Financial 411: Hotel Construction in New York City

Markets

Stocks stalled today, just days after the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 11,000 for the first time since early May. The Dow was relatively flat, gaining just four points, to close at 11,010. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also remained flat, with the S&P closing up just a notch at 1,165, and the Nasdaq ending the day at 2,402. Gold rose to $1,354.40 an ounce, rising by $9.10. It's the 15th record-high for gold in a little over a month.

A Change in Expectations for the U.S. Economy

Economists are scaling back their expectations for the U.S. economy in the coming year. The National Association for Business Economics cut growth projections for both 2010 and 2011 from 3.2 percent to 2.6 percent. Richard Wobbekind, the association's president-elect, said the survey reflected a summer of worse-than-expected economic data. "When I talk to people and tell them the recession is officially over, everybody tells me it's going to be over when there's jobs," he said, "and this forecast certainly doesn't show tremendous job growth until the latter part of the year."

Meanwhile, Wall Street traders are optimistic. A survey by eFinancialCareers.com found about 71 percent of those responding to an e-mailed poll expect their bonus to be as big as it was last year, with about 50 percent anticipating a bigger payout.

Nobel Prize in Economics

And a little bonus for these three men: two Americans, Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen, and Christopher Pissarides, a British-Cypriot citizen, won the Nobel prize in Economics for their studies of markets. Diamond is an MIT professor who's been nominated to serve on the Federal Reserve board. His nomination has been held up in the Senate.

The Financial Crisis and Hotel Construction

The financial crisis slowed hotel construction in New York City, but it did not stop it. New hotels continue to open in New York, adding more than 4,000 rooms in the past year. WNYC’s Lisa Chow talks about the financing for these projects, and some developments in the city's hotel construction.