NY Fed – September Beige Book

From the NY Fed:

Beige Book – Second District–New York

Construction and Real Estate

Housing markets have shown further signs of softening since the last report, with much of the weakness again attributed to the expiration of the home-buyer tax credit. Buffalo-area Realtors say the market has cooled dramatically and describe home sales activity as “totally dead” in July and early August; historically low mortgage rates are said to be having little if any positive effect. They also report that pending sales activity has fallen sharply and that the number of active listings has increased. One contact in western New York State anticipates consolidation in the real estate industry, as some agents and brokers are likely to merge or exit the market. Across New York State more broadly, the number of sales transactions fell by roughly half from June to July–a far steeper drop than the seasonal norm–and was down 35 percent from a year earlier. The median reported sales price rose in July and was up from a year earlier, though one industry contact notes that this may reflect a shift in the mix, as the expiration of the tax credit predominantly affected the lower end of the market. An authority on New Jersey’s housing industry reports that market conditions appear to be weak but concedes that underlying fundamentals are difficult to gauge during this perennially slow season. With builders holding off on new construction, inventories have gotten quite low, though prices still seem to be drifting lower. Most of the multi-family development along New Jersey’s “Gold Coast” (across from Manhattan) has now shifted to rentals.

In New York City, conditions were more mixed. Activity in the city’s co-op and condo market has fallen off by somewhat more than the seasonal norm in July and August, following a brisk second quarter; activity has dropped off particularly sharply on Long Island and, in general, at the lower end of the market. A leading appraisal firm reports that prices remain essentially flat in Manhattan and across New York City generally. The appraisal business has reportedly remained strong. Manhattan’s rental market, though still somewhat slack, has continued to recover: rental activity has remained stable at a moderate level, while effective rents have rebounded–contract rents have risen only modestly, but landlords are offer fewer concessions (i.e. fewer months free rent). A considerable volume of new development will be coming onto the market, probably largely as rentals, in the months ahead.

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118 Responses to NY Fed – September Beige Book

  1. grim says:

    From the Star Ledger:

    Mount Olive’s vacant former BASF complex is given back to mortgage-holder

    The owners of the township’s largest piece of vacant, commercial real estate have walked away from the property, turning it over to Wells Fargo.

    BPG Properties, a private equity real estate fund, has decided that it no longer wants to try and sell or lease the former BASF site and is working to transfer the title to the bank, according to Chris Locatell, a vice president at BPG.

    “We are cooperating fully and expect to close on the transfer soon,” Locatell said.

    The former BASF site has sat vacant for years — a 1 million-square-foot reminder of a depressed market.

    It is the second largest vacant property in Morris County. The largest is the 1.4 million square feet Lucent-Alcatel property in Hanover.

  2. still_looking says:

    aw, c’mon… CRE is alive and well :)

    /sarcasm

    sl

  3. Essex says:

    – May you be inscribed for a good year!”

  4. All "H-Train" Hype says:

    Grim (1):

    I used to work for BASF. That building is unreal. The most beautiful office space you will ever see. Each office is built to EU size standards so every office is a minimum of 10×12. The building is made up of 5 sections, called A-E. Each section has a 5 story atrium so every office has either a outside window overlooking the Allamuchy State Park or inside the atrium. The place has the largest cafeteria you will ever see. I think they had about 10 different food stations, just unreal.

    Funny part was when my division was bought out the hiring company asked if we could stay in Section E but BASF said no. Dopes! They left the building and never has it seen another tenant since.

    We used to have robotic mail carriers that would follow a UV track on the carpet. Ahh, the good old days of pharma development!

  5. Barbara says:

    Now all bad RE news has to be prefaced with “can be attributed to the end of the tax credit.” Um, no – it can be attributed to a massive correction fueled by unemployment after a delirious run up .

  6. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    U.S. Needs Up to Four Years to Absorb Excess Homes, Duncan Says

    The U.S. housing market will take three to four years to stabilize and absorb an estimated seven million homes that are vacant or in the process of foreclosure, said Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist.

    The excess inventory has driven down demand for new homes and will keep prices on a “flat bottom,” Duncan said in an interview today on Bloomberg Radio’s “The Hays Advantage.”

    “To get back to a more normal relationship with overall economic growth, we see 2013 or 2014,” he said.

    States such as California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida will take longer to recover because homes built during the housing bubble exceeded population growth and investor demand, he said.

  7. still_looking says:

    L’shanah Tovah!

    sl

  8. gary says:

    The U.S. housing market will take three to four years to stabilize and absorb an estimated seven million homes that are vacant or in the process of foreclosure, said Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist.

    Capitulation, shadow inventory, no chance of refinancing without bringing $200,000 to the table, outsourcing… I’d say we’re in about the 4th inning.

  9. Poltroon says:

    God, that Manischevitz was awful. I think the bottle was older than me.

  10. Poltroon says:

    Shoulda asked the host to break out the ’29 Latour, but I have manners.

  11. grim says:

    Happy New Year folks!

  12. Poltroon says:

    And a happy new year to you, grim!

  13. Libtard says:

    Yes…happy new year folks.

    Shoreguy…it is really me.

    Poltroon…can I just call you Poon for short?

    Barbara…keep fighting the fight. I always enjoy your links and posts. It’s fun to watch your enlightenment. Eventually, you will become as sarcastic as Clot and yours truly.

    Grim…congrats on your comp killer sale.

    The Gator family were cruising the past 10 days and really enjoyed Seattle and Alaska, even if everyone sounds like SP. I tried really hard, but I could never see Russia from my porthole.

  14. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    Home Buyer Tax Credit Price Tag: $22 Billion

    The total estimated cost of the home buyer tax credits is about $22 billion, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office last week. The report looked at all three of the tax credits, which were in effect from April 2008 through June 30, 2010.

  15. Libtard says:

    This one is interesting from Seeking Alpha:

    Lessons From Japan: Why Home Prices Will Continue to Fall

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/224378-lessons-from-japan-why-home-prices-will-continue-to-fall

    “Yet, investors are coming to the realization that short-term rates will stay near zero percent for a very “extended period” indeed. Perpetual zero (PZ) is having the perverse effect of flattening the yield curve and reducing the carry trade that is benefitting banks. If banks are unable to restore adequate capital to deal with the loan losses that removing the government prop would induce, the next recession will be very painful.”

    Sushi anyone?

  16. Yikes says:

    Clotpoll says:
    September 7, 2010 at 11:39 am

    A s@distic death cult that has resisted every invader for centuries and lives by the iron-clad belief that the whole planet should become a dirt-eating caliphate…is going to pay attention to 50 rednecks in FL burning books?

    Clotpoll, you were in rare form Tuesday. Hilarious. I had to look up caliphate

  17. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Happy New Year! I will celebrate anyway being a gentile.

  18. brewcrew says:

    “An authority on New Jersey’s housing industry reports that market conditions appear to be weak but concedes that underlying fundamentals are difficult to gauge during this perennially slow season.”

    Is the authority who made this remark suggesting that the summer is traditionally a slow selling season (BS), or that what appears to be a weak selling season may actually be the strong numbers seen in a new normal?

  19. Qwerty says:

    “I had to look up caliphate”

    Simply amazing, nine years in.

  20. brewcrew says:

    You may also want to look up taqiyya and kitman.

  21. Poltroon says:

    yikes (16)-

    I’m bored and depressed. Volatile combination.

  22. Poltroon says:

    Maybe I can inquire on #24 and work on my stretch marks.

  23. jp says:

    I’m always interested in the “Gold Coast,” because I think it’s such a great locale. But I also think it’s way overpriced for what it is.

    I actually don’t like the condo to rental conversions that are occurring. It just seems like builders/developers/investors are just trying to ride-out the dip in the economy, with the expectation that if they keep the buildings on their books, just collecting rent, the principal of the buildings will rise in short time.

    This keeps me priced out of the market.

  24. Nomad says:

    How can this be? 3-4 years to me sounds optimistic, way optimistic.

    The U.S. housing market will take three to four years to stabilize and absorb an estimated seven million homes that are vacant or in the process of foreclosure, said Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist.

    Unemployment remains high and all the companies that canned people are only going to bring back a fraction of those they let go. Companies can do more with less and no longer see it as their duty to employ more people than they actually need.

    Household formations are down, the # of houses in foreclosure + those that will go into foreclosure will continue to create more supply than demand.

    Our manufacturing base continues to erode and the list goes on.

  25. Nomad says:

    With interest rates stuck on low, any thoughts on the stock market’s performance over the next 24 months? I had thought we would get rocked this summer but it didn’t happen. Maybe it will fall this fall. Unless Brazil and China markets save the world.

  26. Poltroon says:

    jp (23)-

    Patience. Real estate moves slowly. These Gold Coast ratboxes will eventually settle at their natural, intrinsic value level of zero.

  27. Poltroon says:

    nomad (24)-

    Believe me when I tell you that nothing I see on a daily basis in this industry has shaken my belief that it will be a 20-40 year slag through mud to get out of this system of a down. We may need to hit the ultimate reset button of breeding 1-2 entire generations of new real estate consumers with no history or memories of being disemboweled- or seeing friends and family disemboweled- by ownership of property.

    In NJ, the relatively small amount of pain we’ve experienced so far is nothing compared to the autos da fe that await. The amount of crap, overbuilt, worthless and unredeemable property- both residential and commercial- is mind-blowing. I’m now regularly seeing properties on which lenders are actively avoiding foreclosure…which tells you that even they know the gig is up.

  28. Poltroon says:

    The only thing that gets me out of bed in the AM is knowing that sooner or later, at some point, people like Ara Hovnanian, Bob Toll, etc. will be exposed as the pathological liars and criminals they are.

  29. a mad as hell reinvestor101 says:

    I wish I had a damn time machine because I would get the hell out of this time; a time of the ascendancy of real estate terrorists, commies and socialists, and get back to a more favorable time where things were a lot more reasonable. How I long for 2003-2005 when you could put a house up for sale and the stinking buyers would bid and fight over the damn listing. This really hasn’t been that long ago. These were the damn days of yore.

    The only way we can bring these damn days back is to eliminate the damn excess supply. Bulldoze the damn excess or let the motherhubbard burn.

  30. yo'me says:

    Rally on !!

  31. All "H-Train" Hype says:

    In the week ending Sept. 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 451,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 478,000. The 4-week moving average was 477,750, a decrease of 9,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 487,000.

    Same as it ever was. We are going sideways. Rally On!

  32. yo'me says:

    The trade gap shrank sharply in July on both a rebound in exports and dip in imports. The overall U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $42.8 billion from $49.8 billion in June

    Thanks to lower overvalued dollar.Rally on!!

  33. yo'me says:

    The Nordic nation’s $450 billion Government Pension Fund Global has stocked up on Greek debt, as well as bonds of Spain, Italy and Portugal. Finance Minister Sigbjoern Johnsen says he backs the strategy, which contributed to a 3.4 percent loss on European fixed income in the second quarter, compared with gains on bonds in Asia and the Americas

    Rally on!!

  34. Poltroon says:

    Who wouldn’t want to load up on the debt of a nation whose main fiscal strategies are the use of control fraud and widespread bribery?

  35. prtraders2000 says:

    Went home and finished reading the Michael Lewis piece on Greece. Fascinating look at the Greek culture of distrust and tax evasion. But are we that much different?

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0GFxl1vTX3ZZvc8gFe1MvvmBnGgD9I4252G3

    Politicians squash plan to use technology to nab permit dodgers.

  36. chicagofinance says:

    clot: thank you for the Vanity Fair article

  37. Poltroon says:

    pr (38)-

    I hope not. If we’re just like Greece, it means our parasite class will destroy the gubmint, and the rest of us won’t have to get our hands dirty.

    “But are we that much different?”

  38. Poltroon says:

    Anne Wortham is Associate Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

    She is a member of the American Sociological Association and the American Philosophical Association. She has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. In fall 1988, she was one of a select group of intellectuals who were featured in Bill Moyer’s television series, “A World of Ideas.” The transcript of her conversation with Moyers has been published in his book, A World of Ideas.

    Dr. Wortham is author of “The Other Side of Racism: A Philosophical Study of Black Race Consciousness” which analyzes how race consciousness is transformed into political strategies and policy issues. She has published numerous articles on the implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural marginality. Recently, she has published articles on the significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in education, the politics of victimization and the social and political impact of political correctness. Shortly after an interview in 2004, she was awarded tenure. This article by her is really, really something.

    “Fellow Americans,

    Please know: I am Black; I grew up in the segregated South. I did not vote for Barack Obama; I wrote in Ron Paul’s name as my choice for president. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a Black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a Black president to love the ideal of America .

    I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and survival – all that I know about the history of the United States of America , all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician. I would have to deny the nature of the “change” that Obama asserts has come to America .

    Most importantly, I would have to abnegate my certain understanding that you have chosen to sprint down the road to serfdom that we have been on for over a century. I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million Blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that Blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by self-declared “progressive” whites who voted for him because he doesn’t look like them.

    I would have to wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration – political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University ‘s Kennedy School of Government.

    I would have to believe that “fairness” is equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that a man who asks me to “go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new service of sacrifice” is speaking in my interest.. I would have to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes from the “bottom up,” and who arrogantly believes that he can will it into existence by the use of government force. I would have to admire a man who thinks the standard of living of the masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the generators of wealth.

    Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from my consciousness the scene of 125,000 screaming, crying, cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago irrationally chanting “Yes We Can!” Finally, I would have to wipe all memory of all the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists, editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that capitalism is dead – and no one, including especially Alan Greenspan, objected to their assumption that the particular version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything remotely equivalent to capitalism.

    So you have made history, Americans. You and your children have elected a Black man to the office of the president of the United States , the wounded giant of the world. The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over – and Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last gotten their Kennedy look-a-like. The self-righteous welfare statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction for having elected a Black person.

    So, toast yourselves: 60s countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois bohemians. Toast yourselves, Black America. Shout your glee Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You have elected not an individual who is qualified to be president, but a Black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt, promises to – Do Something! You now have someone who has picked up the baton of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. But you have also foolishly traded your freedom and mine – what little there is left – for the chance to feel good, and elect an idiot !

    There is nothing in me that can share your happy obliviousness. God Help Us all.”

  39. homeboken says:

    From ZH – I don’t understand how one holiday forces you to forego real data and make you estimate?

    The BLS has announced that as a result of the Labor Day weekend, 9 states (among which the biggest one California) did not report initial claims data to the bean counters, so instead the government had to “estimate” what the data would have been: yep, estimate, what the data was in these nine states. From Bloomberg: “For the latest reporting week, nine states didn’t file claims data to the Labor Department in Washington because of the Labor Day holiday earlier this week, a department official told reporters. California and Virginia estimated their figures and the U.S. government estimated the other seven.” Official data is now made up on the fly. This US economic data reporting has just entered the twilight zone. Also, when the data is officially made up, it is not that difficult to get data that is “better than expected.”

  40. Poltroon says:

    Just make the shit up. I’d say “unbelievable”, but this is totally believable in our new environment of all-encompassing gubmental fraud:

    “The BLS has announced that as a result of the Labor Day weekend, 9 states (among which the biggest one California) did not report initial claims data to the bean counters, so instead the government had to “estimate” what the data would have been: yep, estimate, what the data was in these nine states. From Bloomberg: “For the latest reporting week, nine states didn’t file claims data to the Labor Department in Washington because of the Labor Day holiday earlier this week, a department official told reporters. California and Virginia estimated their figures and the U.S. government estimated the other seven.” Official data is now made up on the fly. This US economic data reporting has just entered the twilight zone. Also, when the data is officially made up, it is not that difficult to get data that is “better than expected.”

  41. Mr Wantanapolous says:

    Every report is BS, similar to the foundation of this economy.

  42. Juice Box says:

    Can we call Obama’s new plan for the Economy “Perestroika”, because it has about the same chance of success.

  43. Mr Hyde says:

    Wantan

    silicon commented on…..

  44. Mr Wantanapolous says:

    Hyde [46],

    σας ευχαριστώ

  45. Mr Hyde says:

    my pleaseure

  46. Essex says:

    30. I got a time machine for you. It’s called a 12 gauge. Put it into your mouth, pull the trigger, and you can go anywhere you want.

  47. Confused in NJ says:

    50.Essex says:
    September 9, 2010 at 11:00 am
    30. I got a time machine for you. It’s called a 12 gauge. Put it into your mouth, pull the trigger, and you can go anywhere you want

    Very similar to Obamacare. Look in mirror, if sick, put gun in mouth & pull trigger.

  48. Essex says:

    51. You think? I’m covered by a huge Swiss multinational. We never had an issue. Go figure.

  49. Poltroon says:

    confused (51)-

    I’d much rather put the 12 gauge into Lautenberg or Menendez’ mouth, then have an unfortunate little “slip”.

  50. Mr Wantanapolous says:

    “16UC”

    [53],

    12 shacks under 430K. Sure hope they didn’t buy their 4 walls and a roof during the bubble. Ouch!

  51. Poltroon says:

    When will CNBC finally just give us Michelle in a PVC catsuit, just whipping the hell out of Beaker?

  52. Essex says:

    57. Are they real??

  53. Mr Hyde says:

    Poltroon

    The tungsten coast?

  54. homeboken says:

    Any advice on check card fraud? Some degenerate emptied the wife’s checking account yesterday. Apparently need to file police reports in person, etc.

    Card wasn’t lost or stolen, theif made a duplicate and even had the pin number.

  55. Libtard says:

    The Unsold Coast?

  56. Poltroon says:

    sx (58)-

    Unbelievably, I don’t even care.

  57. Libtard says:

    Homeboken,

    That completely blows. Recently Chase asked me to agree to allow my overdraft protection to cover debit card charges. I said, “I don’t use debit cards because they are insecure for no pin is needed, they do not offer any consumer protection and there are no rewards for using them. So what you want me to do is make my checking account, savings account and even money I don’t have in my overdraft account (credit) to become available to thieves with no liability to the bank. No thank you, but I am impressed with your deceptive practices.”

    I am surprised they require an opt-in for this account feature. They may already change account rules without notification which I learned back in college when they upped the minimum balance on one of my accounts without notice and refused to pay me interest. Debit cards are bad, bad, bad! Use a credit card, check or cash only.

  58. homeboken says:

    63 – I am getting that point loud and clear now. Amazing how with that card and pin, they can call up the bank and find out exactly how much $ is available. They left 8 bucks in the account.

    Anyone been through this? Is there a reasonable expectation that we will recoup any of this?

  59. Painhrtz says:

    homeboken, why I always pick the credit card option, istead of debit. Good luck

  60. homeboken says:

    I am old fashion, I use cash. The wife on the other hand never carries more than 10 bucks on her and is always using the debit card. Hence her card being the duplicated one. Things are a little to testy for me to start in with her about that yet.

  61. relo says:

    62: Unexpectedly.

    66: Huh, I’ve always carried little cash and the ATM as well. Ironic.

  62. Libtard says:

    Homeboken,

    Better be prepared to scream and moan until they cover the charges. With enough pushing, they will cover your loss. Something similar happened to Gator, where the bank actually processed a large withdrawal without her pin, but they had pick-pocketed her bank card. This pickpocket was a male too. It helped to bring this up with the bank who didn’t think much of asking for ID from this male with the feminine name. She could provide more details.

    Personally, I carry no more than $20 on me at all times for fear of being pick-pocketed. I don’t care if my credit cards get stolen. I’m covered. Plus the $1,000 or so a year the credit cards pay me to use their cards each year make it worthwhile.

  63. Juice Box says:

    re: #60 – Homeboken PIN number too?

    Some stores with the debit card machines don’t have PIN number screens or guards and you have to hand your card to the cashier to swipe the card and then enter the PIN on a portable PIN pad for all to see since there is no guard. The cashier can skim your card if you are not looking and record your PIN. I am wary of these places and will only use cash or a credit card.

    Also ATMs can be skimmed too even in Manhattan Chase Bank Branch.

    http://www.devicedaily.com/misc/card-skimmer-discovered-at-chase-bank-in-manhattan.html

  64. Mr Hyde says:

    Oops,

    how long before this guy disappears or commits suicide with 2 shots to the back of his head?

    China’s UN diplomat in drunken rant against Americans
    China’s top-ranking UN diplomat embarked on a drunken rant against the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, telling his boss he’d “never liked” him, and adding for good measure that he didn’t like Americans either.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7991414/Chinas-UN-diplomat-in-drunken-rant-against-Americans.html

  65. Kidstar says:

    Two new constructions in Edgewater, NJ. Does Edgewater really need more new consutruction? Look at the horrific prices! The builder picked a bad time to put them on the market.

    http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1030615&dayssince=&countysearch=false

  66. Libtard says:

    Not to create undo fear, but high-tech thieves have actually been known to place fake atms in places to read your atm card data and to capture your pin number. Of course, once you enter your pin, the machine claims it is out of money. I recall being placed in a major casino in Las Vegas. I think it was at the Venetian in the conference area.

  67. Outofstater says:

    Home – This is a criminal act. Go to the police and file whatever reports they ask for. Talk with a detective about it, if you can. Maybe this is part of a much bigger operation, who knows? Wave that as a carrot in front of the det. I imagine this stuff happens within a few minutes or hours of getting the pin number so ask your wife where she used the card in the hours right before the withdrawal. Chances are she isn’t the only victim at this particular store. Get with the bank’s fraud protection division and try to get one person assigned to your case so you can call him/her on a daily basis. Your wife is the victim of a crime and the police and the bank need to make it right! I hope it works out for you. Keep us posted.

  68. Poltroon says:

    lib (63)-

    Just another reason Dimon should be executed on live TV.

  69. All "H-Train" Hype says:

    Look at these markets today. The obvious pump followed by a sell off. Just as the markets are to go negative 4 separate times, the market goes up to +50. What a joke. No wonder why the average investor is getting out of this market.

  70. homeboken says:

    Thanks all. Wife is at the local PD right now filing a report, all 4 stores where activity occurred have been notified and one has a camera on the register where the card was used. Bank pin-pointed exact time, and obviously we know the amount, so lets hope we get a nice head shot.

    Also found in the banks marketing materails that our particular type of check card is 100% guranteed agains fraudualent charges. So, it may take some time, but I think we will get recover the cash.
    Pretty big pain in the neck though, at least an excuse to enjoy an extra scotch tonight.

  71. Anon E. Moose says:

    re: [71];

    An elevator? Seriously? For two flights of stairs and a walk-out basement garage? Puh-leez.

  72. Anon E. Moose says:

    And another thing (re: [71]);

    Is the million dollar view protected? Probably not. Hope the buyer is lucky enough to sell it before some developer puts up the next ‘mold/gold/tungsten coast’ high rise on the water right in front of it. Sooner or later some lucky owner is going to have the pleasure of watching a tower go up that literally sucks the value out of his property before his eyes.

  73. jurisprude says:

    Comment on reinvestor101 [30]:

    Months ago we witnessed reinvestor101 moving from denial into anger (e.g. “mad as hell”). Today, we witness his/her transition from anger into bargaining. Could depression and acceptance be far behind?

  74. Poltroon says:

    moose (78)-

    Those places look like they were designed by Tony Montana.

  75. Poltroon says:

    prude (80)-

    Wake me up when Tard reaches the “death” stage.

  76. Mr Wantanapolous says:

    prude [80],

    Complacency
    Concern
    Fear
    Panic
    Capitulation

  77. Essex says:

    71. Never trust anyone with an asymmetrical face.

  78. Confused In NJ says:

    Bernanke will probably implement negative interest rates soon, to force the remaining savings into the Wall Street Casino. The Gold Buyer was at the Philipsburg Mall today offering to trade Worthless Paper for Gold.

  79. Poltroon says:

    I’m pretty sure I’ve done shots of whiskey with this Rev. Terry Jones guy.

  80. Wendy says:

    Homeboken, and all others – fraud losses from a stolen debit card are not the cardholder’s responsibility so long as you report the loss promptly. Banks bear that loss, NOT customers. Your max liability is $50 if you report it lost/stolen within 2 days, but more if you wait – $500. here is the FTC’s guidelines confirming this:

    http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre04.shtm

    This is the way it has always been. Some banks will even cover that loss, so you bear no loss out of pocket. When I had my debit card stolen, it didn’t cost me a dime, the bank covered everything, immediately, and this was 12-15 years ago.

    Aside from the $50 loss, your only real problem is likely to be a short-term cash flow issue, as you won’t get the money back immediately, it may take a couple days. Good luck, and hope you have some other funds held elsewhere to use while the mess is sorted.

  81. Wendy says:

    oh, and other problems may be that you now have a reported fraud on your credit report, so requests for credit will be a little more troublesome in the near future.

  82. Essex says:

    It is amazing to me that people still move here. Just met a lovely couple from a wonderful place (not America)….geezus I pity them. *sigh*

  83. Orion says:

    Shore: yesterday (#45)

    “For the good of my daughters, who need a full-time dad, I have decided to not seek reelection… in 2012.”

    Maybe we could expedite this by sending hundreds of cigarette cartons.

  84. Comrade Nom Deplume aux maison says:

    [41] poltroon,

    If she didn’t have tenure before that missive, there’d be no way in hell she would ever get it.

  85. Poltroon says:

    plume (91)-

    The sad thing is, probably 95% of people in the US would tag HER as an Uncle Sam…not the current holder of the Presidency.

  86. Poltroon says:

    Dang. What am I gonna do now with this case of Korans and the container of lighter fluid I just bought?

  87. Essex says:

    Doomy…..check out my soundclick brother….if you get a chance….

    http://www.soundclick.com/supersonicsounds

  88. Poltroon says:

    sx (94)-

    Fun! Will check this out when I get a chance.

  89. Poltroon says:

    Looks like the infidel barbecue might be back on.

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – An anti-Islamic preacher backed off and then threatened to reconsider burning the Quran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, angrily accusing a Muslim leader of lying to him Thursday with a promise to move an Islamic center and mosque away from New York’s ground zero. The imam planning the center denied there was ever such a deal.

  90. Essex says:

    97. “Give a Florida hippie a copy of the Koran and a bag of weed. I guarantee he’ll burn that sucker … one page at a time!” — Mike Adams

  91. chicagofinance says:

    Extra scotch is meaningless…all scotch is by definition required……

    homeboken says:
    September 9, 2010 at 3:49 pm
    Pretty big pain in the neck though, at least an excuse to enjoy an extra scotch tonight.

  92. Shore Guy says:

    I don’t wish him dead or ill, just retired.

    I did not vote for the man, but I had hoped that he would be a great president. He has not been, is not, and I doubt will ever rise to that standard. Thus, for the good of the nation, it is time for him to go.

  93. Fabius Maximus says:

    #91 Nom

    I think its a good example of why the whole concept of tenure should be scrapped.
    I would file this straight under Ad Homimem and put the author in that same box Jesse Jackson found himself in. “I pissed that O did pay homage to me and my caucus”

  94. Fabius Maximus says:

    did = didn’t

  95. Fabius Maximus says:

    ” Thus, for the good of the nation, it is time for him to go.”
    So i’ll ask the question, “Why should he go? On what grounds?” Are you pi$$ed at the man or pi$$ed at the policies.

    Following on from that, what would you like to see in his place. 10 years of President Joe Biden?

  96. sas says:

    “We are idiots… I’m embarrassed for our citizenry.”

    nah…. just watch for movies with snazzy special effects.

    fantasy & escape mechanism are our only hope nowadays.

    SAS

  97. Revelations says:

    Re: Quran burning.

    We are disintegrating. The fact that an entire nation, and more importantly its “leaders”, fear violent retribution from a religious group because of a symbolic act by a nutty pastor is exactly why the burning, and infinitely more burnings, should take place. These very public, impassioned pleas to stop it out of FEAR of offending Muslims (while simultaneously extolling a controversial mosque that offends most of the Nation as a symbol of tolerance) are beyond disheartening. It’s incredible to watch our “leaders” publicly sympathetic to the interests of a minority religious group, while they publicly show disdain for our constitutional protections. They should be allowed to build the mosque at ground zero because it is legal. Not nice, not tolerant, not sensitive, but legal. End of story.
    I understand that in Afghanistan, hundreds of Afghans burned an American flag and chanted “Death to the Christians” to protest the planned Quran burning. I am sure there are some wonderfully kind and patriotic Muslims in the US, but our fear of a religious group’s radical and violent tendencies is well placed. We are afraid because we sense a threat, but our response to self-censor, intimidate the non-politically correct, and be apologetic for non-Muslim values is wrong. No single group should hold this kind of power over the free world.
    I also find it ironic that we’ve justified the last decade of war and casualties in the Middle East as preserving and protection our freedoms, and now our “leaders” are trying to silence and intimidate this guy from exercising his constitutional freedoms out of FEAR of the Muslim world’s reaction.
    I don’t even agree with the pastor’s initial purpose, but this is now much bigger than a mosque or an odd 9/11 memorial event. I would support this type of protest for any organization that enjoyed a psychological choke-hold of fear, guilt or shame on my country and its elected government.

  98. Revelations says:

    Sorry for the long post. We’ve become a nation of pansies and it ticks me off.

  99. Essex says:

    107. I think that our lack of education and understanding along with the fact that we’ve managed to get bamboozled by the elites….have made us a little ‘unhappy’…of late.

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  101. Sas3 says:

    #106… “We’ve become a nation of pansies …”
    When did it happen?
    When we couldn’t hold a criminal trial in NYC because of *fear*?
    When we keep worrying about decapitated bodies appearing everywhere in AZ?
    When the “Kenyan” says that it is not right for one religious institution to burn religious books of another?

    I am sure there are some wonderfully kind and patriotic Muslims in the US
    Cute, you are being so gracious.

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