Nj home prices sure arent going to come down…..

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/12-Hillside-Ave-Mine-Hill-NJ-07803/55561034_zpid/

ING Direct et al…..

From the FT:

FDIC considers calling for bank advances

US banks will have to advance tens of billions of dollars to the cash-strapped fund protecting depositors at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under a proposal to be considered by regulators on Tuesday.

The fund, which insures up to $250,000 per depositor in each bank, has been depleted this year after the failure of 95 lenders. It now stands at about $10.4bn, the lowest since the peak of the savings and loan crisis in 1993.

Sheila Bair, FDIC chairman, has said the agency is considering “all options’’ to restore the fund, including tapping its credit line with the US Treasury of up to $500bn, imposing emergency fees on banks and asking banks to pre-pay industry fees.

The FDIC’s board, which meets on Tuesday to discuss options, is currently leaning towards asking banks to pay several years’ worth of its fees in advance, say people briefed on the discussions. For 2009, banks are set to pay an annual fee of about $12bn and a one-off emergency charge of $5.6bn.

The plan would allow the agency to get the cash it needs now while allowing the banks to avoid another big one-off charge. The banks would not have to recognise the charges on their balance sheets until the quarter when the fees were due. The proposal, which would be presented for public comment, is still under discussion.

Speculative-grade corporate bonds have returned almost 16% in the last three months, according to an index compiled by Merrill Lynch. That’s boosted gains for the year to about 48%. The current quarter ends Wednesday.

Even for an asset known for higher returns in exchange for taking big risks, that’s the best start to a year since at least 1990.

“The crisis the world went through is just an appetizer for a future one because the weaknesses that created it have not been addressed, Marc Faber, author and publisher of the Gloom, Doom and Boom Report, told CNBC Friday.

“It’s a total and complete disaster and the crisis we had is just the appetizer to the big total breakdown of financial markets and of governments in five or 10 years time when the whole system goes bust,” Faber told “Worldwide Exchange.”

But does that mean we get a market run-up before then or not?

Don’t even joke about that. I used to work in DC, next to the WH, where those kind of jokes would insure a proctological exam by large men with guns and whose offices were always referred to by acronyms.

What’s the over/under on Case Shiller release tomorrow?

My guess is another month of positive national numbers but NY Metro will see a slightly negative yoy change.

Not touching that one.

Yes.

You start a “poll”?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/28/secret_service_probing_faceboo.html?wprss=44

I went to Trader Joes in Westfield today. Even with high property taxes and income taxes in NJ, can I admit that I secretly enjoy going to shop in Westfield? I know it regularly gets a beatdown on this board, but if I can afford it someday then I think I could convince the city-loving fiance to move there.