Housing is the best long-term investment a person can make!!!

(Brought to you by the folks who also recommended Beanie babies, Internet stocks, and Worldcom as the best long-term investments a person can make)

From Reuters:

Housing still best investment despite downturn: study

Even as a five-year slump in house prices drags on, eight-out-of-10 Americans say bricks and mortar remain the best long-term investment, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The survey by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends project found that 81 percent of respondents see housing as the best investment a person can make, despite a slump in prices that has knocked nearly a third off home values since 2006.

“The resilience of the American public’s belief in the investment value of home ownership is pretty impressive,” Paul Taylor, the project’s director and a co-author of the report, told Reuters.

“In modern economic history we’ve never had a five-year period where home values have fallen as long or as far as they have now,” he added.

It found that 37 percent “strongly” agreed that a home is the best long-term investment a person can make, while 44 percent “somewhat” agreed that homeownership is the best investment a person can make.

When the same questions were put to respondents in a CBS News/New York Times survey two decades ago, 49 percent “strongly agreed” that homes were the best investment, and 35 percent “somewhat agreed,” the study noted.

Nearly half of all homeowners said that their home was worth less now than before the recession began in late 2007, the survey found.

Of that group, the overwhelming majority said it would take at least three years for values to recover, while nearly half said it would take at least six years to recover.

From the WSJ:

Real Estate Bust Hasn’t Dimmed Americans’ Faith in Real Estate

Despite an extended slump in real-estate prices, most Americans still believe homes are the best investment, according to this a survey released today by the Pew Research Center.

According to the results of a telephone survey conducted in March, Pew found eight-in-ten adults believed a home was the best long-term investment a person could make.

This isn’t to say that Americans faith in real estate is unflappable. The “intensity” of the public’s faith has fallen off, according to the survey, with 37% of respondents saying they “strongly agree” that homeownership is the best investment, compared with 49% from a CBS News/New York Times survey conducted two decades ago, Pew said.

There is also some evidence that the next generation views real estate with a more pessimistic eye. According to Pew: “Adults ages 65 and older are more sold on the investment value of homeownership than any other age group. Some 48% of this older cohort agree that homeownership is the best long-term investment a person can make, compared with 39% of those ages 50 to 64; 32% of those ages 30 to 49; and 35% of those ages 18 to 29.”

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176 Responses to Housing is the best long-term investment a person can make!!!

  1. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  2. freedy says:

    this just proves how stupid we have become as americans . as the titanic sinks the band continues to play

  3. Mike says:

    A Pew phone survey says 8 in 10 adults believed a home was the best long-term investment a person could make. What about the adults that were foreclosed and removed and their phones disconnected, what did they say? So much for Poo research center

  4. grim says:

    #3 – Interesting point, selection/survivorship bias?

  5. grim says:

    From McClatchey:

    Housing still can’t find a date for economic recovery dance

    Many sectors of the U.S. economy are showing heartening signs of growth: Employment, international trade, manufacturing and professional services among them.

    Then there’s the miserable housing sector. It’s still missing from the list of positives, still a net drag on the U.S. economic recovery.

    Where’s the bottom? Four years into the housing crisis, specialists still aren’t sure if we’re on our way up or still have further to drop.

    Mark Zandi, the chief economist for forecaster Moody’s Analytics, expects a bottom in home prices next year and recovery thereafter.

    “House prices will bottom out by year’s end as the market works through a bulge of distressed sales,” Zandi said. “Sales, construction and prices will be recovering in earnest by this time next year.”

    That’s too soon for Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, N.C. He doesn’t see the housing market returning to normal until 2016. Yes, five more years.

    “If you assume we’re adding 2.8 million people a year (to the U.S. population); 1.35 million new homes a year. Tear down 200,000 a year … we don’t get to a normal year until 2016, really,” Vitner said.

    Even when home prices stop sliding in much of the country, or sales by distressed borrowers level off, there’s a whole other wave of pent-up sellers waiting on the sidelines.

    “You’ve had a lot of people who’ve held homes off the market because they don’t want to compete with foreclosures. It’s likely to be a buyer’s market for awhile, mainly because there are so many homes on the market and there is still a limited supply of qualified buyers,” Vitner said. “The supply of buyers is being limited by high unemployment and the large number of people with homes they can’t sell.”

  6. cooper says:

    I was at a party over the weekend and I couldn’t believe how many people were saying just the same thing as the top article… One guy said ” I’ve lived through this 2x before and I know things are coming back strong. ” he continued with, in a nutshell, buy now or be priced out forever.

  7. Confused In NJ says:

    TOKYO – Japan raised the crisis level at its crippled nuclear plant Tuesday to a severity on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing high overall radiation leaks that have contaminated the air, tap water, vegetables and seawater

    Bernanke would not include ait, water, or food in his calculations, so he would say everythings O.K.

  8. cooper (6)-

    Those dolts will be cashiered and shown the exits.

    The rest of us are on a slaveship of doom back to the 15th century.

    Good times.

  9. Warmer weather. When do the domestic riots get going?

  10. WickedOrange says:

    Peter Thiel: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet. It’s Higher Education.

    Fair warning: This article will piss off a lot of you. I can say that with confidence because it’s about Peter Thiel. And Thiel – the PayPal co-founder, hedge fund manager and venture capitalist – not only has a special talent for making money, he has a special talent for making people furious.

    http://goo.gl/xeU8Q

  11. Mikeinwaiting says:

    We have gone from pent up demand, excuse me pant up demand to:
    “Even when home prices stop sliding in much of the country, or sales by distressed borrowers level off, there’s a whole other wave of “pent-up sellers” waiting on the sidelines.”
    Times they are a changing.

  12. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Debt don’t worry be happy.

  13. Neanderthal Economist says:

    Wicked, great article. I dont believe there is a higher ed bubble but im open to the possibility. Imo, education, especially college, will be more mandatory in the future than it ever has before. But maybe there will be a shift to lower priced schools, I can easily see that happening, possibly even a surge in a more sophisticated version of online degrees.

  14. Mikeinwaiting says:

    It would seem the markets don’t like the 100 year glow from Japan, Oh Bother.

  15. DejaVu says:

    You still are not seeing any significant increase in high paying jobs and in the Garden State, where prices are high and taxes increasing combined with the pension Gorilla in the corner, home prices have one place to go. Perhaps not at 32 ft per second / per second but the trend remains your friend.

    For those that have bought in the last 6 months, did any of you have serious concerns about the tax liability that you were getting with your home purchase? It seems like such an unknown and scares the hell out of me.

  16. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    Housing WAS perhaps the best investment. Stocks USED TO appreciate on average 10% a year. These studies are a waste of time when the Federal Reserve takes 20-30 years of asset price appreciation and tries to jam it into 10 through recklessly loose monetary policies – AND STILL TRIES TO JAM MORE IN. Until the excesses of the system are allowed to work themselves out you’d be a moron to buy a house or believe in buying and holding stocks unless you have a REALLY LONG time horizon.

  17. mike (12)-

    I have to drink heavily in order to be happy.

  18. Kettle1^2 says:

    Juice

    see my comment from late last night in previous thread.

    Nom

    dint forget your Jel Tec KSG for the nompound! Or a nice Saiga-12

  19. Kettle1^2 says:

    Nom

    an nj legal KSG is scheduled for release. It will have 2 removable chamber blocks and will not have a pistol grip. Chamber blocks can be pulled out as soon ad you step out of nj

  20. gary says:

    “House prices will bottom out by year’s end as the market works through a bulge of distressed sales,” Zandi said. “Sales, construction and prices will be recovering in earnest by this time next year.”

    We heard the same thing in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Same time next year….

  21. Kettle1^2 says:

    Confused.

    Fukushma is well beyond chernobyl at this point. If we are smart we will learn a lesson from this and deal with places like Indian point ASAP.

  22. gary says:

    Perhaps not at 32 ft per second / per second but the trend remains your friend.

    Perhaps at 9.81 meters / per second squared.

  23. yelsi says:

    “Until the excesses of the system are allowed to work themselves out you’d be a moron to buy a house…” -Dissident HEHEHE

    What if you’re in it for a nice home in a clean and safe neighborhood with terrific schools and enjoyable parks for your family? It’s a mistake to assume buyers are focused on the investment component.

    This may shock you but lots of buyers are mindful that everything has its price and life can be short. How do you measure your life and enjoyment in this world? Lots of people every day accept the price along with the property taxes and get on with it (life, and it’s enjoyment for them and their families on a daily basis).

    Sure, you can rent in some places but your options are limited. Or you can make an empowered move and dwell where you want, buy, and be happy. I understand not everybody has the option or luxury to make empowered moves free of concern of the investment component or dimension of the purchase, but that’s too bad, isn’t it? Yep, life is not fair.

  24. Confused In NJ says:

    Oil extends losses, high prices may hurt demand

    Now who would have thought?

  25. Confused In NJ says:

    24.Kettle1^2 says:
    April 12, 2011 at 8:31 am
    Confused.

    Fukushma is well beyond chernobyl at this point. If we are smart we will learn a lesson from this and deal with places like Indian point ASAP.

    Afraid not, Obama has already cancelled the Nuclear Waste Storage Facility. If he had any intelligence at all, he would have all spent fuel rods placed in Dry Casket Storage under the mountain out west, but being a worthless idiot like most folks in Washington, he won’t.

  26. gary says:

    Even as a five-year slump in house prices drags on, eight-out-of-10 Americans say bricks and mortar remain the best long-term investment, according to a study released on Tuesday.

    The survey also stated that the same eight-out-of-10 Americans ranked Red Lobster and Olive Garden number one in their fine dining experience.

  27. Confused In NJ says:

    Japan is toast, we need to trade them Michigan for Debt forgiveness & move on. At least Japan will revive Detroit & drop the Michigan crime rate.

  28. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    “What if you’re in it for a nice home in a clean and safe neighborhood with terrific schools and enjoyable parks for your family? It’s a mistake to assume buyers are focused on the investment component. ”

    My argument was solely re the Pew Research study that housing is “the best investment”.

  29. gary says:

    I understand not everybody has the option or luxury to make empowered moves free of concern of the investment component or dimension of the purchase, but that’s too bad, isn’t it? Yep, life is not fair.

    And those that can, choose to witness the lambs get slaughtered before they feast on the carnage.

  30. Another bunch of Mortgage Scammers busted in Marlboro. That’s the 3rd or 4th gang of thieves to be indicted from that area. I know Hawthorne Capital was as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, and another outfit (US Mortgage ??) was found to be stealing identities a few years ago. The US Attorney should just set up an office on Route 9.

    http://www.app.com/article/20110411/NJNEWS14/104110336/1004/NEWS01/3-Marlboro-men-indicted-mortgage-fraud-scheme

  31. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    After last night’s trend development posts from me, what did I hear CNBC play into the break today?

    The Police

    “Canary in a coal mine”

    Tick……tick…..tick…..

  32. yo'me says:

    I agree with the article for as long as the mortgage is equal to rent and rent increases at least 5% a year and mortgage and property tax remains tax deductible.The deduction decrease the tax burden by at least 80% plus take into account the value of services rendered.

  33. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Just saw video of jet fender bender at JFK. Wow. Is everything in proximity to the Mets inept?

  34. Kettle1^2 says:

    Confused

    what caused the chenibyl exclusion zone was cesium and strontium contamination in the soil. Levels higher the those found at Chernobyl have been found mire then 20k away from fukushima and dangerous levels have been found close to 50km out.

    This will never be publicized like Chernobyl was. Such publicity would call US nuclear operations into question and force an unpleasant assessment. We had problem publicizing Chernobyl since is dwmonstatayed the west’s technological superiority over our cold war enemy.

  35. yelsi (26)-

    Then that family would be well-advised to wait until the bike paths are installed in Camden.

    “What if you’re in it for a nice home in a clean and safe neighborhood with terrific schools and enjoyable parks for your family?”

  36. yelsi (26)-

    That whole meme died in about June, 2007.

    Today’s (few) buyers look at housing as consumption: no more, no less. The idea that real estate is a sui generis asset class is dead. Now that it’s all about owning simply to be able to call it yours and enjoy the benefits of ownership, buyers look even harder at price/value rapport.

  37. There is no investment component to housing anymore…nor will there be for 50-100 years.

  38. The Poo study simply confirms that the demographic of Amerikans who buys into the housing-as-investment foolishness the most is the one that will be dead the soonest.

  39. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    (136)(prior thread) spyder

    The stretch is the point. In gov, every new drug eventually gets explored for off label use. Is it that much of a stretch to envision how this can be expanded to block or slow (further) potential renunciants, or extended to other areas to punish alleged tax cheats w/o the need for pesky trials?

    I’ve seen DOJ and IRS operate. I have no illusion about uncrossable lines.

  40. ricky (37)-

    OK for the Japanese to do this. They all have about 18 months to live.

  41. plume (43)-

    There are no lines to cross. Gubmint and banksters are the law, and they can do whatever they please.

  42. DejaVu says:

    I- 131 in Philly water supply deemed to be within safe range:

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/119674359.html

  43. Shore Guy says:

    Does anyone give a fricking d@mn what most people think of housing as an “investment”? Most people thought it was a good idea to buy even up to the end of the bubble. Time and time again, we find that most people don’t have a bloody clue about issues. Hey, they have opinions but…. What I care about is what solvent people with a track record of accumulating wealth think about housing as an “investment.” Oh, wait, I know what they think, as they regularly post here.

  44. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    #39 Debt: I have found over th years that so may that re in it for the terrific schools, don’ t have a clue in general.

    Speaking to an acquaintance yesterday, who I always considered a super intelligent person; highly educated, the best of schools. Does not have a clue; it was staggering how uninformed, naive, and clueless this individual was.

    I had t ask myself how many of these types are running around D.C.

  45. Shore Guy says:

    I hear that I-131 inthe water is actually a good thing, as it tends to kill any bacteria seeking refuge in the thyroid.

  46. Shore Guy says:

    So what,

    I have spent LOTS of time on Capitol Hill and I can say that, while there are some amazingly-smart and dedicated people there, there is a scary percentage of, perhaps well-meaning, but people I would not trust to manage my checking account or analyze anything of any complexity.

  47. Shore Guy says:

    ignore the missing words, the essential point got into print.

  48. yo'me says:

    Something more important:

    J.Lo’s ‘American Idol’ Duet With Tyler Makes Fans Forget Ex-Judge Cowell

  49. Shore Guy says:

    They had a judge who appeared on the show? What did he sing, Jailhouse Rock or Working on the Chain Gang?

  50. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    #50 Shore: I ams still in shock from the conversation. It was like talking to a child. Daddy why is the sky blue!!!

  51. Shore Guy says:

    So what,

    I love the arguement that we can’t cut the size if government because it would cost government tax recenue. Yup, just like how iy is important to pay mortgage interest to get a tax deduction

  52. JJ says:

    Survey says housing is perceived as the best long term investment. Not that it is the best long term investment. Heck my cousin back in the late 70’s early 80’s bought 30 year tax free munis at 16% funded by tax deductable student loans at 8%. The student loans were defered to after graduation. She paid off loans with interest form tax free muni bonds and has been collecting 16% a year from 1980 to 2010 and has been repaid her principal. Nothing down, tax deduction plus tax free income with a guranteed 16% annual return for 30 years straight. She claims that will be the best investment she ever makes.

    The survey by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends project found that 81 percent of respondents see housing as the best investment a person can make, despite a slump in prices that has knocked nearly a third off home values since 2006.

  53. SoccerDad (aka DeepThroat) says:

    WickedOrange *10. This country worships money. Why go to college? Make more money. What to do instead of going to college? Start a company, make more money. No one questions putting energy there in such a fine endeavor as enriching oneself. Years from now, anthropologists will say we resembled the late Roman empire with all its excesses, except of course, in the sexual arena where we more resemble the Victorian era.

  54. Happy Renter says:

    FILE UNDER: “It’s for the children”

    Due to ongoing contract negotiations, the teachers union in South Orange/Maplewood school district is “working to contract.” As such, they removed the spring-themed decorations from the hallway bulletin boards they had supposedly decorated outside of working hours.

    http://southorange.patch.com/articles/somea-members-work-to-contract-bare-bulletin-boards

    A group of PTA parents got together as volunteers and used their own art supplies to put up new decorations on the hallway bulletin boards.

    A couple days later, the bulletin boards were stripped bare of decorations, replaced with a sign that read “undecorated by a proud supporter of SOMEA” (South Orange-Maplewood Education Association (SOMEA)

    http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/marshall-school-bulletin-boards-decorated-cleared-again-2

  55. yo'me says:

    Majority of the population in the US , highest education is high school .For most have no clue about investments.Their home is their biggest investment next to their 401k if they have any.
    Most will need a mortgage to buy a home.If deducting mortgage interest relieves some of the burden,when same amount will pay for rent.

  56. Kettle1^2 says:

    Soccerdad

    modern pron is above and beyond the Romans wildest dreams. While we have certainly aquired the self loathing aspect og the Victorian era, we havemasyeted the art wanton carnal pleasure as a public distraction

  57. NJSerf says:

    Won’t happen this year. As a society we’ve made being unemployed far too comfortable. The kids coming out of college sit in their parents basement while working at the mall for 8.50/hour. During their spare time they rot their brains in online gaming and social networks.

    What do they need to riot for? Better at&t coverage on their I-phones? no need its on Verizon now!

    Debt Supernova says:
    April 12, 2011 at 7:02 am

    Warmer weather. When do the domestic riots get going?

  58. freedy says:

    i have a friend.120k student loan,not a great school . daughter is working for about
    10 per hour. first payment came due, no money to pay. Solution: send back for
    a MBA. how to pay: borrow

  59. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Happy Tax Freedom Day. The national average for tax freedom days is today.

    However, not for New Jersey. Our Tax Freedom Day is April 29th. Only CT is later at May 2.

    Did you know: On average, we spend more on taxes than on food, shelter, and clothing combined.

  60. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [48] so what

    “Speaking to an acquaintance yesterday, who I always considered a super intelligent person; highly educated, the best of schools. Does not have a clue; it was staggering how uninformed, naive, and clueless this individual was.”

    You cannot imagine how often I run into this issue. Harvard Law grads that don’t have a clue, and cannot handle the world they aspired to are a great example.

    One thing I noticed is that, when an HLS grad flames out, they do so spectacularly.

    http://techlawadvisor.com/jobs/2004/06/trophy-husband-burning-bridges.html

  61. jj (56)-

    I used my student loan money in the late ’70s/early ’80s to speculate on PMs and money market. Nice spread there.

    Things did get a little dicey when the gubmint decided to teach the Hunt brothers a lesson, though…

  62. serf (61)-

    What about the wandering homeless? What about the millions of white-collar workers who were laid off two years ago and either still jobless or wearing a blue smock?

    Those giant camps of homeless people are still in CA. The Bureau of Lies has simply told the media not to report on it anymore.

  63. plume (64)-

    God forbid they ever let a bunch of Asperger-addled Ivy grads get hold of Wall Street and change the rules so that the best math geek/algo writer becomes the guy who generates all the profits.

  64. Oh…you mean, that’s already happened?

    My bad.

  65. JJ says:

    Well if your daughter is ugly the old fall backs of marry rich or stipper pole just won’t work.

    freedy says:
    April 12, 2011 at 10:34 am

    i have a friend.120k student loan,not a great school . daughter is working for about
    10 per hour. first payment came due, no money to pay. Solution: send back for
    a MBA. how to pay: borrow

  66. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    #59 Do not assume that it is only the HS educated that are clueless. I have found more and more that it is the BA or bettter crowd that can be the most clueless.

  67. RentL0rd says:

    Looking at a house in the princeton area:
    Originally listed a year ago in the mid $700s. They had an offer ~ $630k but rejected. Early this year, it’s back on market at $650k and they had an offer for $590k. Rejected that offer and the buyer bought another property. Fast forward few months and they reduced the property to $620k. They have an offer at $575k… and they are not happy.

    I’ll tell you how the story goes as it proceeds.. I’m part of it now.

  68. RentL0rd says:

    “reduced the property” should read as “reduced the price” in my previous post – but of course, you know that :)

  69. freedy says:

    it really is so sad when you speak with people regarding whats happening.
    can they be that stupid? yes

  70. Shore Guy says:

    Remember when:

    1) you thought that grownups knrw what they were doing; and,

    2) when you realized that most don’ t?

  71. Shore Guy says:

    The scary thing us that most of us who have a fair clue also have a fair bit of self doubt and that thosr without a clue seldom seem to have any doubt.

  72. Shore Guy says:

    Is that

  73. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    #76 Exactly. I almost envy the fact that one can be so clueless and yet so convinced they are right.

  74. Happy Renter says:

    [75] Please remain seated with your seat belt securely fastened until the captain has turned off the fasten seat belt sign.

  75. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Learned that latest member of our IRS oversight panel is a tax lawyer from Montklair. Our area committee is now heavily composed of tax lawyers. In fact, I think the entire NJ delegation is made up of tax lawyers.

  76. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    30 Year Realtor: Any thoughts on Washington Township in Bergen Co. Taxes appear to be much more reasonable, in that it looks like in many cases you can find a property where they are still under 10K. your thoughts would be appreciated.

  77. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    (73) freedy,

    Wasn’t talking to them, but that is how I feel about Peter King and The Donald.

  78. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    (69) jj

    I have 2 girls and you are scaring the crap out of me.

    And it figures that you got post # 69.

  79. NJSerf says:

    Debt (66) –

    If the tent villages haven’t rioted already they never will.

    I have a hard time seeing former white collar workers throwing bricks through store fronts. Even in their darkest hour, they still have too much to lose.

    Look at the riots in the middle east. How many years did those people live in really bad conditions? We’ve barely dipped our toes in the water.

  80. 3b (78)-

    The best solution is just to draw a pistol, and shoot people like that between the eyes.

  81. JJ says:

    I hope I get post 96 too.

    Comrade Nom Deplume says:
    April 12, 2011 at 11:36 am

    (69) jj

    I have 2 girls and you are scaring the crap out of me.

    And it figures that you got post # 69.

  82. serf (83)-

    You’re probably right. Hell, all the 50+ y/o, pot-bellied middle managers who live near me and have been laid off for years think they are gonna replace their old incomes and that the Dumbocrat party and minorities are to blame for all their woes.

  83. The best is when the wives of these 50+ y/o dumbasses get back in the workforce, get in shape and start banging their personal trainers/tennis instructors.

    I know three situations like this going on right now in my neighborhood. One of them, I actually encouraged. The lady’s husband is a lardassed bag of blood; no future there.

  84. joyce says:

    (13)
    There is clearly a bubble in higher education. The demand everyone has to go to college might stem from the fact that one needs the degree to get a decent job now-a-days. But 1) the overwhelming majority of people could not afford to go at these prices if the government wasn’t backstopping banks’ student loans, which are the only debt impossible to discharge, and 2) the fact that these loans are being given away to anyone without the ability to repay being part of the consideration, has allowed more people to obtain the degree (also six figures of debt) which has led to the watered down significance of said degree. A circle of life, if you will

  85. gary says:

    Like Robert De Niro said in the movie Casino: “This is the end result of all the bright lights, and the comp trips, and all the champagne, and free hotel suites, and all the broads and all the booze. It’s all been arranged just for us to get your money.”

    Apply this to real estate, tuitions and everything else that includes inhaling and exhaling.

  86. JJ says:

    College is not overpriced. Heck Hunter college in Manhattan the average student out of pocket tuition is $250 a year, Baruchs accounting program seats up summer interns that cover 100% of cost of tuition. Problem is spoil brats want to go to expensive fancy schools in dorms to major in useless degrees and mommy and daddy can’t say no.

    Only one friend got his dad to pay for degree, was told go to St. Johns live at home and major in law, accounting or pharmacy, stuff you can get a job with, if not you are on your own. He chose accounting.

  87. Juice X says:

    re: # 87 – Nothing to do with all of those Cougar shows on TV?

    Life really does imitate TV with old broads acting like spring chickens.

    Nothing against old broads of course….even though I call them broads, could be worse like old boiler….

  88. NJGator says:

    Clot – You totally need to go to this. There’s a bottle of Knob Creek in it for you if you make the trip up to Montclair xo :)

    China/Montclair Group Meets Thursday

    The China/Montclair Friendship Committee will have its kick-off meeting Thursday.

    “This group will work to build on our existing initiatives involving China, expanding the educational, cultural and even economic connections,” Montclair Township Mayor Jerry Fried said.

    The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Township Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Ave.

    Last year Montclair residents hosted more than two dozen teenagers from Deyang and Fuling in a bid to build bridges between American and Chinese cultures. Those efforts are continuing on a number of fronts, according to the mayor.

    “Our school’s Mandarin program is expanding, thanks in part to a $1.4 million federal grant,” Fried said.

    The other opportunities on the horizon include:

    • Montclair students visiting China this summer for a two-week program.

    • The possibility of 10 Chinese students and two Chinese teachers coming to Montclair High School for the 2011-2012 academic year.

    • A reprise of last year’s student exchange with Montclair hosts.

    The committee will be independent of the school system but will work closely with it through Eileen Gilbert of MHS and Vicky Chang of the Nishuane School.

    http://www.northjersey.com/topstories/montclair/119635699_China_Montclair_Group_Meets_Thursday.html

  89. joyce says:

    (90)
    This came up in the past. Would you or anyone else in a position to hire some people, choose a candidate from Hunter College or another”better” school, all else being equal?

  90. Barbara Corcoran says:

    https://njrereport.com = Circle Jerk of Malcontents.

    …if any of you had a life, you’d be living it.

  91. Anon E. Moose says:

    Shore [76];

    It’s called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

    for a given skill, incompetent people will:
    1. tend to overestimate their own level of skill;
    2. fail to recognize genuine skill in others;
    3. fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy;

    Those in the 12th percentile ranked themselves in the 62nd.

    The reverse is also true – above-average performers routinely underrate their prowess.

  92. Happy Renter says:

    [94] Well Babs, I’m at the office, so not much chance of living a life right now. But this is a nice diversion in the meantime.

    How’s your stuff?

  93. JJ says:

    I would never ever hire anyone from a snooty private school or a party school. You need lunch box workers from good solid local schools. The B students who live at home who are first generation and had a part time job during schools are what you want. The snooty overpriced schools are a nightmare. Combination of I am too good for entry level, I want you job and a few actually complained to me they need bigger raises and bonuses to pay off there student loans or pay for their NYC apt because god forbid they move back home after school. The party schools well that is obvious.

    However bosses are biased they want workers who do a lot of work to ease their load and they want workers almost as smart or almost as qualified as they are so their jobs are safe.

    joyce says:
    April 12, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    (90)
    This came up in the past. Would you or anyone else in a position to hire some people, choose a candidate from Hunter College or another”better” school, all else being equal?

  94. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Mubarak in the hospital. SAS has him in the dead pool.

  95. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    (95) babs

    Pretty much sums it up.

  96. make money says:

    Anyone going to see Atlas Shrugged on Friday?
    I hear the movie does not live up to the book.

  97. gator (92)-

    The only way I’d attend such an event is by being armed to the teeth.

    I also don’t have time between now and then to write a manifesto and a goodbye letter to my family.

  98. gator (92)-

    Mulitply this by several hundred acts per day- since, say, 1958- of gubmint stupidity, and you see why we are about to go the way of ancient Rome.

  99. joyce (93)-

    What does this word, “hire”, mean?

  100. yo'me says:

    President Barack Obama will call tomorrow for a combination of reductions in entitlement spending and tax increases on higher-income Americans to address long- term fiscal debt while drawing a sharp contrast with the Republican alternative proposed by Representative Paul Ryan, according to a person familiar with the plan.

    Obama’s proposal will draw on the findings of the Simpson- Bowles debt commission chairmen who said tax increases had to accompany spending reductions. He will also specifically reject Ryan’s idea of a voucher-like system for future Medicare recipients, the person said.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/obama-said-to-call-for-cuts-in-entitlements-higher-taxes.html

  101. yo'me says:

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are rare beneficiaries of increased funding as part of a budget deal worked out by Congress for the current fiscal year.

    The plan announced today, which imposes $38 billion in cuts on many federal agencies, adds $74 million to SEC spending for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year. That will raise the agency’s annual budget to $1.19 billion as the SEC prepares to meet additional oversight responsibilities mandated in last year’s Dodd-Frank financial-regulatory overhaul.

    “It’s certainly good to hear that the SEC was not cut back as some had originally proposed,” said Stephen Crimmins, a former SEC lawyer who is chairman of the Federal Bar Association’s securities law executive council. He said the budget is still well below the $1.3 billion that the Dodd-Frank Act authorized for this year.

  102. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    Gator please have captain cheapo dust off the video camera and tape please. That is if he can pry himself away from GR to be bothered for some time in the old hood.

  103. Libtard says:

    Captain Cheapo has given up on Montclair politics or any politics in particular. The game is rigged on every level. It’s truly the middle class that are completely screwed, unless of course, you work for the government.

    12-15 years until my garden, fishing and hammock in Costa Rica. I just have to make it until then. I’ve got to build up my frequent flyer miles so Gator Junior can visit us when he’s in college, if he doesn’t choose the trade route.

  104. cobbler says:

    Pain – the whole thing is paid for by the Feds and the Chinese govt. Kids’ tix are bought by their parents, and the host families usually don’t get anything of value for being exchange students’ hosts. District actually is saving money by running this program as it gets HS credit hours without paying for them (well, they will spend it on something else – but it is a different story).

  105. A.West says:

    Make Money (100),
    On Atlas Shrugged. The movie couldn’t possibly live up to the book. I love the book, and don’t really want to see the movie. I might eventually if I happen to be in the right place/right time, but just for informational purposes. It was clearly a low-budget job done in a hurry. The few clips I’ve seen of it made me wince. It only covered the first 1/3 of the book, which unfortunately would lock in the mediocre actors for follow up movies, which I don’t think will be made.

  106. Essex says:

    Ahhhhh i just have to say eeeeets niiiice.

  107. cobbler (108)-

    That this program exists at all is a complete waste. The town has serious solvency issues.

  108. The real purpose of the China-Monklair thing is to act as liberal eyewash and provide a feel-good celebration of diversity and synergy that distracts everyone from coming to the realization that the host municipality is broke and still spending like a drunken sailor.

  109. JJ says:

    Prez O just wants to raise the tax rate and cancel the home mortgage and muni bond deductions.

    Good news he will destroy economy and rich folk wont have income to tax

  110. Anon E. Moose says:

    This is rich. Crusader Ralph Nader on yet another quest to help the poor, the defenseless, the downtrodden. His wards – the Fannie and Freddie Shareholders. “Trapped,” and “kept but abused,” said he.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/04/11/nader-shareholders-trapped-by-fannie-freddie-rescue/

  111. Lone Ranger says:

    “Sure, you can rent in some places but your options are limited. Or you can make an empowered move and dwell where you want, buy, and be happy.”

    Yelstin,

    On the flip side, you could have seen the train wreck coming and kick out the pos; in one fell swoop take a ton of dough off the table. Then, one need not be stuck with an albatross; declining asset in the midst of exploding taxes. In a sh*t job market, your options are limitless; free to pick up and move when/where you want. Let’s not even begin to discuss lost opportunity cost. Hint; take a look at a crb chart.

  112. NJSerf says:

    (113) I think folks like this had more to do with destroying the economy:

    Rolling Stone magazine writer Matt Taibbi unveils unfair investment practices by wives business bigs

    http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2011/04/12/2011-04-12_rolling_stone_magazine_writer_matt_taibbi_unveils_unfair_investment_practices_by.html#ixzz1JJzKCcFN

    In a revealing article in the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Matt Taibbi reports that Christy Mack, the wife of Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack, and Susan Karches, the widow of the company’s former investment-banking division president, Peter Karches, are among the chief investors in a company that received $220 million in low-interest loans. The funds came from a federal bailout program that “virtually guaranteed them millions in risk-free income,” according to the article.

  113. Samivel says:

    It was those at white shoe firms- the best & brightest
    who created the PSA, CDO, MBS docs
    Which have injected such uncertainty into
    the judicial foreclosure process as to
    Chain of ownership of the obligation. They were
    created as if for stocks bonds etc, they
    don’t work for mortgages.

  114. grim says:

    Proximity to Space Shuttle Enterprise will keep Northern NJ home prices elevated. There was a Corcoran press release that specifically cited the beauty and intelligence of New Yorkers are being the deciding factor by NASA.

  115. So What Who Cares?? (formerly 3b) says:

    #115“Sure, you can rent in some places but your options are limited. Or you can make an empowered move and dwell where you want, buy, and be happy.”

    And more than a few once they buy and get in, they start to find out things of which they did not know, prior to the buy. Then they are no longer happy, but rather sad, that they have been …..had.

  116. serf (116)-

    This country and its gubmint are owned lock, stock and barrel by banksters.

    They are the law, they are above the law, and they can do anything they want.

    To believe any different is to engage in pure delusion.

  117. All I know is, everyone who owes me money says fcuk you.

    Meanwhile, everyone to whom I owe money is standing in line, demanding payment in full and on time.

  118. cobbler says:

    nova [111]
    Again, town (district) spends less on the program than it would, had they to provide equal number of HS credit hours in any other subject: Chinese and the feds pay instead.

  119. Lone Ranger says:

    “This country and its gubmint are owned lock, stock and barrel by banksters.”

    Yep, ever since Jekyll Island.

  120. Anon E. Moose says:

    Con’t [114];

    Why wasn’t Nader equally outraged or inscensed about the beating GM and Chrysler bondholders took to pay off the UAW?

  121. JJ says:

    This is a risk free investment, a new muni bond issue from the competitive sale of $4,627,000 Township of Sparta, New Jersey Sewer & Water Bonds of 2011.

    NJ has an endless amount of crap therefore the sewer bonds will always have crap to process.

  122. Barbara says:

    Re: that article. I think I got this. These people can’t let 80 dollars sit in a passbook savings account without spending it within 48 hours on appetizers and drinks at Houllihans. Houses aren’t liquid, so over the course of a mortgage if there is any equity in the house, they see this as profit. They had a great “investment” primarily because they were unable to get their sausage fingers on every last nickle in the house.
    Its like when you’re 8 and your mom makes you put half you birthday money in the savings account. You can’t touch it, you forget about it. 10 years later you’ve “invested” (not spent) a few hundred dollars. Woo!

  123. Lone Ranger says:

    JJ,

    Silver futures are up 45K, per contract, in less than 60 days and you’re looking to clip coupons backed by shit? Maybe you should take a stroll from WS to North End Ave?

  124. jamil says:

    “While cities across the country are cutting services, raising taxes and contemplating bankruptcy, something extraordinary is happening in a suburban community just north of Atlanta, Georgia.

    Since incorporating in 2005, Sandy Springs has improved its services, invested tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure and kept taxes flat. And get this: Sandy Springs has no long-term liabilities.

    This is the story of Sandy Springs, Georgia—the city that outsourced everything.”

    http://reason.com/blog/2011/04/12/reasontv-sandy-springs-georgia

  125. Shore Guy says:

    I just LOVE how some folks are “entitled” to handouts from productive folks, but the productive folks need to take risks, face losses, and then don’t get to keep most of their rewards.

  126. Happy Renter says:

    [126] I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret “investment” that has never failed me, year in, year out …

    I always make sure to put down the fewest number of allowances on my W-4 forms. Without fail, every April 15th my investing genius is rewarded when I am told I will be getting a nice fat refund check from Uncle Sam. Cha-ching, baby! That’s what I call a tax “return” … on investment!

    It’s an annual tradition to take some of the investment earnings and splurge on a night out at Olive Garden. My wife swears I’m an investing genius, and I can’t blame her.

  127. Kettle1^2 says:

    Debt, ranger

    through history such situation are resolved in 1 paticular manner. That or debt serfdom is embraced

  128. Juice X says:

    re # 116 – Nice use of leverage 15-1 to take advantage of the FEDs thinly veiled of baloney. TALF funding was limited to AAA-rated securitizations of SBA guaranteed loans, retail auto financings, retail auto leases and auto dealer floorplan loans.

    In other words cash for trash with a 90% guarantee.

  129. ranger (127)-

    Obviously, you are ignoring the GS call to take Hi-Ho $$$ off the table and exit the action. :)

  130. shore (129)-

    And, the corollary: some giant companies are afforded the same kind of welfare, while the Main St. small businessman underwrites the tab.

  131. cobbler says:

    shore [129]
    Make your choice – either you support the unproductive folks via govt and your taxes, or spend money on building 18-ft electrified fences, hiring bodyguards and paying ransoms to the kidnappers. Also, if you decide to have a night on the town your bodyguards are busy shoving away the beggars. Sir, I saw enough of India and Latin America to prefer supporting the unproductive folks. Also – yes I pay much more as FICA than my parents are getting from the SS; however I feel good knowing that they will have their life allowance whether I stay employed (or stay alive) or not.

  132. Ergo, banksters = niggaz

  133. cobbler says:

    oops, I meant income tax, not FICA.

  134. renter (130)-

    If giving the gubmint an interest-free loan that rolls over every year qualifies as financial genius, please shoot me now.

  135. cobbler (135)-

    When the time comes, I won’t need bodyguards. I’ll do my own shooting.

  136. JJ says:

    I have zero dependents listed on my W-4 and paid an extra 10K on top of that in 2010. On Sunday I wrote the IRS a check for 30K. Then I took the wife and kids to dinner to celebrate. Why, when I am paying taxes I am making money. You should celebrate the tax payment and be sad with a tax refund.

    Happy Renter says:
    April 12, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    [126] I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret “investment” that has never failed me, year in, year out …

    I always make sure to put down the fewest number of allowances on my W-4 forms. Without fail, every April 15th my investing genius is rewarded when I am told I will be getting a nice fat refund check from Uncle Sam. Cha-ching, baby! That’s what I call a tax “return” … on investment!

    It’s an annual tradition to take some of the investment earnings and splurge on a night out at Olive Garden. My wife swears I’m an investing genius, and I can’t blame her.

  137. Happy Renter says:

    Note to self … include the [sarcasm] tag next time. ;-)

  138. jamil says:

    Uhh. Renting rules

    “The county had to implement massive spending cuts to address things like the soaring costs of employee health care and pension costs. Choked by labor contracts, the county eliminated 705 positions, asked parents to contribute more to the cost of subsidized daycare, eliminated subsidies to ethnic festivals, and raised golf fees on county owned courses.
    Not surprisingly, the economic situation in Westchester County has spilled over into city budgets as well.
    White Plains in particular is considering raising property taxes by 18%.

    If that happens, it would be the largest property tax increase in over 20 years.
    Even though the average home in White Plains is valued at over $728,000, an increase on that scale is bound to send shockwaves across this area. “

  139. Shore Guy says:

    Cobbler,

    I have no issue with helping the poor, downtrodden, etc.; however, when times are tough, we, the ones paying the bills should be able to reduce the size of the gifts we are forced to provide.

  140. jamil says:

    142, oh 18% increase was incorrect. The proposed property tax increase in White Plains is 18.9%.

    Average property tax in White Plains in 2005 was $13,054 according to CNN, so now it is certainly north of 15k.

    Luckily the typical after-tax salary increase in White Plains was 20% and housing is a best long-term investment. /sarc

  141. Lone Ranger says:

    Debt [133],

    Although it’s going higher, longer term, I have no idea where the next $10 move will be. That said, anyone who rode this would be nuts, IMO, not to protect recent gains.

  142. Confused In NJ says:

    Mrs Confused just finished analyzing the Grocery Charge Card for last month, as it had increased 140% over what she normaly spends. No mistakes or special items found, just increases in cost of normal purchases. Luckily Ben doesn’t count this in cost of living.

  143. Anon E. Moose says:

    Confused [146];

    You are apparently aware, but I like repeating out loud in case someone like InTheKnow drops by for the first time; the government’s headline inflation number excludes energy, food and owner-occupied housing. So the hypothetical person buying the standard “market basket of goods” doesn’t eat, doesn’t drive to work, or own their own home. Naturally, this is where the fastest price increases have occured and continue unabated. The premise of excluding these things is that they are “too volatile”. Perhaps, but volatility can be smoothed by looking to the long term trend, which is unmistakeable in magnitude and direction. All of Ben’s Quantitative Easements have to go somewhere.

  144. JC says:

    So What (#81): I live in Wash Twp since 1996. If I had it to do over again I’d have bought in Westwood, which has taxes as low or lower, and isn’t run by incompetents and egomaniacs with no vision who regard the town as a patronage mill for their friends. WT has had one-party government for thirty years. Most elections are unopposed. People who dare to question local government have been known to be harassed. Local residents are disgusted with this bunch of incompetent clowns, but vote them back in every year, mostly because in most years there is no choice. My taxes have gone from $4k in 1996 to $8.4K now.

    There are as of now no ratables except for a 1/3 empty strip mall that the owner doesn’t care about filling; she just allocates the taxes across the remaining tenants; a bar, Italian takeout joint, florist, a few gas stations, 1 fancy restaurant, and a catering hall whose owner has held the entire town hostage to 4 dilapidated properties he owns on Pascack Road.

    That said…it is a quiet residential town, lots of young families, and you can get a POS cape for around $360K. Any particular properties you’re interested in? If so, post listings and I can tell you about neighborhood and location.

  145. Lone Ranger says:

    Moose [147],

    Don’t forget hedonics. After all, if the price of cotton is rising exponentially, you can always sew a few rags together.

  146. Juice X says:

    re # 150 – polyester will be making a comeback…

  147. Lone Ranger says:

    Juice,

    A long time ago, I said welcome back to the 70’s; compliments of Bernank.

    http://clothesonfilm.com/saturday-night-fever-john-travolta-white-suit/3017/

  148. ranger (145)-

    I’m praying the next $10 move will be down.

    That will be back up the truck time. No doubt the Hunt Bros’ nominal high will be shattered, probably sooner rather than later. Bernank and his idiot thugs are working overtime to pump the next asset bubble that will implode (to their complete surprise).

  149. jamil says:

    152, yes, Carter rerun is now the best case scenario for the US..

  150. confused (146)-

    Shut up, and eat your IPad before it gets cold.

    There are starving children in Appalachia that have no computers to eat.

  151. moose (147)-

    For many reasons- including this one- why don’t you look up my arse?

    “All of Ben’s Quantitative Easements have to go somewhere.”

  152. jc (148)-

    Sounds like the outer ring of hell that I currently occupy.

    Pass.

  153. Justice, at last. Much more likely that he will split a pool cue over someone’s skull or get caught trying to score an 8-ball:

    NEW CITY, N.Y. — Lawrence Taylor’s name will not appear on an online sex offender registry list after he was given Level 1 status in a Rockland County court on Tuesday.

    Judge William Kelly heard arguments from the district attorney’s office, which requested Level 2 status, and Taylor’s attorney Arthur Aidala, who argued for Level 1, the lowest level.

    After listening to both sides, Kelly said the main consideration was the likelihood that Taylor was a threat to public safety and would repeat his crime.

    “I frankly don’t think that is likely,” Kelly said, ruling from the bench.

  154. chicagofinance says:

    clot:

    Everyone’s favorite clown prince of the kitchen.

    WSJ
    NY FOOD
    APRIL 12, 2011
    Chef Bouley Goes Japanese in TriBeCa

    By SUMATHI REDDY

    French chef David Bouley soon will open a Japanese restaurant staffed by Japanese chefs in TriBeCa—seven years after conceiving the idea.

    Brushstroke will be considerably smaller than the chef’s original plans for a three-story restaurant. It will have a 54-seat dining room and a lounge with space for another 24. It’s on Hudson Street near Duane Street, across from the chef’s namesake Bouley restaurant.

    The chef, who has seen his share of controversies in the past, exudes a Zen-like quality these days as he talks about his partnership with the Japanese Tsuji Culinary Institute. Unlike many Japanese eateries in the U.S., Brushstroke won’t revolve around sushi.

    “Sushi is really only 20% of what Japanese eat,” says Mr. Bouley, 57 years old.

    “The cooking part of Japanese culture has never left Japan until recently,” he adds. “These chefs are now interested in leaving Japan because they know they can find the ingredients they need.”

    Mr. Bouley won’t be cooking; Brushstroke will be helmed by ChefIsao Yamada, who has worked in Mr. Bouley’s restaurants before, and Hiroki Murashima, a professor of Japanese cuisine at the Tsuji Culinary Institute.

    The dining room will serve three levels of prix-fixe dinners, ranging from six to 10 courses and costing $85 to $135, a publicist for Mr. Bouley says.

    The chef talks up the health benefits of Japanese food, which he says helped get him off blood medication. Last year, he returned to the kitchen of Bouley for the first time in many years. He has conspicuously been off the radar at a time when celebrity chef culture has exploded.

    Mr. Bouley has been lauded as one of New York’s best chefs since he opened the original Bouley in 1987. But his plans for a grand empire were undercut by a series of setbacks.

    There have been failed partnerships and soured relationships. He has had financial troubles, facing lawsuits, tax liens and foreclosure on property that he owns.

    Mr. Bouley brushes off questions about his finances, saying they stemmed from the recession and have been resolved. “We’re not here to talk about my finances,” he says.

    Expect more from Mr. Bouley, says his wife, Nicole. She says there are “projects on the table” that are being examined, in both New York and France. She says any movement is at least eight months off.

    Tim Zagat, co-founder of Zagat Survey, says Mr. Bouley’s previous plans for expansion have been unfortunately timed. One was hurt by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and a second attempt was hurt by the economic downturn in 2008.

    “He got into some projects that economically strained him in the 2000 era but I think he’s one of the 10 top chefs in New York and if he was focusing single-mindedly on one restaurant he might be as good as they get,” says Mr. Zagat. “I think the fact that he’s a great chef has made it possible for him to survive some very difficult economic problems.”

    Even some of Mr. Bouley’s former foes are cutting him slack.

    Drew Nieporent, owner of the Myriad Restaurant Group, opened a restaurant with Mr. Bouley in 1985 that ended with an acrimonious split. Mr. Nieporent says the two have patched up their differences. “I have no bad feelings,” he says.

    He predicts that Brushstroke will do well in a neighborhood where he also has restaurants, including Nobu.

    “Brushstroke is going to be great,” he says.

  155. chi (160)-

    Too bad the questions don’t go away. Either the debts get paid, or they get charged off. If he paid his debts and redeemed his mortgage, I’d think he’d be singing like a canary.

    “Mr. Bouley brushes off questions about his finances, saying they stemmed from the recession and have been resolved. “We’re not here to talk about my finances,” he says.”

    BTW, the Tsuji Institute teaches the ryori, or imperial cuisine. You can’t replicate that stuff at $85-$135 a head. This is another one where his inability to flesh out the concept or do the math on the costs will probably sink him.

  156. Pat says:

    @cf Heya, how’s tricks?

    Wish I could hang more. Often need the crew’s advice and just go with my gut now.

  157. Neanderthal Economist says:

    “On Atlas Shrugged. The movie couldn’t possibly live up to the book.”
    West, I know your a big fan and I would usually agree with this premise but for me the movie might be better in this case. There were so many characters and so much small talk that reading the book actually was hard to follow. But I do think the movie would dilute the impact of the underlying message, especially if they dumb down the nuance and use low budget actors.

  158. Kettle1^2 says:

    3b

    Carlin taught as philosophy in public education could be a step up.

    http://youtu.be/acLW1vFO-2Q

  159. Ben says:

    It was 11 months ago that I got a ton of flack for going all in on Silver. I was going to wait a year to gloat…

  160. Ben (166)-

    Better to know that the Bernank hasn’t been able to plunger-handle you and your family’s well-being than to simply gloat.

    Being long PMs isn’t a spec play; it’s a survival play.

  161. The DXY don’t lie.

  162. God damn this country. We should be hit with a couple of quakes, and have a couple of busted-open reactors coat us all in nuclear goo.

    “Matt Taibbi has resurfaced with another stunner of Wall Street impropriety which will lead to merely more silence, even more unanswered questions and be quickly buried by the kleptocratic oligarchy: “It’s hard to imagine a pair of people you would less want to hand a giant welfare check to — yet that’s exactly what the Fed did. Just two months before the Macks bought their fancy carriage house in Manhattan, Christy and her pal Susan launched their investment initiative called Waterfall TALF. Neither seems to have any experience whatsoever in finance, beyond Susan’s penchant for dabbling in thoroughbred racehorses. But with an upfront investment of $15 million, they quickly received $220 million in cash from the Fed, most of which they used to purchase student loans and commercial mortgages. The loans were set up so that Christy and Susan would keep 100 percent of any gains on the deals, while the Fed and the Treasury (read: the taxpayer) would eat 90 percent of the losses. Given out as part of a bailout program ostensibly designed to help ordinary people by kick-starting consumer lending, the deals were a classic heads-I-win, tails-you-lose investment.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/matt-taibbi-asks-why-fed-gave-220-million-bailout-money-wives-two-morgan-stanley-bigwigs

  163. Confused In NJ says:

    169.Debt Supernova says:
    April 12, 2011 at 10:28 pm
    God damn this country. We should be hit with a couple of quakes, and have a couple of busted-open reactors coat us all in nuclear goo.

    “Matt Taibbi has resurfaced with another stunner of Wall Street impropriety which will lead to merely more silence, even more unanswered questions and be quickly buried by the kleptocratic oligarchy: “It’s hard to imagine a pair of people you would less want to hand a giant welfare check to — yet that’s exactly what the Fed did. Just two months before the Macks bought their fancy carriage house in Manhattan, Christy and her pal Susan launched their investment initiative called Waterfall TALF. Neither seems to have any experience whatsoever in finance, beyond Susan’s penchant for dabbling in thoroughbred racehorses. But with an upfront investment of $15 million, they quickly received $220 million in cash from the Fed, most of which they used to purchase student loans and commercial mortgages. The loans were set up so that Christy and Susan would keep 100 percent of any gains on the deals, while the Fed and the Treasury (read: the taxpayer) would eat 90 percent of the losses. Given out as part of a bailout program ostensibly designed to help ordinary people by kick-starting consumer lending, the deals were a classic heads-I-win, tails-you-lose investment.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/matt-taibbi-asks-why-fed-gave-220-million-bailout-money-wives-two-morgan-stanley-bigwigs

    “O” promised change. People didn’t realize he meant Change for the Worse.

  164. Confused In NJ says:

    To be fair, neither Bush or Obama cares about the average American People, or their Country. We replaced manure with more manure.

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