.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} tr.d0 td { background-color: #ccccff; color: black; }
General Growth Properties Inc. must be having some interesting meetings these days in Chicago.

The company, which was founded by Iowans Matthew and Martin Bucksbaum and includes Jordan Creek Town Center in its list of real estate holdings, recently found it necessary to respond to suggestions that it might default on its debt obligations or file for bankruptcy.

There’s absolutely no danger of bankruptcy, a company statement said, and General Growth has never failed to repay loans amounting to billions of dollars over the past 50 years.

The company’s indignation was triggered by press comments, including a Jan. 22 column by Marketwatch’s Herb Greenberg. He wrote: “Among large, actively traded real-estate investment trusts, General Growth’s debt relative to assets and capitalization is higher than most. … Unlike most of its peers … which rely on the public debt markets and run more conservative balance sheets, most of General Growth’s debt is in the form of good old-fashioned mortgages and construction loans.”

Greenberg noted that Fitch Ratings rates General Growth’s debt as “junk,” and points to the halving of the stock price since last March.

The company certainly isn’t paralyzed by worry. In mid-January, General Growth said it had entered into three new mortgage loans on regional mall joint ventures and that it would sell two buildings for $96 million. It was in talks with lenders for up to a dozen fixed-rate loans.

But opinion drives investment, and on Jan. 2, Citigroup Inc. downgraded the company’s shares to “hold” from “buy.” Thomson One Analytics reports that analysts expect the first quarter of 2008 to produce earnings of 7 cents per share, compared with 94 cents a year ago.

From Dec. 18-20, General Growth insiders bought $1.2 million worth of company stock – but unloaded $10.8 million worth.

If nothing else, General Growth’s discomfort is more evidence about how widespread and troublesome the financial meltdown might be.