How a Gov't Bailout Created The Next Mess

John Carney Clusterstock November 16, 2009

By now we all now that “the next shoe to drop” as a result of the bursting of the credit bubble is commercial real estate. In a pattern familiar from the housing crisis, the value of commercial real estate has been plunging while the volume of distressed commercial real-estate loans is rapidly rising. The problems in commercial real estate could slam financial institutions, especially smaller regional and community banks, with billions of dollars in new losses. That, in turn, could snuff out whatever chances we have of a sustained economic recovery. In some ways, this shoe has already dropped.

The MIT Real Estate Center said that commercial property prices has dropped almost 42% over the past 2 years. As a result of that drop, about fifty-five percent the $1.4 trillion commercial mortgages that will mature in the next five years are underwater. The delinquency rate for commercial mortgages climbed to 5% in October. A year ago the delinquency rate was just 0.77%. About half of all commercial mortgages sit on the balance sheets of smaller banks. So the massive number of bank failures this year is significantly attributable to losses from commercial real estate. Late last month, one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the world filed for bankruptcy.

It’s only natural that you’re asking how the hell we wound up in this mess. Why did a bubble inflate in commercial real estate? Why are smaller banks so disproportionately exposed? What caused this catastrophe? Fortunately, we figured it out for you.

Let’s get started >>

(Picture via Flickr user TheTruthAbout...)

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slides = [{"name":"before-there-was-a-bubble-we-had-a-bubble-1","title":" Before There Was A Bubble, We Had A Bubble","image":"4aa556e34651ac54098fe7f6","left":0,"html":"

The recent commercial real estate bubble that is now so painfully deflating is actually the grandchild of an earlier commercial real estate bubble.For much of the period following the Great Depression, banks and thrifts did not play a big role in financing commercial real estate transactions. They were restricted by law from making long-term commercial real estate loans, which were deemed to speculative. Most of the financing for commercial real estate projects came from independent entrepreneurs or groups of investors rather than bank loans. When banks were involved, they typically were only allowed to make a loan for the construction period. After that, a new lender--which was generally an insurance company--would \"take out\" the construction loan. Largely due to these legal restrictions, real estate loans made up less than 10 percent of the overall portfolio of banks.But in the early 1980s, banks and thrifts began developing an earnings problem. Under Paul Volcker's war against inflation, interest rates climbed so high that banks started to lose depositors to money-market funds, which banks were prohibited from offering by the Depression era Glass-Steagall regualtions. At the same time, many smaller financial firms that were dependent on short term funding saw their costs of borrowing skyrocketing. Many, especially the savings and loan thrifts, founds themselves in deadly squeeze.Congress and the smaller banks and thrifts worked out a rescue plan that included deregulating the thrifts and regional banks, allowing them to branch out into other forms of lending. In 1980, Congress passed the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act and in 1982 the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act. The combined effect of these was to allow banks small and large to enter into real estate lending big time, especially commercial real estate lending. Real estate quickly came to account for 50 to 60 percent of most banks portfolios.The new availability of financing for commercial real estate triggered a construction boom and sent prices of existing commercial real estate skyrocketing."},{"name":"were-turning-japanese-2","title":"We're Turning Japanese","image":"4afd6d310000000000d6275f","left":0,"html":"

It wasn't just the deregulation of domestic lending that fed the commercial real estate bubble of the 1980s. Foreign investment, especially from Japan, poured into the US real estate market. Regulatory changes in Japan sent Japanese banks abroad seeking yield. Japanese corporations too began pouring money into the US. You might remember that the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center in New York City and Pebble Beach Golf Club in California. All told the Japanese invested as much as $300 billion into US commercial real estate."},{"name":"it-all-comes-crashing-down-3","title":"It All Comes Crashing Down","image":"497a6c798debd5498aab2200","left":0,"html":"

In 1986 Congress acted to close some loop holes in the tax code, and in the process dealt a blow to the commercial real estate market. Many investors, it turns out, had purchased commercial real estate as tax-shelters. When they lost their protected status, they lost much of their value to these investors. The investors sought to sell the properties, pushing down prices.Within a few years, the Japanese suffered their own economic set-backs which meant that Japanese real estate investment dried up. Indeed, it started to reverse itself as Japanese investors sold their properties, usually at a loss. The savings and loans, which had become large investors in commercial real estate, were devastated. Ultimately, nearly a thousand S&Ls failed or were \"resolved\" by regulators. The US government launched what was then considered a massive bailout."},{"name":"the-birth-of-the-commercial-mortgage-backed-security-4","title":"The Birth Of The Commercial Mortgage Backed Security","image":"4b012ba5000000000073809d","left":0,"html":"

The federal government's bailout of the S&Ls was mostly conducted by the Resolution Trust Corporation, which purchased the assets of the failed S&Ls. But the RTC was faced with a difficult dilemma. It wound up with a mountain of commercial mortgages that it had inherited from the failed S&L’s. It’s charge was to find buyers for the loans which hadn’t defaulted. But selling thousands of commercial loans rapidly wasn't practical.The RTC turned to Wall Street to find a way to sell the loans. The result was the invention of commercial mortgage-backed securities. By packaging the loans into securities, the RTC was able to sell off thousands of loans in a single transaction—something that would have been impractical if they tried to sell the loans one at a time.\n

Picture via Flickr user Mr. T in DC"},{"name":"cmbs-keeps-growing-5","title":" CMBS Keeps Growing","image":"4b012c3300000000000309ec","left":-75,"html":"

Of course, this new financial product didn't end when the RTC was done with it. Wall Street had discovered a new cash machine and within a decade and a half of its creation, the CMBS grew to $550 billion market. In the final years of the bubble, it grew to a $700 billion market.\n

Image via Flickr user me and the sysop"},{"name":"now-everyone-could-play-in-commercial-real-estate-6","title":"Now Everyone Could Play In Commercial Real Estate","image":"4ac4a9e65668bc523198c8f6","left":-150,"html":"

The new way to invest in commercial real estate opened the market up to new investors. Banks, pension funds and endowments all became major buyers of commercial real estate. Even individual investors got into the action through real estate mutual funds. More investors meant more funds for investment, which drove up prices in commercial real estate and encouraged builders to build more."},{"name":"banking-regulation-fueled-the-fire-7","title":"Banking Regulation Fueled The Fire","image":"4a982f699351361978e99c00","left":-225,"html":"

Very few people understand how bank capital regulation contributed to the commercial real estate boom. But the role of the regulations is crucial because they allowed banks owning CMBS to deploy far more capital in the market that they could have otherwise. The international Basel I capital requirements, a well-capitalized bank was required to have an 8% capital buffer for \"risk weighted assets.\" What that means, is that the bank had to have $8 in reserve for every $100 of risk weighted assets it held. But different kinds of assets were given different risk weights. Residential mortgage were given a 50% risk weight. This meant that banks only had to hold $4 for every $100 in residential mortgages—that is 4% reserve requirement. But commercial mortgages had a 100% risk weight, which meant banks had to hold the full $8 of reserves for every commercial mortgage.But if the mortgages were securitized, the AAA and AA tranche got a 20% risk weight. This meant that the the bank only had to hold $1.60 in capital against $100 of CMBS. This allowed banks to dramatically increase their commercial lending. The lower reserve requirement allowed banks to buy even more securities than it could make loans. A bank with $4 billion in reserve could hold $50 billion in loans. But that same $4 billion could instead be used to invest in $250 billion worth of CMBS."},{"name":"60-percent-of-commercial-mortgages-got-securitized-8","title":"60 Percent Of Commercial Mortgages Got Securitized","image":"4ae1e0890000000000a62f9b","left":-300,"html":"

As a result of this regulatory favortism, 60 percent of commercial mortgages were securitized. The remaining 40% tend to be the riskiest and most unique mortgages that couldn't be packaged with other loans. So any bank holding lots of whole loans is probably holding the riskiest loans."},{"name":"enter-the-reits-9","title":" Enter The REITS.","image":"4b012e3100000000009cf114","left":-375,"html":"

Many major commercial property owners took their companies public in the form of real estate investment trusts between 1992 and 1997. In just a few years, roughly 150 REITs went public and the aggregate equity value of these companies rose from $10 billion to more than $175 billion in just five years. At the height of the real estate market, there were 180 publicly traded REITs in the United States, with equity assets totaling $375 billion.\n

Picture via Flickr user doug.siefken"},{"name":"a-dot-com-boom-and-mini-bust-10","title":"A Dot Com Boom and Mini-Bust","image":"4b7a6c79b24ce148df652b00","left":-450,"html":"

In the mid to late 1990s, commercial real estate began booming, thanks in part to the new CMBS financing. Construction came back and prices climbed. What's more, the Dot Com boom brought on new demand for office space, pushing prices up even higher.But the market ran into a snag when the Dot Com bust sent many companies into bankruptcy. Without the growth that the Dot Com bubble had seemed to promise for the economy, it quickly became evident that there was too much commercial real estate supply. Offices sat empty--and some would stay that way for years. This slowed down the inflating commercial real estate bubble but it wasn't enough to pop it."},{"name":"reit-demand-boosted-by-dot-come-bust-11","title":" REIT Demand Boosted By Dot Come Bust","image":"4ae842200000000000dd2428","left":-525,"html":"

One of the reasons the Dot Com bust didn't have a devastating impact on commercial real estate is that investors burned by Dot Com's turned to companies that invested in tangible stuff and paid dividends. By law, REITs pay out 90% of their revenues each year. The source of their income was leases and rents, not some promised future \"eyeball\" economy.\"After the tech bust, people wanted real assets they could see and touch and real dividends,\" Stephen Lebovitz, president of CBL & Associates Properties based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the fourth-largest mall REIT in North America with a market cap of $8 billion, said in a 2006 interview. \"Investors now understand that with real estate you have an asset with stable cash flow plus appreciation over time. It's proven to be a good investment.\""},{"name":"low-interest-rates-save-the-day-12","title":"Low Interest Rates Save The Day","image":"4ae4a645000000000050dce4","left":-600,"html":"

As you know, the Fed lowered rates and kept them low. This lead to a flood of money into the economy and especially the financial system. That money created an illusion of prosperity that led many business managers to conclude they needed new stores, new plants and new offices. Banks appeared prosperous and sought new ways to lend. Investors clamored for higher yields than they could find in crowded trades in many traditional markets. Commercial real estate began its ascent once more."},{"name":"regional-banks-came-to-dominate-commercial-real-estate-13","title":"Regional Banks Came To Dominate Commercial Real Estate","image":"4aca378ea5f5b5183aa9376e","left":-675,"html":"

By this time, the residential real estate bubble was in full swing. Lending in this area was dominated by large, national banks and small, independent mortgage companies. The national banks also dominated other forms of consumer lending, especially credit cards. This left community and regional banks scrambling for some territory of their own.What they attached themselves to was commercial real estate. They used their connections to local businesses to step up lending to local developers and businesses. At some banks, commercial loans make up as much as 80% of their portfolio."},{"name":"regional-and-community-bank-exposure-to-cre-14","title":"Regional And Community Bank Exposure To CRE","image":"4b014d8800000000000dcee2","left":-750,"html":"

As you can see, small regional and community banks have a hugely disproportionate share of total banking sector exposure to commercial real estate."},{"name":"whole-loans-on-books-of-regionals-15","title":"Whole Loans On Books Of Regionals","image":"4aca442c000000000037a313","left":-825,"html":"

Remember when we said that the unsecuritized commercial mortgages that are held as whole loans tend to be the riskiest mortgages? Well, guess who holds a disproportionate share of whole mortgage loans on their books? That's right, regional and community banks."},{"name":"even-when-the-housing-bubble-started-deflating-commercial-real-estate-didnt-seem-risky-16","title":" Even When The Housing Bubble Started Deflating, Commercial Real Estate Didn't Seem Risky","image":"2e7a6c79e686ae4971e0dd00","left":-900,"html":"

Far from being a warning sign, increasing commercial real estate prices were viewed as a sign that the market was still \"healthy.\" “While most of the focus has been on the residential real estate bubble, commercial real estate sits at the other end of the spectrum,” said Dennis Yeskey, a principal with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP and leader of the organization’s real estate capital markets practice, in 2006. “We are in the twelfth year of a substantial real estate rally that, with very few exceptions, has produced an extended and record up-cycle for real estate. Commercial real estate has offered investors an attractive combination of steady returns and low volatility compared both to stocks and bonds, especially over the last five years— and this is something that should continue this year.”He was right. For the decade or so that proceeded that statement, commercial real estate loan charge offs had been just 0.10 percent. This area of finance that was once viewed as risky and speculative was now deemend safe and secure. Or at least, securitized."},{"name":"the-risk-premium-vanishes-17","title":"The Risk Premium Vanishes","image":"4ae1e0890000000000a62f9b","left":-975,"html":"

Investors and regulators came to believe that commercial real estate and the mortgages supporting them were safe. The historical business-cycle volatility was over and cash flows from commercial real estate would be steady. The risk premium went out of the market.\n

Jon Ruff, a director in the San Francisco office of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, wrote a rah-rah paper celebrating this for the Journal of Portfolio Management. Here's what he said:\"The spread of mortgage securitization and a decline in business-cycle volatility have reduced the traditional risks of holding commercial real estate. These secular factors, in turn, have contributed to record property valuations. Investors seem willing to pay higher prices for the same cash flows because they believe they can borrow at lower rates and count on stable cash flow from commercial rentals in a climate of comparative certainty. The result has been a sharp compression of the risk premium on commercial real estate. No doubt, this phenomenon will in part prove to be cyclical. However, the evidence suggests that, long term, the commercial real estate risk premium will remain below its historical average.\""},{"name":"institutional-investors-pile-into-commercial-real-estate-18","title":"Institutional Investors Pile Into Commercial Real Estate","image":"62b9b9141287c649468a4300","left":-1050,"html":"

Until 2004 or 2005, institutional investors tended to limit their commercial real estate allocations to between 3 and 5 percent of their portfolios. But mid-decade, they changed the allocations so that they now had 5 to 7 percent of their portfolio in commercial real estate."},{"name":"looking-for-risk-in-all-the-wrong-places-19","title":"Looking For Risk In All The Wrong Places","image":"4af81a2400000000004a5d3f","left":-1125,"html":"

Because the earlier crisis in commercial real estate had been in part triggered by oversupply, this remained the biggest fear facing the market. But by most measures, the market wasn't creating too much supply. The national vacancy rate remained at historic norms and construction didn't skyrocket like it did in the 1980s. Investors found this very reassuring, as did banks.What's more, prices were moving up all across the country. In the past, commercial real estate bubbles had been local. So if local prices weren't accelerating much past national price increases, the risk was thought to be low. No one imagined we could have a national commercial real estate bubble.\n

The risk no one appreciated was the risk that we weren't as wealthy as a country as we thought, that a slowing economy could mean that the demand for commercial real estate could shrink despite the lack of a techinical over-supply, and that consumers buried under a mountain of debt and faced with shrinking home values would not be able to keep spending as they had."},{"name":"flashing-signs-of-distress-20","title":"Flashing Signs Of Distress","image":"4aeb12d60000000000b7d46d","left":-1200,"html":"

Perhaps the most obvious--and most overlooked--sign of the bubble was the dramatically falling returns in commercial real estate. As prices rose, the return on investments fell because rental rates or other cash flows from properties didn't keep pace. Historically, commercial properties were expected to spin off about 9 percent of their total purchase price each year. In other words, a $1 million property would generate $90,000 in cash flow. As prices climbed, the returns shrank to around 5 percent. That was around the same rate of return during the the property boom of the 1980s."},{"name":"its-different-this-time-21","title":"It's Different This Time","image":"4ac512ad93b3e943584a2208","left":-1275,"html":"

In 2006, a Havard Business School publication interviewed Dan Dubrowski, an HBS graduate who went on to be a founding partner of the Houston based investing firm Lionstone. Dubrowski argued that structural changes in the commercial real estate business had permanently lowered investor risks, justifying a lower return.\n

\"The efficiency of information, the specialization of capital, the domination by institutions instead of entrepreneurs, all these things have produced lower risks. If you have lower risks, you should not expect to get the same returns you got a decade ago. We will never go back to a 9 percent world,\" he said."},{"name":"steve-schwartzman-rings-the-bell-at-the-top-22","title":"Steve Schwartzman Rings The Bell At The Top","image":"6f7a6c79935e9c494516c600","left":-1350,"html":"

It's often said that Steve Schwartzman's lavish 60th birthday party marked the height of the mania on Wall Street. Likewise, the fevered bidding by the Blackstone Group and the Vornado Group for the purchase of Equity Office Properties will likely come to stand for the height of the commercial real estate mania. Blackstone won the bidding, with an record-breaking $39 billion bid. This was, of course, largely financed by Wall Street banks.\n

Blackstone did well in the deal, in large part because it immediately moved to sell off many of the properties. Even some of those it sold to made out sell, selling it on to others. But those properties have now declined by around 40%, according to industry insiders. Nationally, offices prices are down almost 50%, however, so the EOP properties may be outperforming lower quality properties."},{"name":"unemployment-and-commercial-real-estate-23","title":"Unemployment and Commercial Real Estate","image":"4a70943231fac1326c68d97f","left":-1425,"html":"

Two key determinates of commercial real estate prices, vacancy rates and rental income, tend to track the broader economy. If jobs are vanishing, it means that there is a lower demand from businesses for commercial space and less consumer retail spending. Until new jobs are created and consumers start spending more, the trajectory for commercial real estate prices is straight down."},{"name":"commercial-jingle-mail-24","title":"Commercial Jingle Mail","image":"e5b9b9143190244910dbc300","left":-1500,"html":"

Commercial real estate borrowers are even more likely than home-owners to \"just walk away\" when they discover they are underwater on their mortgages. After all, the mortgage is usually in the name of a business rather than an individual and the business doesn't have the same financial or emotional attachment to the mortgage. What's more, commercial mortgages are typically structured with balloon payments at the end of their term, meaning that few owners have much equity in their properties."},{"name":"prices-falling-25","title":"Prices Falling","image":"15c3227879f3d84894d22d00","left":-1575,"html":"

Commercial real estate prices have fallen 33% this year and 45% from their peak. Greater than 55% of commercial mortgages are underwater. Some analysts say that as many as 2\/3 of the loans may be underwater."},{"name":"no-new-financing-26","title":"No New Financing","image":"4ae8a30700000000006fcc29","left":-1650,"html":"

As many as 65 percent of commercial mortgages maturing over the next few years will not be able to qualify for refinancing because of the drop in the value of the underlying property. Unable to qualify for new financing when their current mortgage is up, the property owners will find themselves unable to pay the end of term balloon payment and be forced to default. Making matters worse, many banks have adopted new stricter underwriting standards that make refinancing even more difficult."},{"name":"cmbs-market-is-dead-27","title":"CMBS Market Is Dead","image":"4aee5b0100000000005e440c","left":-1725,"html":"

There have been virtually no new CMBS issues this year. This is a sign of how little investor interest there is in commercial real estate. All those institutional investors who piled into the commercial real estate space during the boom have fled.\n

But the lack of a market in CMBS is more than a signal of how much investors hate commercial real estate. In a very mechanical way, it means there is much less money available for commercial loans. Remember how the Basel I capital requirements acted to inflate the market when securitization took off. In the absence of securitization, they act in exactly the opposite way--forcing a contraction. Where a well-capitalized bank with $4 billion in reserves could invest in $250 billion worth of CMBS, it can only hold $50 billion in individual commercial loans. In short, the lack of a CMBS market automatically reduces the credit available for commercial mortgages by 80%."},{"name":"the-government-steps-in-to-bailout-cmbs-28","title":"The Government Steps In To Bailout CMBS ","image":"4af162320000000000e59f95","left":-1800,"html":"

Despite the fact that the current bubble was inflated in part because of the governments bailout of the prior bubble, the government has decided to mount a new attempt to rescue commercial real estate. Earlier this year, the Fed decided to open the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, known as TALF, to commercial real estate securitzation. The TALF lends money to investors who buy approved securities, and guarantees part of the value of those securities. Last week, the TALF backed a $400 million CMBS issue."},{"name":"the-secret-bailout-dodgy-accounting-29","title":"The Secret Bailout: Dodgy Accounting","image":"4aef2bdc0000000000baadda","left":-1875,"html":"

Federal bank regulators issued guidelines at the end of October allowing banks to keep loans on their books as \"performing\" even if the value of the underlying properties have fallen below the loan amount. This will allow banks to temporarily hold off on writing-down commercial real estate loans but may also created a distorted picture of economic health. Critics of the change argue that it just allows banks to avoid the inevitable.\n

Fortune magazine recently reported that banks should have booked losses on around $110 billion of defaulted commercial real estate and construction loans but so far they have accounted for only about a third of those cases."},{"name":"the-government-says-well-be-okay-30","title":"The Government Says We'll Be Okay","image":"4ae8415800000000000565c5","left":-1875,"html":"

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner recently gave a speech in which he tried to sound reassuring about the soundness of the financial system and its ability to withstand the commercial real estate crisis. But to many of us this was eerilyreminiscent of similar remarks made by officials when the subprime crisis began to unfold. That crisis was also supposed contained."},{"name":"are-we-all-doomed-31","title":"Are We All Doomed?","image":"4a96e647afaa0d29591ca5ae","left":-1875,"html":"

This probably all sounds too familiar. It's the same pattern we saw during housing crisis. The value of commercial real estate has dropped, regulators are reacting slowly, banks are pretending troubled loan portfolios are healthy, people are assuming this is a temporary dislocation, and new credit is hard to come by. This could destroy whatever chances we have of a sustained economic recovery.\n

Fortunately, this time around we have an advantage. We know how a contained credit problem can morph into a monster that destroys financial institutions and cripples the economy. Living through the housing bust may make us better able to cope with the commercial real estate bust. At least, it's pretty to think so."},{"name":"dont-miss-32","title":"Don't miss:","image":"4af2acab00000000001976d4","left":-1875,"html":"

Don't miss: How the government has already created another housing bubble >>"}]; slide_images = ["http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4afd6d310000000000d6275f&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=497a6c798debd5498aab2200&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4b012ba5000000000073809d&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4b012c3300000000000309ec&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ac4a9e65668bc523198c8f6&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4a982f699351361978e99c00&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae1e0890000000000a62f9b&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4b012e3100000000009cf114&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4b7a6c79b24ce148df652b00&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae842200000000000dd2428&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae4a645000000000050dce4&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4aca378ea5f5b5183aa9376e&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4b014d8800000000000dcee2&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4aca442c000000000037a313&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=2e7a6c79e686ae4971e0dd00&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae1e0890000000000a62f9b&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=62b9b9141287c649468a4300&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4af81a2400000000004a5d3f&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4aeb12d60000000000b7d46d&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ac512ad93b3e943584a2208&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=6f7a6c79935e9c494516c600&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4a70943231fac1326c68d97f&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=e5b9b9143190244910dbc300&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=15c3227879f3d84894d22d00&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae8a30700000000006fcc29&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4aee5b0100000000005e440c&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4af162320000000000e59f95&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4aef2bdc0000000000baadda&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4ae8415800000000000565c5&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4a96e647afaa0d29591ca5ae&maxX=400&maxY=300","http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/~~\/f?id=4af2acab00000000001976d4&maxX=400&maxY=300"]; slide_index = null; slide_left = 0; slide_setup(); What's This? x

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