Roxanne Downer – My Articles

Greenhouse Effect: At the new wave of eco-friendly seaside communities, the coast is definitely clear.

It’s not easy being green for the man of means. With Al Gore polishing his Nobel Prize and the History Channel airing episodes about the tsunamis and the global fireball that might result if the planet doesn’t get its act together soon, we’ve all gotten the point about reducing our carbon footprint. It’s just that some of us start out with bigger feet than others. You likely already own a Prius and carry your groceries home from Whole Foods in chic canvas bags.
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Property for Sale, Four Ecosystems: Forget a private island. What you need is a place like this.

It’s a rare country that can lay claim to more than 650 varieties of birds, a breed of nearly endangered wolves and its own subspecies of jaguar. So what would you say about a single address that can? Located on the edge of the Pantanal wetlands in central Brazil, Fazenda Santo Antonio do Paraiso is a 400-square-mile ranch that encompasses four distinct ecosystems, along with two rivers — the Piquiri and the Itiquira — that surround the property like a moat. With six landing strips on-site, it’s also remarkably accessible. And it could all be yours for $50 million.
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The Challenger: Top Chef’s Casey Thompson

It was the crusher, the challenge that separated the woman from the boys. The final six contestants on Top Chef Season 3 were flown from their swank Miami pad to the Continental Airlines hangar at Newark airport, led to the comissary and given their assignment: wow the judges with a business-class meal on a Boeing 777. Read the rest of this entry »

Biz Bites:

As the end of yet another merger boom nears, new research indicates some companies could do better by holding off on that purchase sitting in the pipeline. A study by Michigan State University professor Gerry McNamara and his co-authors looked at more than 3,000 public companies involved in industry acquisition waves between 1984 and 2004, and found that acquisition returns bottom out about two-thirds of the way through a cycle. Early birds saw stock gains averaging 4.2% post-deal, while companies that hopped on the bandwagon later experienced an average 3% drop in share price. What gives? Early movers tend to make better-researched choices and buy at more advantageous prices, while latecomers are more likely to lose value because they often act on market hype rather than on rational financial decisions.