FURTHER proof that the market moves in mysterious ways is the whisper-quiet $21 million transaction wherein Jonathan S. Sobel was persuaded to part with his precious penthouse at the Verona, a landmark luxury Upper East Side co-op designed in 1908 by William E. Mowbray.
Lori Braverman, a real estate lawyer who represents Mr. Casablancas of the Strokes and is selling his apartment (he and his wife live elsewhere), said that she once had a client with a well-known family member who was desperate to keep their transaction quiet.
In a sign of the sensitivity of the matter, the Japanese firm tried to keep the transaction quiet, never issuing a press release and refusing all interview requests.Japan has a long history of resisting foreigners who seek to buy their way into the country.
However, they are replicating efforts made by many before them, including Zinio, a company noticeably quiet in this transaction.
A spokeswoman for Michael Kors Holdings declined to comment on the stock sales, citing a mandatory "quiet period" surrounding the transactions.
In February, Lewis testified to the New York State attorney general in a way that made it look like he felt threatened into completing the transaction and keeping quiet by regulators who were concerned about the impact an unraveling of the deal could have on the ailing financial system.
Robert A. Bliss of the Massachusetts Turnpike said that despite my experience, things were quiet on Thanksgiving: 346,000 toll transactions, in comparison with 582,000 the day before.
Another warning sign is a spike in activity, like a sudden burst of transactions in a formerly quiet account.
On this score, said Mr. Gillis, eBay has become "the quiet leader," enabling $15 billion in mobile transactions last year, split roughly between the sale of goods on its Internet marketplace and PayPal transactions.
After a few years of relative quiet, there are indications that the publishing transactions are heating up.
