties and add new counterparties.
We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to hedge our portfolio. The Company’s swaps as of December 31, 2011 are summarized as follows:

Maturity		Notional Amount			Weighted Average Pay Rate			Weighted Average Receive Rate*			Weighted Average Years to Maturity
2012		$	100,000,000		0.354	%		0.285	%		0.14
2013			182,000,000		0.535	%		0.286	%		1.78
2014			204,500,000		1.000	%		0.395	%		2.54
2015			184,025,000		1.412	%		0.380	%		3.56
2016			87,500,000		1.625	%		0.328	%		4.63
2018			35,000,000		1.728	%		0.511	%		6.88
Total/Wtd Avg		$	793,025,000		1.008	%		0.350	%		2.72
* Approximately 50% of our interest rate swap notionals reset monthly based on one-month LIBOR and 50% of our interest rate swap notionals reset quarterly based on three-month LIBOR.

TAXABLE INCOME
The primary differences between taxable income and GAAP net income include (i) unrealized gains and losses associated with investment and derivative portfolios are marked-to-market in current income for GAAP purposes, but excluded from taxable income until realized or settled, (ii) temporary differences related to amortization of net premiums paid on investments (iii) the timing and amount of deductions related to stock-based compensation and (iv) excise taxes. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had undistributed taxable income of approximately $0.46 per share.
DIVIDEND
On December 14, 2011, the Company declared a dividend of $0.70 per share of common stock to stockholders of record as of December 30, 2011 and paid such dividend on January 27, 2012. The Company declared dividends of $1.10 per share for the period ended December 31, 2011.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT
On January 24, 2012, the Company completed a follow-on offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock and subsequently issued an additional 750,000 shares of common stock pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotments at a price of $19.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $109.3 million. Net proceeds to the Company from the offerings were approximately $104.1 million, net of issuance costs of approximately $5.2 million.
SHAREHOLDER CALL
The Company invites shareholders, prospective shareholders and analysts to attend MITT’s fourth quarter earnings conference call on March 1, 2012 at 11:00 am Eastern Time. The shareholder call can be accessed by dialing (888) 424-8151 (U.S. domestic) or (847) 585-4422 (international). Please enter code number 8732511#.
A presentation will accompany the conference call and will be available on the Company’s website at www.agmit.com. Select the Q4 2011 Earnings Presentation link to download and print the presentation in advance of the shareholder call.
An audio replay of the shareholder call combined with the presentation will be made available on our website after the call. The replay will be available until midnight on March 15, 2012. If you are interested in hearing the replay, please dial (888) 843-7419 (U.S. domestic) or (630) 652-3042 (international). The conference ID number is 8732511#.
For further information or questions, please contact Allan Krinsman, the Company’s General Counsel, at (212) 883-4180 or akrinsman@angelogordon.com.
ABOUT AG MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST, INC.
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, other real estate-related securities and financial assets. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is externally managed and advised by AG REIT Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P., an SEC-registered investment adviser that specializes in alternative investment activities.
Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.agmit.com.
ABOUT ANGELO, GORDON & CO.
Angelo, Gordon & Co. was founded in 1988 and has approximately $22 billion under management. Currently, the firm’s investment disciplines encompass five principal areas: (i) distressed debt and leveraged loans, (ii) real estate, (iii) mortgage-backed securities and other structured credit, (iv) private equity and special situations and (v) a number of hedge fund strategies. Angelo, Gordon & Co. employs over 250 employees, including more than 90 investment professionals, and is headquartered in New York, with associated offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions of management of the Company at the time of such statements and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation, changes in interest rates, changes in the yield curve, changes in prepayment rates, the availability and terms of financing, changes in the market value of our assets, general economic conditions, market conditions, conditions in the market for Agency securities, and legislative and regulatory changes that could adversely affect the business of the Company. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Company’s most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Copies are available on the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov/. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
			December 31, 2011			April 1, 2011
Assets			(Unaudited)
Real Estate securities, at fair value
Agency – $1,186,149,842 pledged as collateral			$	1,263,214,099		$	-
Non-Agency – $47,227,005 pledged as collateral				58,787,051			-
CMBS – $2,747,080 pledged as collateral				13,537,851			-
ABS – $4,526,620 pledged as collateral				4,526,620			-
Linked transactions, net, at fair value				8,787,180			-
Cash and cash equivalents				35,851,249			1,000
Restricted cash				3,037,055			-
Interest receivable				4,219,640			-
Derivative assets, at fair value				1,428,595			-
Prepaid expenses				317,950			-
Due from broker				341,491
Due from affiliates				104,994			-
Deferred costs				52,176			-
Total Assets			$	1,394,205,951		$	1,000
Liabilities
Repurchase agreements			$	1,150,149,407		$	-
Payable on unsettled trades				18,759,200			-
Interest payable				2,275,138			-
Derivative liabilities, at fair value				7,908,308			-
Dividend payable				7,011,171			-
Due to affiliates				770,341			-
Accrued expenses				668,552			-
Due to broker				379,914			-
Total Liabilities				1,187,922,031			-
Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 450,000,000 and 1,000 shares of common stock authorized and 10,009,958 and 100 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2011 and April 1, 2011, respectively				100,100			1
Additional paid-in capital				198,228,694			999
Retained earnings				7,955,126			-
				206,283,920			1,000
Total Liabilities & Equity			$	1,394,205,951		$	1,000

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
							Period from
			Quarter Ended				March 7, 2011 to
			December 31, 2011				December 31, 2011
Net Interest Income
Interest income			$	10,022,275			$	18,748,669
Interest expense				1,106,097				1,696,344
				8,916,178				17,052,325
Other Income (Loss)
Net realized gain (loss)				(589,747	)			3,701,392
Gain (loss) on linked transactions, net				(1,013,291	)			(808,564	)
Realized loss on periodic interest settlements of interest rate swaps, net				(1,175,788	)			(2,162,290	)
Unrealized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net				70,663				(6,491,430	)
Unrealized gain (loss) on real estate securities				1,346,237				11,040,692
				(1,361,926	)			5,279,800
Expenses
Management fee to affiliate				770,341				1,512,898
Other operating expenses				811,372				1,566,642
Equity based compensation to affiliate				97,343				176,165
Excise tax				105,724				105,724
				1,784,780				3,361,429
Net Income (Loss)			$	5,769,472			$	18,970,696
Earnings Per Share of Common Stock
Basic			$	0.58			$	3.20
Diluted			$	0.58			$	3.20
Weighted Average Number of Shares of Common Stock Outstanding
Basic				10,009,958				5,933,930
Diluted				10,010,799				5,933,930
Dividends Declared per Share of Common Stock			$	0.70			$	1.10

Non-GAAP Financial Measure
This press release contains Core Earnings, a non-GAAP financial measure. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s management believes that this non-GAAP measure, when considered with GAAP, provides supplemental information useful in evaluating the results of the Company’s operations. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered a substitute, or superior to, the financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Our GAAP financial results and the reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated.
Core Earnings are defined by the Company as net income excluding both realized and unrealized gains (losses) on the sale or termination of securities, including underlying linked transactions and derivatives. As defined, Core Earnings include the net interest earned on these transactions, including credit derivatives, linked transactions, inverse Agency securities, interest rate derivatives or any other investment activity that may earn net interest. One of the objectives of the Company is to generate net income from net interest margin on the portfolio and management uses Core Earnings to measure this objective.
A reconciliation of GAAP net income to Core Earnings for the quarter and period ended December 31, 2011 is set forth below:

						Period from
		Quarter Ended				March 7, 2011 to
		December 31, 2011				December 31, 2011
Net income/loss		$	5,769,472			$	18,970,696
Add (Deduct):
Net realized gain			589,747				(3,701,392	)
Gain/loss on linked transactions, net			1,013,291				808,564
Net interest income on linked transactions			554,729				900,638
Unrealized gain/loss on derivative instruments, net			(70,663	)			6,491,430
Unrealized gain/loss on real estate securities			(1,346,237	)			(11,040,692	)
Core Earnings		$	6,510,339			$	12,429,244

Footnotes
(1) Per share figures are calculated using outstanding shares including all shares granted to our Manager and our independent directors under our equity incentive plans as of quarter end.
(2) Generally when we purchase a security and finance it with a repurchase agreement, the security is included in our assets and the repurchase agreement is separately reflected in our liabilities on our balance sheet. For securities with certain characteristics (including those which are not readily obtainable in the market place) that are purchased and then simultaneously sold back to the seller under a repurchase agreement, US GAAP requires these transactions be netted together and recorded as a forward purchase commitment. Throughout this press release where we disclose our investment portfolio and the repurchase agreements that finance it, including our leverage metrics, we have un-linked the transaction and used the gross presentation as used for all other securities. This presentation is consistent with how the Company’s management evaluates the business, and believes provides the most accurate depiction of the Company’s investment portfolio and financial condition.
(3) Calculated by dividing total repurchase agreements, including $39.2 million included in linked transactions, plus payable on unsettled trades on our GAAP balance sheet by our GAAP stockholders’ equity.
(4) The total investment portfolio is calculated by summing the fair market value of our Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS assets, including linked transactions. The percentage of Agency RMBS and credit investments are calculated by dividing the respective fair market value of each, including linked transactions, by the total investment portfolio.
(5) This represents the weighted average monthly CPRs published during the period for our in-place portfolio during the same period.
(6) Net interest margin is calculated by subtracting the weighted average cost of funds from the weighted average yield for the Company’s investment portfolio, which excludes cash held by the Company. See footnotes (9) and (10) for further detail.
(7) Diluted per share figures are calculated using weighted average outstanding shares in accordance with GAAP. For the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011, the calculation reflected the impact of 100 shares outstanding from July 1, 2011 through the settlement date of our IPO.
(8) The swap ratio was calculated by dividing the notional value of our interest rate swaps by total repurchase agreements, including those included in linked transactions, plus payable on unsettled trades.
(9) The yield on our investment portfolio during the period represents an effective interest rate, which utilizes all estimates of future cash flows and adjusts for actual prepayment and cash flow activity as of quarter end. This calculation excludes cash held by the Company.
(10) The cost of funds was calculated as the sum of the weighted average rate on the repurchase agreements outstanding at quarter end and the weighted average net pay rate on our interest rate swaps. Both elements of the cost of funds were weighted by the repurchase agreements outstanding at quarter end.
(11) The management fee percentage at quarter end was calculated by annualizing management fees incurred during the quarter and dividing by quarter-ended stockholders’ equity.
(12) The other operating expenses percentage at quarter end was calculated by annualizing other operating expenses recorded during the quarter and dividing by quarter-ended stockholders’ equity.
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Saxo Bank Scoops 4 Awards at the Social Forex Awards 2011

SINGAPORE–(Marketwire -02/27/12)- Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has won no less than four Awards at the inaugural Social Forex Awards 2011.
Saxo Bank ranked number one in the following categories:

• Most Social Bank (through the use of Social Media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
• Best Social Campaign
• Best Social Initiative/Innovation
• Best Social Research

The Bank ranked second in a further three categories: Best iPhone/iPad app, Best Online Content and Most Social Website. Of 8 categories Saxo Bank was ranked in all but one.
The awards recognise the outstanding players in the industry and were presented by LetstalkFX and Social-Markets.net, in conjunction with e-Forex magazine and were sponsored by The Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The votes were cast by members of the letstalkFX.com community and marketing was undertaken by the Bank using LinkedIn and Facebook.
Disclaimer:Saxo Capital Markets Pte. Ltd. (“Saxo Capital Markets”) is licensed as a Capital Market Services provider and an Exempt Financial Advisor, and is supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
You should carefully consider whether trading in leveraged products is appropriate for you in the light of your financial circumstances. You should be aware that dealing in products that are highly leveraged carry significantly greater risk than non-geared investments such as share trading. As such, you could both gain and lose large amounts of money. You may sustain losses in excess of the moneys you initially deposit and also in excess of the margin required to establish and maintain any positions in leveraged products.
For further information, please see:
http://sg.saxomarkets.com/about-us/general-disclaimer
About Saxo Capital Markets
Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank A/S, the Copenhagen-headquartered online trading and investment specialist. It serves as the Asia Pacific headquarters and holds a Capital Markets Services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Saxo Capital Markets also holds a Commodity Broker licence from The International Enterprise Singapore.
Clients can trade Forex, CFDs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives via SaxoWebTrader and SaxoTrader, its leading multi-asset online trading platforms.
SaxoTrader is available directly through Saxo Capital Markets or through one of its institutional clients. White labelling is a significant business area for Saxo Capital Markets, and involves customising and branding of its online trading platform for other financial institutions and brokers.
About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a leading online trading and investment specialist. A fully licensed and regulated European bank, Saxo Bank enables private investors and institutional clients to trade FX, CFDs, ETFs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives via three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms: the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application available in over 20 languages. Saxo Bank also offers professional portfolio and fund management through Saxo Asset Management who accommodates high-net-worth private clients and institutional investors and provides banking services and advice to retail clients through Saxo Privatbank. The Saxo Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Australia.
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Bad Credit Loans for Emergency Pet Vet Bills and Medical Expenses

Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) February 28, 2012
In the current economic downturn, consumers know they can turn to trusted ReallyBadCreditOffers.com for bad credit loans and no hassle financial help, but now the beloved family pet has a financial ally as well. The site has announced a new suite of installment loan offers for pet owners in need of money for emergency vet bills to ensure the family pet receives the medical attention it needs.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 77% of veterinarians in private practice service the medical needs of pet owners, predominantly dogs and cats. Medical expenses for treating pets have been rising and families face the tough decisions if they do not have the money required to meet the costs of care for their beloved animals.
People with bad credit ratings facing financial hardship in these tough times do not have access to the traditional resources good credit scores make available. The new personal loans being offered allow families access to money with a 60 second application process and no credit check required. In so doing the site hopes to lend a helping hand in an area traditional lenders do not consider an emergency.
“I own a cat and a dog, they are valued members of my family, and have helped me through some very tough times, we just would like to acknowledge how important our pets are to us in challenging times and ensure no family pet is denied the care they deserve because of money trouble,” said Ariel Pryor, founder.
The popular consumer site offers a variety of resources to help families improve their personal finances, eliminate debt and fix and reenter the financial system after bankruptcy, foreclosure and bad credit. Visitors to the site can see a variety of bad credit loans with no hidden fees to compare the offers and choose the best of the recommended services.
Contact:
Ariel Pryor, Credit Expert http://www.reallybadcreditoffers.com

SBA Loan Firm Now Offers Fixed Rates on SBA 504 and SBA 7a Loans

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 28, 2012
Clopton Capital, a provider of business loans, working capital and SBA loans is announcing the arrival fixed rates on both SBA 504 and SBA 7a loans. These small business loans are believed by the firm to be more advantageous and less risky for the borrower since it will be easier to predict the total cost of borrowing business capital or working capital on a fixed SBA loan. They believe this will help drive more business to their firm that they had previously been unable to acquire. This announcement is being made via their SBA loan website, SBABusinessLoanSource.com, CloptonCapital.com and this press release. They believe that it is necessary to establish themselves as soon as possible as a source for fixed interest rate working capital business loans since they believe many of their competitors are soon to do the same. “Being able to provide fixed interest rate SBA loans is definitely a breakthrough for us. I can safely say that this change will benefit us and even more so our clients”, said Jake Clopton, the founder of Clopton Capital.
Clopton Capital states that these fixed interest rate SBA loans have been made available roughly one week before the publishing of this release and that they are fully capable of accepting new SBA loan requests immediately. “This is really exciting to be able to offer these SBA loans as there have been few times in history when they were needed more. I imagine there will be a significant spike in business immediately following our current prospects and clients learning of this”, said Matt Reed, an associate of Clopton Capital.
For more information about Clopton Capital’s business loan services visit their website dedicated to them at CloptonCapital.com. To join their financial link exchange visit CloptonCapital.com/link.
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Manhattan Lures REITs Capitalizing on Rising Rents as Sales Lag: Mortgages

Tom Toomey, chief executive officer of real estate investment firm UDR Inc. (UDR), is betting the best rental deal in Manhattan is owning the whole building.
The nation’s third-largest apartment real estate investment trust bought a five-tower apartment complex on Columbus Avenue between West 97th and 100th streets for about $630 million last month, with rents from $2,500 for a studio or one-bedroom apartment to more than $10,000 a month for a penthouse suite. It’s Toomey’s fifth purchase in Manhattan in the past year as rents soar and financing difficulties make it harder for individuals to buy.
“Financing and underwriting are much tighter,” Toomey said in a telephone interview. With purchases requiring larger down payments, “people are going to stay renters for a long time,” said Toomey, who’s based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
Strict lending standards for so-called jumbo mortgages have contributed to declining home buying across the U.S. by even the most creditworthy borrowers as issuance of the loans has dropped 68 percent since 2007. Nowhere is that more evident than in Manhattan, where the median price of a two-bedroom apartment is about $1.2 million, almost twice the limit backed by government- supported mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Manhattan rents rose 9.5 percent last quarter to an average $3,121, Miller Samuel Inc. and Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report last month. That’s about three times the rate for the 44 largest apartment markets in the U.S., according to Marcus & Millichap, a real estate brokerage firm. Manhattan rental apartment vacancy rates fell to a four-year low of 0.96 percent last year, down from 1.2 percent a year earlier and 1.9 percent in 2009, according to brokerage Citi Habitats. Vacancy bottomed in 2006 at 0.76 percent.

Wall Street Pay

“The key to the strength of the rental market is tightness of credit,” Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel, said in a telephone interview. “It takes quadruple-A bizarre credit requirements to get approved.”
Jumbo loans exceed limits set for government-controlled mortgage companies by congress. For New York that’s $625,500.
Wall Street’s pay practices are also making it harder to buy, as financial firms increasingly pay bonuses in stock and deferred cash, said Alan Johnson, managing director of compensation consultant Johnson Associates Inc.
Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Citigroup Inc. have all reduced senior investment bankers’ pay for last year as revenue slows. Morgan Stanley is capping immediate cash bonuses at $125,000, people with knowledge of the move said last month.

Shorter Commitment

“It’s not a great sign for the financial sector contributing to purchasing apartments because there’s no sense of urgency to buy,” said Johnson. “Rentals are a much shorter commitment.”
Renters outnumber homeowners in the country’s largest cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. More than 77 percent of Manhattan’s occupied units were rented in the decade ended 2010, compared with nearly 23 that were owned, data from the Census Bureau showed.
Nationally, the home ownership rate fell 1.1 percent to 65.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, the largest decrease since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Low vacancy rates and rents that are likely to continue climbing this year have made apartments the “darling” of commercial real estate, according to Ryan Severino, economist at research firm Reis Inc.

Apartment Indices

The Bloomberg REIT Apartment Index (BBREAPT) of 16 publicly traded landlords returned 10 percent in the past year, including reinvested dividends, compared with returns of 6.8 percent for the Bloomberg REIT Index (BBREIT) and 5.2 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Equity Residential (EQR), the largest U.S. apartment REIT, returned 11.2 percent in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and UDR gained 10.8 percent.
Toomey said in August that the REIT planned to invest as much as $1.8 billion in Manhattan apartment buildings. Its most recent purchase, about 700 apartment units at Columbus Square on the Upper West Side, was a joint venture with MetLife Inc. (MET), the biggest U.S. life insurer.
They partly funded the purchase with $302.3 million of 10- year fixed- and floating-rate debt from Fannie Mae, the government-supported mortgage company, UDR said in a statement last month. The loans pay 3.8 percent interest.
That compares with a rate of 4.85 percent for a 30-year jumbo mortgage to an individual in New York (ILMJNY) and 4.73 percent nationally, according to Bankrate.com data. For conforming Freddie Mac (NMCMFUS) loans, rates are 3.95 percent, after falling to 3.87 percent this month, the lowest in records dating to 1971.

Housing Limits

Lenders have been wary to issue mortgages for non- conforming loans including jumbos since the housing market started falling in 2006 and losses on mortgage securities propelled the nation into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the conforming limit is $625,500 in high-priced markets such as New York, San Francisco and the Florida Keys, compared with $417,000 for most of the rest of the country. The Federal Housing Administration (FHAVARM$), a government agency with the goal of expanding ownership for “underserved” communities, according to its website, will insure loans up to $729,750 in New York.
Banks and mortgage lenders issued $110 billion in jumbo loans last year, up 5.8 percent from 2010, according to Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. The market has contracted from $348 billion in 2007 after peaking in 2003 at $650 billion.

Origination Volumes

Mortgage origination overall was down 17 percent year-over- year to $1.35 trillion, the lowest in over a decade, according to Cecala.
Lenders and bankers, no longer able to package jumbo loans and sell them to investors, are required to have enough capital to carry non-conforming debt on their books until maturity.
“Some don’t have the ability to keep it on their balance sheets,” Monte N. Redman, president of bank holding company Astoria Financial Corp., said in a telephone interview.
FHA loans are also harder to get in Manhattan, and aren’t available at all for co-op apartments, because borrowers purchase shares in the building’s management company instead of buying the property itself. The FHA does limited lending for condominiums, units individually grouped into a cluster. It insured 107 mortgages for condos in Manhattan last year, compared with 90 in 2010 and 42 in 2009, the FHA said.

Manhattan Sales

Manhattan co-op and condominium sales totaled 2,011 in the fourth quarter, 12.4 percent less a year earlier, according to Miller Samuel and Prudential.
Non-conforming loans nationally accounted for nearly 2 percent of all purchase applications last year, up 33 percent relative to 2010, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly profile of state and national mortgage activity.
Those loans have tougher standards such as high interest rates and down payments ranging from 25 to 40 percent, according to Mike Fratantoni, vice president of research for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
“They’re only available to the best credit borrowers,” Fratantoni said.
Financing a purchase with loans above government limits won’t get easier until the secondary market grows an appetite for jumbo loans, according to Miller of Miller Samuel.
The secondary market comprises mortgage bankers, savings and loan associations and large private investment institutions that buy mortgages from primary lenders or investors.

MBS Sales

There are signs of revival for mortgage-backed securities, according to Jan Scheck, managing director at DE Capital Mortgage, a New York-based mortgage consulting firm.
Redwood Trust Inc. (RWT), a real estate investment trust based in Mill Valley, California, has completed four sales of bonds totaling about $1 billion tied to new U.S. home loans since 2010, according to Mike McMahon, managing director of Redwood, which specializes in jumbo loans.
Wells Fargo & Co., the nation’s largest home lender, plans to trim credit requirements this year as it aims to increase its loan volume, according to Greg Gwizdz, sales manager for the eastern U.S. for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. The bank reduced the cost of loans over $2 million last month and is lowering post- closing requirements for cash reserves, he said.
“We’re seeing a fair amount of demand, we have a strong appetite and we’re doing a lot of volume,” Gwizdz said in a telephone interview.
Wells Fargo funded $13.7 billion in non-conforming loans across the nation for the nine month period ending September, the San Francisco-based lender said. In Manhattan its volume of loans without government backing increased 56 percent from a year earlier.

William Beaver House

For now, building owners don’t have time to wait for the rebound. William Beaver House in Manhattan’s Financial District was mostly empty in 2010, two years after the 47-story condominium tower was built. It’s almost 90 percent occupied after owner CIM Group converted the units to luxury rentals costing more than $8,000 a month for a three-bedroom. A down payment on a $3 million apartment at William Beaver would range anywhere from $750,000 to over $1 million, per jumbo loan standards. A pre-recession down payment, averaging 20 percent or less, would have cost $600,000.
“Without the conversion, the condos wouldn’t have sold or would have sold at half the price,” Bob Scaglion of Rose Associates, the company’s manager, said. Eventually, the owners want to put the condominiums back on the purchase market, according to Heather McDonough, broker for Prudential Real Estate who works to sell William Beaver units.
“The rentals are in high demand,” McDonough said. “In a few years, maybe it will be different.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harvey in New York at charvey32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net
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CIMB Holds Talks for RBS Asian Assets as Profit Hits Record

February 27, 2012, 10:33 PM EST
By Chong Pooi Koon
(Updates with analyst’s reaction in seventh paragraph.)
Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) — CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest bank, said fourth-quarter profit surged 30 percent to a record on increased lending as it seeks to grow its Asia-Pacific reach.
The Kuala Lumpur-based bank is in talks to buy part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc’s investment banking and securities business in the region, CIMB Chief Executive Officer Nazir Razak told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It’s simultaneously in negotiations to acquire a stake in Manila-based Bank of Commerce, he said, declining to give details on both deals.
Net income climbed to 1.13 billion ringgit ($374 million), or 15.2 sen per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 872.6 million ringgit, or 11.8 sen per share, a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing. It declared a higher dividend of 10 sen per share, compared with 8 sen previously.
“I think 2012 could surprise on the upside as most of the downside risks are already quite visible,” Nazir said in a separate e-mailed statement. “The investment banking deal pipeline is good,” he told reporters.
CIMB wants to extend its regional reach after being Malaysia’s top underwriter for equity and rights offerings in the past three years. It has made acquisitions in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia in the last seven years and may be one of two remaining bidders for RBS’s Asian equities, mergers and acquisitions businesses as well as its research arm, the Financial Times reported Feb. 7, citing people it didn’t name.
Philippine Talks
The Malaysian group is in separate talks with San Miguel Corp. and other shareholders to buy a 60 percent stake in Bank of Commerce, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month. It was the 16th largest lender in the Philippines by assets as of June 30 with 122 branches, according to the county’s central bank.
“Management again reassured that both mergers and acquisitions if successful won’t be financed through equity,” UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Ltd. said in a report today. “Financing will come mostly through internal funds.”
UOB upgraded the stock to “hold” and increased its price target to 6.90 ringgit from 6.20 ringgit, still below its unchanged market price of 7.14 ringgit at 11:05 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur trading today. Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd. boosted its price target for CIMB to 7.78 ringgit from 7.69 ringgit, according to a separate broking report.
CIMB joined other Malaysian lenders Malayan Banking Bhd. and Public Bank Bhd. in posting increased earnings for the quarter as a domestic economy that expanded 5.1 percent last year helped spur demand for loans and financing. Hong Leong Bank Bhd. yesterday reported a 31 percent jump in quarterly net income, while RHB Capital Bhd. is expected to report today.
Net interest income, or revenue from borrowers after deducting interest paid to depositors, increased 7 percent to 1.76 billion ringgit in the quarter, CIMB said. Allowances for impairment losses on loans and financing grew 73 percent to 289 million ringgit, the company said.
–Editors: Barry Porter, Chan Tien Hin
To contact the reporter on this story: Chong Pooi Koon in Kuala Lumpur at pchong17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Barry Porter in Kuala Lumpur at bporter10@bloomberg.net
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Saudi- Personal bank loans skyrocket 20 times to SR219 billion in 13 years

(MENAFN – Arab News) There has been a tremendous increase in the total value of personal loans extended by Saudi local banks in recent years. It shot up nearly 20 times within the last 13 years reaching SR219 billion in 2011 from SR11 billion in 1998, according to a report in Al-Eqtisadiah business daily.
This was mainly attributed to a huge increase in the number of banking customers and their reliance on local lenders to meet most of their personal requirements. Subsequently, almost all local banks have expanded their base of personal lending substantially even without taking into account the solvency of customers. Several financial and legal experts warned customers against relying heavily on banks to meet their financial requirements but most of them ignore such warnings.
Earlier, the number of customers who took out personal bank loans was very limited. In 1998, the volume of personal loans extended by local banks was merely SR11.2 billion. However it jumped three times to SR38.4 billion in 2001. The total value of personal loans was SR178.4 billion and SR198.8 billion in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
During Q3, 2011, the volume of personal loans extended by banks rose to SR218.9 billion. These included SR27.7 billion for real estate financing, SR46.2 billion for financing purchase of vehicles and equipment, and SR144.8 billion for other purposes, while credit card loans account for SR8.65 billion.
The huge increase in personal loans attributed mainly to the remarkable growth in the number of bank customers in recent years and their increased dependence on banks to meet most of their financial requirements. A number of Saudi financial and legal experts recently noted that Saudi banks had adopted a more cautious approach while extending personal loans in the past. Before 2000, the local banks concentrated mainly in extending loans only to companies and firms rather than individuals.
However, now the situation has been changed tremendously and almost all banks are competing each other to exploit this situation and resorting to the practice of receiving personal loan repayments directly from the salaries of borrowers. This practice served as a motivation for local banks to extend more personal loans to employees without taking into account their solvency.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) introduced regulations for consumer financing and made them binding for the local banks effective Jan. 1, 2006. Banks are able to solve all the problems related to personal loans following the regulations issued by the central bank. There was also a SAMA directive that allows banks to treat the salaries of borrowers as security if they take out personal loans. This has helped banks to expand their base of personal lending substantially.
Some financial experts stressed that consumers must take utmost care and caution while taking personal loans so as not to affect their solvency as well as to prevent them from falling into a debt trap. They noted that consumers should take loans only if they are sure that they can make their prompt repayment. Loans be taken to fulfill only basic needs and not for any unnecessary requirements. There should be precise calculations and well thought out planning before taking loans, and there should not be any hasty decisions to take a loan. Precaution is to be taken against taking loans from illegal and unauthorized financial firms so as to avert becoming victims of fraudulent means and cheating.
Also, the monthly amount of repayment must be affordable to the consumer. There should also be proper balance between spending, borrowing and savings of the consumer. The consumer must have obtained all the relevant information with regard to the terms and conditions of borrowing and be fully aware of his ability to make repayments without affecting his solvency. The experts also cautioned against the habit of taking personal loans at regular intervals.
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The burden of student debt

At the height of the Occupy protests last fall, young people held signs announcing how much they owed in student loans. While the pundits were asking each other what, exactly, the protesters wanted, a big part of the answer was on those signs: Students are leaving colleges and universities with a staggering financial burden and bleak job prospects.
“When you get out of college at 21 with a 30-year loan, it’s soul crushing,” says Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a progressive organization that is launching an advocacy campaign on the issue. Ross is on leave to serve as communications director for gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk.
The student loan landscape has shifted dramatically since the parents of current students and recent graduates left college. In 2006, the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that most borrowers who finished college in the early 1990s were able to manage their student loan burden. Most paid the loans back in 10 years. Today, many students face 20 to 25 years of making payments. In the early ’90s, about half of students borrowed; in 2006, two-thirds had to borrow. And their loans are much bigger.
Federal and state policy and budgetary decisions in recent years have contributed to the student debt burden. Public funding for public universities has fallen steeply at the same time that tuition has skyrocketed. Congress slashed funding for Pell Grants that helped the most needy students and put provisions in place to protect private lenders.
Federally funded student loans are no longer available from Sallie Mae, and its private loans have much higher interest rates than do home or car loans.
Last year, students borrowed more than $100 billion dollars — a new record. The College Board, an advocacy group that works to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college, reports that students are borrowing twice as much as in 2001. The total amount owed on all outstanding student loans is expected to reach $1 trillion next year. A full-time undergraduate student borrowed an average of almost $5,000 in 2010, 63% more than a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, according to the College Board.
These young debtors are not just those who opted to attend prestigious private universities. Tuition at public universities has soared as those institutions struggle to offset cuts in public funding. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s in-state tuition jumped from $5,866 in 2005 to $9,672 in 2011. The estimated total cost for a year at UW-Madison was $15,256 in 2005. Now it’s $25,421.
About half of 2010-2011 bachelor’s degree recipients at UW-Madison will have borrowed an average total of $24,493, says Susan Fischer, director of the office of Student Financial Aid. For those who go on to graduate school, the debts increase sharply. About three-quarters of law school graduates will have loans and owe an average $99,723. Almost 90% of medical school graduates will have borrowed, and their average debt will be $151,383.
To make matters worse, student loans differ from all other kinds of debt in two significant ways. They are excluded from bankruptcy protection, and it is not possible to refinance or restructure loans to take advantage of falling interest rates.
“It is easier to be a deadbeat dad than it is to lose your student loan debt,” Ross says of the lack of bankruptcy protection. “What does that say about us as a nation?”
People on disability who can’t afford to pay their student loans can even have their payments garnisheed, Ross notes. The only recourse, he adds, is “loan rehabilitation, which means you have to agree to make extended payments and take a new loan, with added fees. You end up with even more debt.”
Ross admits he has a dog in this fight. He borrowed about $30,000 in 11 different loans to pay for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He laughs, a little ruefully, when he admits that, at 42, he is in “year 12 of a 30-year student debt,” and says he’s fortunate to have a job and be able to keep up with the payments.
Ben Manski, founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, is another advocate for reforms to the student loan system. He contends that the huge increases in student debt are the inevitable result of cuts to higher education in state budgets.
“Generation X was the first generation to experience the impact of debt and a restructured job market,” says Manski, 37, who was recently appointed campaign director for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “We are overemployed and overworked. We do not have job security. Retirement is not even a consideration. The Millennials have it even worse, because of high unemployment. When you have this kind of debt, you lose freedoms — the freedom to engage in public service, for example, or pursue the career you are most fitted for as opposed to one that will make ends meet.”
Despite the heart-stopping debt statistics, the UW’s Fisher thinks it’s still possible to get at least an undergraduate degree without going very deeply into debt.
“Sometimes, students accrue big debt because they change majors and take longer to graduate. Or they choose a private or out-of-state public school that the family really cannot afford. My advice to incoming students is to work while they are in school and live frugally. And get in and get out. If they do that, I think they can finish with a minimal amount of debt.”
But starting working life owing tens of thousands of dollars during a period of high unemployment has many students wondering how they will be able to afford to marry, have children or buy a house. Paying off even a relatively small loan in a sagging economy is proving very difficult for many people. Here are some of their stories.
‘You can’t live your life without worrying’
Christina Spector left UW-Madison with an undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology (2002), a graduate degree in educational leadership and policy analysis (2008) and a law degree (also 2008).
“It was a conscious decision to go to UW-Madison for the in-state tuition. I had scholarships, a little help from my parents, and I always had jobs while I was in school,” she says. But it wasn’t enough.
“The first time I signed a promissory note, I had such a hard time of it. I cried for two days about entering that system, but I had no other choice.”
A school administration consultant for the State Department of Instruction, Spector will pay $550 a month for a total of 25 years before her loans are paid off. Her husband, who has a master’s degree and is employed by the American Federation of Teachers, makes student loan payments of $200 a month.
That $750 monthly expense means they must live very frugally.
“We are on a really strict budget,” she says. “We don’t make large purchases unless we absolutely have to. We bought much less house than we qualified for, and we drive an inexpensive car. We are thoughtful about little things like buying coffee. We take our lunch to work. We can’t travel, so we use our vacations to visit family.”
One place where the family does not cut corners is on daycare for their 2-year-old child.
“Daycare costs more than our mortgage, but that’s one thing you’re not going to scrimp on.”
The debt drives all the family’s decisions — having another child, making a career change, moving.
“It’s difficult sometimes, because you can’t live your life without worrying about it,” she says. “I am much less inclined to take any kind of risk because of it.”
Spector knows she could ease the financial burden by abandoning a job she loves in the public sector and joining a private law firm.
“I never went to law school wanting that. I always wanted to work in the public sector. I have friends from law school who have made that decision so they could pay off their loans. To me, it seems like selling your soul. I just couldn’t do it. That would be a true prison on top of the bondage of the loans.”
‘We have given up many things’
A Madison West high school graduate, Ben Manski has an undergraduate degree in sociology and a law degree from UW-Madison. His higher education left him with $70,000 in student loan debt. His wife, Sarah, also has debt for her student loans.
“I am paying about $500 a month. For both my wife and me, it’s about $800 a month. It’s a major part of our budget, almost as much as we pay for housing,” he says.
Although Manski could be earning big bucks in a private law firm, he has stayed true to his commitment to use his education to work for social change. Founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, he ran for the state Legislature as a Green Party candidate in 2010. He also practices a little law and teaches sociology at Madison College.
“I had other choices I could have made,” Manski says. “I was offered a lobbying job for an insurance company when I was 22 years old that would have paid $80,000 a year. I turned it down.”
Manski and his wife have had to make difficult choices because of their student loans.
“It is very difficult to save, and we have given up many things. We are not in a position where we can help others financially. And, certainly, we are not having a family until we have the ability to afford kids,” he says. He and his wife recently started a new website, posipair.com, designed to put environmentally responsible businesses in touch with each other and with customers, in an effort to generate some independent income.
Manski, who comes from a family of teachers, has a passion for education and would like to teach full time.
“I think there’s no higher calling than teaching and no more important institution than education,” he says.
Sometimes, he says, his students ask him if their schooling is worth the money and if they will be able to get jobs when they finish. “I used to be able to say it is definitely worth it,” he says. “But now that question is more difficult to answer.”
‘We can’t take vacations’
When Kathy Wallace learned that her Kenosha employer, Powerbrace Corp., might be moving its operations to Mexico, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a math teacher.
With a bachelor’s degree in math already in her pocket she would need only to complete the requirements for a teaching license. She enrolled at Carthage College, where she took night classes for four years on top of working 40 hours processing accounts payable. In 2006, she had to quit her job to student teach. She landed a job as a substitute teacher at Bullen Middle School in Kenosha and continued to work toward a master’s degree through an online Walden University program. She completed the master’s degree 20 months later, and now has a full-time teaching position.
Dream achieved.
But Wallace’s career change left her with a total of $60,000 in student loans and the prospect of supporting her family of four on a teacher’s salary and the modest disability payments her husband receives. Her loan payments are $700 a month.
“I’ve been paying the first one [for the undergraduate degree] since 2007, and I still owe about $19,000 on that one. I finished the master’s program in August and owe $30,000 for that. It will probably take at least 12 years to pay it all off.” Wallace will be 54 years old by then.
She says her husband’s disability payments cover their mortgage, but the family has to get by on her income for everything else.
“We don’t go out to eat. We can’t take vacations. Our kids don’t get to do things the other kids get to do. It’s really hard knowing you can’t do things for your own kids.”
Those children, now 11 and 16 years old, both want to go to college.
“I’ve told them I’d chip in as much as I could. I’ve encouraged them to go for scholarships. The rest will have to be student loans,” Wallace says. “My kids seeing me get more education showed them this is what you need to do to survive. Without college, there’s not much out there for you.”
Wallace hopes she may be able to take advantage of a loan forgiveness option for her federal Stafford and Perkins loans after five years of teaching. She qualifies on two counts — she teaches mathematics and she teaches in a Title 1 school. But she worries that she might not make the five-year requirement.
“If I can get [those loans forgiven] it takes a lot of pressure off me. But we are facing layoffs again in our district.”
‘The interest is very high’
Tanya Oemig finished paying off her own student loans in her early 30s, but now, at 46, she faces paying back $15,000 she borrowed to send her children to college.
“They couldn’t borrow enough themselves,” she explains, adding that, as a single parent, she was unable to save for her children’s higher education.
Until recently, Oemig was a communicable disease surveillance specialist with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Her salary there was not enough to pay the bills after taking on the new debt, and she had to add a second job. She finally decided she was on overload and quit both jobs to work for a software development company at a higher salary.
“I loved the work at Public Health, but I just couldn’t afford to keep doing it. I was lucky to find a good place to work, and it pays enough that I’m able to make the payments on one salary now. There are people struggling a lot more than I am.”
Still, Oemig worries about her children’s prospects. Both still live with her. One graduated from Madison Media Institute in May with an associate degree and now works at a gas station while he looks for a job related to his skills and education. The other one is still at Madison College, working toward a two-year degree in information systems administration. He has a part-time help desk job, but his hours were cut recently.
“I worry about their job prospects all the time. Currently they don’t make enough to support themselves. They can make their loan payments, but they can’t pay for car insurance or cell phones. And I worry they won’t find a job before their education is obsolete. They are both very discouraged.”
Oemig thinks the time allowed before graduates have to start repaying student loans is unrealistic, given the dismal job market.
“Even if they had a job right out of school, they would have a lot of expenses getting started. They need more than six months so they can save enough to afford an apartment and maybe a car — to get their feet on the ground.”
And she wonders why interest on student loans is so high when loans for other purposes are cheap these days. One of her sons has a Sallie Mae loan with an interest rate of 10%.
“I had good credit so I could get federal loans, but those who don’t have to go to private loans where the interest is very high.”
‘Sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this’
There was never any question in Dustin Bradley’s family that the Beloit Memorial graduate would go on to college.
“My grandparents didn’t go to college, and my father [a third grade teacher in Wauwatosa] was the first and only one to get a degree. My family always encouraged me and expected me to get more education,” he says. However, he admits that he drifted during his first couple of years at UW-Madison, struggling with the math required for the business program where he first enrolled, and finally finding his academic passion in sociology.
“I did the victory lap,” he explains of his extra fifth year as an undergraduate. He will receive his bachelor’s degree in May.
But Bradley’s accumulation of student debt is not over. He plans to enroll in a paralegal certificate program next fall. It’s a high-demand skill, and he’s sure he’ll find work. Then, after a few years of gaining experience, he wants to enroll in law school.
So far, Bradley’s debt load is only about $12,500, lower than average, because his family was able to kick in for his first few years and because he worked an average of 32 hours a week while in school. But from here on out, he’s on his own.
He’s looking at paralegal programs at technical colleges in Madison and Milwaukee and at several online programs. The private web-based programs are convenient, especially for someone who has a job, he says, but they are more expensive. Programs at the tech schools cost about $4,000 for the one-year course. The costs for online courses that have accreditation range from $7,500 to more than $10,000. Bradley expects he will have to borrow that money on the far more expensive private student loan market, but hopes he can pay most it off before he starts law school.
That is where the really big debt will start to build. According to UW-Madison statistics, the average law school graduate in 2012 will owe almost $100,000. That number includes accumulated undergraduate debt, but law school alone leaves the average borrower some $80,000 in debt.
Still, Bradley is confident that incurring the debt will be a good investment. “I think I’ll be making enough to make [the payments] manageable. But it’s hard when I look at some of my friends who got jobs right out of high school at Chrysler or GM. They have high-paying jobs but don’t have this debt. So sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this.”
Cause for hope
Many college graduates face a sobering reality: turning 50 and still not being free of student loan payments. But there are efforts under way to ease the burden. The progressive organization One Wisconsin Now is launching an advocacy campaign that proposes the following for state residents:

• A “truth in lending” provision, similar to what’s required for a mortgage, so students understand when they take out a loan how much they will be paying back and for how long.
• Bankruptcy protection.
• The opportunity to refinance or consolidate student loans.
• Provisions for forgiving student debt.

One Wisconsin Now is also creating a website that will highlight national efforts at helping students with excessive debt. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, for example, has introduced legislation that would treat private student loans the same as other private debt under bankruptcy. President Obama favors linking student loan repayments to income; providing debt forgiveness after 20 years; and allowing greater flexibility on interest rates.
“This is an issue that is just starting to bubble up to the surface,” says One Wisconsin Now’s deputy director, Mike Browne. “We’re in relatively early days, legislatively.”

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A lesson on student loans

A lesson on student loans
Student Financial Education Services presents students with advice for dealing with loans.

by STUDENT FINANCIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

This article originally appeared in The Tiger on February 24, 2012 | PRINT

Understanding Your Student Loans
The majority of college students have them: student loans. Student loans have increased in popularity in recent years, mostly due to the increasing tuition rates seen across the country. As you near the end of your tenure here at Clemson, there are a few things to keep in mind that will better prepare you to deal with your student loans.
Where do I find my loans?
If you are like many students, you remember receiving the many pieces of mail over the past four years detailing your loans, but now you cannot seem to find the information. You most likely know your loans by the types of loans they are, like Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan and others. These loans are not all made by one company, but are sold off and serviced by a wide variety.
There is an easy-to-use resource to help locate all of your student loans and who they are owned or serviced by. The website to help you locate your student loans is http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/.
If you have private loans, such as those often made by banks or financial companies such as Discover, Citi, Bank of America or others, you may need to contact that financial institution directly, as their information is sometimes not located in the online database.
How do I pay my loans?
Once you graduate, you should be proactive about finding out when you need to start paying your student loans back.
Graduating from college can be a hectic time, and with all the address changes that you may be going through, it’s easy for mail to get misplaced or sent to the wrong address. It is the responsibility of the borrower, which would be you, to make contact with the owner or servicer of your loan(s) in order to find out when payments begin.
The owner or servicer of your loan will most likely offer you several options for repaying your loans, although not all companies offer these options, and some companies may offer more options. Here are a few basic options:
Standard Repayment: Think of this payment option as a standard loan, you make fixed payments that do not change from month to month for the standard repayment period (which is typically 10 years).
Extended Repayment: This payment option is similar to the standard payment option, except the payment period (which is the time it takes to pay back the loan) will be longer than the standard period. This type of repayment plan may be beneficial to those who have extremely large amounts of student loans and cannot afford the monthly payment under the standard repayment plan.
Graduated Repayment: A graduated repayment plan offers the advantage of allowing you to make lower monthly payments right when you get out of school with the monthly payment increasing every set period of time (such as every two or three years). This type of repayment plan is based on the ideal that your income will increase over time.
Income Dependent Repayment: This payment plan is available in certain government loan situations and allows the borrower to pay a certain percentage of their income toward the loan until the loan is paid off or until a time limit of 25 years is reached. If the time limit of 25 years is reached, the government will forgive the remaining balance on the debt, although tax implications may apply.
Although these are just a few of the standard payment options, it is important to keep your current situation in mind when determining which payment plan is right for you. It is also important to think of the payment plan in terms of which will cost you the most in interest, as opposed to those repayment plans that will accrue the least amount of interest. Students are responsible for verifying the information in this article prior to making financial decisions.
If you would like additional information on student loan payment plans or help understanding your student loan situation, please visit the Student Financial Education Office located in The Union, Office 805. You can set up an appointment by emailing us at sfes1@clemson.edu or calling us at (864) 656-7337.
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3 Things That Could Move Financial Stocks Today

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Here’s the news and headlines that could drive action in the big financial stocks today.
Bank of America(BAC) said in its annual 10K filing with the SEC that it will stop selling new home loans to Fannie Mae(FNMA), citing an ongoing dispute with the housing giant over mortgage repurchase claims. According to press reports, the bank has said its move will not affect customers seeking home loans as it will continue to sell new mortgages to Freddie Mac(FMCC) or retain them in their own books. It will continue to offer loans refinanced and modified through government programs to Fannie Mae. Bank of America has been scaling back its presence in the mortgage origination business. Last year it exited the correspondent mortgages business. The bank also disclosed that it still faces “reasonably possible losses” of $3.6 billion in addition to what it has accrued. http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/

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Citigroup(C) is in the process of winding down its nearly 10% stake in India’s HDFC (Housing Development and Finance Corporation). The bank will sell 145.26 million shares in the leading housing finance company as part of a block trade, with an offer range of 630 and 730 rupees, according to Financial Times. At the upper range, the bank will raise $2.1 billion from the sale. The final price will be announced Friday morning. Citigroup had already pared its stake in HDFC from 11.4% to under 10% last June. At that time, the bank had said it was a mere response to the anticipated changes to its capital structure under Basel III and was not a reflection of its outlook on HDFC or the Indian market. Analysts believe the sale may be linked to an anticipated writedown the bank may have to take if Morgan Stanley(MS) exercises its option to buy an additional 14% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture.

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Friday also brings economic data in the form of new homes sales data at 10:00 a.m. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard will be speaking in New York about housing and monetary policy. His comments may get attention in light of the Fed’s recent calls for policy action to boost housing.

First Industrial Realty Trust Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

CHICAGO, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR – News), a leading owner and operator of industrial real estate and provider of supply chain solutions, today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011.  Diluted net loss available to common stockholders per share (EPS) was $(0.05) in the fourth quarter, compared to $(0.43) a year ago.  Full year 2011 diluted net loss available to common stockholders was $(0.34) per share, compared to $(3.53) per share in 2010.
(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20040106/FRLOGO)
First Industrial’s fourth quarter FFO was $0.23 per share/unit on a diluted basis, compared to $0.15 per share/unit last year.  Full year 2011 FFO was $0.89 per share/unit on a diluted basis versus $0.80 per share/unit in 2010.
FFO per share results for the fourth quarter of 2011 include a $0.01 per share loss on retirement of debt and a $0.01 per share reversal of impairment on undepreciated real estate.  FFO results for the full year 2011 include a $0.06 loss on retirement of debt, $0.02 per share of restructuring charges and an $0.08 per share reversal of impairment on undepreciated assets.
“The First Industrial team continued to deliver on all fronts in 2011 – driving occupancy, strengthening our capital base, and improving our portfolio through targeted asset sales and a return to investing,” said Bruce W. Duncan, First Industrial’s president and CEO.  “We are positioned for growth in 2012 by leasing our vacancies and making disciplined new investments, while we continue to refine our portfolio through select asset sales.”
Portfolio Performance for On Balance Sheet Properties – Fourth Quarter 2011

• In-service occupancy was 87.9% at the end of the quarter, up 130 basis points from 86.6% at the end of the third quarter 2011, and up 290 basis points from 85.0% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010.
• Retained tenants in 69.9% of square footage up for renewal.
• Excluding lease termination fees, same store cash basis net operating income (NOI) increased 0.5%.  Including lease termination fees, same store cash basis NOI decreased 1.2%.
• Rental rates decreased 11.3% on a cash basis; leasing costs were $2.93 per square foot.

Capital Markets Activities and Financial Position (Balance Sheet Information)
In the fourth quarter, the Company:

• Closed a new $450 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a three year term and one year extension option, with interest-only payments currently at LIBOR plus 210 basis points, and a facility fee on the unused portion that ranges from 25-35 basis points.
• Repurchased $6.0 million of its senior unsecured notes due 2028, $5.1 million of its 7.5% senior unsecured notes due 2017, $5.0 million of its 5.95% senior unsecured notes due 2017, $1.1 million of its senior unsecured notes due 2014, and $0.5 million of its senior unsecured notes due 2016.  

“We added to our capital flexibility and capacity by putting in place our new $450 million line of credit in the fourth quarter,” said Scott Musil, chief financial officer.  “For future capital deployment, we will continue to weigh potential new investments against debt reduction opportunities, such as our $17.7 million of debt repurchases in the quarter.”
Investment and Divestment Activities
In the fourth quarter, the Company:

• Completed asset sales for gross proceeds of approximately $12.4 million comprised of five industrial properties totaling approximately 468,000 square feet.

In the first quarter of 2012 to date, the Company:

• Acquired its joint venture partner’s 85% interest in a 390,000 square-foot Class A distribution center in Central Pennsylvania for a total investment of $21.8 million at an in-place cap rate of 7.1%.
• Completed the construction of its First Inland Logistics Center development, a 692,000 square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center in Southern California.

Common Dividend Policy
First Industrial’s dividend policy is determined by our board of directors, and is dependent on multiple factors, including cash flow and capital expenditure requirements, as well as ensuring we meet the minimum distribution requirements set forth in the Code.  We met these requirements in 2011.
Outlook for 2012
Mr. Duncan stated, “Industry fundamentals continue to be good, as leasing markets are active and new supply remains limited largely to bulk distribution centers in select coastal markets.  As the economy continues to grow moderately, we expect tenants will continue to absorb industrial space which will benefit our portfolio.  We expect our occupancy to decline in the first quarter due to seasonality and known moveouts, and increase over the balance of the year.”

			Low End of		High End of
			Guidance for 2012		Guidance for 2012
			(Per share/unit)		(Per share/unit)
Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders			(0.40)		(0.30)
Add: Real Estate Depreciation/Amortization			1.33		1.33
FFO (NAREIT Definition)			$                    0.93		$                    1.03

The following assumptions were used:

• Average in-service occupancy of 87.5% to 89.0%.
• Same-store NOI of positive 2% to 4% for the full year.
• JV FFO of approximately $0.8 million.
• General and administrative expense of approximately $21.5 million to $22.5 million.
• The Company plans to sell properties in 2012 depending upon market conditions the impact of which is not included in our FFO and EPS guidance above.  Guidance does not include the impact of any future impairment gains or losses.
• Guidance does not include the impact of any future property investments; however, guidance does reflect the impact of the 390,000 square-foot acquisition completed in 1Q12 described above.
• Guidance does not include the impact of any future debt repurchases prior to maturity or future debt issuances.
• Guidance does not include the impact of issuing additional equity, which the Company may elect to do, depending on market conditions.

A number of factors could impact our ability to deliver results in line with our assumptions, such as interest rates, the economies of North America, the supply and demand of industrial real estate, the availability and terms of financing to potential acquirers of real estate, the timing and yields for divestment and investment, and numerous other variables.  There can be no assurance that First Industrial can achieve such results.
FFO Definition
First Industrial reports FFO in accordance with the NAREIT definition to provide a comparative measure to other REITs.  NAREIT recommends that REITs define FFO as net income, excluding gains (or losses) from the sale of previously depreciated property, plus depreciation and amortization, excluding impairments from previously depreciated assets, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures.
About First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR – News) is a leading owner and operator of industrial real estate and provider of supply chain solutions to multinational corporations and regional customers.  Across major markets in North America, our local market experts manage, lease, buy, (re)develop, and sell bulk and regional distribution centers, light industrial, and other industrial facility types.  We have a track record of industry leading customer service, and in total, we own, manage and have under development approximately 70.9 million square feet of industrial space.  For more information, please visit us at www.firstindustrial.com. We post or otherwise make available on this website from time to time information that may be of interest to investors.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release and the presentation to which it refers may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are including this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of the Company, are generally identifiable by use of the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “seek,” “target,” “potential,” “focus,” “may,” “should” or similar expressions. Our ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Factors which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and future prospects include, but are not limited to: changes in national, international, regional and local economic conditions generally and real estate markets specifically; changes in legislation/regulation (including changes to laws governing the taxation of real estate investment trusts) and actions of regulatory authorities (including the Internal Revenue Service); our ability to qualify and maintain our status as a real estate investment trust; the availability and attractiveness of financing (including both public and private capital) to us and to our potential counterparties; the availability and attractiveness of terms of additional debt repurchases; interest rates; our credit agency ratings; our ability to comply with applicable financial covenants; competition; changes in supply and demand for industrial properties (including land, the supply and demand for which is inherently more volatile than other types of industrial property) in the Company’s current and proposed market areas; difficulties in consummating acquisitions and dispositions; risks related to our investments in properties through joint ventures; environmental liabilities; slippages in development or lease-up schedules; tenant creditworthiness; higher-than-expected costs; changes in asset valuations and related impairment charges; changes in general accounting principles, policies and guidelines applicable to real estate investment trusts; international business risks; and those additional factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and in the Company’s subsequent ’34 Act reports. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our outlook only and speak only as of the date of this press release or the dates indicated in the statements. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements. For further information on these and other factors that could impact the Company and the statements contained herein, reference should be made to the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A schedule of selected financial information is attached.
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR – News), a leading owner and operator of industrial real estate and provider of supply chain solutions, will host its quarterly conference call on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. EST (10:00 a.m. CST).  The conference call may be accessed by dialing (866) 542-2938 and entering reservation code 51563038.  The conference call will also be webcast live on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website at www.firstindustrial.com.  The replay will also be available on the website.
The Company’s fourth quarter and full year supplemental information can be viewed on First Industrial’s website, www.firstindustrial.com, under the “Investor Relations” tab.

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
Selected Financial Data
(In thousands, except for per share/unit)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended				Year Ended
		December 31,		December 31,		December 31,		December 31,
		2011		2010		2011		2010
Statement of Operations and Other Data:
Total  Revenues		$          79,677		$          80,127		$        317,835		$        321,778
Property Expenses		(27,546)		(27,326)		(108,590)		(108,651)
General & Administrative Expense		(5,585)		(5,358)		(20,638)		(26,589)
Restructuring Costs		-		(309)		(1,553)		(1,858)
Impairment of Real Estate		1,006		(15,516)		8,807		(112,904)
Depreciation of Corporate F,F&E		(328)		(458)		(1,426)		(1,975)
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate		(32,351)		(29,298)		(120,178)		(123,323)
Construction Expenses		-		(51)		-		(507)
Total  Expenses		(64,804)		(78,316)		(243,578)		(375,807)
Interest Income		888		1,244		3,922		4,364
Interest Expense		(23,196)		(27,159)		(100,127)		(105,898)
Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs		(726)		(1,061)		(3,963)		(3,473)
Loss from Retirement of Debt		(855)		(320)		(5,459)		(4,304)
Mark-to-Market (Loss) Gain on Interest Rate Protection Agreements		(158)		681		(1,718)		(1,107)
Foreign Currency Exchange Loss		-		-		(332)		(190)
Loss from Continuing Operations Before Gain on Sale of Joint Venture Interest,
Equity in Income of Joint Ventures, Gain on Change in Control of Interests
and Income Tax Provision		(9,174)		(24,804)		(33,420)		(164,637)
Gain on Sale of Joint Venture Interest		-		1,352		-		11,226
Equity in Income of Joint Ventures (b)		73		950		980		675
Gain on Change in Control of Interests		-		-		689		-
Income Tax Provision		(424)		(536)		(450)		(2,963)
Loss from Continuing Operations		(9,525)		(23,038)		(32,201)		(155,699)
Discontinued Operations:
Income (Loss) Attributable to Discontinued Operations		1,464		(3,702)		2,920		(77,529)
Gain on Sale of Real Estate		7,068		1,525		20,419		11,092
Benefit (Provision) for Income Taxes Allocable to Discontinued Operations		817		-		(1,246)		-
Total Discontinued Operations		9,349		(2,177)		22,093		(66,437)
Loss Before Gain on Sale of Real Estate		(176)		(25,215)		(10,108)		(222,136)
Gain on Sale of Real Estate		-		-		1,370		859
Provision for Income Taxes Allocable to Gain on Sale of Real Estate		-		-		(452)		(342)
Net Loss		(176)		(25,215)		(9,190)		(221,619)
Net Loss Attributable to the Noncontrolling Interest		255		2,241		1,745		18,798
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.		79		(22,974)		(7,445)		(202,821)
Preferred Dividends		(4,763)		(4,854)		(19,565)		(19,677)
Net Loss Available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s
Common Stockholders and Participating Securities		$           (4,684)		$         (27,828)		$         (27,010)		$       (222,498)
RECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO
FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.’S COMMON
STOCKHOLDERS AND PARTICIPATING SECURITIES TO FFO (c) AND FAD (c)
Net Loss Available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s
Common Stockholders and Participating Securities		$           (4,684)		$         (27,828)		$         (27,010)		$       (222,498)
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate		32,351		29,298		120,178		123,323
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate Included in Discontinued Operations		230		1,192		2,145		11,273
Noncontrolling Interest		(255)		(2,241)		(1,745)		(18,798)
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate from Joint Ventures (b)		102		(187)		551		947
Impairment of Depreciated Real Estate		(400)		6,265		(1,687)		90,204
Impairment of Depreciated Real Estate Included in Discontinued Operations		648		6,019		6,146		81,648
Gain on Change in Control of Interests		-		-		(689)		-
Non-NAREIT Compliant Gain		(7,068)		(1,525)		(20,419)		(11,073)
Non-NAREIT Compliant Gain from Joint Ventures (b)		-		(350)		(616)		(231)
Funds From Operations (NAREIT) (“FFO”) (c)		$          20,924		$          10,643		$          76,854		$          54,795
Loss from Retirement of Debt		855		320		5,459		4,304
Restricted Stock Amortization		991		1,373		3,759		6,040
Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs		726		1,061		3,963		3,473
Depreciation of Corporate F,F&E		328		458		1,426		1,975
Impairment of Undepreciated Real Estate		(606)		9,251		(7,120)		22,700
Mark-to-Market Loss (Gain) on Interest Rate Protection Agreements		158		(681)		1,718		1,107
Non-Incremental Capital Expenditures		(18,306)		(16,289)		(56,038)		(42,476)
Straight-Line Rent		(1,987)		(2,113)		(7,733)		(7,041)
Funds Available for Distribution (“FAD”)  (c)		$            3,083		$            4,023		$          22,288		$          44,877

FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
Selected Financial Data
(In thousands, except for per share/unit)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended				Year Ended
		December 31,		December 31,		December 31,		December 31,
		2011		2010		2011		2010
RECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO
FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST, INC.’S COMMON
STOCKHOLDERS AND PARTICIPATING SECURITIES TO EBITDA (c) AND NOI (c)
Net Loss Available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s
Common Stockholders and Participating Securities		$           (4,684)		$         (27,828)		$         (27,010)		$       (222,498)
Interest Expense		23,196		27,159		100,127		105,898
Interest Expense Included in Discontinued Operations		-		66		63		268
Restructuring Costs		-		309		1,553		1,858
Impairment of Undepreciated Real Estate		(606)		9,251		(7,120)		22,700
Impairment of Depreciated Real Estate		(400)		6,265		(1,687)		90,204
Impairment of Depreciated Real Estate Included in Discontinued Operations		648		6,019		6,146		81,648
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate		32,351		29,298		120,178		123,323
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate Included in Discontinued Operations		230		1,192		2,145		11,273
Preferred Dividends		4,763		4,854		19,565		19,677
(Benefit) Provision for Income Taxes		(393)		536		2,148		3,305
Noncontrolling Interest		(255)		(2,241)		(1,745)		(18,798)
Loss from Retirement of Debt		855		320		5,459		4,304
Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs		726		1,061		3,963		3,473
Depreciation of Corporate F,F&E		328		458		1,426		1,975
Depreciation and Amortization of Real Estate from Joint Ventures (b)		102		(187)		551		947
Gain on Change in Control of Interests		-		-		(689)		-
Non-NAREIT Compliant Gain		(7,068)		(1,525)		(20,419)		(11,073)
Non-NAREIT Compliant Gain from Joint Ventures (b)		-		(350)		(616)		(231)
EBITDA (c)		$          49,793		$          54,657		$        204,038		$        218,253
General and Administrative Expense		5,585		5,358		20,638		26,589
Foreign Currency Exchange Loss		-		-		332		190
Mark-to-Market Loss (Gain) on Interest Rate Protection Agreements		158		(681)		1,718		1,107
NAREIT Compliant Economic Gain (c)		-		-		(1,370)		(878)
FFO of Joint Ventures (c)		(445)		(1,912)		(1,885)		(17,569)
Net Operating Income (“NOI”) (c)		$          55,091		$          57,422		$        223,471		$        227,692
RECONCILIATION OF GAIN ON SALE OF REAL ESTATE
TO NAREIT COMPLIANT ECONOMIC GAIN (c)
Gain on Sale of Real Estate		$                    -		$                    -		$            1,370		$               859
Gain on Sale of Real Estate included in Discontinued Operations		7,068		1,525		20,419		11,092
Non-NAREIT Compliant Gain		(7,068)		(1,525)		(20,419)		(11,073)
NAREIT Compliant Economic Gain (c)		$                    -		$                    -		$            1,370		$               878
Weighted Avg. Number of Shares/Units Outstanding – Basic/Diluted   (a)		91,200		69,413		85,913		68,327
Weighted Avg. Number of Shares Outstanding – Basic/Diluted   (a)		85,941		64,049		80,616		62,953
Per Share/Unit Data:
FFO (NAREIT) Allocable to Common Stockholders and Unitholders		$          20,924		$          10,643		$          76,854		$          54,795
- Basic/Diluted   (a)		$              0.23		$              0.15		$              0.89		$              0.80
Loss from Continuing Operations, including Gain on Sale of Real Estate, Net of Income Tax		$           (9,525)		$         (23,038)		$         (31,283)		$       (155,182)
Add: Noncontrolling Interest Allocable to Continuing Operations and Gain on Sale of Real Estate		798		2,065		3,097		13,623
Less: Preferred Dividends		(4,763)		(4,854)		(19,565)		(19,677)
Loss from Continuing Operations Available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s Common Stockholders		$         (13,490)		$         (25,827)		$         (47,751)		$       (161,236)
- Basic/Diluted   (a)		$             (0.16)		$             (0.40)		$             (0.59)		$             (2.56)
Net Loss Available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s Common Stockholders		$           (4,684)		$         (27,828)		$         (27,010)		$       (222,498)
- Basic/Diluted   (a)		$             (0.05)		$             (0.43)		$             (0.34)		$             (3.53)
Balance Sheet Data (end of period):
Real Estate Before Accumulated Depreciation		$     2,992,096		$     2,618,767
Real Estate and Other Held For Sale, Net		91,659		392,291
Total Assets		2,666,657		2,750,054
Debt		1,479,483		1,742,782
Total Liabilities		1,594,062		1,857,910
Total Equity		$     1,072,595		$        892,144

a) In accordance with GAAP, the diluted weighted average number of shares/units outstanding and the diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding are the same as the basic weighted average number of shares/units outstanding and the basic weighted average number of shares outstanding, respectively, for periods in which continuing operations is a loss, as the dilutive effect of stock options and restricted units would be antidilutive to the loss from continuing operations per share. The Company has conformed with the GAAP computation of diluted common shares in computing per share amounts for items included on the Statement of Operations, including FFO and FAD.
GAAP requires unvested equity based compensation awards that have nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents (whether paid or unpaid) to be included in the two class method of the computation of EPS.  For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, there was no impact on basic and diluted EPS as participating security holders are not obligated to share in losses.  The Company conforms the calculation of FFO and FAD with the calculation of EPS.
b) Represents the Company’s pro rata share of net income (loss), depreciation and amortization on real estate and Non-NAREIT compliant gain (loss).
c) Investors in and analysts following the real estate industry utilize funds from operations (“FFO”), net operating income (“NOI”), EBITDA and funds available for distribution (“FAD”), variously defined, as supplemental performance measures.  While the Company believes net income (loss) available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stockholders and participating securities, as defined by GAAP, is the most appropriate measure, it considers FFO, NOI, EBITDA and FAD, given their wide use by and relevance to investors and analysts, appropriate supplemental performance measures.  FFO, reflecting the assumption that real estate asset values rise or fall with market conditions, principally adjusts for the effects of GAAP depreciation and amortization of real estate assets.  NOI provides a measure of rental operations, and does not factor in depreciation and amortization and non-property specific expenses such as general and administrative expenses.  EBITDA provides a tool to further evaluate the ability to incur and service debt and to fund dividends and other cash needs.  FAD provides a tool to further evaluate the ability to fund dividends.  In addition, FFO, NOI, EBITDA and FAD are commonly used in various ratios, pricing multiples/yields and returns and valuation calculations used to measure financial position, performance and value.
From January 1, 2009 until September 30, 2011, the Company calculated FFO to be equal to net income (loss) available to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stockholders and participating securities, plus depreciation and amortization on real estate less non-NAREIT compliant gain (loss) in accordance with NAREIT’s definition of FFO.  In the fourth quarter of 2011, NAREIT modified its definition of FFO to exclude impairment write downs of depreciable real estate from FFO.  Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company adopted NAREIT’s updated FFO definition and restated FFO for the year ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 in accordance with NAREIT’s updated FFO definition.  The impact of this change was to increase FFO by $4.5 million or $0.05 per share for the year ended December 31, 2011 and to increase FFO by $171.9 million or $2.51 per share for the year ended December 31, 2010.  The Company also restated the three months ended December 31, 2010.  The impact of this change was to increase FFO by $12.3 million or $0.17 per share.
NOI is defined as revenues of the Company, minus property expenses such as real estate taxes, repairs and maintenance, property management, utilities, insurance and other expenses.  NOI includes NOI from discontinued operations.
EBITDA is defined as NOI plus the equity in FFO of the Company’s joint ventures, which are accounted for under the equity method of accounting, plus or minus NAREIT compliant economic gain (loss), plus foreign exchange loss, plus or minus mark-to-market gain or loss on interest rate protection agreements, minus general and administrative expenses.  EBITDA includes EBITDA from discontinued operations.
FAD is defined as EBITDA minus GAAP interest expense, minus restructuring costs, minus preferred stock dividends, minus straight-line rental income, minus provision for income taxes or plus benefit for income taxes, minus or plus mark-to-market gain or loss on interest rate protection agreements, plus restricted stock amortization, minus non-incremental capital expenditures.  Non-incremental capital expenditures are building improvements and leasing costs required to maintain current revenues.  See footnote (aa).
FFO, NOI, EBITDA and FAD do not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and are not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs, including the repayment of principal on debt and payment of dividends and distributions.  FFO, NOI, EBITDA and FAD should not be considered as substitutes for net income (loss) available to common stockholders and participating securities (calculated in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of results of operations or cash flows (calculated in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of liquidity.  FFO, NOI, EBITDA and FAD as currently calculated by the Company may not be comparable to similarly titled, but variously calculated, measures of other REITs.
In addition, the Company considers cash-basis same store NOI (“SS NOI”) to be a useful supplemental measure of its operating performance.  Same store properties, for the period beginning January 1, 2011, include all properties owned prior to January 1, 2010 and held as an operating property through the end of the current reporting period, and developments and redevelopments that were placed in service or were substantially completed for 12 months prior to January 1, 2010 (the “Same Store Pool”).  The Company defines SS NOI as NOI, less NOI of properties not in the Same Store Pool, less the impact of straight-line rent, the amortization of lease inducements and the amortization of above/below market rent.  For the quarters ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, NOI was $55,091 and $57,422, respectively; NOI of properties not in the Same Store Pool was $(269) and $950, respectively; the impact of straight-line rent, the amortization of lease inducements and the amortization of above/below market rent was $1,940 and $2,396, respectively.  The Company excludes straight-line rent, amortization of lease inducements and above/below market rent in calculating SS NOI because the Company believes it provides a better measure of actual cash basis rental growth for a year-over-year comparison.  In addition, the Company believes that SS NOI helps the investing public compare the operating performance of a company’s real estate as compared to other companies.  While SS NOI is a relevant and widely used measure of operating performance of real estate investment trusts, it does not represent cash flow from operations or net income (loss) as defined by GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to those measures in evaluating our liquidity or operating performance.  SS NOI also does not reflect general and administrative expenses, interest expenses, depreciation and amortization costs, capital expenditures and leasing costs, or trends in development and construction activities that could materially impact our results from operations. Further, the Company’s computation of SS NOI may not be comparable to that of other real estate companies, as they may use different methodologies for calculating SS NOI.http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/