MIAMI: He calls them "Save the Dream" events, but activist financier Bruce Marks is squarely focused on an American nightmare.

For nearly two years now Marks, a 54-year-old former regulator at the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has been holding massive mortgage modification gatherings across the country.

SINGAPORE: The search for a new chief executive for YTL Pacific Star, the manager of Singapore-listed Starhill Global REIT, is over.

The Kuala Lumpur-based group has picked Ho Sing, 44, the brother of Temasek chief executive Ho Ching, to take over from Franklin Heng, who died last December from complications following liposuction surgery.

Asset acquisitions in the pipeline

Buys property in Port of Tanjung Pelepas

Closing in to RM1 billion AUM

* We maintain our BUY rating on Axis REIT (Axis) with our fair value unchanged at RM2.37/unit. This is after applying 5% discount to our DCF valuation of RM2.49/unit.

KUALA LUMPUR: Quill Capita Trust’s net profit for 1Q ended March 31, 2010, rose 1.7% to RM7.48 million from RM7.35 million a year ago, driven by higher income contribution from properties and lower borrowing costs.

KUALA LUMPUR: SHL Consolidated Bhd has secured majority ownership of Wisma Sin Heap Lee, a prime commercial entity within the Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Ampang intersection. This follows SHL's acquisition of a 60% stake in Goodstock Land Sdn Bhd for RM25.56 million.

HONG KONG: Recent statistics, though far from accurate, unambiguously show an overheating Chinese economy as well as a speculative bubble. The economy is rising at a double-digit rate. So, too, are property prices, according to official statistics (or, at more than 50%, according to the property service industry). Property investment has risen by a third.