On the Road: Credit Card Hackers Visit Hotels All Too Often

(NEW YORK) — A gang of cyber-criminals stole $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then fanning out around the globe to drain cash machines, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch called it “a massive 21st-century bank heist” and compared its size to the Lufthansa heist in the late 1970s immortalized in the film “Goodfellas.” Lynch said the fraudsters had moved with astounding speed to loot financial institutions around the world.

Citigroup's Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Tobias Levkovich may be the most bullish strategist on Wall Street. He sees the S&P 500 ending the year at 1,615. Of course, he sees some sectors and stocks doing better than other.

Across New York City, hotels have been popping up like post-recession beacons of an improving economy. But the area around 29th Street in Manhattan has seen an especially noticeable transformation.

If there's one U.S. industry that's found a home in China, it's the lodging business.

This post originally appeared on Oyster.com.

By Drew Handy:The hotel industry in the United States is competitive but has grown consistently over the past decade. There are many industry trends to like: the number of room nights (a traditional metric in the hotel industry that identifies the number of revenue-generating nights stayed in hotel rooms) continues to rise, the weak United States dollar makes U.S.

By Adam Gefvert:In a recent article, I advised Seeking Alpha readers who want to get in on China's growth -- but are tentative -- that they'll be safe with a stock audited by PWC Zhong Tian. After studying the group, I found that Home Inns & Hotels Management (HMIN) looked particularly undervalued.

SA Editor Mohit Manghnani submits:Summit Hotel Properties (INN), a hotel investment company, priced its IPO on February , below the expected range, at $9.75 per share. Business Overview (from prospectus)