You´d think we´re back and everything was fine. Well at least according to the chief investment officer of one of North America´s leading banking institutions. We sat in his office overlooking an expansive trading floor doing an Emerging Trends interview late last week. "It´s one of the best trading environments ever," he explained. "Wall Street is hiring again."

And maybe a bit of euphoria has crept its way back into the investment markets after a sustained stock market surge. Traders have certainly done well and investors feel better, making up a chunk of lost ground from last year´s severe declines.

The banker said he plans to lease more space in New York and says investment firms are having trouble "finding the best talent." He said he´s confident of a sustained turnaround-"the worst is over."

The housing market got more good news last week too with new home sales ratcheting up and cash for clunkers boosted the almost left-for-dead automakers.

Ben Bernanke, looking to get a second term at the Fed, wants credit for engineering policy that staved off disaster and touts the start of recovery, while much of the stimulus budget still waits for actual funding by slow-moving state and local governments.

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Jonathan D. Miller

A marketing communication strategist who turned to real estate analysis, Jonathan D. Miller is a foremost interpreter of 21st citistate futures – cities and suburbs alike – seen through the lens of lifestyles and market realities. For more than 20 years (1992-2013), Miller authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the leading commercial real estate industry outlook report, published annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has lectures frequently on trends in real estate, including the future of America's major 24-hour urban centers and sprawling suburbs. He also has been author of ULI’s annual forecasts on infrastructure and its What’s Next? series of forecasts. On a weekly basis, he writes the Trendczar blog for GlobeStreet.com, the real estate news website. Outside his published forecasting work, Miller is a prominent communications/institutional investor-marketing strategist and partner in Miller Ryan LLC, helping corporate clients develop and execute branding and communications programs. He led the re-branding of GMAC Commercial Mortgage to Capmark Financial Group Inc. and he was part of the management team that helped build Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, Inc. (subsequently Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc.) into the leading real estate advisor to pension funds and other real institutional investors. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1981, moving to Equitable Real Estate in 1984 as head of Corporate/Marketing Communications. In the 1980's he managed relations for several of the country's most prominent real estate developments including New York's Trump Tower and the Equitable Center. Earlier in his career, Miller was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He is a member of the Citistates Group and a board member of NYC Outward Bound Schools and the Center for Employment Opportunities.