Shore Capital Management LLC

Foreign Policy magazine (FP) recently released their 2010 Global Cities Index. Of the 65 cities listed, Chicago moved up to 6th place from the previous 8th place.

The index was derived from a partnership of FP, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the consulting firm A.T. Kearny.

The cities were chosen based on a population of at least 1 million people. The index tried to answer the ever elusive question: What makes a city global?

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On July 7th, 2010 the Institute for Housing Studies (IHS) at DePaul University in Chicago released the "Cook County Rent and Vacancy 2010 Q1 Report". The report noted most submarkets of Chicago and suburban Cook County continue to see high vacancy rates and decreasing rents.

In the first quarter of 2006 Chicago and Cook County vacancy rates were 3.1% and 3.6% respectively. The rates bottomed in Q4 2006 at 2.3% and 2.5% respectively.

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On Friday, August 13th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the July 2010 Midwest Consumer Price Index.

The national CPI reported the All Items index (not seasonally adjusted) increased by 1.2% from July 2009 and was flat from June 2010. The Midwest CPI (not seasonally adjusted) increased by 1.7% from July 2009 and increased by 0.2% from June 2010.

All Items less food and energy index (Core, a less volatile index) increased by 0.9% from July 2009 and was flat from June 2010. The Midwest Core index Core index increased by 1.0% since July 2009 and was flat from June 2009.

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On March 26th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the February regional and state unemployment rates.

At the national level the BLS reported the February unemployment rate at 9.7%, unchanged from January. 27 states reported increases in the February unemployment rate from January. 16 states reported no change for February. 7 states and the District of Columbia reported rate decreases.

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Jan 22, 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the December 2009 regional and state unemployment rates. The BLS has maintained state unemployment data since January 1976.

Contrary to the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (officially known as U-3) remaining unchanged from November to December at 10.0%, 43 states and the District of Columbia reported an increase in the December 2009 unemployment rates. Four states experienced a decrease and three states remained unchanged for December.

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Today the Conference board released their December index of leading indicators at 1.1%. This was above expectations of 0.7%. Nov was revised from 0.9% to 1.0%.

The U.S. Dec Leading Indicators will be released at 10 am EST today. According to the CME Group, the market is expecting 0.4% to 0.9%. With a consensus at 0.7%.

Jan 15, 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their December 2009 report of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Midwest.

The BLS defines the Midwest region as the 12 states of “Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.”

At the national level on a seasonally adjusted basis, the average urban consumer experienced a 0.1% increase in prices based on the CPI. The entire CPI index or “all items” of the Midwest region decreased by READ MORE

Jan 15, 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their December 2009 report of the Consumer Price Index for NY, Long Island, Northern NJ, CT and PA.

The BLS defines the NY-NJ-CT-PA consolidated area as "the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, New Haven, and Middlesex Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania."

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