Free Republic

DETROIT (Reuters) - In a crowded ballroom next to a bankrupt casino, what remains of the Detroit property market was being picked over by speculators and mostly discarded. Taken together, the properties seized by tax collectors for arrears and put up for sale last week represented an area the size of New York's Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston, according to a Detroit Free Press estimate.

<p>Bottles of an 1875 armagnac vieux that had been forgotten in the large wine cellar of the Tour d’Argent restaurant in Paris are to be auctioned.</p>

PARIS – Over the years, the chief sommelier had forgotten they were there. And when the four bottles of 1875 Armagnac Vieux were finally unearthed from the labyrinthine wine cellar this week, they were covered in a black fungus that looked like matted cat fur. The landmark Tour d'Argent restaurant, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best and biggest in the world. It is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December, an event that has captured the imagination of French wine lovers. The restaurant is selling mostly wine but...

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- An imperial "dragon" throne owned by a Chinese emperor set the world auction record for Chinese furniture Thursday, selling for about US $11 million. There was frenzied bidding among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan collectors at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong. Thirty-six bids came in 10 minutes, with tension building as a new telephone bidder jumped into the competition. "These mainland (China) buyers, mainland collectors are ready to pay the premium it takes to secure an object of this quality," said Nicolas Chow, international head of Chinese ceramics and art at Sotheby's. The winning...

Second and final night of the Saratoga Selected Yearling Sales. This is the premier sale of the summer. Even if you don't care about racing, I think it is interesting to observe the sale of a couple of these horses. Most draw six figures. Some get over a million. Bids are made solely upon breeding and conformation. These horse will not be asked to run until next year at the earliest. They will be eligible for the 2011 Kentucky Derby. This should continue until 10 PM EDT or so. ML/NJ

I can't resist. Because I see that the libtard website Firedoglake posted a hit piece on the perils of the free market, using the auction-rate securities market as a prime example, I have to respond. For one, because they're wrong, but there's nothing unusual about that. More importantly, when they're discussing the auction-rate securities market, they're kind of playing in my sandbox. And it seems like they brought a shovel, although it's not for digging sand, if you know what I mean.

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it would sell $75 billion in debt next week in a record quarterly refunding and announced plans to gradually increase issuance of inflation-indexed notes as its borrowing to fight a recession grows. The Treasury said it would sell $37 billion in three-year notes US3YT=RR, $23 billion in 10-year notes US10YT=RR and $15 billion in 30-year bonds US30YT=RR, raising $14.9 billion in new cash. The refunding comes as the U.S. government continues to break new borrowing records, selling over $6 trillion in gross Treasury debt for the first 10 months...

WILMETTE | Home on auction block carries hefty back-tax burden A property tax bill of more than $200,000. That's the added cost that awaits whoever comes out on top in next month's auction of the foreclosed Wilmette mansion of convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko. Records show Rezko stopped paying real estate taxes on the 8,400-square-foot mansion more than four years ago. He owes a total of $140,409.86 in back property taxes, plus $69,402.24 in interest. The new owner will have to pay that, says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Rezko stopped paying the taxes around the same time he stopped paying...

July 20, 2009 Hotel that launched the Watergate scandal goes up for auction Tim Reid, Washington The Watergate Hotel, scene of the 1972 burglary that destroyed Richard Nixon’s presidency, is to be auctioned off tomorrow. The owners of the hotel, who bought it in 2004 with the hope of restoring it to its former glory as one of Washington’s most luxurious establishments, defaulted on a $40 million bank loan, and a repossession order expired last week. It is an extraordinary development for the hotel, which is part of the complex that gave its name to America’s greatest political scandal. President...

Autographed photo of Smith and Andylenny, abroad. In airport. I want to thank all of the eBay community for their support in my last five auctions. Thank you for taking the time to write to me (I still haven't had time to answer everyone) and for your bids. I also want to thank everyone at WorldNetDaily for their continued coverage of my five previous auctions. I want to thank freerepublic.com, as well. I want to thank everyone that forwarded news of my auctions to others, digitally or by spoken word. I want to thank all the attorneys as well as...

Yubari melons latest victims of recessionSaturday, May 16, 2009 The Associated Press The latest victim of the recession is round, sweet and famous for being shockingly expensive. The first two Yubari melons of the season were auctioned Friday in Hokkaido and fetched ¥500,000. Pricey? Certainly. But it's practically a steal if you consider last year's winning bid — a record ¥2.5 million. In 2007 they sold for ¥2 million. **SNIP** Weighing about 3.6 kg, the premium cantaloupes were part of the season's initial harvest at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. Every year buyers flock to the market for a shot at...

...Is it me? When Obama became prrrresident, I wondered about the head movements. Ahhh, totus. But, what's with the pens when he signs a bill or a exec. order? Enough ink to print one letter? or sell them later?

NEW YORK – Stocks are finishing lower after weak demand at a Treasury bond auction touched off worries about the government's ability to raise funds to fight the recession. The government had to pay greater interest than expected in an auction of 30-year Treasurys. That is worrisome to traders because it could signal that it will become harder for Washington to finance its ambitious economic recovery plans. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 102 at 8,410, the same amount it rose Wednesday. The S&P 500 index is down 12 at 907. The Nasdaq composite index is down 43 at...

$80 Million? Try a Tenth of That. Art’s New Numbers. By CAROL VOGEL TWO Madoff victims and a hedge fund manager are among the sellers at this spring’s important auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. You could say a faint whiff of desperation is in the air: the catalogs are a shadow of what they were six months ago, as are the values and — for the most part — quality of the paintings, drawings and sculptures on offer. When the season kicks off at Sotheby’s on Tuesday night, the two most expensive works of the evening — and...

LUDLOW, England (April 24) -- What a British auction house claims are a set of paintings and sketches by a young Adolf Hitler sold at auction Thursday for $143,358. Among the 15 pictures is a portrait of solitary figure dressed in brown peering into wine-colored waters. The date is 1910, the signature reads "A. Hitler" and scribbled just over the mysterious figure are the letters: "A.H." So is this a portrait of the Fuehrer as a young man? "I don't think they're fakes," said Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical documents expert at auction house Mullocks that carried out the sale. He said...

Two signed watercolours by Adolf Hitler are set to be sold later this month at auction in Nuremberg in southern Germany, scene of the Nazi war crimes trials, a local paper reported Thursday. The two paintings -- entitled "Farmstead" and "Farm Buildings On The River" date from 1914 and would go under the hammer on April 25, the daily Nurnberger Abendzeitung said. The bidding was due to start at 3,500 euros (4,600 dollars), according to a catalogue published by the Weidler auction house, which is putting the works up for sale.

New Ways to Shop In an economically challenged world, people may need to acquire a host of additional skills, even when it comes to carrying out simple or mundane tasks. In fact, based on the following USA Today report, "Food Auctions Thrive During Recession," the extra training that might soon be required to go grocery shopping could include how to bid at an auction, which bidding strategies work best, and how to avoid getting scammed. Marvin Mason, who runs grocery auctions in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, tells the Associated Press that more and more shoppers use credit cards and food...

A painter who first made his mark through unromanticized views of Western landscapes, Maynard Dixon turned his attention to stark scenes of social protest during the Great Depression. More than 60 years after the artist's death, those struggling against the economic tide stand to benefit from Dixon's work once again. That's because of a gift to a California branch of Goodwill Industries, which has started an online bidding war for what is believed to be "Blackfoot Indian," a painting created by Dixon in 1917. After the painting was posted for auction on Goodwill's Web site early this week, bids jumped...

BEIJING, March 2 – A Chinese art collector identified himself on Monday as the winning bidder in last week’s Paris auction for two sculptures looted from Beijing in the 1800s but said that, as a patriot, he had no intention of paying. Christie’s, which had triggered Chinese anger by holding the sale, would not say what action it would take against the bidder, only that the bronze sculptures of the heads of a rat and a rabbit would not be released until it had been paid. Cai Mingchao, a collector and adviser to a private foundation in China that seeks...

What is going on here? Prices too good to be true!

From bejeweled gloves and a tacky robe, to the Neverland Gate and even the "scissorhands" from "Edward Scissorhands," perennially broke Michael Jackson needs dough and is auctioning off tons of his overpriced weird stuff. Check out why Jacko is the King of Schlock.

EXCLUSIVE: Hundreds of files — with social security numbers, bank account numbers and other sensitive U.S. government information — were found in a filing cabinet purchased from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem through a local auction. "We couldn't believe what we found," said Paula, who purchased the cabinets and asked that her last name not be published.

A 22-year-old woman's quest to auction off her virginity has snared hundreds of bidders, including one who says he'll pay $3.8 million to seal the deal - but only if he can tape the magic moment. The woman (above), who goes by the pseudonym "Natalie Dylan," launched the campaign last fall through the Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Carson City, Nev. "I'm still getting offers, but I'm not necessarily taking the highest bidder," she said yesterday.

Turkey in Palin video auctioned on eBayBird sells for $225 By LILY FU, Special Contributor Last Edited: Tuesday, 09 Dec 2008, 7:28 AM EST PALMER, Alaska - Remember the unfortunate turkey that was being slaughtered as a local Alaska TV station interviewed Governor Sarah Palin? It's now been sold on eBay for $225 . The "historic" turkey was bestowed to the one lone bidder by Triple D Farm in Palmer, Alaska, where Palin had pardoned another lucky turkey earlier that day. After the ceremony, she discussed her plans for the Thanksgiving holiday while the unlucky turkey met its grim fate...

...Sotheby’s will offer the document for sale Thursday, along with two others: the scribbled notes for a speech King planned to deliver in Memphis, Tenn., three days after he was assassinated, and a letter of condolence from former president Lyndon B. Johnson to King’s widow. The auction house put the overall presale estimate for the three documents at US$750,000 to $1.13 million, with the Vietnam speech alone valued at $500,000 to $800,000. ...“I am at the end of my life — I will be 82 shortly — and there are a lot of causes I believe in for which resources...

INDIANAPOLIS – Searching for a truly original holiday gift, one that could bestow a bit of immortality on a loved one or a friend? If so, Purdue University has the goods: The school is auctioning the naming rights to seven newly discovered bats and two turtles. Winning bidders will be able to link a relative, friend or themselves to an animal's scientific name for the ages. The first of the nine auctions began Monday, when the school put up for grabs the naming rights to a tiny gold and black insect-munching bat found in Central America.

An unusually large fragment from possibly the oldest copy of part of the Gospel of John will go on sale next month, when the torn piece of papyrus with Greek writing is expected to fetch up to 300,000 pounds ($460,000). The fragment is believed to date to 200 AD, less than 170 years after the crucifixion of Christ, when Christianity was still illegal and around 100 years after experts believe the original Gospel was first written. "This is either the first or the second oldest copy of this part of the text of the Gospel of John," Sotheby's specialist Timothy...

Memorabilia from some of punk rock's biggest acts and seminal moments -- including a scrawled flier for one of the Clash's first shows and publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols -- is headed for a November 24 Christie's auction. The event, announced Tuesday, includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces for such punk, garage rock and new wave legends as the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie, the Cure and the Smiths. The auction is Christie's first to focus on punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely...

October 11, 2008 Lehman Brothers demise triggers huge default Tom Bawden in New York and Suzy Jagger in Washington Lehman Brothers, the bust investment bank, triggered one of the biggest corporate debt defaults in history yesterday as it emerged that the US Federal Reserve is harbouring grave concerns about whether Washington’s $700 billion (£413 billion) bailout fund will avert a financial meltdown. An auction of Lehman’s bonds yesterday determined that the bank’s borrowings were worth only 8.625 cents on the dollar. The valuation leaves the insurers of the debt a bill of about $365 billion. It is not clear whether...

Financial crisis: Lehman Brothers liabilities sale fails to pacify market A fresh wave of fear hit banks yesterday as traders tried to settle hundreds of billions of pounds of complex products in a move that could leave some with heavy losses. By Katherine Griffiths, Financial Services Editor Last Updated: 11:24PM BST 10 Oct 2008 An auction to settle insurance liabilities over the collapse of Lehman Brothers has caused fresh anxiety A sale of complex products relating to Lehman Brothers caused new anxiety Photo: REUTERS The cause of the anxiety was an auction to settle insurance liabilities over the collapse of...

TOKYO — A black jumbo watermelon auctioned in northern Japan fetched a record $6,100 Friday, making it the most expensive watermelon ever sold in the country — and possibly the world. The 17-pound premium Densuke watermelon, one of only 65 from the first harvest of the season, was purchased by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture, according to Kyodo News agency. The fruit is grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido. In a country where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon's hefty price tag follows another jaw-dropping auction...

...The Attorney General's office subpoenaed 18 institutions on Monday and Tuesday of this week, including some of Wall Street's biggest, such as UBS, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Mr. Cuomo's office has plans to send out additional subpoenas soon, says the person. Mr. Cuomo's office considers the investigation an "industry case," meaning officials are looking into all aspects of the auction-rate business – from what municipalities or other issuers were told about auction rates as methods of cheap financing all the way down to their distribution, sales and marketing to consumers who...

Wayne Davis will be saying goodbye to 75 old friends on April 19.Over the past 20 years, the Southlake resident has bought and restored almost 80 classic and muscle cars -- from a 1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta convertible to a 1989 Ferrari Mondial t Cabriolet -- and now he has decided to sell most of his personal collection at auction.Davis, 57, said it is time to retire. He plans to travel the country's two-lane highways in a few of the cars he decided to keep."I want to get out and enjoy them a little bit, do the Route 66 deal from...

In a large, featureless convention centre 40 miles east of Los Angeles, more than 1,000 people have gathered early on a Sunday morning.From the stage, they are addressed in earnest by a man in tuxedo and bow tie, and they can watch the proceedings on giant video screens on either side of him. He is preaching property, and although this auctioneer's high-speed patter sounds more like a cattle auction, here they are bidding for homes. More than 100 houses are up for sale here and every two to three minutes a property goes under the hammer. Similar auctions of...

Bond debt rates surge The auction-rate bond market has collapsed, with Colorado hit hard. By Aldo Svaldi and Jeffrey Leib The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 03/08/2008 03:54:45 PM MST February was a bad month for Stephanie Doughty, the chief financial officer for Poudre Valley Health System, as interest rates on most of its $215 million in auction-rate bonds climbed steeply, adding as much as $140,000 to weekly interest costs. On Monday, things are expected to get worse when $50 million of that debt goes to auction to face higher rates. "It was just unbelievable, to see such a dramatic...

The Federal Reserve on Friday announced measures to ease liquidity pressures in stressed financial markets. The Fed said it would increase amounts in its Term Auction Facility auctions March 10 and March 24 to $50 billion each, a rise of $20 billion from the amounts announced for each of these auctions. The Fed also said it would initiate a series of term repurchase transactions that are expected to cumulate to $100 billion.

The Federal Reserve has announced that it will auction another $60 billion (€40 billion) in March as it continues to combat the effects of a severe credit crisis. It repeated a pledge to keep holding the auctions "for as long as necessary." The U.S. central bank said Friday that it will make $30 billion (€20 billion) available to cash-strapped banks at each of two auctions, on March 10 and 24. The Fed began the new auctions in December in hopes that the increased supply of cash would prompt banks to keep lending and prevent a severe credit squeeze from making...

I just got this in an e-mail .... I have dibs on the White House and the Defense Dept. before everything is all gone.

The Federal Reserve, seeking to combat the effects of a serious credit crisis, said Tuesday it had auctioned $30 billion in funds to commercial banks at an interest rate of 3.010 percent. It marked the fifth in a series of auctions that so far have pumped $130 billion in money into the nation's banking system in affort to provide cash-strapped banks with extra reserves. The Fed's hope is that the increased resources will keep banks lending and prevent a severe credit squeeze from making the current economic slowdown worse. The latest auction results showed that the Fed's effort is having...

EBay abandons negative comments about buyers   Suzy Jagger and Jonathan Richards   All buyers and sellers are equal in the virtual auction world of eBay, but buyers are about to become more equal than everyone else. From May, eBay, the world's biggest online auction house, will block sellers from posting any negative or neutral comments about buyers who purchase their goods to coax more of them on to the site. The move means that anyone selling an item will have little recourse to complain that the purchaser of their Britney Spears T-shirt or antique Whitby egg-timer had been...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The first round of the much-anticipated Federal Communications Commission auction of communications airwaves drew $2.4 billion in prospective bids before closing at midday Thursday, according to the agency. Nearly half the money, some $1.04 billion, was bid by one participant seeking a national license for a swath of 22 megahertz of radio spectrum. The bidding for a second national license of 10 megahertz topped out at $472 million in the first round. Both these bids are believed to be the minimum bid allowed in the first round for these chunks of spectrum. The information was...

The Federal Reserve, working to combat the effects of a severe credit crunch, announced Friday it had auctioned another $20 billion in funds to commercial banks at an interest rate of 4.67 percent. Fed officials pledged to continue with the auctions "for as long as necessary." The central bank said it had received bids for $57.7 billion worth of loans, nearly three times the amount being offered, indicating continued strong interest in the Fed's new approach to providing money to cash-strapped banks. It was the second of four scheduled auctions. The first auction, on Monday, of $20 billion resulted in...

The 1297 copy of the Magna Carta is the only one in private ownership A rare copy of the Magna Carta has been sold for £10.6m ($21.3m) in an auction at Sotheby's in New York.The copy dating from 1297, one of only 17 still in existence, was bought by US businessman David Rubenstein. The auction item had been owned by American billionaire Ross Perot's Perot Foundation since 1984 and was on view at the National Archives in Washington. The original Magna Carta was sealed by King John of England in 1215 and enshrined civil rights in English law. 'Temporary...

ROME (Reuters) - A 1.5-kg white truffle found in the Italian countryside will be sold at a charity auction in Macau where it is expected to fetch 150,000 euros (108,000 pounds). Truffle hunter Cristiano Savini displayed his precious find at a five-star hotel in Rome on Tuesday before it was flown to the Chinese enclave for Saturday's auction. Savini's dog, Rocco, sniffed out the truffle, one of the biggest unearthed in the past 50 years, by an oak tree near Pisa last weekend, in an area of Tuscany where Cristiano and his father scout for truffles every year. Ten years...

A Springfield rifle owned by the famed Apache warrior Geronimo fetched $100,000 during an auction of Wild West guns and weapons that brought in more than $1 million. Lawman Wyatt Earp's double-barreled shotgun garnered $65,500, while a saber attributed to U.S. Army cavalry commander George Custer sold for $20,315 at the Bonhams & Butterfields auction Tuesday. Some of the guns were offered by a private collector who spent a lifetime accumulating firearms once carried by some of the most famous and infamous figures in American history, said Paul Carella, director of the company's arms department.

A frantic two-hour auction Saturday in downtown Fresno was a sign of the times as bidders snapped up 48 new houses -- most for thousands of dollars below the builder's original list price.

MAIDEN, N.C. -- A South Carolina man who mistakenly lost his amputated leg when it was sold in a barbecue smoker at a public auction will get the appendage back, authorities said Wednesday. John Wood, of Simpsonville, S.C., had been battling to regain custody of the leg from Shannon Whisnant, who found the leg in the smoker he purchased at an auction of Wood's belongings last week, WXII-TV in Greenville, N.C., reported Whisnant had said he wanted to keep the leg if Wood wasn't willing to pay to get it back. The leg was being kept at a funeral home,...

Lock of Che Guevara's hair to be sold Mon Sep 3, 12:51 PM ET MIAMI - A former CIA operative and Cuban exile plans to auction what he says is a lock of Che Guevara's hair, snipped before the Argentinian revolutionary and friend of Fidel Castro was buried in 1967. Gustavo Villoldo, 71, was involved in Guevara's capture in the jungles of Bolivia, according to unclassified U.S. records and other documents. He plans to auction the hair and other items kept in a scrapbook since the joint CIA-Bolivian army mission 40 years ago. "It's time for me to put the...

(AP) MIAMI -- A lock of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara's hair is about to hit the auction block. Former CIA operative 71-year old Gustavo Villoldo was involved in Guevara's capture in the jungles of Bolivia. He plans to auction the strands of hair and other items kept in a scrapbook since the joint CIA-Bolivian army mission 40 years ago. "It's time for me to put the past behind and pass these on to someone else," said Villoldo, also a veteran of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas will hold the auction October 25-26....

FURTHER UPDATE TO FLASH WITH ADDED INFO ON LB CITY HALL FINANCIAL OUTCOME: At 11:54 a.m. today in an auction in a packed U.S. Bankruptcy courtroom in downtown Los Angeles, Save the Queen, LLC was awarded the contractual rights previously held by QSDI, including development rights to nearly 50 acres of prime property surrounding the Queen Mary for $43 million...the amount of its initial overbid without the need to bid further. The outcome came after initial bidder O & S Holdings tried and failed to have the Court disqualify Save the Queen (on grounds it failed to strictly comply with...