In this unfriendly economy, how could swanky dining at discounted prices not be a home run? An e-mail from the Baltimore Area Visitors Association Thursday has alerted foodies that, due to popular demand for reservations by patrons, 46 restaurants are extending their Winter Restaurant Week menus by one week (through Feb. 8).

The list includes:

• Da Mimmo’s,
• Capital Grille,
• Sascha’s,
• Sotto Sopra,
• Aldo’s,
• McCormick & Schmicks,
• Petit Louis,
• Pazo,
• Cinghiale,
• Bicycle Bistro,
• Blue Sea Grille,
• Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and
• Prime Rib…just to name a few.

BACVA put the fully updated list on the Restaurant Week Web site earlier today.

Guess everyone’s hungry for a deal. What are the chances area restaurants will grant another extension to coincide with Valentine’s Day the following week?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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Maryland’s fight for cleaner air is getting some love from the BBC.

BBC World News America’s Katty Kay — you may know her from regular appearances on Meet the Press and The Chris Matthews Show — traveled from D.C. to Maryland’s James Island with environmental scientist Court Stevenson to get a look at the problems plaguing the Chesapeake Bay, and report back on the work the state is doing to reduce carbon emissions.

“The impact of global warming is hard to ignore — rising sea levels are contributing to massive erosion, threatening Maryland’s 3,000 miles of coastline… The rising water has covered what was once a thriving community — 150 years ago there were two schools, a shop and a shipbuilding yard. Mr. Stevenson said it will all be gone in 30 years,” Kay wrote.

Despite the BBC’s worldwide reach, Kay does little to compare Maryland’s policies to those around the world. I would have liked to find a sister state somewhere out there that’s pushing some buttons with its environmental laws. Regardless, I guess it’s still nice to get some international love.

DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer

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Whether you’re still gainfully employed or one of the many victims of the economic downturn, the last few months haven’t been easy. More layoffs seem to lurk around every turn. And when news of The Baltimore Examiner’s closure broke this morning, it was an especially rough moment to be a journalist.

Which is why I might consider a career in Factoring. True, I only barely recognize the term from Algebra class, but apparently the median annual salary is $79,846 and “Factors” are predicted to be ‘in demand’ in 2009 (HT: Payscale).

Frankly, I find it encouraging that there are even 10 career fields to compile for a Top 10 list of in-demand jobs; Ron Mitchell, CEO and co-founder of a career coaching service, GottaMentor, points out: “There is a lot of money flowing into companies right now due to the stimulus package.”

Here are the rest of the careers we should go back to school for:

• Auditors
• Job counselors
• Healthcare technicians
• Mechanical engineers
• Nurses
• Software designers
• Networking/System Administrators
• Public Relations professionals
• Psychological counselors

Get the full facts here.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor 

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So much for my “procrastinators rewarded” comments from Tuesday’s blog post.

After the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that would delay the digital television transition by nearly four months, House Republicans said, “not so fast” — or “slow,” as the situation here plays out.

The transition is scheduled for Feb. 17; Senate and House bills proposed moving back the date to June 12. The 258-168 House vote Wednesday failed to clear the two-thirds majority needed to pass, with 155 Republicans voting against.

The Associated Press says the defeat is a setback for President Barack Obama’s administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill who fear too many Americans are not ready for the switchover.

According to the Nielsen Co., more than 6.5 million U.S. households rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals. Those that don’t get a converter box for the switch will not be able to receive a signal after Feb. 17.

Approximately 19 million government-issued coupons have been redeemed — a redemption rate of about 50 percent, according to reports this week.

After the House vote, the AP quoted Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, as saying the proposed delay was “a solution looking for problem that exists mostly in the mind of the Obama administration.”

Do you think he’s right?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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We just got a copy of a report about real estate investment trusts in our inbox from Advantus Capital Management titled “Follow the Debt: Public debt markets could predict REITs’ direction,” which predicted, frighteningly, “a staggering amount of real estate debt maturing in 2009.”But it’s not like we didn’t know about this already. Late last year, General Growth Properties, the country’s second-largest mall owner, announced it was selling off every one of its Baltimore retail properties that are worth a dime, plus Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and New York’s South Street Seaport. Plus, there’s the whole recession going on, and it’s not as if anyone related to real estate is going to have an easy time paying the bills this year. It’s like a Baltimore-based real estate broker we know always says — “We build houses around economic activity” — when there’s no economic activity, how do you pay for the house?

One particularly interesting part of the report, however, was this:

The good news is that REITs may have a competitive advantage. Generally, REIT debt leverage ratios going into the cycle were much more manageable than their private commercial real estate counterparts. While the typical REIT had debt to total capitalization of roughly 45 percent, the typical private commercial real estate investor borrowed at loan-to-values (LTV) of 75 percent. With a turnaround in the capital markets, REITs are poised to once again tap into capital, though not as cheaply as in the past.

That means that most publicly-traded REITs are carrying debts that amount to less than half of their market cap, while smaller, private companies borrow quite a bit more than that. In other words, in the future, more big buildings will be owned by large, publicly-traded REITs rather than small, local property investors.

But a recent report by the investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus sort of contradicts this. Some REITs, like those that specialize in healthcare-related buildings have very low debt-to-capitalization rates, but most others are much more highly-leveraged. ProLogis, the world’s largest warehouse owner, which has 18 properties in the Baltimore-Washington area, has a 73 percent debt-capitalization ratio. Consequently, that company is in trouble — in November, its CEO quit after the company’s shares lost 90 percent of their value in what the Wall Street Journal called “another sign that manufacturers and retailers are becoming more pessimistic about the economy.” Some prominent REITs that focus on office and industrial space, including AMB, Monmouth and Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust, are carrying close to 50 percent or above in debt-capitalization.

“As a practical matter, the REITs have maintained a much higher equity to debt ratio because that was what was determined by Wall Street,” said Joe Casey of the brokerage Cushman & Wakefield’s Baltimore office.

Still — the amount of debt that these companies are carrying is actually quite conservative, compared to other types of investment-based businesses. For example, when investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed last year, its assets were leveraged about 33 times over, meaning its debt-capitalization rate was somewhere north of 3,000 percent.

ROBBIE WHELAN, Business Writer

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OK, maybe I should be more specific — why are gas prices going up when they should be going down? And are oil companies profiting from the increase?

Yes, a year ago, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline was $1 more than it is today…but there are a lot of things today that are different from a year ago. Just ask the more than 2 million people who lost their jobs in the last 12 months.

According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, demand for gas is at its lowest level been since post-Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Simple economics should dictate that as demand falls, so does the price — but that wasn’t the case last week.

The price for crude oil closed last week at $46.47 a barrel, compared to $36.51 a week earlier, “defying gravity at a time when prices should be dropping” the AAA release said. This drove the price up in Maryland between 2 and 6 cents a gallon.

“Recent price increases at the pump are perplexing, and perhaps purposeful, but certainly not normal,” said Ragina C. Averella, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “We have oil tankers parked at sea and domestic oil refineries scaling back operations, perhaps in an attempt to prop up prices. They are not doing motorists any favors.

“Gas prices should be moving lower in light of low demand, low crude oil prices and high supplies. And we hope to see that happen in coming days.”
On the other hand, the slight increase as of late could reflect the refiners’ efforts to scale back production in order to be even with the lowered demand.

So what do you think is going on? That refiners are just trying to drop back with the demand or that they are purposefully raising prices?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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About a week ago I sat down to write a blog post about the imminent death of Circuit City, and what its demise would mean for my (rather expensive) store warranty for my television (verdict: it would die, too).

But then other work happened, my reminder note got pushed to a different pile and then lost in the jumbled mess that is my desk.

Yesterday the television’s HDMI port went on the fritz.

So now what can I do? Chances are: nothing. The TV, though a bit on the old side now, is still the most expensive purchase I’ve ever made, which is why I made the decision to pay several hundred dollars extra for a guarantee that Circuit City would fix or replace it if something went wrong. I’m still in the warranty time period – I just don’t see the store leaping to help as it’s trying to sell off the last of its merchandise. And it’s not as if the tech people about to be laid off are too invested in keeping my business.

It’s annoying as anything, but I don’t really blame the company. I took a risk and bought the insurance, never imagining the television would out-live the store. Maybe there’s some hidden meaning in the timing – unplug, go outside and sniff some flowers. Maybe run through a field.

Then again, maybe it’s the perfect excuse for an electronic upgrade.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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Rejoice, procrastinators — it looks like your wait has been rewarded. The federally-mandated switch to digital television originally scheduled for Feb. 17 (21 days from now) will likely be delayed nearly four months, thanks to a U.S. Senate vote to postpone the transition deadline to June 12.

The postponement, per request by President Barack Obama, is expected to be passed by the House Tuesday, according to a release from Chairman Henry A. Waxman, whose House committee is handling the bill.

According to PC World’s article, concerns with the transition have stemmed from the disbursement of funds from the U.S. Commerce Department’s coupon program. Launched more than a year ago, the program offers households up to two $40 coupons toward the cost of a digital television converter box (boxes range from $45 to $80 at most retailers). According to PC World, 19 million coupons have been redeemed.

But here’s where it gets sticky: by the end of last year, funds allocated for the coupon program had dried up because, as the requested coupons expire, the money goes back into the treasury, and consumers now requesting a coupon are put on a waiting list.

The PC World article notes that the 19 million coupons redeemed is a redemption rate of about 50 percent — which means there are a whole lot more people who still need to buy their converters.

In this economy, the government needs just as much help planning its finances as individuals do. I’m reminded of the reason for RSVP dates on invitations — party planners need to have an attendance number to give to their caterer enough time before the big day so the remainder of the planner’s budget allotments can be ironed out.

Should we be drawing a harder line for individuals who let their coupons expire and not let them request another one? Or is this a government problem — the bureaucracy of reallocating funds from the treasury (funds that were originally reserved for these coupons) slowing everyone down?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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When I buy tickets for sporting events I usually waste a good hour or so scouring the Internet for every ticket sales Web site I can find to search for the best deal. The process requires patience, soothing music in the background and some form of candy on hand to keep my spirits up.

But thankfully, those days are over. This week I was alerted to a relatively new Maryland-based Web site (formed in 2007) called NinjaTickets.com that searches and provides results from multiple sites at once.

For example, as of Friday morning, Super Bowl tickets on StubHub.com start at about $1,600 for the nosebleed corner seats at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. A Ninja search shows similar tickets available from TixSpark for $1,400.

Another neat feature is that the site gives you event stats so you know how long you have left to act — as of Friday morning there were 6,188 tickets left online for the Super Bowl. The average ticket price is $3,645.37 and the most expensive ticket is $299,000 for a 36-person luxury suite.

According to the Web site, NinjaTickets has sold $16 billion worth of tickets since its launch more than a year ago. It is the first company to provide an aggregating ticket comparison search engine for consumers online.

I wonder what I’ll do with all my extra time…
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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I’ve written before about how sports are not recession-proof. But the topic was brought home by Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti at a news conference he held last week when he said he is concerned about how the recession may affect the team.

“I’ve said this before: I’m not in this business to make money, but I’m also hoping not to lose money, and we’re running on fairly small margins when it comes to cash flow,” Bisciotti said Wednesday. “So all those companies in Baltimore that buy our suites and everything, I need them to keep on going, and I need the people to keep on buying tickets. So we have to be sensitive with increases and everything else, but it is definitely a factor, and it’s the first time we’re going to go through it.

“But I’ve been through economic downturns in my other business, and so I think that we know how to prepare for those kinds of things. But you can’t prepare for loss of revenues. You just have to try and manage it the best you can and minimize the losses.”

It’s a sticky situation — suites are a big revenue generator for a team, and you don’t want to make the cost prohibitive for a company that is likely scrutinizing its discretionary expenses and may not have many clients left this year to even schmooze at the suite.

But on the plus side, Bisciotti said the team’s performance this season should earn it more primetime appearances for the 2009 season. And national television exposure is good not just for the Ravens but for their relationship with advertisers that pay for the stadium billboards seen on TV.

At what point should fans here start worrying about their team? If finances are an issue, will the Ravens be able to afford a monster contract for Ray Lewis to keep him in Baltimore? And if they can’t, how bad would that be for the city and team’s morale?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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